An American in Thailand.

I'm a 22 year old woman currently living in Chiang Mai, Thailand for the next 3.5 months for work. I've never been to Asia before and I can confidently say that this is not like any other place I've ever been. <br><br>I would like to preface that this post is no way intended to be derogatory, I am just writing down observations that I have made. <br><br>**Language barrier:** There is a huge language barrier between English and Thai. I have been told that the Thai language is very difficult to learn as it's a tonal language. This means that there are five different tones that you can use in Thai that completely change the meaning of the word. An example of this is 'ma' which can be translated to 'horse', 'dog', 'come', 'go', or 'salt' depending on the tone used. Never have I ever struggled to pronounce a word so much in my life. <br><br>With that being said, many restaurants, shops, and markets do not speak English. They do have google translate which has been a lifesaver. However, google translate does not always translate into the correct thing. One time it asked a local if she ate cheese. She was very confused. <br><br>**Food:** The food here is amazing and so cheap. I regularly get a meal for 100 baht (~$2 USD) which includes 3-in-1 coffee, fried rice, and chicken. However, the food is incredibly spicy. The spiciest thing I've ever eaten was hot Cheetos and now I'm eating food that makes hot Cheetos look bland. It's been an adjustment. <br><br>I have also noticed that they tend to reuse beef and chicken. By this I mean that they will sell fried chicken one night and the next night the chicken nuggets from last night are in the soup. <br><br>A lot of places to eat will have animals around. We went to this place in the rice fields and there were dogs walking around, chickens, turkeys, and ducks. A rooster walked up to me and I swear to god it was going to attack me. <br><br>**Safety:** I feel relatively safe in Chiang Mai. I am normally a very paranoid person and always on edge but here I am not so much. I think part of this is that there is very little drinking. People drink here but they do not drink as much as they do at home. <br><br>There are a lot of dogs on the streets at night. We walked to 7/11 one night and for some reason all the dogs were out and walking around. One of them followed us for a kilometer until it stopped and let us go. <br><br>I have been warned by several people not to get into a car with just a man. There have been stories of men taking women into the woods and attacking them. <br><br>**Driving:** They drive crazy. I am used to not using my horn unless I absolutely have to and here my coworkers beep the horn at random. They also have a tendency to drive into oncoming traffic. One time we were driving and our driver decided to drive into oncoming traffic so he could pass another car. It was terrifying. <br><br>A lot of people don't wear helmets on their scooters. I thought that this was an absolute necessity when I was back home and the lack of helmets here is insane. <br><br>**Elderly:** When I was in college, compared to high school, there were significantly less elderly. Here, there are even less than when I was in college. You will see elderly working at restaurants, shops, the local market, and even as security guards. <br><br>**School:** The education system here is completely different. School is from 8am-4:30pm and kids are expected to learn 2-3 different languages. They learn English, Thai, and sometimes Mandarin. There are also a lot of different uniforms depending on the day. On Monday, Thursday, and Friday, the kids wear a blue shirt with brown pants/skirt. On Wednesday they wear a white shirt with a brown tie, brown pants/skirt, and brown shoes. On Tuesday they wear a yellow shirt with a blue pant/skirt. <br><br>**Weather:** I'm from Buffalo so I'm used to cold winters and warm summers. Here it is hot and humid all the time. It's been above 85F everyday and has rained a couple times. It's been an adjustment. <br><br>I'm sure that as I'm here longer, I will notice more cultural differences and I plan on writing more about my time here. <br><br>Edit: Thank you for the rewards and for my first silver!