What is the most exciting thing that you experienced in this year?

Kanokporn, Thailand

If I say, everything at here is all exciting for me. Is that alright? Let me introduce myself and tell you my great story.

Hello everybody. My name is Kanokporn Hlaithong. I'm an exchange student from Thailand. I live in Evanston, Illinois. It's located north of Chicago. I had a good orientation in Sanfran Cisco. I saw the golden gate bridge(my first time),and went to a fun park and my flights were uneventful. I had a wonderful time with other exchange students from many countries. We did fun activities together. Then I fly to Chicago. Many friends in this flight too. On the way to Chicago. I'm very very excited and thought that what should I say when I first meet my host family? I said "sa-wass-dee ka" to them. It's mean hello in English.

My host family is so great. I live with a single mom and a sister. I had a chance to go to Wisconsin, where my host father lives. I went to apple picking with my sister there. This is one of my favourite fruits. I love fresh picked apples. I enjoy all the food so I'm sure I have gained weight and now 23 pounds so far haha.

My house is 10 minutes away from lake Michigan and downtown Evanston. I always walk there. I swam in lake Michigan once and I could see Chicago on the right. I went to a baseball game. I really like the "White Sox" team and especially enjoyed taking the EL ride to Chicago. I went to Navy Pier and shopping. That's so awesome. It's beautiful at night. I also went to Ohio to visit my American grandparents. We went to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, downtown and putt putt golfing.

About the school, I study at Evanston Township High School. There are about 4,000 students. There are no Thai students here. This school is so huge. It is 9 period/day. I enjoy Math and Japanese class. I joined clubs; student council, graphic design. I study hard and have lots of homework. Nevertheless I still have time for a good piano class after school. I love it. On the weekend I always busy. I usually hang out with friends or do activities with my family. I went ice-skating with my sister twice and watching football with my father. It's so cool.

I enjoyed Halloween. I dress up in a LitterRed Riding Hood costume and went out with a friend in downtown. We got lots of treats even though the weather was cold and windy. I went to a haunted house too. That was kind of fun for me.

I have a meeting with CIEE every month my local coordinator is so good. She takes care me and help me sometimes and I also met with other exchange students from different countries. We shared our experience together. That is fun.

I went to England during thanksgiving holidays to attend a family BarMitzvah. I am so excited. It's my first time too. We celebrated thanksgiving there that I had a big turkey. yummy!. We spend a week there and I travel a lot in London. That's awesome because I had a chance to go to another country while I live here.

On christmas day. We celebrate christmas at our house. I enjoy decorated christmas tree,tons of ornaments. I woke up early with my host sister. We went downstairs and open the gifts. I got a present from Santa too. We have a big celebration because my birthday is two days after christmas. I had a turkey again but this time I cooked Thai food. I think I did a pretty good job, my host family like them a lot. I smiled. It's the first and best Christmas ever.

I also went to Boston and North Carolina during the spring break. My host sister is looking for the college. We went to UNC, Duke and BU. We had a wonderful trip. Also the last thing, I had a huge snow storm that I've never see it before. It is my first time to see snow and my host mom said that "this is the huge snow storm in past 30 years". We called blizzard. I agreed because I have 2 snow days, I could not go anywhere. I went outside and shovel the snow with my host sister. This is fun but too cold. I took a picture and send it to my mom in Thailand too. She told me to take care myself. It's still cold until now even it's mid-April. I can not wait until summer. I want to go swim in lake Michigan again.

Being an exchange student for me is something that I won't forget. It's a wonderful thing in my life that I spend 10months with host family, that share the great experiences and take care me, it's something that I should try. It is once in my life. I can tell a wonderful experiences to other people.