Thankfully, we were so tired from our first day that we went right to bed… because we had to leave our hotel at 7:30 a.m. the next morning!
After breakfast and a lot of coffee, we drove to Wat Raikhing where we boarded on a traditional rice barge for a cruise along the Tachine River. Coconut drinks in tow, we arrived at Rose Garden Riverside.
Rose Garden Riverside was composed of many traditional Thai homes. These Thai homes are currently used to teach people about the Thai culture and life. During our experience, we learned many things about the Thai culture. We were shown Thai dances, cooking, pottery, herbal remedies, flower arrangements. I personally found the most interesting experience was the Thai ettiqute of greeting. I found this to be most interesting because when I first arrived in Thailand there were many instances when people would do this bow gesture in greeting me. Keeping what I learned in my diversity class alive, I thought it would be more offensive if I bowed inappropriately rather than not bowing at all. I was sure that there was a certain way to go about the bowing process and pretending to know what I was doing would probably not have helped my situation. I think when I learned how to properly bow and greet people was when I first began to really connect with my current Thailand experience. We ended our experience at Rose Garden Riverside with a traditional Thai massage, using the herbal remedies we made earlier that day. I found it to be key in further developing my cultural awareness and learning more about the Thai people.
~ Jenny Thoma, MACC
