4/19/2008 - Thai Exchange Student Immersed in Cape Life

By Steve Desroches

Eastham – The windmill should have been a sign. “It’s so windy here,” said Apirak Thongpiyaphoon, an 18-year-old exchange student from Thailand at Nauset Regional High School.

He lives with his host family quite close to the Eastham landmark, which represents just one of the many differences between his life on the Outer Cape and back home in Southern Thailand.

Thongpiyaphoon, who goes by his English nickname “Fame,” is one of eight foreign exchange students on Cape Cod this year. In search of new experiences, a little adventure and to improve their English skills, about 30,000 foreign exchange students come to the United States through a variety of organizations each year, according to state department statistics. But very few of those students go to New York City or Hollywood, which is often their impression of America. Most go to homes in small towns across the country, bringing students from places such as Saudi Arabia and Japan to high schools from Bourne and Barnstable.

“It’s such a great experience,” said Christine Hart of Sandwich, who along with another volunteer in Chatham, find host families and then provide support throughout the year. “You become really close to these kids.”

Sitting in the Nauset Regional library, Thongpiyaphoon sits working on his laptop looking very much like an average American high school student. A couple of his friends give him a wave as they head off to class.

“It was hard to start making friends,” he said. How teenagers interact with one another in Thailand is different from here in the States, in ways he finds difficult to explain. “People are very nice here,” said Thongpiyaphoon. “At first I don’t think they wanted to talk to me because I am only here for a year. But I’ve made a lot of friends.”

His life at Nauset is much more laid back than in Thailand, he said. No school uniforms, the daily schedule is not regimented and the opportunity to study art are some of the differences he likes the best. “That’s another reason I love Cape Cod, because of all the art,” said Thongpiyaphoon, who wants to study fashion design when he attends university.

He’s taken the opportunity to work on his design portfolio while in the States, watch “Project Runway,” a fashion design competition on the Bravo television network, and learn about American fashion design. “Fashion in Asia is more colorful than here,” notes Thongpiyaphoon. “Here is more about dark colors.”

Learning about America through foreign exchange has been part of the cultural landscape of the country since these programs were founded following World War II. President Dwight Eisenhower made international exchange a priority during his time in the White House, according to historians. In 1956, Eisenhower called a conference of American political, social and business leaders, which led to the creation of the People to People High School Student Ambassador Program, which provides travel study opportunities for American youth. AFS, founded in 1914 as the American Field Service, began as an ambulance service in France during World War I. AFS evolved to become one of the largest high school exchange programs in the world.

In the United States, host families and those that supervise them are all volunteers. “Trying to find host families is tough,” said Hart, whose own daughters were both exchange students traveling to Holland and Argentina.Exchange student organizations place students in all kinds of families – single parents, retirees with no children at home, same-sex couples, etc.

Students come with their own spending money and health insurance. Volunteers like Hart keep regular contact with the families and students as well as organize social programs such as whale watches and beach parties. Everyday things Americans don’t give a thought to can be an intercultural learning experience.

“The student from Saudi Arabia was quite surprised to see girls in bikinis when we had a beach party last summer,” laughed Hart. Cape Cod beaches were also the location for a learning experience for Thongpiyaphoon. It seems that exchange students, like many of us, talk about the weather a lot as a main difference. In tropical Southern Thailand, the weather is often humid and usually 80 degrees. When Thongpiyaphoon arrived last August, his host family took him to the beach every day.

“I thought ‘Why do you have to go to the beach every day?’” said Thongpiyaphoon. And then came the winter and his first experience with snow. “Now I understand because in the winter you can’t go every day,” said Thongpiyaphoon. “I was so surprised when I saw snow. It was amazing. Then I started to get sick of it.”

Republished with permission. This article was originally published here.