Thought I would give you a quick update of my trip to Thailand. There will be much more to come, including more pictures....

Bangkok-
After school on Tuesday, a group of us headed for the airport for Bangkok. We arrived into Bangkok around 3 am and went straight to the guest house that we were staying at. We were awakened very early by the sounds of roosters and maybe monkeys?!?!
Our first stop of the day was Starbucks! I was able to get a Peppermint Mocha, something we do not have at our Starbucks in Qingdao! Our 8 remaining hours in Bangkok were spent sightseeing. We took a tour on a Tuk-Tuk (a small 3 wheeled vehicle). I saw many temples, a very large Buddha, and the Palace. (pictures to come!) We ended the day with some shopping in Backpacker's Alley. Then it was off to the airport.

Chiang Mai. Thailand

Thailand Thanksgiving-
Thanksgiving was very different this year. It was definitely not a traditional Thanksgiving! No turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, pumpkin pie with my wonderful family. Instead, Christy, Angela, Lisa, and I spent Thanksgiving evening at a small Thai restaurant and had curry and rice, sweet and sour shrimp, and a tomato and onion salad. We finished the evening by shopping at the night market. The night market is a street long market with lots of vendors. It was great to be able to bargain in English!

On Saturday, a group of us went to ride the elephants! We went early to see the elephant show! The elephants were great! We saw them do a variety of things such as play soccer and paint pictures ) I don't think I would have believed that an elephant could actually paint a picture that nice if I hadn't seen it for myself!). I was even able to get a hug from the elephants!

After 18 hours of traveling- full of very long lines and little sleep, we arrived back from Thailand safely, but very tired, at 12:30 am this morning. It has been a very busy 5 days!

waiting in one of many very long lines!