From where I stood, I saw the wonders of the world, Egypt, Brazil, Paris, New York, Venice, and ancient Rome. However, everything seemed a bit too perfect, but that is Las Vegas. But let me explain, I am a kid from a sleepy, laid-back, and slightly conservative town in the north of Thailand. So arriving in this crazy city in the middle of the desert shocked me to my core.

It was during summer break of 2011 that we arrived at Reno Airport. The wind was strong; the sun was exactly above our heads, hinting the time was twelve in the afternoon or so. When I stepped out of the terminal, I encountered a small pool of stylish slot machines, lit up with different shades of neon lights; the patterns on the machines were painted the same. My eyes caught a tall white man who was circling around the area, thinking, and then he decided to stop and sat in front of one of the machines. The man looked around nervously before he inserted a coin into the machine. I stood there, staring at the man with curiosity and interest. His action was very suspicious and I wondered why was he so nervous, it just a machine. But I was not able to stay till the very end because we had to catch a cab to our hotel in the city.

We got a worn out yellow cab, the seats had some small scratches, but they were clean except at the edges of the seats where dust particles and bits of chip crumbs from the previous customers marked their territories. The cab driver was Spanish, he had an oily face and a scary scar on his right cheek, it made him look intimidating and scary, but despise the fierce-looking face, he was hilarious. He basically told us his whole life story; I had to admit that his jokes were pretty funny. While, my parents were listening to him blabbing about his wife and kids and enjoying his entertainment, I was looking out the musty windows with amazement. The scenes changed as we drove, from tiny hotels with dirty and old, boring backgrounds to gigantic hotels with amazing light works and architecture designs. It was not very long until we arrived at Rio Hotel. The building was painted with different colors. A huge poster displayed a pair of comedians whom I had never heard of, but they were very popular in Las Vegas. After my father paid the expensive bill for the ride, we walked into the huge hotel. Behind the heavily decorated door, there was a sea of slot machines, many more than in the airport. All people seemed to be in a hurry as they speed walked through the hotel paths. They were friendly enough to smile at me as they passed.

We settled ourselves in room we booked then went down to get some supper. We bought 24-hour buffet tickets which allowed us to eat at different 5 hotels listed at any time for one day. That was a paradise to me. And have you ever seen buffets in Las Vegas hotels? They are just indescribable and unbelievable. They were more like food festivals rather than buffets. The food was delicious and had various types from different regions of the world. I loved the seafood section because it was fresh and well-seasoned and the seafood sauce tasted great. At first, I did not know what to do but after observing how other people did it I was able to follow along the flow. I just had to think of the quote, “When in Rome do as the Romans do.” So I kept going back to get more and more every time after I finished a plate, but it was not long until I felt like my stomach was ready to explode then I stopped.

During daytime, Las Vegas was like a closed theater that was waiting for the night to arrive to show its true side and that was when the real show start. At night, Las Vegas revealed its dark and sinful side. More people gambled, drank, danced, lost their minds, and got married with someone they just met. This was the interesting side of this “Sin City”. The neon lights on the buildings were changing, dimming, flashing, and reflecting the shapes and the sizes of different hotels. They seemed to be trying to draw and invite people into their dark areas of the towns. I saw women who wore so little and that made my eyes popped out. They marched around the hotel, serving drinks and talking to customers. On my last day in Las Vegas, when we were waiting to check out, a woman wearing a tiny black tight dress appeared from nowhere stepped up onto a stage which was set in the middle of the hotel. The music was turned on louder and then she started dancing. The crowds started to gather. I looked at her and opened my mouth without noticing that I was doing it. I could not describe the scene; it was just too shocking to me. It was the first time for me to see someone dancing like that! After the performance, everyone clapped with enthusiasm and then the crowd quickly dissolved away.

Las Vegas was like a dream. It was a place where people go and enjoy themselves. There’s a quote I heard from the adults which was “What happens in Las Vegas, stays in Las Vegas.” So it made me feel that Las Vegas is a place for temporarily relaxation, happiness, and enjoyment and that it does not last forever. But still, it was an odd and interesting experience. Las Vegas seemed so different from my home country; while most Thais are quite conservative and against gambling and things like inappropriate dancing and dressing, Americans are quite expressive and enjoy the luxury in Las Vegas. This experience helped me to realize that it is not just a boring world we live in, but it is a marvelous and wonderful world. Where I came from it was like living in a bubble which protected me from other things that would have negative impacts on my worldview and lifestyle that were in the world. My world view really changed from just always thinking about a world that was so boring with nothing to really brighten up us, well, I was wrong.