When I moved to Bangkok this past August, I hated it was because it was so different from Texas, but that’s also how I came to love living here. I grew up in Texas and lived there for thirteen years before moving here at the beginning of summer. Living in Texas and living in Bangkok are two completely different experiences, so when I first moved here, I felt out of place, overwhelmed; I instantly wanted to go home. But as time went on, I began to adapt, discover new routines, and appreciate the city. 

One of the biggest shocks was the city itself. In Texas, I lived an hour outside of downtown Houston, so even though I had visited big cities, nothing prepared me for Bangkok. It’s nonstop motorcycles weaving between cars, clusters of powerlines across buildings, food stalls on every street, and markets everywhere you look. The only times I went downtown in Houston were for the rodeo, concerts, or baseball games, and everything I needed was close to home. We had one mall, a few shopping centers, restaurants, and not a lot else. Bangkok, meanwhile, feels like the opposite. Everything is the city. Massive modern malls, endless restaurants, street markets, temples, shops, spas and anything else you would need. Honestly, if Houston counts as a city, Bangkok feels like a whole different category. No wonder I was unsure when I first arrived, I mean one of the first places I visited was the Emsphere! with its chaotic mix of shops, restaurants, vendors. It probably wasn’t the smartest move for someone battling jet lag and culture shock. Now going into the city is one of my favorite things to do. Exploring markets, visiting temples and the Grand Palace, trying foods I would have never even heard of before back home. Don’t get me wrong though I loved living in Houston. To me Houston is home. It’s hard to explain but it’s the little things like the sun in the afternoon, or the my favorite restaurant all light up at night. Houston is full of memories that I will cherish forever, and that’s what makes it so special to me.  

Another difference in Bangkok and Texas is the student life at school. In Texas I went to a public school with close to 4,000 kids. Compared to ISB there are only 669 kids in high school, so you can imagine how different the two are. A day in my school back home looked like this: Wake up at 5:30 to get to school at 6:45 because we started practice early when we were in season. If we weren’t in season then we would have practice when school started at 7:15 everyday. We finish, 1st/2nd period and practice at 8:49 then depending on if it was an orange or blue day (even and odd) I have 5 minutes to go to my 3rd or 4th period class. Then based

on which lunch you had A, B, C, D, or E, you would go straight to lunch after class, or to your 5th or 6th period class for 30 minutes then go, or go after your class all together. Everyday you also had lunch at a different time too depending on your classes. After that you would go to 7th and 8th at 1:02 and leave school at 2:35. Here I wake up at 6:00, drive to school and hang out with my friends until 7:45, go to my first 2 classes, and then go to an advisory or club, eat lunch, finish classes, have practice and then go home. It is so much nicer not having to wake up at 5am everyday just to go get sweaty and then get ready for school in the locker room. It’s also nice not having to worry about if my friends are in my lunch, because all of high school has lunch at the same time. It’s nice being able to take a break throughout the day and get to talk to my friends for more than 20 minutes. It’s nice being able to eat the school food and not having to pack my lunch everyday. These are things that might seem small but they make a big difference in how my overall day goes, and makes school so much more enjoyable. The smaller size also makes a big difference too. Instead of having to push and weave through the crowd, I can just walk freely without feeling like I’m suffocating. Even lunch is better! Yes, the lines are still really long, but not as long as they were at my old school, and to think that wasn’t even half the school! 

Another thing that took a while for me to adjust is the academics. Back home I was probably close to the top 10% of my class, I had straight A’s, and was taking the highest classes they offered for my grade. School was hard sometimes, but for the most part it was pretty laid back compared to here. Every single one of our tests was multiple choice, even in English! And your teachers would have so many students they didn’t have time to give you a deeper understanding, and overall knowledge of the topic. Back home you went to class, took notes and had a daily grade, which is 10% of your grade, over something you barely learned, had a quiz (20%

of your grade), and then a test to end the unit (70% of your grade). If you graduated from my school back home, good for you, so did 1,000 other kids! Most people either got sports scholarships from D2, D3 schools, or applied to either Texas A&M or UT, and if they didn’t get in they would go to Blinn Community College or UTSA for a year and then transfer to those schools. Nothing like going to school at ISB. Just by going here your acceptance into a good school automatically goes up because of all the learning and support you get. Classes here are so hard, teachers try to challenge you and make you think for yourself. Having to switch my mindset to think for myself rather than just repeating a standard prompt has been an adjustment. The grading is so different too; here the teachers grade off of what level you have achieved and the kind of thinking you can apply. This has helped me to actually learn and remember what I’m doing rather than memorize (and then forget) something because it’s going to be on the test. Also the teachers want you to learn and understand, so they will take time to work with you and be patient with you. Same with counselors; they are constantly checking up on you and making sure your classes are a good fit for you. Back home all the counselors did was take a whole month to switch you out of a class. I also didn’t have university counselors either. Which I could have really used. Here, the university counselors are actively trying to get you into a good college that you love, helping with applications, and SAT and ACT prep.              

The last thing that is so different from living in Bangkok and Texas is the community. In Texas I lived in a nice neighborhood, and we had schools in our neighborhood but not like Nichada. In Nichada everyone knows everyone. You can’t go to Villa to buy snacks without seeing someone you know. The neighborhood is so tightly knit, there are events that are organized specifically for Nichada. Back home, it was just a normal suburban neighborhood. The houses were huge, and the driveways went on for miles. We had old neighbors that didn’t come out of their houses, and people asking about their lost dogs or just complaining about kids driving around 4-wheelers. In Nichada I have so much more freedom than I had back home. Here I can go out to dinner, go to the mall, even go downtown with my friends and it’s normal. Back home people didn’t do that unless you were able to drive. Having that ability here, and everything being so close gives me so many more opportunities to go out and do things, instead of staying home or having to make plans far in advance like I used to. Back home I did have freedom though, but it just wasn’t what it is like here. With such a small community it feels like the world is at my fingertips and I can do anything I want.         

These experiences have helped me appreciate Bangkok in a way I never expected. Through the sights of the city, to the opportunity the school brings. Now I can’t even imagine living in Texas and what my life would look like. Even though moving here was definitely scary and brought out new challenges I’ve never faced, moving here was probably the best decision I ever made.