Katie and Julie Kruck, high school students at Reed-Custer High, visited Custer Park Elementary School's third grade classroom upon returning from their trip to Thailand. They brought pictures and souvenirs to show the class. The students enjoyed hearing about the trip. Here are a few highlights of what they shared with us.

The plane flight was a total of approximately 20 hours. Fourteen hours to Taiwan, then four more to Thailand. They were impressed with the gold in the fabulously decorated palaces and buildings of Thailand. The language was interesting because intonation of words was very important to the meaning of what was being said.

Of course Thailand has had a king for centuries. The people of Thailand like their king very much. The money has the picture of the current king on it; whenever a new king is crowned, new money is printed with the new king's picture on it.

Regarding lifestyles, they noted no shoes are worn inside most building and homes. It is tradition for women to wear clothing that covers the knees and shoulders. Men and boys also wore shorts or pants past the knee. For tourists who are not aware of the tradition, they have appropriate clothing for visitors to rent while entering buildings. The main religion of Thailand is Buddhism. The temples are called "wats" and are very beautiful and ornate.

Three interesting souvenirs were the umbrellas, the money, and the Thai hat. The umbrellas are of course worn to protect from the sun. they are hand carved and hand painted. They only cost about $1.00 American money.Thai money is called a bath (bat) and 40 bath is worth about one American dollar. The Thai hat, which is made of rice paper, is very practical. When you look inside the hat, you can see a form that looks somewhat like an upside down basket, open weave, to allow air to pass through, which keeps the head from getting so hot.

Special shows are provided for tourists. While attending the elephant shows, the Kruck family learned the elephant is the symbol of the country. The white elephant depicts royalty and is treated with great respect. At the shows, some elephants will even take their trunks and try to remove money from the pockets of the tourists! There were also poisonous snake shows!

The third grade students ask the girls about American things, such as TV and restaurants. Their reply was that most English speaking shows on TV came from Australia. There were alsoThai channels on TV, with English subtitles. As for the restaurants, many American style restaurants, such as Star Bucks, McDonalds, and Seven-Eleven could be found.

A GREAT BIG thanks to the whole Kruck family for helping us learn so much about a world so far away from ours!