You Me and Tuscany: Culture Shock in Chiang Mai: My first Impressions

Across the street, there are people selling beetles the size of my palm (for fighting purposes), down the street you can find grilled frog on the menu, and I'm not so sure what exactly was in my noodle soup that I just ate. Welcome to Chiang Mai! Though I had thought I knew what I was getting into, it turns out I really had no clue. After spending 36 hours travelling from Toronto, to Shanghai, to Cheng Du (China), and eating rice for three meals a day, I could barely wait to touch down in Chiang Mai, Thailand and reunite with my husband, Zack.

The journey itSelf went fairly smoothly, however I was starting to crave an English conversation more than anything, and was tired of being pushed along in a crowd of a million Chinese people who spoke to me in Chinese (as if I had a clue). Not that Thailand would exactly be the answer to that, but I was finally being reunited with Zack, and knew that he'd help me feel back to my normal self, and together we could conquer the challenges of living in this new country. Being together again was great, though I spent my first couple of days in Chiang Mai in a complete daze. Zack took me out for lunch, to the market, and out for coffee, all while I was trying to process exactly where I was and why I was here. While Zack was at work, I'd venture out only to feel a bit overwhelmed by all that was going on around me. It was as if my senses were on overdrive: so many smells (amazing smells wafting from food stalls, and nasty smells coming from ...?), so much to see (again, the food! But also people wizzing by you on motorbikes, the trees and plants, Thai style houses that had seen better days, or trendy coffee shops and backpacker hostels), feeling HOT (it gets really humid here and in the middle of the afternoon can be 35 degrees celcius. I found this heat very tiring the first couple of days), and so many things to hear (to be out on your own in a country where you can not understand a word other people are saying can be overwhelming at times... Also, the streets can be very busy, causing it to be a very noisy environment). To sum it up in two words: senses overload!!

So much to see at the Warorot Market.

The elephant is cute, but the smell coming from that river is somewhat revolting...

The Old City in the centre is surrounded by a moat, and there used to be a tall wall surrounding it. Many parts of the wall you can still see today.

I'm not saying all this to scare you off from visiting Chiang Mai, or to make my experience here seem totally negative... because it has not been a negative experience for me. I think these feelings naturally happen when you move to a completely new country that is different from your own. Though I cannot compare this to our move to England (piece of cake!), these are some of the reasons we decided to move to Thailand! In a way, we craved this type of "culture shock". I did not take many photos my first week of being here, but after the first couple days of "senses overload", I started venturing out on my own and walked all over the old city, dripping in sweat, but loved taking in the sights, smells, sounds and feelings.

Along with exploring the city, I began my search for an apartment the second day of being here. It took only one week before we had found a place we liked, and we just spent our first weekend in our new apartment! I will be sharing very soon about our new place and will have more photos to share.

Maybe I'll finish this off with a few things that I have really enjoyed or liked since being here. For one, the food has been really fun to try. At just 35 Thai Baht (just over 1 dollar Canadian), I can enjoy a hot meal at one of the many street food stalls or "cafeteria style" restaurants. Though there are still a lot of foods that make me look twice (I saw some crispy looking insects on banana leaves this evening), that's still a part of the experience. The fresh fruit and trying fruits that I've never tried has been super exciting, and though I can't communicate with a lot of the people working at the markets, most of them have a smile on their face and are happy to help me out. The mountains around Chiang Mai leave me in awe. Doi Suthep is the mountain next to Chiang Mai where you can hike to the temple on the top and it's not a far drive from the city. I really enjoyed the hike and the lush greenery out that way. We also drove out to an old quarry which has been turned into a large lake for swimming. The markets in Chiang Mai are lively and there is always something to see. And though I am missing out on the beautiful fall season at home, it is so nice to be out at night without a jacket and slip on my flip flops (instead of strapping on my winter boots!).

There's definitely a lot more to see and do here that I'm sure we'll discover in time. I'd say Chiang Mai has shocked me in good ways and bad ways. All I can say for now is, good or bad- I feel ready and excited to take this on!