I Fell In Love During A Student Exchange

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Abstract

en I reached there I did not have a huge expectation, because even the airport is very manual. There is only one check-in gate, and it only opens at a certain time according to the flight schedule, the traffic is very low.</p><p id="a8bf">But during those 7 days of my stay there, I went to a lot of places with historical and cultural value, because that was the trademark of Nan. Culture and history were still very strongly preserved because it was not a modernized city. The simplicity of life there took me by surprise. At 10 pm, the streets were empty already, even in the afternoon, the city is pretty calm. I love how calm the city is, it is like a hidden gem. There was not much activity there, but I had the feeling that when I grow old, Nan will be a good place to settle down. I love the calmness and culture of Nan. I fell in love with it.</p><h2 id="9dca">I fell in love with the food.</h2><figure id="dadd"><img src="https://cdn-images-1.readmedium.com/v2/resize:fit:800/1*pOyFiXG-LiT8d_3dJYTADA.jpeg"><figcaption>Photo by <a href="https://unsplash.com/@danielcgold?utm_source=unsplash&utm_medium=referral&utm_content=creditCopyText">Dan Gold</a> on <a href="https://unsplash.com/s/photos/food?utm_source=unsplash&utm_medium=referral&utm_content=creditCopyText">Unsplash</a></figcaption></figure><p id="90c2">I am not the type of person that loves eating. I will identify myself as the type of person who “eat to live” rather than “live to eat”. But, when I went there surprisingly the local food is pretty delicious. I ate some food that the people there typically eat, not the “tourist” food because again Nan is not a tourist city. It could be because I came from a SEA country too, which is why the taste preference is similar to Thai’s. The point is I fell in love with the food like almost everything is delicious.</p><h2 id="4e8c">I fell in love with the experience.</h2><figure id="19e8"><img src="https://cdn-images-1.readmedium.com/v2/resize:fit:800/1*x7-z1wlqGkWCY_OWzR9YlA.jpeg"><figcaption>Photo by <a href="https://unsplash.com/@benwhitephotography?utm_source=unsplash&utm_medium=referral&utm_content=creditCopyText">Ben White</a> on <a href="https://unsplash.com/s/photos/happy?utm_source=unsplash&utm_medium=referral&utm_content=creditCopyText">Unsplash</a></figcaption></figure><p id="c7d4">During the 7 days, I experienced so many things.</p><p id="763b">I experienc

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ed eating with an authentic northern Thailand style, where I sat in an open place on a floor, in front of me was a stage where people perform traditional northern Thai dance. Then using some sort of like a mini wicker table, we put all our food and eat together with so many strangers. I milked a goat for the first time in my life, and surprisingly it was quite easy. Nan is very famous for its goat milk. They utilized it for many things including ice cream, bath soap, etc. I learned to weave cloth, spin cotton manually, tie-dye, and many more.</p><p id="ab96">Other than that, here is what I think was memorable. I went to some sort of bar for the first time in my life. Going to some bar was not something new for many people. But living in a pretty conservative country, I never had the opportunity to visit places like that, I also do not have that circle of friends that go to bars, which is why I never went to any of these places. This experience is not something too related to Nan, because we can go to a bar anywhere in the world, but still, this experience happened because I went to Nan. This is not something you should do but, I went to that place on the first day I visited Nan, with two people, one was a fellow exchange student from my country and I had only met her once or twice before the program, and we became roommate in that program. The other was the person I just befriended in the morning that day. It sounds crazy but it happened. Going to that sort of place was never our intention, I and my roommate just happened to walk around our hotel at night, then we met this other person, then we were thinking about going to some cafe to chill. But we do not know the place well, so we walked for 10 minutes using the guidance of google maps (and the road is empty) then arrived at this “so-called cafe” where they sell alcohol and sell some dirty services. It was so memorable because it was dangerous and unexpected. I mean anything could happen in that shady place, we did not even know if it was operated legally.</p><p id="a2a4"><i>A year has passed but I still remember the moments so vividly. I never knew going on such a short exchange can create so many memories. I would highly highly recommend everyone at least try it once in your life. Your exchange destination does not matter, you will find new things, meet new people, and create new memories. It is very worth it.</i></p></article></body>

I Fell In Love During A Student Exchange

The title is click-bait, do not read unless you are curious

Maybe it is click-bait, maybe it is not.

When talking about love during a student exchange, you might imagine some sweet teenage love. You know, like those movies where you meet a stranger somewhere in the world, then connect so easily, you talk about anything, tell your secrets knowing that after this you will never meet each other again. Then fall in love and all.

Well if that is what you are looking for, then you have come to the wrong place. The love I am about to tell is not related to “a person” because I did not fall in love with someone, instead, I fell in love with the place, the memories, the food, and the experience. Here we go.

About a year ago, exactly I went for an exchange to Thailand for a week. It was not a prestigious program, I was just impulsively applying for it then got it. I did not think it will become such a precious memory.

I fell in love with the place.

It is a remote city called Nan, located in Thailand. To reach there, I have to take 2 flights, one from my home city to Don Mueang International Airport (DMK) in Bangkok, Thailand. Then from there, I flew to Nan Nakhon Airport (NNT) in Nan, Thailand. It took almost a day to go there mainly because of the long transit because there were only three flight schedules in a day to go to Nan. When I reached there I did not have a huge expectation, because even the airport is very manual. There is only one check-in gate, and it only opens at a certain time according to the flight schedule, the traffic is very low.

But during those 7 days of my stay there, I went to a lot of places with historical and cultural value, because that was the trademark of Nan. Culture and history were still very strongly preserved because it was not a modernized city. The simplicity of life there took me by surprise. At 10 pm, the streets were empty already, even in the afternoon, the city is pretty calm. I love how calm the city is, it is like a hidden gem. There was not much activity there, but I had the feeling that when I grow old, Nan will be a good place to settle down. I love the calmness and culture of Nan. I fell in love with it.

I fell in love with the food.

I am not the type of person that loves eating. I will identify myself as the type of person who “eat to live” rather than “live to eat”. But, when I went there surprisingly the local food is pretty delicious. I ate some food that the people there typically eat, not the “tourist” food because again Nan is not a tourist city. It could be because I came from a SEA country too, which is why the taste preference is similar to Thai’s. The point is I fell in love with the food like almost everything is delicious.

I fell in love with the experience.

During the 7 days, I experienced so many things.

I experienced eating with an authentic northern Thailand style, where I sat in an open place on a floor, in front of me was a stage where people perform traditional northern Thai dance. Then using some sort of like a mini wicker table, we put all our food and eat together with so many strangers. I milked a goat for the first time in my life, and surprisingly it was quite easy. Nan is very famous for its goat milk. They utilized it for many things including ice cream, bath soap, etc. I learned to weave cloth, spin cotton manually, tie-dye, and many more.

Other than that, here is what I think was memorable. I went to some sort of bar for the first time in my life. Going to some bar was not something new for many people. But living in a pretty conservative country, I never had the opportunity to visit places like that, I also do not have that circle of friends that go to bars, which is why I never went to any of these places. This experience is not something too related to Nan, because we can go to a bar anywhere in the world, but still, this experience happened because I went to Nan. This is not something you should do but, I went to that place on the first day I visited Nan, with two people, one was a fellow exchange student from my country and I had only met her once or twice before the program, and we became roommate in that program. The other was the person I just befriended in the morning that day. It sounds crazy but it happened. Going to that sort of place was never our intention, I and my roommate just happened to walk around our hotel at night, then we met this other person, then we were thinking about going to some cafe to chill. But we do not know the place well, so we walked for 10 minutes using the guidance of google maps (and the road is empty) then arrived at this “so-called cafe” where they sell alcohol and sell some dirty services. It was so memorable because it was dangerous and unexpected. I mean anything could happen in that shady place, we did not even know if it was operated legally.

A year has passed but I still remember the moments so vividly. I never knew going on such a short exchange can create so many memories. I would highly highly recommend everyone at least try it once in your life. Your exchange destination does not matter, you will find new things, meet new people, and create new memories. It is very worth it.