TAHS exchange student from Thailand’s largest city finds comfort in nature
By Per Peterson
Minnie Chaipramote is getting used to a new, much smaller home.
Chaipramote, a foreign exchange student at Tracy Area High School this year, hails from Bangkok, Thailand. Bangkok is the capital city with an estimated population of 8.2 million, and her school back home has about 2,000 students in grades 1-12.
Welcome to small town, Minnesota, Minnie.
“It’s good,” she said. “I like it. It’s different from Thailand. I have good friends here.”
Chaipramote is living with the Scott and Shelley Schwartz family. At 16 years old, she’s relatively young for an exchange student.
“I am young, but my sister was an exchange student last year,” the sophomore said. “I really want to improve my English and learn about the American culture.”
Building a long-lasting relationship with her host family is also important to the teen.
“I love my host family,” she said. “They are so nice.”
See this week’s Headlight Herald for more on this article.