Language Exchange Lunches

The first language exchange lunch I attended was on February 10th. About four Thai Studies students arrived at the canteen to meet.. two tables full of English majors. We divided ourselves between the tables and started talking with the students. I mainly talked to Xin and Banana, though I had a bit of a conversation with the entire table. It was pretty impossible to talk to everyone one on one, though we had several broad conversations.

Xin has spent some time at Payap studying Thai. She's from China--the Yun Nam province. Xin is 21 years old, and she is an only child. When we first started talking, she reminded me that we had met at Carrefour probably the first week that I was in Chiang Mai. She was behind Laura and me while we were checking out. Xin told me that the last movie she saw was Bedtime story. Also, she drives a motor bike. Actually, I recently ran into her on the way to class (not literally), and she asked if I would like a ride, though I declined for safety reasons. Before we said goodbye, she gave me her phone number so we could get together and practice Thai and English.

Banana is also 21 years old. She is from Chiang Rai, several hours away from Chiang Mai. After she graduates from Payap, she would like to go on to get her masters degree. Banana has two younger sisters.
Within the larger conversation, we found out that several of the guys like to listen to heavy metal music.. though most of the girls prefer pop.


The second language lunch I went to was on February 13th. Being so close to valentines, I ased what the girls I was speaking to were going to do (if anything) for the holiday. Eing, who is 20, told me that she would be going out to dinner. Som, 21, said that she was going to give a present to her boyfriend.

Som, who as been to Australia, would like to be a flight attendant. She is 21 years old and has one younger brother. Eing, who is from Lampang, has one older sister. She told me that she would like to go to Japan.

This time, when I asked about music, the girls told me that they liked pop music and Thai singers. A guy who was sitting near by mentioned that he enjoyed Britney Spears and Taylor Swift quite a bit. He also told us about his job as well as his opinions about farang girls. It was an interesting and amusing conversation.

The last language lunch that I attened was on Friday, March 13th. I sat with Reid, a guy named Bank, and several girls. Bank told us that he wants to be a steward. He also picked up Reid's habit of saying "yep, yep, yep". For Bank, though, this was a bit different than it was for Reid. He would go "yep, yep, yep!" any time that he had no idea what we were actually saying. This made everyone laugh.

We also had a conversation about Judiasm.. sort of. Reid and I had to attempt to explain it, which was difficult since there was a bit of a language barrier. It's also a bit difficult to explain when the majority of people around you are Buddhist and not Christian. I find it interesting that so many students are Buddhist when Payap is a Christian university. I have only met a few students who are Christians.

Anyway, during this conversation, one of the girls said, "I think the Jews are the pretty ones." This comment was made, I believe, in reference to my skin color, since I'm a good bit pale. Reid is also a bit fair skinned, so it would make sense that this is what she was referring to, though it was a rather strange statement, and it led to a discussion of Judiasm having a blood line and being a religion, which just became even more confusing with the language barrier.

Overall, I really enjoyed the language lunches. They were a great way to meet other students and learn about their lives. I will miss these get togethers!