By Mr. Bradford Eliot Cogswell

Exchange student from University of Southern California, USA

Deciding to study abroad this semester at Thammasat was not an easy choice for me.  I was leaving behind the University of Southern California, friends, and family to travel over twelve thousand miles across the globe.  I knew no other exchange students and very little about Thai culture.  My first few days seemed like a marathon of meeting new people, finding a place to live, and beginning to get used to life at Thammasat.  It wasn?t until the weekend with the other exchange students in Hua Hin did I really begin to feel like part of Thammasat BBA.

Our trip began Thursday morning around eight.  The twenty three undergrad students and several graduate students boarded a bus not knowing what to expect for the weekend except a trip to the beach.  There were several cliques that had formed prior to this trip, but in general no one really knew each other.  We arrived in Hua Hin at the gorgeous Dusit Resort and headed straight to the beach before we were supposed to meet for our incredible lunch buffet.  After lunch we worked off our food comas by more relaxing at the beach and then everyone met on a large lawn on the side of the hotel for some team bonding activities.