December 18, 2013 at 3:33 p.m.
Abroad for the holidays: RHS student continues exchange in Thailand
Abroad for the holidays: RHS student continues exchange in Thailand
It's a big commitment for any high school senior to leave what's familiar and spend so much time immersed in a foreign culture, and something she hadn't really considered until the idea collided with a common presence in her life: sports.
"I have always wanted to travel and see the world because there is so much more to this great planet than the woods of Wisconsin," Schmidt said. "But it wasn't until I played for a summer hockey team with an old foreign exchange student that I finally realized that first, I could study abroad and second, that was something that I really wanted to do."
After committing to the study abroad program, Schmidt had to choose where she wanted to study. While she didn't really have anything specific in mind, she knew she wanted something exotic.
"I didn't really decide," she said. "I knew that I wanted something different so when we were given the country list to choose from, I chose mostly Asian countries as my top 10. I knew that they were really different and that interested me. They chose Thailand for me and then my host club chose to have me out in the country."
When Schmidt's August departure date neared and preparations were finalized, she was surprised at the lack of jitters she experienced.
"To tell you the truth, I wasn't really as excited as you would think," she said. "I hadn't slept much for days prior to leaving and the night before, I didn't get any sleep at all. I was last-minute packing instead. So I was really cranky when I left. I was hoping that since I didn't get any sleep, I could better adjust to the time change."
It's a long flight to Thailand, and Schmidt said she struggled with the travel.
"I traveled for three days straight and only got less than five hours of sleep," she said. "Airplane food (is horrible) and one girl actually puked from it. My legs also hurt really bad because I hadn't moved them that much for 15 hours, so when we got to Korea, I wanted to buy ibuprofen but I couldn't read the labels because it was in Korean, but the pharmacist handed it to me when I asked for a painkiller and it worked."
She arrived in Bangkok that night and had to spend the night there before the next flight early in the morning. She stayed with someone affiliated with the exchange program and finally had the time to experience some of the culture.
"I was finally able to take a shower, which was great," she said. "That night was when I got my first taste of culture shock because there were stray dogs everywhere. My first meal in Thailand was McDonald's, by the way."
The next morning, she boarded her final plane and arrived in Chiang Mai. She was taken straight to a school for a Mother's Day ceremony. When it ended, she was finally able to make it to her first host home.
"I was exhausted and I kind of felt in a fog because there were so many people speaking Thai to me," she said. "I had more culture shock happen when I got to my host house because it was nothing like I thought (it would be). It was dirty, there were spiderwebs all over and I had to sleep with my host sister for the first month. I was pretty much shocked."
Schmidt has had to adapt to living in an environment much different than her own.
"I am in the jungles of Thailand," she said. "If you drive over an hour from Chiang Mai, north through the mountains and past the rice fields, then you are heading in the right direction. My first host house was in the jungle of the mountains and every day I got to see the sun rise over the top of the mountain, which words really can't describe. In those same mountains, my host mom and grandma would take me to either pick wild mushrooms or to find bamboo shoots, because those were both free foods."
As Schmidt settled into life in Thailand, she realized her experience would be much different than what she expected.
"I thought I was going to have freedom to pretty much do whatever I wanted," she said. "I thought I would live in the big city with a higher class or middle class family and that I would be able to hang out with other exchange students (and) with my new Thai friends all the time. I thought the food was going to be amazing and that nothing would be too hard. I have never been so wrong in my life."
Adjusting to Thai life was hard for Schmidt, especially early on, and she found herself missing some aspects of her American life back home.
"The only thing I got right was the good food, and even then I would just like to have a nice venison steak over another bowl of rice," Schmidt said. "As a female, I have little freedom to come and go as I want because it is seen as bad for women to be alone because someone would get the idea to hurt them. I am not even allowed to go for a little run by myself. I don't live in the city and my host families are very poor. I also don't hang out with friends much because I am the only exchange student within a 45 kilometer radius."
Schmidt has found that the social lives of the Thai youth differ greatly from those of Americans. On a night when she might get together with friends back in the states, she stays home. She said Thai kids don't hang out as much as U.S. kids do.
One of the most jarring adjustments Schmidt had to make had to do with personal hygiene.
"I expected to have a western toilet in my house with a shower," she said. "Instead, I have a squat pot and my way of bathing is by ice cold water in a huge vase and a bucket to pour it over me. Then when I'm done, I fill the vase with water from a hose."
School has also proven to be challenging. While it continues to be difficult for her to participate in the classes because she doesn't speak Thai, Schmidt is picking up some other cultural skills at school.
"I am getting pretty good at baking Thai snacks and I can make a couple fruit drinks," she said. "And since I love sports, they gave me two days where I have one class in the morning and the rest of the day is gym class."
Schmidt is also taking an agriculture class, an art and dance class, an English class and she's taking a pre-calculus class online.
Schmidt will return sometime in June, depending on her college acceptance. For the moment though, she's just enjoying her exchange and experiencing the Thai culture.
"My whole exchange has been interesting," she said. "Every day something weird happens. I have had a frog in my shoe and spiderwebs in my milk. I've prayed in Buddhist temples, been poked and prodded at by curious Thai people and I have been in a car that was going down a mountain when the brakes went out. I have climbed waterfalls, planted rice and looked for bamboo shoots in the mountains. I have been to funerals and markets, as well as a couple festivals. I was in the hospital for a couple days with a case of food poisoning that also gave me an infection."
With so many experiences already behind her, Schmidt marvels at what's still in store before her return stateside.
"Everything has kind of surprised me," she said. "The funny thing is, I'm not even halfway through my exchange year."
Andy Hildebrand may be reached at [email protected].
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