Sorry for the long time between posts. At first I had nothing to write about, then when I got something I was so busy that I didn't get the chance. 3 weeks ago was exams and also a horrible week for me. I am not going to go into detail but it was a rough week. Then on the 20th Bashayer came to stay with me. I picked her up in Bangkok at 7:30 AM and then we went to some street markets for breakfast and to look around. My host mom left us in Siam, the large mall center in Bangkok, so we went to the international market and to a movie. We got to see the first half of Whip It before realizing that if we didn't leave we were going to be late for the van, we had to get home before 6. We ended up being late anyway but at least we tried to get there on time. That night we went for a walk on the beach and we talked about a lot of stuff. It was nice to have someone I could talk to and share all my problems with and who would understand. We ended up going in earlier than we wanted because we were being eaten alive by mosquitos.
Monday we had school and so she got to meet all my friends. It was a little weird for me all the attentiont they gave her, but it was alright. She immediately liked Sai and she liked my other friends too. School is school so we didn't have loads of fun, but I think she liked it.
Tuesday we had English with this one teacher who doesn't know anything, but she is really nice. In the afternoon we have 6th and 7th period free because boys have military training so the teacher took us to the palace of Rama V. After school went went the the big palace in Petchaburi and then ran errands with my host mom. After we got home we helped to cook and then spent the night together having fun and talking.
Wednesday nothing special happened. After school we went gift shopping because I had to Preaw a gift since I drew her name and I still had to get Bashayer's gift so went to this one shop and I made a cool key chain for Preawa nd then Bashayer and I decided to make eachother bracelets. It was a lot of fun, but took a long time and so we couldn't go out for dinner like they wanted.
Thursday was Christmas Eve and the next day we were planning on baking so my host mom dropped us off at Big C to buy some things we still needed. After we got home we prepared everything for the next day and then helped cook. After dinner I opened a few presents. I opened the things from Macy, which were amazing thank you! and the pacakge from Germany, love the shirt and already started the jam thank you! I also opened Rummikub from Mom and Dad and taught Bashayer. I also traded gifts with my friends and got a pretty picture frame from Kaw. It was a fun day.
Friday was Christmas and so I was full of energy. I went to assembly and it was cool. The Chinese, English, and French students did some little pieces for Christmas. After assembly we went to class and I gave my friends their stockings, they were so excited it was really cute. After lunch Bashayer and I went to the bakery to cook, we asked if we could use the oven and they said we could so we were excited. We made brownies, pimpkin pie, and cookies. The brownies turned out well and we gave them to the teachers who all said they were good. The pumpkin pie was good, in our opinion, my host family didn't like it much. The cookies didn't turn out so well, they got over done. After school then we went to the market and bought the last several things for the dinner we were making. We then went home and cooked. We made pork burgers, mashed potatoes, corn, baked beans, and canned peaches. It was fun to cook with Bashayer and to teach her how to bake and cook, she doesn't do any of that in New York so it was all new for her. After dinner I brought down all the christmas stuff and we opened presents while I video chatted with home. It was fun. After that we stayed up late and talked and had fun.
Saturday Bashayer and I took the tuk tuk thing to Petchaburi and climbed the mountain. It was a lot of work, which was good because we ate way too much the day before. I got sunburned, but for the first time ever it turned tan after it went away. On the mountain we saw a lot of foreigners, the most I've ever seen in Petchaburi before. I also lost two bottles of water to the monkeys. After the mountain Bashayer dropped her camera and broke the screen so she wasn't in a good mood after that. We also got lost looking for the school. We had to stop and ask the police directions to the school, which after getting them made me feel stupid because I knew exactly where to go. We then went and waited at the school for Peach to pick us up, she was going to her grandparents which is five minutes from my house so she offered to give us a ride to the house. After we got home we goofed around the rest of the night and just had fun.
We didnt go to bed till 1 and we got up at 3 to go to Bangkok. My host dad had to go to school on Sunday so we went to Bangkok too. We got there at 6:30 and had nothing to do so we went and ate at Dunkin' Donuts and then went and sat in front of Siam. We both started to fall asleep there so we decided to go to Bon Au Pain and get some more food. I got an amazing Peacan Roll and she got a chocolate croisant. We sat on the upper floor on the couch like bench. After we finished eating we decided to sleep until 10 when the mall opened, so we slept in the restaurant for 2 hours or more. We left when this one lady kept staring at us. We then went to the mall and checked out what movies were playing and when. Paragon didn't have New Moon so we walked to Central World. New Moon was to play at 1:50 so we decided to go to Sherlock Holmes and eat before seeing it. The movie was really good and then we went to eat at this steak place. It had really good food. Then we went and saw New Moon, which was amazing!!! Then we went and tried to get Bashayer's camera fixed but the people who fix the cameras were on vacation till after New Year so we left. We took the van back home and arrived at the same time as my host dad so that was convenient.
On Monday we didn't do much of anything. We goofed around and stayed up late talking and spending the last of our time together. Tuesday we left school at 12:30 after changing and headed for Bangkok. We arrived in time to get some ice cream from Swenson's and to get Bashayer some dinner (she had to carry on because she wasn't going to get any anywhere else). We underestimated the amount of time to get there and ended up being 20 minutes late and missing her bus. They were able to squeeze her on the bus an hour after her original time, but she wanted to come back with us and stay for New Year. We had it all worked out with everyone but Gayoon and so her host sister called Gayoon to try to convince her to let Bashayer stay, but Gayoon said no so she had to go. She arrived this morning at 7:30 after a 14 hour bus ride. She said that when she got off the bus she was shivering because it is cold in her Province, meaning in the 60's!
Well I'll do an other post soon about today and the New Year but right now I'm tired and I have to get up early tomorrow to go with them to temple to give food to the monks for New Year.
So till 2010! Happy New Year!
Lots of Love,
Allyson
P.S. I am posting photos and will post the link soon.
Tuesday, December 29, 2009
Wednesday, December 9, 2009
Consitution Day
December 10 marks the Constitution Day which is held annually to commemorate the advent of the regime of Constitutional Monarchy in Thailand. Previously, the government of Thailand was an absolute monarchy until June 24, 1932 there was a transition to constitutional monarchy led by a group of young intellectuals educated abroad and inspired by the concept of western democratic procedures. The group which was known as "People's Party or Khana Rasdr" was led by Luang Pradit Manudharm (Pridi Panomyong). To avoid bloodshed, King Rama VII graciously agreed to abolish absolute monarchy and handed over the country's first "Permanent" Constitution. In fact, King Rama VII (King Prajadhipok) had prepared, even before being asked, to hand over his powers to the people.
Sunday, December 6, 2009
Last Couple of Days
So on Wednesday I decided I was going to try and speak some Thai with my classmates, well it turned into them not letting me speak English anymore! It wasn't so bad on Wednesday when Mo was there because she could help me. On Thursday and Friday she was gone. She had a speech competition (which she did really well in, took first place), so I was left to fend for myself. It wasn't so bad, a little confusing, but it was fun. I got to talk to some of the girls in my class that I hadn't before and I sat with a different group of people at lunch. I'm really getting to know the kids in my class more and more and I like them even more the better I get to know them!
On Thursday we didn't have class until 4th period so we sat in the Library and they made me practice me Thai reading for three periods. I thought my brain was going to explode by the end! After lunch I went and sat with some of the girls and we talked. At one point they decided that they wanted to play with my hair because it was pretty so they did my hair. I also gave them my camera to take pictures and they had lots of fun. After they finished my hair (which looked really cool) we had PE. My PE is self-defense, totally not me. It turns out I'm pretty good at it because I was taking on ever girl in my class (I think they are all really weak because I hardly had to try to break their tightest grip). It was a lot more fun than I thought it would be. I learned the word for hurt because I was very sore after class.
Friday was another language challenge but it went alright. 2nd period I have Art and they teacher is so cute. She doesn't speak a lot of English but she tries. Lucas is also in that class and she really likes us. Every week she gives us fruit or candy. This week she gave me a big bag of Glass Mangos. She said that Lucas and I are her son and daughter, it was really cute. 7th period I have Social Study with Peach and Lucas and Lucas and I were talking. We weren't being very loud or anything but apparently one of the girls in the class didn't appreciate our noise and so she called Peach a really horrible name and Peach cried for a good part of 8th period. I felt horrible that I had caused it, but she wouldn't let us comfort her or do anything.
Well also this week I figured out my community service. I will be volunteering in a Kindergarten once a week and doing projects with them, so if someone has a Christmas project let me know because I need ideas.
I have spent the weekend playing phone tag with Bashayer trying to plan her trip. Everything is almost settled, but I still have to try and get a hold of her tonight. This weekend was also Father's Day. Father's Day is on the King's Birthday because the king is the Father of the country. They don't do anything for their fathers except sometimes they give them flowers, but Meow and Mike didn't. At night they have fireworks and they do a song and have some performances to honor the king.
Well that's really all I've been up to lately. I changed some settings because people said it was hard to comment, so it should be easier now.
Pictures:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=127891&id=535566988&l=7de7523a83
Lots of Love,
Allyson
On Thursday we didn't have class until 4th period so we sat in the Library and they made me practice me Thai reading for three periods. I thought my brain was going to explode by the end! After lunch I went and sat with some of the girls and we talked. At one point they decided that they wanted to play with my hair because it was pretty so they did my hair. I also gave them my camera to take pictures and they had lots of fun. After they finished my hair (which looked really cool) we had PE. My PE is self-defense, totally not me. It turns out I'm pretty good at it because I was taking on ever girl in my class (I think they are all really weak because I hardly had to try to break their tightest grip). It was a lot more fun than I thought it would be. I learned the word for hurt because I was very sore after class.
Friday was another language challenge but it went alright. 2nd period I have Art and they teacher is so cute. She doesn't speak a lot of English but she tries. Lucas is also in that class and she really likes us. Every week she gives us fruit or candy. This week she gave me a big bag of Glass Mangos. She said that Lucas and I are her son and daughter, it was really cute. 7th period I have Social Study with Peach and Lucas and Lucas and I were talking. We weren't being very loud or anything but apparently one of the girls in the class didn't appreciate our noise and so she called Peach a really horrible name and Peach cried for a good part of 8th period. I felt horrible that I had caused it, but she wouldn't let us comfort her or do anything.
Well also this week I figured out my community service. I will be volunteering in a Kindergarten once a week and doing projects with them, so if someone has a Christmas project let me know because I need ideas.
I have spent the weekend playing phone tag with Bashayer trying to plan her trip. Everything is almost settled, but I still have to try and get a hold of her tonight. This weekend was also Father's Day. Father's Day is on the King's Birthday because the king is the Father of the country. They don't do anything for their fathers except sometimes they give them flowers, but Meow and Mike didn't. At night they have fireworks and they do a song and have some performances to honor the king.
Well that's really all I've been up to lately. I changed some settings because people said it was hard to comment, so it should be easier now.
Pictures:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=127891&id=535566988&l=7de7523a83
Lots of Love,
Allyson
Thai Thanksgiving
So I want to start by apologizing for the long gap between posts. I have been so busy with everything lately that I barely have time to think alone before I'm heading to bed. I'm not complaining though, it's kind of nice. Anyway last Thursday was Thanksgiving so I had a Thai Thanksgiving. They don't have an oven or turkey so I had to talk to mom about what kind of things I could make. In the end I made sweet potatoes (which are different than American sweet potatoes), potatoes (no cheese or sour cream, but I like potatoes so it didn't matter to me), strawberry jello with bananas, and fried chicken.
After school I went to the market with my host mom and we bought everything I would need. We couldn't find some of the things right away, but I didn't let it discourage me and eventually we got the things we needed. When we got home I changed out of my uniform and got cooking right away. I made quite a mess, but it was fun. I had Meow help me and in time we got it done. It took a long time and I felt like a chicken with it's head cut off running everywhere. Mike was eating everything before I could get it on the table.
They were all a little shocked when I said we were eating the American way so we didn't have rice. Everyone loved it and they made me make the chicken again on Friday night.
I made them do the "Thanks" and they didn't really understand, but it was cute.
A FEW Things I'm thankful for:
My American Family for all the love and support they give me
My host family for taking me in and supporting me and taking care of me
My friends for always being there for me
My skating, because I love it and I know how much it costs so I'm thankful for being able to do it
All the Opportunities in my life and all the blessings I've been given!
Thank you to everyone who loves me and prays for me! Just knowing that you are there and supporting me means sooo much to me! Thank you to everyone!
After school I went to the market with my host mom and we bought everything I would need. We couldn't find some of the things right away, but I didn't let it discourage me and eventually we got the things we needed. When we got home I changed out of my uniform and got cooking right away. I made quite a mess, but it was fun. I had Meow help me and in time we got it done. It took a long time and I felt like a chicken with it's head cut off running everywhere. Mike was eating everything before I could get it on the table.
They were all a little shocked when I said we were eating the American way so we didn't have rice. Everyone loved it and they made me make the chicken again on Friday night.
I made them do the "Thanks" and they didn't really understand, but it was cute.
A FEW Things I'm thankful for:
My American Family for all the love and support they give me
My host family for taking me in and supporting me and taking care of me
My friends for always being there for me
My skating, because I love it and I know how much it costs so I'm thankful for being able to do it
All the Opportunities in my life and all the blessings I've been given!
Thank you to everyone who loves me and prays for me! Just knowing that you are there and supporting me means sooo much to me! Thank you to everyone!
Saturday, November 21, 2009
Saturday November 21st, 2009
So let me start with yesterday. I woke up and read (nothing special). Then I had a little grill circle (my host aunt brought one of those things like at the restaurant for us to use). Everything was good, then Meow put an egg in the water so that everything in it was covered, she wasn’t thinking. I ended up only eating bits of pork after that, but it was still good. Then my host aunt bought me watermelon, like she usually does. After lunch I watched Legally Blonde one and two with Meow. When she had to go and water the trees I went and read until it was time to make dinner. After dinner I went on the computer for a little while before I helped my host mom in the store. The lady who normally comes and prices everything and washes dishes and the does the floor didn’t come so she had us kids helping. I got to use the price machine to put the stickers on everything. They would tell me the prices in Thai so that I would get used to hearing them (I only messed up once). After we finished in the store I helped cut things for today. Then I finished watch Legally Blonde 2, showered and went to bed (even though everyone else was up, it was after 12 so I went to bed).
I will like to take a moment now and talk about Mike. He is EXACTLY like Sarah! He is ALWAYS on either the computer or TV, he only does his chores part way, he lies about how much screen time he’s used, he makes more work for the rest of us, and he is always eating snacks even when my host mom tells him he can’t. It’s funny how many similarities they have. He doesn’t bug me though because he doesn’t speak enough English, but he bugs Meow all the time. I have to say that at least Sarah would read sometimes and she did her homework more often than Mike does and a little better quality. Mike is always ‘forgetting’ about his homework and so my host mom is always getting calls from his teachers complaining. He is now on ADHD meds, but only 20 mg (I’m on 80 and he’s worse than me!) and they will stop selling them in Thailand come February so my host mom can’t buy him any more. He is always playing with something and can never sit still of be quiet for more than a few seconds at a time, which is really annoying. Most of the time I can tune him out, but there are moments were I would like to shake him, like when he eats! Well I’m done complaining for now, I’ll continue with my day.
Today I got up at 6:30 and showered. I then came downstairs and helped prepare food for the day. I grilled the hot dogs while Meow went and got those donut things for breakfast (probably as healthy as eating McDonald’s for breakfast but taste WAY better). I ate them with PB for some protein, had a yogurt and some of the instant stuff. I then grilled some shrimp and helped pack everything up. On our way out, I forgot to grab a pair of shorts so that ruined my day!
We drove for a while and then arrived at Kaeng KraChan National Park. It is the largest national park in Thailand. It is located in Petchaburi and on the border of Myanmar/Burma. It is absolutely gorgeous! We drove around and got out at several places to take pictures. After a while we went to this place with little blow up boat things. We had to wait for Peach and Lucas to come so Meow and Mike went swimming. It looked like so much fun, but I didn’t have shorts for if I got wet so I couldn’t do it. I laid and tried to get a tan of some sort (tried being the key word there). In the sun I was so white that it hurt my eyes to look at my legs (go ahead and make fun). Everyone here thinks I have beautiful skin and wishes they were my color, but I wish I could tan!
At about 12 we went and had a picnic by the car. Thailand needs to learn about paper plates and cups because my host mom brought actual dishes from the house to use. While we were eating I figured out how to do self timer on my camera and took several pictures of us eating (I was so excited). The shrimp turned my fingers orange and the corn had so much water that I was dripping everywhere! The fried rice had some of their super small, super spicy peppers in it and I didn’t know until I bit one! It was definitely interesting, half of my mouth was on fire and nothing could make it go away, so I just continued to eat. Everything was good despite the little problems.
After we finished eating we went and sat under a shelter to wait. I decided to try some more tanning and went and laid on a mat in the sun. Many people walked by and commented or wanted to take pictures because no one in Thailand tans! I put on like 3 layers of sunscreen so I didn’t burn today, thank goodness.
Finally they showed up in the boat and we were off. It was fun. I wish I could have gotten in the water and swam with them. At one point we stopped and they ziplined into the water and then they did this bridge walk and all jumped into the water and I really wanted to join them! When we finished with the ride (it was like 2 ½ hours long) we went and ate ice cream. After that we left the park and headed for dinner.
We stopped near the house and ate some noodles, but I didn’t put anything in them so they had no taste. My host dad bought me some meat balls made from pork. They were probably one of the spiciest things I’ve eaten here, but I didn’t complain. I ate all 10 of them without commenting, but when they wanted to buy me more I said that I was good!
Now we are home and I’m working on homework. I have to hand write everything here. I typed my report so now I have to go and hand write it, then practice my letters and maybe get to some math. I don’t know if we are doing anything tomorrow so I want to get as much done today as I can. I started to write out my report but my hand got tired, that’s why I’m writing this.
Well today was a day of regrets because I didn’t do the things I wanted to. I hope that I get the chance to go back and do them!
I will like to take a moment now and talk about Mike. He is EXACTLY like Sarah! He is ALWAYS on either the computer or TV, he only does his chores part way, he lies about how much screen time he’s used, he makes more work for the rest of us, and he is always eating snacks even when my host mom tells him he can’t. It’s funny how many similarities they have. He doesn’t bug me though because he doesn’t speak enough English, but he bugs Meow all the time. I have to say that at least Sarah would read sometimes and she did her homework more often than Mike does and a little better quality. Mike is always ‘forgetting’ about his homework and so my host mom is always getting calls from his teachers complaining. He is now on ADHD meds, but only 20 mg (I’m on 80 and he’s worse than me!) and they will stop selling them in Thailand come February so my host mom can’t buy him any more. He is always playing with something and can never sit still of be quiet for more than a few seconds at a time, which is really annoying. Most of the time I can tune him out, but there are moments were I would like to shake him, like when he eats! Well I’m done complaining for now, I’ll continue with my day.
Today I got up at 6:30 and showered. I then came downstairs and helped prepare food for the day. I grilled the hot dogs while Meow went and got those donut things for breakfast (probably as healthy as eating McDonald’s for breakfast but taste WAY better). I ate them with PB for some protein, had a yogurt and some of the instant stuff. I then grilled some shrimp and helped pack everything up. On our way out, I forgot to grab a pair of shorts so that ruined my day!
We drove for a while and then arrived at Kaeng KraChan National Park. It is the largest national park in Thailand. It is located in Petchaburi and on the border of Myanmar/Burma. It is absolutely gorgeous! We drove around and got out at several places to take pictures. After a while we went to this place with little blow up boat things. We had to wait for Peach and Lucas to come so Meow and Mike went swimming. It looked like so much fun, but I didn’t have shorts for if I got wet so I couldn’t do it. I laid and tried to get a tan of some sort (tried being the key word there). In the sun I was so white that it hurt my eyes to look at my legs (go ahead and make fun). Everyone here thinks I have beautiful skin and wishes they were my color, but I wish I could tan!
At about 12 we went and had a picnic by the car. Thailand needs to learn about paper plates and cups because my host mom brought actual dishes from the house to use. While we were eating I figured out how to do self timer on my camera and took several pictures of us eating (I was so excited). The shrimp turned my fingers orange and the corn had so much water that I was dripping everywhere! The fried rice had some of their super small, super spicy peppers in it and I didn’t know until I bit one! It was definitely interesting, half of my mouth was on fire and nothing could make it go away, so I just continued to eat. Everything was good despite the little problems.
After we finished eating we went and sat under a shelter to wait. I decided to try some more tanning and went and laid on a mat in the sun. Many people walked by and commented or wanted to take pictures because no one in Thailand tans! I put on like 3 layers of sunscreen so I didn’t burn today, thank goodness.
Finally they showed up in the boat and we were off. It was fun. I wish I could have gotten in the water and swam with them. At one point we stopped and they ziplined into the water and then they did this bridge walk and all jumped into the water and I really wanted to join them! When we finished with the ride (it was like 2 ½ hours long) we went and ate ice cream. After that we left the park and headed for dinner.
We stopped near the house and ate some noodles, but I didn’t put anything in them so they had no taste. My host dad bought me some meat balls made from pork. They were probably one of the spiciest things I’ve eaten here, but I didn’t complain. I ate all 10 of them without commenting, but when they wanted to buy me more I said that I was good!
Now we are home and I’m working on homework. I have to hand write everything here. I typed my report so now I have to go and hand write it, then practice my letters and maybe get to some math. I don’t know if we are doing anything tomorrow so I want to get as much done today as I can. I started to write out my report but my hand got tired, that’s why I’m writing this.
Well today was a day of regrets because I didn’t do the things I wanted to. I hope that I get the chance to go back and do them!
Wednesday, November 18, 2009
Wednesday November 18th, 2009
So the last several days I did nothing, really, not even homework. Today was an eventful day though.
Last night, more this morning really really early actually, there was a shooting star. I stayed up all night to watch it. I read until midnight when I decided to shower to waste some time. Then I tried to understand some Lord of the Rings, Meow and my host mom were watching (it’s my host mom’s favorite movie), but I didn’t get it so I went to my room and watched Breakfast at Tiffany’s. When I finished watching my movie I decided I could lay down and sleep for a little while, 30 minutes. It wasn’t much of a sleep, I barely fell asleep before I had to get up again, but it was better than nothing I guess. At 3:30 my host dad, host mom, Meow, and I walked to the beach. We grabbed some chairs from one of the places on the beach and sat and waited. It was really windy, which made it a little hard to breathe, but it was really nice. We watched the star, it appeared every 10 minutes, always from somewhere new and going a different direction so you had to constantly be looking for it. I tried to get a picture but it moved too fast and was very small. At 5 we went back to the house where I finished getting ready for bed and then crashed!
I woke up this morning several times, but officially at 11:15 when Meow knocked on my door at told me Gayoon was making a surprise visit in 20 minutes. I was glad I showered at night so I didn’t have to worry about it in my short amount of time. She came and talked to my host mom and then she talked to me. She said that I needed to be more involved and to make more friends and be more ‘open’ or she wasn’t going to let Bashayer come in December! I can’t stand the way she talks to me or the way she just makes assumptions. I just nodded and tried not to say anything so that I wouldn’t ruin my chances of Bashayer coming any more. We then went out to lunch, where nobody talked to me. We were there for almost two hours and nobody said anything to me except to ask if I wanted some of the squid because they noticed I wasn’t eating it.
After we finished eating Gayoon left and we went back to the house. I took a nap, having not gotten a lot of sleep, and then I read. I wrote my report for my Thai class and my poem and I am going to have Meow help me translate it so that Mo doesn’t have to (I don’t want to give her more work than she already has, I feel bad about that and Meow has nothing to do). I helped my host mom cook dinner, actually helped tonight! She showed me how to make it and then she had me make one of the portions and by the fourth I did it all on my own! After dinner I finished working on my report and started working on a Literary Analysis (I don’t want to get rusty with them having to take AP when I get home).
Well that’s all that’s happening with me right now,! Hope you are all having a great week!
Lots of Love,
Allyson
Last night, more this morning really really early actually, there was a shooting star. I stayed up all night to watch it. I read until midnight when I decided to shower to waste some time. Then I tried to understand some Lord of the Rings, Meow and my host mom were watching (it’s my host mom’s favorite movie), but I didn’t get it so I went to my room and watched Breakfast at Tiffany’s. When I finished watching my movie I decided I could lay down and sleep for a little while, 30 minutes. It wasn’t much of a sleep, I barely fell asleep before I had to get up again, but it was better than nothing I guess. At 3:30 my host dad, host mom, Meow, and I walked to the beach. We grabbed some chairs from one of the places on the beach and sat and waited. It was really windy, which made it a little hard to breathe, but it was really nice. We watched the star, it appeared every 10 minutes, always from somewhere new and going a different direction so you had to constantly be looking for it. I tried to get a picture but it moved too fast and was very small. At 5 we went back to the house where I finished getting ready for bed and then crashed!
I woke up this morning several times, but officially at 11:15 when Meow knocked on my door at told me Gayoon was making a surprise visit in 20 minutes. I was glad I showered at night so I didn’t have to worry about it in my short amount of time. She came and talked to my host mom and then she talked to me. She said that I needed to be more involved and to make more friends and be more ‘open’ or she wasn’t going to let Bashayer come in December! I can’t stand the way she talks to me or the way she just makes assumptions. I just nodded and tried not to say anything so that I wouldn’t ruin my chances of Bashayer coming any more. We then went out to lunch, where nobody talked to me. We were there for almost two hours and nobody said anything to me except to ask if I wanted some of the squid because they noticed I wasn’t eating it.
After we finished eating Gayoon left and we went back to the house. I took a nap, having not gotten a lot of sleep, and then I read. I wrote my report for my Thai class and my poem and I am going to have Meow help me translate it so that Mo doesn’t have to (I don’t want to give her more work than she already has, I feel bad about that and Meow has nothing to do). I helped my host mom cook dinner, actually helped tonight! She showed me how to make it and then she had me make one of the portions and by the fourth I did it all on my own! After dinner I finished working on my report and started working on a Literary Analysis (I don’t want to get rusty with them having to take AP when I get home).
Well that’s all that’s happening with me right now,! Hope you are all having a great week!
Lots of Love,
Allyson
Sunday, November 15, 2009
Sunday November 15th, 2009
Today was a highly unmotivated day. I mainly read and did nothing. I got the Christmas package ready to mail out tomorrow and I read. I played tennis for a while with Meow and Mike and I talked to home for a while this morning.
There was no breakfast this morning so by lunch I was starving. When I started to eat lunch I realized it had been 23 hours since I had eaten last, no wonder I was hungry!
Tennis was fun but I sweat a lot! The bugs were really bad. As soon as we stepped onto the court the mosquitoes started attacking us. Someone had left some bug repellent on the court so we used that, but they still ate me! On the way to play tennis we bought some potato like snack thing and the other two were arguing about them. Sometimes I am glad I don’t understand Thai because then I don’t have to listen to their stupid arguments or get involved.
So right next to the tennis court there is a building that is kind of like a concession. Well there was a lady there today and Meow said that she lives there because she is homeless. It was not a good place for her to live and I felt sorry for her.
The bottom of our driveway had a huge dip to the road so they fixed it today. Whatever they used smelled like manure and it made everything around smell like it too. I could smell it in my room and it was not pleasant!
Well tonight I want to load some pics onto my computer and finish up my last piece for the box. If I get the chance I will add some pics to Facebook. I am not motivated to do anything today so we’ll see. I wanted to work on my homework today but that didn’t happen, maybe tomorrow will be better!
Well that was my boring day. Maybe tomorrow will be more interesting to read but I doubt it!
Allyson
There was no breakfast this morning so by lunch I was starving. When I started to eat lunch I realized it had been 23 hours since I had eaten last, no wonder I was hungry!
Tennis was fun but I sweat a lot! The bugs were really bad. As soon as we stepped onto the court the mosquitoes started attacking us. Someone had left some bug repellent on the court so we used that, but they still ate me! On the way to play tennis we bought some potato like snack thing and the other two were arguing about them. Sometimes I am glad I don’t understand Thai because then I don’t have to listen to their stupid arguments or get involved.
So right next to the tennis court there is a building that is kind of like a concession. Well there was a lady there today and Meow said that she lives there because she is homeless. It was not a good place for her to live and I felt sorry for her.
The bottom of our driveway had a huge dip to the road so they fixed it today. Whatever they used smelled like manure and it made everything around smell like it too. I could smell it in my room and it was not pleasant!
Well tonight I want to load some pics onto my computer and finish up my last piece for the box. If I get the chance I will add some pics to Facebook. I am not motivated to do anything today so we’ll see. I wanted to work on my homework today but that didn’t happen, maybe tomorrow will be better!
Well that was my boring day. Maybe tomorrow will be more interesting to read but I doubt it!
Allyson
Saturday, November 14, 2009
Saturday November 14th, 2009
Today was a lot of fun!
I got up 15 minutes later than I was supposed to and as a result was running behind. I took a quick shower and did my make-up fast. I had some instant mush stuff for breakfast and burned my tongue from eating it too fast. I then went and waited for the car. While we were waiting my host mom was showing me things around the area. She showed me the mango trees on the sides of our house and then we walked across the street to some vendors to see the drying mini shrimp (they look like someone ground some pork or something). The car drove past the house so my host mom and I had to run after it, I must say it was pretty funny. My host mom told the driver to drop me off at Big C and then I was off for the day.
I arrived at Big C at 8:10 and called Peach. She was just leaving her house to go and pick up her cousin. I sat in front by the highway and waited, in the sun. They arrived at 9 and she couldn’t find me. Through the use of cell phones and KFC she found me and we were on our way.
We then drove to pick up Lucas. Once we picked him up we drove to Hua Hin. We went to the mall and looked around for a little while. We wanted to get DQ but they weren’t open yet so we went and looked at Tesco Lotus, a large grocery store like Walmart. We spent like 30 minutes looking around. I bought some granola bars so that I have a snack for school. After we left Tesco Lotus we went up stairs to a café for breakfast and so Peach could have her French lesson (she has a private teacher who meets her there).
When we had finished eating Lucas, Ann (Peach’s cousin), and I went and walked around the mall. It was fun even though we didn’t do anything. At the end Lucas went into the arcade and played a driving game that he was really bad at. Then we went back to the café to pick up Peach.
Once we had Peach we did some more shopping and some more arcade games. Lucas bought a new phone for over $300 and he played with it for the rest of the afternoon. I bought a watch for 159 baht (so it won’t last) because mine leaves a greenish brown residue on my wrist if I sweat (which of course I do).
After we left the mall we headed to the beach for lunch. We went to Cha-Am beach for fresh seafood. While we were waiting for the food we walked on the beach and talked. I have so many secrets and it’s driving me insane. Everyone keeps telling me their secrets and they all involve people I know so it’s even more difficult to keep them secret.
The food was really good. We had a shrimp soup, a sweet, shredded, fried fish thing, and something spicy and many other things. I tried everything and found that it was very good. They didn’t offer me the spicy thing so I asked for it and they were shocked that I could eat it. Lucas says he can’t eat anything spicy and doesn’t even want to try so he missed out.
After I finished my third helping I went down to the beach with Ann. We were talking and looking at seashells when she found a shell that a crab had vacated. We went down to the water and started to look for these mini crabs. They were so cute! They were smaller than my pinky finger’s nail. We collected a lot of them and put them in a cup. Towards the end Peach and Lucas came and joined us. Peach and Ann dug a hole in the sand and put the crabs in it. Then they buried them, which I thought was mean until the crabs started to all appear out of the sand.
Once we finished playing with the crabs we walked along the beach and looked at sea shells. There were tons of jellyfish washed up on the shore so you had to be careful where you stepped, some of them were barely visible unless you were looking for them. There were some children who were playing with some of the mini shrimp my host mom had showed me in the morning so we went and looked at them. We played for a long time on the beach, probably over an hour and a half.
After we left the beach we drove along the ocean back to my house. On the way back we stopped at Peach’s grandparent’s house. Her family is so big. Next door to her grandparents was one of her aunts and they had the cutest puppy (they have little dogs as pets but that’s it). We walked along the road a little and met some of her other family (her dad had 9 brothers and sisters and her mom had 7, it was her dad’s side of the family).
After we left her grandparents we continued on to my house. When we were around the corner my host mom called. We told her we could see the house. They all came in because Peach wanted to see Meow, but no one knew where she was. Peach called her and found out she was at the market. They stayed and talked for a while and then they left to take Lucas home.
After they left I talked to Meow a little and then I went to read and cool down. It’s now 8:45 so I guess I’m not having dinner, glad I bought some granola bars earlier! I am going to use the internet for a little while, try and catch one of my shows on YouTube and do a little Facebook, and then head to bed because I’m tired from two nights of 6 hour sleep. Tomorrow is a day of homework and relaxing, at least I think, I should ask if they have plans.
Well until later,
Allyson
I got up 15 minutes later than I was supposed to and as a result was running behind. I took a quick shower and did my make-up fast. I had some instant mush stuff for breakfast and burned my tongue from eating it too fast. I then went and waited for the car. While we were waiting my host mom was showing me things around the area. She showed me the mango trees on the sides of our house and then we walked across the street to some vendors to see the drying mini shrimp (they look like someone ground some pork or something). The car drove past the house so my host mom and I had to run after it, I must say it was pretty funny. My host mom told the driver to drop me off at Big C and then I was off for the day.
I arrived at Big C at 8:10 and called Peach. She was just leaving her house to go and pick up her cousin. I sat in front by the highway and waited, in the sun. They arrived at 9 and she couldn’t find me. Through the use of cell phones and KFC she found me and we were on our way.
We then drove to pick up Lucas. Once we picked him up we drove to Hua Hin. We went to the mall and looked around for a little while. We wanted to get DQ but they weren’t open yet so we went and looked at Tesco Lotus, a large grocery store like Walmart. We spent like 30 minutes looking around. I bought some granola bars so that I have a snack for school. After we left Tesco Lotus we went up stairs to a café for breakfast and so Peach could have her French lesson (she has a private teacher who meets her there).
When we had finished eating Lucas, Ann (Peach’s cousin), and I went and walked around the mall. It was fun even though we didn’t do anything. At the end Lucas went into the arcade and played a driving game that he was really bad at. Then we went back to the café to pick up Peach.
Once we had Peach we did some more shopping and some more arcade games. Lucas bought a new phone for over $300 and he played with it for the rest of the afternoon. I bought a watch for 159 baht (so it won’t last) because mine leaves a greenish brown residue on my wrist if I sweat (which of course I do).
After we left the mall we headed to the beach for lunch. We went to Cha-Am beach for fresh seafood. While we were waiting for the food we walked on the beach and talked. I have so many secrets and it’s driving me insane. Everyone keeps telling me their secrets and they all involve people I know so it’s even more difficult to keep them secret.
The food was really good. We had a shrimp soup, a sweet, shredded, fried fish thing, and something spicy and many other things. I tried everything and found that it was very good. They didn’t offer me the spicy thing so I asked for it and they were shocked that I could eat it. Lucas says he can’t eat anything spicy and doesn’t even want to try so he missed out.
After I finished my third helping I went down to the beach with Ann. We were talking and looking at seashells when she found a shell that a crab had vacated. We went down to the water and started to look for these mini crabs. They were so cute! They were smaller than my pinky finger’s nail. We collected a lot of them and put them in a cup. Towards the end Peach and Lucas came and joined us. Peach and Ann dug a hole in the sand and put the crabs in it. Then they buried them, which I thought was mean until the crabs started to all appear out of the sand.
Once we finished playing with the crabs we walked along the beach and looked at sea shells. There were tons of jellyfish washed up on the shore so you had to be careful where you stepped, some of them were barely visible unless you were looking for them. There were some children who were playing with some of the mini shrimp my host mom had showed me in the morning so we went and looked at them. We played for a long time on the beach, probably over an hour and a half.
After we left the beach we drove along the ocean back to my house. On the way back we stopped at Peach’s grandparent’s house. Her family is so big. Next door to her grandparents was one of her aunts and they had the cutest puppy (they have little dogs as pets but that’s it). We walked along the road a little and met some of her other family (her dad had 9 brothers and sisters and her mom had 7, it was her dad’s side of the family).
After we left her grandparents we continued on to my house. When we were around the corner my host mom called. We told her we could see the house. They all came in because Peach wanted to see Meow, but no one knew where she was. Peach called her and found out she was at the market. They stayed and talked for a while and then they left to take Lucas home.
After they left I talked to Meow a little and then I went to read and cool down. It’s now 8:45 so I guess I’m not having dinner, glad I bought some granola bars earlier! I am going to use the internet for a little while, try and catch one of my shows on YouTube and do a little Facebook, and then head to bed because I’m tired from two nights of 6 hour sleep. Tomorrow is a day of homework and relaxing, at least I think, I should ask if they have plans.
Well until later,
Allyson
Friday, November 13, 2009
Friday November 13th, 2009
Today started out rough. I couldn’t get out of bed after being up till midnight, but it didn’t matter anyway because I still had to wait for my uniform to be delivered. The guy was running late so I didn’t even get dressed till 7:15. I ate in less than 5 minutes and then headed to school.
My first class was Thai. The teacher is really nice and she tried to including me as much as she could, which included giving me homework. I have to write a poem and a book report before next Monday and then Mo has to translate it (I feel bad for her). I was hoping to use an old piece from America, I brought my USB with them on it, but I don’t think any of them are good enough or easy enough for Mo to translate. I wrote a part of a poem, but I don’t know if I will use it yet. I was hoping to use my book review from history last year as I guide as to what I need to do but that is the one document I don’t have, of course, so I’m going to have to wing it.
After Thai was Art with Peach and Lucas. Peach was supposed to be translating but she was busy drawing a face. The teacher is really nice. She came over and showed me what we were doing and tried to explain what we were doing. Before I left she gave me a passion fruit, I don’t know why, and gave Lucas so cookie thing. I got full marks on my bird drawing, thank goodness, but I had to present to the class about it and I didn’t know what to say so I stood there and blabbered and smiled my way through it.
After Art was Social Study. They had a test today so I read. After the test the girls went to lunch and I went to the English Corner because I was supposed to have a Math lesson. Michelle forgot and went to lunch. I sat there and read until 5th period. I ate lunch with Peach and Lucas since the girls already ate. After I finished eating I tried to find the girls but I couldn’t. One of the girls in my class told me that they had a test next period so I didn’t need to come, so I didn’t see the girls again.
My 7th period is Social Study with Peach. When I got there the teacher wasn’t in the room so we were sitting outside where there was a breeze to keep us cool. The teacher came and got on his motorbike and left, it was very strange. We goofed around and talked for about 20 minutes. The teacher came back and then made them change classrooms, don’t know why. They then had less than 30 minutes of class (they got out early). They are learning about political systems. When class got out Peach stayed to take some photos for a class, but I headed to my Thai lesson.
My Thai lesson started out with me learning Thai but ended with me telling her about American holidays and traditions. We talked about Easter and Thanksgiving and about food. It really was a waste of time, but she is nice and just curious so I told her what she wanted to know.
After school I had to wait till after 5 for my host mom to come and get us. Meow had taken off with a friend of hers and Mike I had not seen. I packed up my stuff and grabbed Meow’s bag, so I had a lot of stuff. Meow came as we were about to go and look for Mike. Mike was practicing his Thai flute in the music room. After that we headed for home.
On the way home Peach called to see if I could go with her tomorrow to Hua Hin. My host dad said that Meow can’t go but I can. He doesn’t think she cares about school enough and that she is always wanting to travel and spend time with her friends and not study. She was very upset the whole way home and was arguing with her mom. Is it bad to go if she can’t? I don’t want to miss out on an opportunity, but if it makes her bitter is it wrong to go? I hope not because I said I would go, but I feel that Meow isn’t pleased that I can go and she can’t. She says she is going to wait up for her dad and try and convince him to let her go, but if she can’t go, then what? I hope everything will work out.
Tomorrow I’m leaving early to meet Peach at Big C and then I’m headed to Hua Hin for the day. I don’t know when I’ll be back, so I’ll update when I get the chance!
Lots of Love,
Allyson
My first class was Thai. The teacher is really nice and she tried to including me as much as she could, which included giving me homework. I have to write a poem and a book report before next Monday and then Mo has to translate it (I feel bad for her). I was hoping to use an old piece from America, I brought my USB with them on it, but I don’t think any of them are good enough or easy enough for Mo to translate. I wrote a part of a poem, but I don’t know if I will use it yet. I was hoping to use my book review from history last year as I guide as to what I need to do but that is the one document I don’t have, of course, so I’m going to have to wing it.
After Thai was Art with Peach and Lucas. Peach was supposed to be translating but she was busy drawing a face. The teacher is really nice. She came over and showed me what we were doing and tried to explain what we were doing. Before I left she gave me a passion fruit, I don’t know why, and gave Lucas so cookie thing. I got full marks on my bird drawing, thank goodness, but I had to present to the class about it and I didn’t know what to say so I stood there and blabbered and smiled my way through it.
After Art was Social Study. They had a test today so I read. After the test the girls went to lunch and I went to the English Corner because I was supposed to have a Math lesson. Michelle forgot and went to lunch. I sat there and read until 5th period. I ate lunch with Peach and Lucas since the girls already ate. After I finished eating I tried to find the girls but I couldn’t. One of the girls in my class told me that they had a test next period so I didn’t need to come, so I didn’t see the girls again.
My 7th period is Social Study with Peach. When I got there the teacher wasn’t in the room so we were sitting outside where there was a breeze to keep us cool. The teacher came and got on his motorbike and left, it was very strange. We goofed around and talked for about 20 minutes. The teacher came back and then made them change classrooms, don’t know why. They then had less than 30 minutes of class (they got out early). They are learning about political systems. When class got out Peach stayed to take some photos for a class, but I headed to my Thai lesson.
My Thai lesson started out with me learning Thai but ended with me telling her about American holidays and traditions. We talked about Easter and Thanksgiving and about food. It really was a waste of time, but she is nice and just curious so I told her what she wanted to know.
After school I had to wait till after 5 for my host mom to come and get us. Meow had taken off with a friend of hers and Mike I had not seen. I packed up my stuff and grabbed Meow’s bag, so I had a lot of stuff. Meow came as we were about to go and look for Mike. Mike was practicing his Thai flute in the music room. After that we headed for home.
On the way home Peach called to see if I could go with her tomorrow to Hua Hin. My host dad said that Meow can’t go but I can. He doesn’t think she cares about school enough and that she is always wanting to travel and spend time with her friends and not study. She was very upset the whole way home and was arguing with her mom. Is it bad to go if she can’t? I don’t want to miss out on an opportunity, but if it makes her bitter is it wrong to go? I hope not because I said I would go, but I feel that Meow isn’t pleased that I can go and she can’t. She says she is going to wait up for her dad and try and convince him to let her go, but if she can’t go, then what? I hope everything will work out.
Tomorrow I’m leaving early to meet Peach at Big C and then I’m headed to Hua Hin for the day. I don’t know when I’ll be back, so I’ll update when I get the chance!
Lots of Love,
Allyson
Thursday, November 12, 2009
Thursday November 12th, 2009
Today I was supposed to get up and go running with Meow at 6, but thank goodness neither one of us is responsible enough to go to bed at a decent time and neither one of us is a morning person. I turned my alarm off so I’m glad I naturally wake up at the time I’m supposed to get up. I didn’t need to shower because I showered last night so I quick brushed my teeth and washed my face and got out so my host mom could shower.
School was homeroom and then Social Study again. After Social Study was English. Most of the time I don’t pay attention in English, so when the teacher called on me to read something I was lost. I don’t have a book for English so I had to borrow Mo’s and thank goodness she was paying attention and could tell me what I was supposed to do. After I finished reading they discussed a little and then Boom practiced her speech. She is so good at Chinese, she had the whole thing memorized!
Third period I didn’t do anything but read. Fifth period was another English but I didn’t get called on. I sat next to some different people in that class because I went to the building without Boom and Mo. They had me copying their writing and they liked to try and talk with me. They seemed very nice. Lunch was the same old same old. After lunch was PE, but no one showed up, not even the teacher. We sat there and read and did homework. There was a nice breeze (which is rare) so I wasn’t hot. They didn’t go right to class when the bell rang, which is still strange for me. We showed up like 10 minutes late but the teacher still wasn’t there. They did their bows and then the teacher showed up. The lesson was strange, the parts I caught at least. The teacher was using an elephant to explain something and she kept rubbing it and pulling it in weird ways. For homework they had to do draw a fish and use it to be the arrows for their points of something, the girls couldn’t explain the reasoning.
I had Thai last and that was fun because I got to start to read. It was funny and I had a crowd around me by the end of the period. I like my Thai classes and I’m learning really quickly. She gave me the book for the night to practice my reading so after dinner I practiced with Meow, and she didn’t laugh (a first for her, whenever I practice anything around her she laughs at me).
After school we were supposed to play tennis but we went and had lunch at a small restaurant across from the school. When I went to a stand to buy a drink a boy from a different school tapped my elbow. His name is Mek and he said he had heard about me (I don’t know how). He was in the US last year in New Jersey. We talked while I got my drink and then we exchanged phone numbers. He seems really nice, I wonder if he will actually call me.
After we finished eating we got a ride from Peach’s mother the 2 blocks to the tennis court. When we got out Meow had the Kleenex bow and had to run back and give it to them. We didn’t want to play so she went and bought some snacks (even though we just ate). We sat and read until my host mom came and got us. We didn’t do any errands except for stopping at the Big C mall and getting make-up for my host mom. I got ice cream from Dairy Queen while I waited (their largest size is smaller than a small in the US! ). After that we came home and I worked on some writing and art then had dinner and practice reading. I helped Meow with her math a little (they don’t do graphing so I don’t know how they want her to solve the problem, I’ve always been taught to graph it). Now I’m blogging. After I’m done here I still have to shower, finish my art, do my devotion and prayers, and then try to get some sleep. It’s 10:45 PM so I hope I’m not up too late. I’m glad tomorrow is Friday so that I have the weekend to sleep, and no school next week!
Well it’s late and I’m tired and have lots to do yet. I’ll write again soon!
P.S. Today marks the third month I've been here!
School was homeroom and then Social Study again. After Social Study was English. Most of the time I don’t pay attention in English, so when the teacher called on me to read something I was lost. I don’t have a book for English so I had to borrow Mo’s and thank goodness she was paying attention and could tell me what I was supposed to do. After I finished reading they discussed a little and then Boom practiced her speech. She is so good at Chinese, she had the whole thing memorized!
Third period I didn’t do anything but read. Fifth period was another English but I didn’t get called on. I sat next to some different people in that class because I went to the building without Boom and Mo. They had me copying their writing and they liked to try and talk with me. They seemed very nice. Lunch was the same old same old. After lunch was PE, but no one showed up, not even the teacher. We sat there and read and did homework. There was a nice breeze (which is rare) so I wasn’t hot. They didn’t go right to class when the bell rang, which is still strange for me. We showed up like 10 minutes late but the teacher still wasn’t there. They did their bows and then the teacher showed up. The lesson was strange, the parts I caught at least. The teacher was using an elephant to explain something and she kept rubbing it and pulling it in weird ways. For homework they had to do draw a fish and use it to be the arrows for their points of something, the girls couldn’t explain the reasoning.
I had Thai last and that was fun because I got to start to read. It was funny and I had a crowd around me by the end of the period. I like my Thai classes and I’m learning really quickly. She gave me the book for the night to practice my reading so after dinner I practiced with Meow, and she didn’t laugh (a first for her, whenever I practice anything around her she laughs at me).
After school we were supposed to play tennis but we went and had lunch at a small restaurant across from the school. When I went to a stand to buy a drink a boy from a different school tapped my elbow. His name is Mek and he said he had heard about me (I don’t know how). He was in the US last year in New Jersey. We talked while I got my drink and then we exchanged phone numbers. He seems really nice, I wonder if he will actually call me.
After we finished eating we got a ride from Peach’s mother the 2 blocks to the tennis court. When we got out Meow had the Kleenex bow and had to run back and give it to them. We didn’t want to play so she went and bought some snacks (even though we just ate). We sat and read until my host mom came and got us. We didn’t do any errands except for stopping at the Big C mall and getting make-up for my host mom. I got ice cream from Dairy Queen while I waited (their largest size is smaller than a small in the US! ). After that we came home and I worked on some writing and art then had dinner and practice reading. I helped Meow with her math a little (they don’t do graphing so I don’t know how they want her to solve the problem, I’ve always been taught to graph it). Now I’m blogging. After I’m done here I still have to shower, finish my art, do my devotion and prayers, and then try to get some sleep. It’s 10:45 PM so I hope I’m not up too late. I’m glad tomorrow is Friday so that I have the weekend to sleep, and no school next week!
Well it’s late and I’m tired and have lots to do yet. I’ll write again soon!
P.S. Today marks the third month I've been here!
Wednesday November 11th, 2009
Well I’ve been so busy I’m writing this on a day late so I don’t remember everything. This is going to be a short piece because this is all I remember.
I had Social Study first, after homeroom. Nothing exciting happened, it and economics class. After class the girls stopped a teacher and tried to convince him that their upcoming test should be open book. He left before they could convince him so a few of them chased after him while the rest of us went to music. Lucas has that class with me so I sat in back with him and we talked. They were giving presentations so there wasn’t much we could do. After class Boom talked to the teacher and he said that if we wanted to learn to play the instruments we could come in after school once a week and learn. Lucas has to check with his family as to what day works best, then we will begin.
Third period I was supposed to have Thai but Gayoon said something about not being able to change my schedule without talking to her (though I’m not changing it, I’m fixing it in places that it doesn’t work, it’s hard to explain I guess). I ended up sitting there and reading because Ti is too shy to do anything, again it’s complicated.
Fourth period was supposed to be English but it got bumped for the day for another Social Study class. We got done early so we had no line for lunch and more food to choose from. After we finished eating we went to the Chinese room, it’s air conditioned, and Boom practiced her speech and I helped Mo write hers and then we listened to music. We had 6th period free instead of 8th for some reason. Seventh period was health. They watched a movie on drugs, I couldn’t watch because they kept injecting mice with things and I just couldn’t watch it so I read.
I then went to the English corner not knowing whether I had math or Thai. Turned out I was supposed to have both. Michelle came over for math and Ti came over for Thai and Lucas came over to give me pics from Peach’s party. I had so many people who wanted me it was a mess. I worked it out and ended up with a Thai lesson. I learned the vowels (all 32 of them).
After school I walked with Peach and Lucas to get some food. Lucas had found a rubber band and kept flicking me with it so I chased him around the school. We both eventually decided that it wasn’t worth it and stopped. We got some food and then I went back to the English Corner to wait. Mike was having a private lesson with Eddie and Meow was somewhere. My host mom picked us up and then we did a few minor errands before heading home.
At home I did some studying and then we ate dinner. Nothing exciting happened last night. So that’s all for the day.
I had Social Study first, after homeroom. Nothing exciting happened, it and economics class. After class the girls stopped a teacher and tried to convince him that their upcoming test should be open book. He left before they could convince him so a few of them chased after him while the rest of us went to music. Lucas has that class with me so I sat in back with him and we talked. They were giving presentations so there wasn’t much we could do. After class Boom talked to the teacher and he said that if we wanted to learn to play the instruments we could come in after school once a week and learn. Lucas has to check with his family as to what day works best, then we will begin.
Third period I was supposed to have Thai but Gayoon said something about not being able to change my schedule without talking to her (though I’m not changing it, I’m fixing it in places that it doesn’t work, it’s hard to explain I guess). I ended up sitting there and reading because Ti is too shy to do anything, again it’s complicated.
Fourth period was supposed to be English but it got bumped for the day for another Social Study class. We got done early so we had no line for lunch and more food to choose from. After we finished eating we went to the Chinese room, it’s air conditioned, and Boom practiced her speech and I helped Mo write hers and then we listened to music. We had 6th period free instead of 8th for some reason. Seventh period was health. They watched a movie on drugs, I couldn’t watch because they kept injecting mice with things and I just couldn’t watch it so I read.
I then went to the English corner not knowing whether I had math or Thai. Turned out I was supposed to have both. Michelle came over for math and Ti came over for Thai and Lucas came over to give me pics from Peach’s party. I had so many people who wanted me it was a mess. I worked it out and ended up with a Thai lesson. I learned the vowels (all 32 of them).
After school I walked with Peach and Lucas to get some food. Lucas had found a rubber band and kept flicking me with it so I chased him around the school. We both eventually decided that it wasn’t worth it and stopped. We got some food and then I went back to the English Corner to wait. Mike was having a private lesson with Eddie and Meow was somewhere. My host mom picked us up and then we did a few minor errands before heading home.
At home I did some studying and then we ate dinner. Nothing exciting happened last night. So that’s all for the day.
Tuesday, November 10, 2009
Tuesday November 10th, 2009
Third period was English, so Mo and I talked and made the best of that boring class. I find it interesting how many mistakes are in the handouts the teachers give the students, and they never realize it. As boring as the class is, I learn some things because they translate a lot of the words as assignments and during class so I can sometimes pick up some words.
Fourth period began with me talking to Michelle, the guy from the Netherlands. He scheduled me for two math classes a week and gave me an online website I need to work on, on nights he doesn’t give me homework. After I finished with him, I had my Thai lesson. I learned the remainder of the alphabet (except vowels)! I now know all 44 letters! I’m so happy; I’ve been practicing them tonight and saying them over and over so that I can remember them for tomorrow. I have some tricks for a few of them, like one is Saw Cera which sounds close to Sarah, La Ling (ling is monkey) looks kind of like a monkey if you use your imagination, and some others. Ti always laughs when I tell her my tricks, but they work. My only thing about learning the letters is that they are affecting my English writing because some of them could be fancy ways of writing some of our letters, I don’t know if this is good or bad yet.
After Thai I had lunch with the girls. For dessert we had fruit again. I had banana with syrup. After lunch was break, because the boys have military training after lunch on Tuesdays. We went and sat in the Chinese room and read and talked and did some work. Boom worked on her speech with the teacher (she is giving a presentation for a competition in Chinese and Mo is doing one in English). At eighth period I got stuck talking to Lucas and never made it to Thai dance, not that I know where it exactly is.
After school I played tennis with Meow and then we ran errands with her mom. I have now taken to going with my host mom rather than sitting in the car. I enjoy do the errands because you get to meet all sorts of people and they all are very nice. Today one lady gave me a free water, which was really nice. We stopped and got ice cream. It was very different than American ice cream but it was really good. I got mine with some of the donut thing I like and some sweet rice. When we went and bought fruit someone asked my host mom who I was and she told them I was her daughter, that was the first time! It was a little strange at first, but I like it.
After we picked up Mike we headed home. I read for a while and then we ate dinner. We had garlic broccoli and spicy pork (which I didn’t find spicy, but it wasn’t that good either). Then Meow, Mike, and I ate a huge bowl of mango. I learned that eating too much mango leaves a bad taste in your mouth, but I drank some water and continued. After dinner I worked on my Thai letters. Now I’m blogging and waiting for the internet. When I get the internet I am going to work on my math. After math I’m going to go over my letters again and then shower and go to bed.
Side notes:
One of the things I like to do now is to look at the license plates and to say the letters. It is a little silly, but I like to do it because it’s fun to realize I know the letters.
I will try and update on the nights I do my math course or at school before I go to class. I don’t want you guys to miss anything or to stop reading.
Well that’s all for now. Have a good day,
Allyson
Today was not overly exciting, but I am proud of what was accomplished. I woke up and got ready and everything was normal. Today they had homeroom first period so that they could pay their tuition. Each student had to pay 2000 baht (totaling $2747) for the semester. After we left homeroom, the class went and sat in the pavilion area and decided they didn’t want to go to class, all except my friends. Because my friends went to class everyone else had to so that they wouldn’t get in trouble. They had Physics, so I sat and read and occasionally listened.
Fourth period began with me talking to Michelle, the guy from the Netherlands. He scheduled me for two math classes a week and gave me an online website I need to work on, on nights he doesn’t give me homework. After I finished with him, I had my Thai lesson. I learned the remainder of the alphabet (except vowels)! I now know all 44 letters! I’m so happy; I’ve been practicing them tonight and saying them over and over so that I can remember them for tomorrow. I have some tricks for a few of them, like one is Saw Cera which sounds close to Sarah, La Ling (ling is monkey) looks kind of like a monkey if you use your imagination, and some others. Ti always laughs when I tell her my tricks, but they work. My only thing about learning the letters is that they are affecting my English writing because some of them could be fancy ways of writing some of our letters, I don’t know if this is good or bad yet.
After Thai I had lunch with the girls. For dessert we had fruit again. I had banana with syrup. After lunch was break, because the boys have military training after lunch on Tuesdays. We went and sat in the Chinese room and read and talked and did some work. Boom worked on her speech with the teacher (she is giving a presentation for a competition in Chinese and Mo is doing one in English). At eighth period I got stuck talking to Lucas and never made it to Thai dance, not that I know where it exactly is.
After school I played tennis with Meow and then we ran errands with her mom. I have now taken to going with my host mom rather than sitting in the car. I enjoy do the errands because you get to meet all sorts of people and they all are very nice. Today one lady gave me a free water, which was really nice. We stopped and got ice cream. It was very different than American ice cream but it was really good. I got mine with some of the donut thing I like and some sweet rice. When we went and bought fruit someone asked my host mom who I was and she told them I was her daughter, that was the first time! It was a little strange at first, but I like it.
After we picked up Mike we headed home. I read for a while and then we ate dinner. We had garlic broccoli and spicy pork (which I didn’t find spicy, but it wasn’t that good either). Then Meow, Mike, and I ate a huge bowl of mango. I learned that eating too much mango leaves a bad taste in your mouth, but I drank some water and continued. After dinner I worked on my Thai letters. Now I’m blogging and waiting for the internet. When I get the internet I am going to work on my math. After math I’m going to go over my letters again and then shower and go to bed.
Side notes:
One of the things I like to do now is to look at the license plates and to say the letters. It is a little silly, but I like to do it because it’s fun to realize I know the letters.
I will try and update on the nights I do my math course or at school before I go to class. I don’t want you guys to miss anything or to stop reading.
Well that’s all for now. Have a good day,
Allyson
Today was not overly exciting, but I am proud of what was accomplished. I woke up and got ready and everything was normal. Today they had homeroom first period so that they could pay their tuition. Each student had to pay 2000 baht (totaling $2747) for the semester. After we left homeroom, the class went and sat in the pavilion area and decided they didn’t want to go to class, all except my friends. Because my friends went to class everyone else had to so that they wouldn’t get in trouble. They had Physics, so I sat and read and occasionally listened.
Monday, November 9, 2009
Monday November 9th, 2009
Woke up and got ready on time this morning, but we left the house 15 minutes late. We arrived at school about 8:10 though because my host mom drove very fast. I went to the English Lab but barely had time to say hello to Lucas and Happy Birthday to Peach before it was time for Homeroom.
Today in homeroom they turned in their progress reports, which are in folders and just sheets of paper. They talked a little and got some hand out and then we left for math. I don’t know what they are learning in math right now, but I know that because math is not their focus they are behind where I am so I just sit there and read or practice my letters. A good portion of the class was gone today I noticed (like 10 of the 45). I don’t know where everyone was, but them being gone didn’t make things any quieter. After math they stayed in the classroom to finish their homework, but we got kicked out by the next class so we went and sat outside the teacher’s office so they could finish and turn it in. After they turned in the homework it was almost time for English. Monday is the one day they have English with a foreign teacher. His name is Adrian and he is from Canada. He is very nice, but almost everyone thinks he is a bad teacher. He doesn’t always show up to class and when he does he doesn’t do a lot of teaching. Today they were learning the four types of sentences (statement, command, question, exclamation) and all he did was give examples and then hand out a work sheet. Most of the kids in my class don’t care to do the work so it takes them all period to do, but my group of friends finished it in less than 10 minutes. He came over and talked with us and was saying how nobody in the class liked to work except our group, but he didn’t do anything to make them work either. He said that he can’t even use the motivation of failing them to get them to do the work because Thailand has a no fail policy. He seems like a nice guy, but I can’t really say anything about his teaching yet since I’ve only had him for two classes (supposed to be three but he didn’t show up last week).
After English I was supposed to have a Thai lesson, but Ti never came over for my lesson so I worked on my art. At the end of the period I went and met the girls for lunch. For dessert we went and got fruit. I got mango and pumello (I think that’s the name of the big green thing) with syrup. I didn’t get a spoon so it was really hard to eat the pumello.
After lunch we went to Thai. The teacher seems really nice. She apologized several times for the fact that she couldn’t talk to me because she doesn’t know English. Mo translated for us and so I told her that it was alright and that I hoped in time to be able to communicate in Thai. I tried to listen to the class, but about half way through Mo nudged me and told me that even they couldn’t understand what was going on so I would be better off reading.
After Thai was Botany. There were people missing from our group so I got to plant too. We took 6 pots of dirt or compost and 3 pots of rocks and woodchips and 3 pots of new dirt and put them all on the ground and mixed them up. I tried to not get dirty, but after a few minutes I realized it was inevitable and just gave in. We broke off 3” sections of some type of plant and put 20 of them in each pot. The hardest part of the project was trying to squat on the ground in our skirts and not show anything, at least my group is all girls and the three boys were really far away so it wasn’t as big a deal. After we finished the teacher talked a little and then we were done for the day.
Mo, Boom, Paw, and I went and sat in the little kid cafeteria and read and did homework until the end of the day. At the end of the day I went and packed up my things and left them in the English room. I gave a note to Mike to give to Meow saying I was going with my friends to the market and would be back by 4:30 when she said we were leaving. Mike never gave the note to Meow, but oh well everything worked out in the end.
At the market we bought some food and drinks. Mo got some fresh orange juice and I tried it, it wasn’t bad, it wasn’t very pulpy and it tasted pretty good. We ran into Peach towards the end and she said that my host mom told Meow that we were going to her party after all (we were supposed to but my host dad said we couldn’t). At 4:30 I went back to the English Corner, but Meow was nowhere to be found. At 5 she came running in and panted that we had to go. We grabbed one of the cars and headed to the restaurant. We ate at one of those grill things again. Lucas and I had so much fun. They had beef there so Lucas and I ate a whole bunch of it. I didn’t have my camera because I didn’t know we were going so I used Lucas’ to take pictures and will get them from him as soon as I can. As I was going up for dessert they told me I had 5 minutes before we were leaving. I quickly shoveled in my dessert and took more pictures while my host mom waited to go. She parked very far from the restaurant so by the time we got there I had a side ache from shoveling in my dessert.
When we got home I finished my art project (the bird looks good but the basket of rice doesn’t look like rice at all). I am going to use my internet time in just a few minutes, the last until Friday night so you will have to wait for updates.
Side notes:
So all weekend I’ve been going around the house singing Christmas songs. I know it’s a little early for it, but wrapping presents and thinking about Christmas is making me miss it already. I think that someone needs to send me a CD or two with my favorite Christmas songs and some classic ones so that my host family can listen to how they are actually supposed to sound not my horrible renditions of them!
So apparently I do this thing with my feet at dinner time, I don’t know what it is, but it makes Mike upset and so he won’t eat at the table. He is always eating in front of the TV and computer (I think it’s just a good excuse to spend more time on the TV and computer but whatever). They tried to explain what it was that I’m doing, but I don’t understand. They are very sensitive about feet here. Meow and my host mom understand that other cultures aren’t the same so they don’t mind, but apparently Mike and my host dad do. I don’t know what I’m doing, but now I am very conscious of my feet.
So I counted my ant bites tonight. I have 13 on my right foot alone and 14 from my knee down on my right foot! I don’t know why they like me so much. Meow said that when she was in my room that she never had a problem with ants, so it’s just me! I really do hate ants!
Today in homeroom they turned in their progress reports, which are in folders and just sheets of paper. They talked a little and got some hand out and then we left for math. I don’t know what they are learning in math right now, but I know that because math is not their focus they are behind where I am so I just sit there and read or practice my letters. A good portion of the class was gone today I noticed (like 10 of the 45). I don’t know where everyone was, but them being gone didn’t make things any quieter. After math they stayed in the classroom to finish their homework, but we got kicked out by the next class so we went and sat outside the teacher’s office so they could finish and turn it in. After they turned in the homework it was almost time for English. Monday is the one day they have English with a foreign teacher. His name is Adrian and he is from Canada. He is very nice, but almost everyone thinks he is a bad teacher. He doesn’t always show up to class and when he does he doesn’t do a lot of teaching. Today they were learning the four types of sentences (statement, command, question, exclamation) and all he did was give examples and then hand out a work sheet. Most of the kids in my class don’t care to do the work so it takes them all period to do, but my group of friends finished it in less than 10 minutes. He came over and talked with us and was saying how nobody in the class liked to work except our group, but he didn’t do anything to make them work either. He said that he can’t even use the motivation of failing them to get them to do the work because Thailand has a no fail policy. He seems like a nice guy, but I can’t really say anything about his teaching yet since I’ve only had him for two classes (supposed to be three but he didn’t show up last week).
After English I was supposed to have a Thai lesson, but Ti never came over for my lesson so I worked on my art. At the end of the period I went and met the girls for lunch. For dessert we went and got fruit. I got mango and pumello (I think that’s the name of the big green thing) with syrup. I didn’t get a spoon so it was really hard to eat the pumello.
After lunch we went to Thai. The teacher seems really nice. She apologized several times for the fact that she couldn’t talk to me because she doesn’t know English. Mo translated for us and so I told her that it was alright and that I hoped in time to be able to communicate in Thai. I tried to listen to the class, but about half way through Mo nudged me and told me that even they couldn’t understand what was going on so I would be better off reading.
After Thai was Botany. There were people missing from our group so I got to plant too. We took 6 pots of dirt or compost and 3 pots of rocks and woodchips and 3 pots of new dirt and put them all on the ground and mixed them up. I tried to not get dirty, but after a few minutes I realized it was inevitable and just gave in. We broke off 3” sections of some type of plant and put 20 of them in each pot. The hardest part of the project was trying to squat on the ground in our skirts and not show anything, at least my group is all girls and the three boys were really far away so it wasn’t as big a deal. After we finished the teacher talked a little and then we were done for the day.
Mo, Boom, Paw, and I went and sat in the little kid cafeteria and read and did homework until the end of the day. At the end of the day I went and packed up my things and left them in the English room. I gave a note to Mike to give to Meow saying I was going with my friends to the market and would be back by 4:30 when she said we were leaving. Mike never gave the note to Meow, but oh well everything worked out in the end.
At the market we bought some food and drinks. Mo got some fresh orange juice and I tried it, it wasn’t bad, it wasn’t very pulpy and it tasted pretty good. We ran into Peach towards the end and she said that my host mom told Meow that we were going to her party after all (we were supposed to but my host dad said we couldn’t). At 4:30 I went back to the English Corner, but Meow was nowhere to be found. At 5 she came running in and panted that we had to go. We grabbed one of the cars and headed to the restaurant. We ate at one of those grill things again. Lucas and I had so much fun. They had beef there so Lucas and I ate a whole bunch of it. I didn’t have my camera because I didn’t know we were going so I used Lucas’ to take pictures and will get them from him as soon as I can. As I was going up for dessert they told me I had 5 minutes before we were leaving. I quickly shoveled in my dessert and took more pictures while my host mom waited to go. She parked very far from the restaurant so by the time we got there I had a side ache from shoveling in my dessert.
When we got home I finished my art project (the bird looks good but the basket of rice doesn’t look like rice at all). I am going to use my internet time in just a few minutes, the last until Friday night so you will have to wait for updates.
Side notes:
So all weekend I’ve been going around the house singing Christmas songs. I know it’s a little early for it, but wrapping presents and thinking about Christmas is making me miss it already. I think that someone needs to send me a CD or two with my favorite Christmas songs and some classic ones so that my host family can listen to how they are actually supposed to sound not my horrible renditions of them!
So apparently I do this thing with my feet at dinner time, I don’t know what it is, but it makes Mike upset and so he won’t eat at the table. He is always eating in front of the TV and computer (I think it’s just a good excuse to spend more time on the TV and computer but whatever). They tried to explain what it was that I’m doing, but I don’t understand. They are very sensitive about feet here. Meow and my host mom understand that other cultures aren’t the same so they don’t mind, but apparently Mike and my host dad do. I don’t know what I’m doing, but now I am very conscious of my feet.
So I counted my ant bites tonight. I have 13 on my right foot alone and 14 from my knee down on my right foot! I don’t know why they like me so much. Meow said that when she was in my room that she never had a problem with ants, so it’s just me! I really do hate ants!
Sunday, November 8, 2009
Sunday November 8th, 2009
So today was nothing exciting, but it wasn’t boring. I got and went on the computer. We ate leftovers for breakfast as usual. After breakfast I read until 12:30 and then showered (if you wait till then you usually have water). After that I worked on my art homework and read some more. At 3 I decided to clean my room. I packed up the gifts into a box (I hope the missing gifts fit into the little open space because I don’t want to have to use a bigger box). I swept the floor (which I only get to do so often) and collected enough hair to cover a small kids head, I’m losing hair like crazy here! I changed my sheets, for the second time since arriving here, and I cleaned up everything and made it look nice. After I finished, Meow, Mike, and I went and played tennis. I have tons of embarrassing photos to post when I get the chance. I was sweating so bad by the end, I was happy when they said it was time to go home. For dinner I had more of the balls of fish and some other fish thing and noodles (same as lunch). After dinner I read some more and now I am on the computer. After I am done on the computer I am going to practice my Thai letters for tomorrow’s lesson and then go to bed.
Some side notes:
After Monday I won’t have internet except on weekends because the doctor told Mike he shouldn’t use so many screens because of his ADHD (they decided to test him when they learned I had it and learned about it). My host mom said it would be easier for him if Meow and I had the same restraints. She said that I could have 30 minutes every night, but I feel that I should have the same as the other kids so I am not going to use the internet except on the weekend. On the weekend I have two hours. I will check my email at school, what that’s all until the weekends. I will have the computer for homework.
So I have so many ant bites on my legs, that it looks like I have hives or something, it’s ridiculous. I probably killed 100 in my room while sweeping today, I didn’t leave any alive that I saw. They are crawling all over everything, including my medicine. I HATE ANTS!
Well I guess that’s all I can think of for now. I will post again tomorrow but after that I won’t have the internet except on weekends so I will post my week on the weekend. Have a good day!
Allyson
Some side notes:
After Monday I won’t have internet except on weekends because the doctor told Mike he shouldn’t use so many screens because of his ADHD (they decided to test him when they learned I had it and learned about it). My host mom said it would be easier for him if Meow and I had the same restraints. She said that I could have 30 minutes every night, but I feel that I should have the same as the other kids so I am not going to use the internet except on the weekend. On the weekend I have two hours. I will check my email at school, what that’s all until the weekends. I will have the computer for homework.
So I have so many ant bites on my legs, that it looks like I have hives or something, it’s ridiculous. I probably killed 100 in my room while sweeping today, I didn’t leave any alive that I saw. They are crawling all over everything, including my medicine. I HATE ANTS!
Well I guess that’s all I can think of for now. I will post again tomorrow but after that I won’t have the internet except on weekends so I will post my week on the weekend. Have a good day!
Allyson
Saturday, November 7, 2009
Saturday November 7th, 2009
Today (actually yesterday but whatever) I spent the day with Meow and her friends. I woke up at 7 and got ready. At 8 I came down and helped my host mom prepare breakfast. At 9 I went and waited for the car (one of those with the back end open for passengers) to come and pick us up. At 9:30 the car came and we headed to the school. At the school we met up with Cherry and Cherry’s boyfriend (didn’t even know she had a boyfriend until Friday because they have to keep it a secret from their parents because they are allowed to date). We bought a few snacks from the 7/11 and then went to the mall to watch a movie. The movie they wanted to see was no longer in theatres and the other one wasn’t out yet. All the other movies were too late so we just walked around. We went up stairs to Big C and I bought some workout clothes (figured I need some if Meow wants to keep working out). After that we went to Swenson’s and I got a Banana-Nana sundae with peanut butter and caramel praline ice cream. I finished my ice cream really fast so I had to wait for the others. After the ice cream we walked around and looked at cell phones because one of the girls wants a new one. The ones they were looking at were over $300, but they said that was reasonable! (Apparently the iPhone cast over $1000 here!)
Around 12 we headed back to the school. We ate lunch at this little place across from the school. I ate “American Fried Rice” but it wasn’t really American. It was rice with ketchup, raisins, baby corn, and peas. I got a piece of chicken and three mini hot dogs to go with the rice. While I was eating I watched golf, that’s what was on the TV, because no one talks to me (I think that if I spend too much time with Meow and her friends I will lose my voice from lack of use!). After we finished eating we went to the 7/11 again so they could get some snacks. We then went to the school (across the street). There were so many people there, I was shocked! None of the people that we were waiting for were there though (at least I guess) because we sat by the English Corner for like an hour. They goofed around and I read. After that we went to the little kids cafeteria (they have a separate lunch room for the younger kids) and met with some of Meow’s friends. No one talked to me so I sat and read some more. They talked for more than an hour, but finally they got up and started to walk away without even telling me anything.
After that we went to Fern’s house, a friend of Meow’s. She lives in a military village because her parents are in the military (at least her dad, I don’t know about her mother). They all talked and laughed, but no one talked to me so I sat and tried to watch a movie that was on TV but I kept missing things because they were so loud. Eventually they decided to take a walk to the playground down the road. We sat there and they goofed around. Meow stole this one boy’s bike (he is always around, mysteriously appearing wherever Meow is and talking to her) and rode it around with Cherry. I sat with Fern, one of Meow’s friends and her sister, but no one talked to me so it was kind of boring. At about 4:30 they decided they were going to go and buy a gift for Peach for her birthday (which is Monday). I stayed at Fern’s house because they were taking one of the motorcycle things. I watched Nancy Drew and ate some dried bananas and some seed like thing that Fern’s mother gave me (I didn’t know what it was but I didn’t want to be rude so I ate it anyway).
At 6 my host dad came and picked us up. On the way home we stopped and picked up these donut like things that I really like (I can’t remember what they are called). Through Meow my host dad asked me questions and we actually had somewhat of a conversation! When we got home I helped to make dinner. Dinner was Curry. It was spicy, but only mildly so (had they given it to me when I first came I would have died). After dinner, Meow helped me wrap all of my Christmas presents. I was glad for the help even though we really didn’t talk and she was slow, it was nice of her to help. We finished around 9:15 and I went on the computer. I was really tired so I didn’t blog until this morning. I slept well, except that at 6 I had to get up and close my windows because the birds were annoying. I woke up around 8:30, but just laid there until after 9. Now I’m writing this and waiting for breakfast and the internet (Mike’s on so I don’t know when I’ll get it and be able to post this).
Some side notes:
There is this girl in my class called Sai (which means sand) and I call her the “I love you” girl because she is always saying she loves me. She is really nice and helpful, but it is a little weird that she is always saying she loves me, though to them it is normal.
Weather is very sporadic here. It was kind of colder on Monday and Tuesday but now it’s getting warm again. Yesterday we had clear blue skies all day and then all of a sudden it started to pour last night. You never know what it’s going to be like so you always carry and umbrella and a sweater.
I decided that I am going to get a haircut because there is no way I’m making it a whole year without cutting it. It looks like a mop. It has no shape and is driving me crazy. I’ve been putting it in a pony or hair clip everyday in order to make it manageable.
Well I know there are like a thousand side notes, but I can’t remember them right this minute so this is what I got for now!
Till later,
แอลอิสสัน ดันแคน
Around 12 we headed back to the school. We ate lunch at this little place across from the school. I ate “American Fried Rice” but it wasn’t really American. It was rice with ketchup, raisins, baby corn, and peas. I got a piece of chicken and three mini hot dogs to go with the rice. While I was eating I watched golf, that’s what was on the TV, because no one talks to me (I think that if I spend too much time with Meow and her friends I will lose my voice from lack of use!). After we finished eating we went to the 7/11 again so they could get some snacks. We then went to the school (across the street). There were so many people there, I was shocked! None of the people that we were waiting for were there though (at least I guess) because we sat by the English Corner for like an hour. They goofed around and I read. After that we went to the little kids cafeteria (they have a separate lunch room for the younger kids) and met with some of Meow’s friends. No one talked to me so I sat and read some more. They talked for more than an hour, but finally they got up and started to walk away without even telling me anything.
After that we went to Fern’s house, a friend of Meow’s. She lives in a military village because her parents are in the military (at least her dad, I don’t know about her mother). They all talked and laughed, but no one talked to me so I sat and tried to watch a movie that was on TV but I kept missing things because they were so loud. Eventually they decided to take a walk to the playground down the road. We sat there and they goofed around. Meow stole this one boy’s bike (he is always around, mysteriously appearing wherever Meow is and talking to her) and rode it around with Cherry. I sat with Fern, one of Meow’s friends and her sister, but no one talked to me so it was kind of boring. At about 4:30 they decided they were going to go and buy a gift for Peach for her birthday (which is Monday). I stayed at Fern’s house because they were taking one of the motorcycle things. I watched Nancy Drew and ate some dried bananas and some seed like thing that Fern’s mother gave me (I didn’t know what it was but I didn’t want to be rude so I ate it anyway).
At 6 my host dad came and picked us up. On the way home we stopped and picked up these donut like things that I really like (I can’t remember what they are called). Through Meow my host dad asked me questions and we actually had somewhat of a conversation! When we got home I helped to make dinner. Dinner was Curry. It was spicy, but only mildly so (had they given it to me when I first came I would have died). After dinner, Meow helped me wrap all of my Christmas presents. I was glad for the help even though we really didn’t talk and she was slow, it was nice of her to help. We finished around 9:15 and I went on the computer. I was really tired so I didn’t blog until this morning. I slept well, except that at 6 I had to get up and close my windows because the birds were annoying. I woke up around 8:30, but just laid there until after 9. Now I’m writing this and waiting for breakfast and the internet (Mike’s on so I don’t know when I’ll get it and be able to post this).
Some side notes:
There is this girl in my class called Sai (which means sand) and I call her the “I love you” girl because she is always saying she loves me. She is really nice and helpful, but it is a little weird that she is always saying she loves me, though to them it is normal.
Weather is very sporadic here. It was kind of colder on Monday and Tuesday but now it’s getting warm again. Yesterday we had clear blue skies all day and then all of a sudden it started to pour last night. You never know what it’s going to be like so you always carry and umbrella and a sweater.
I decided that I am going to get a haircut because there is no way I’m making it a whole year without cutting it. It looks like a mop. It has no shape and is driving me crazy. I’ve been putting it in a pony or hair clip everyday in order to make it manageable.
Well I know there are like a thousand side notes, but I can’t remember them right this minute so this is what I got for now!
Till later,
แอลอิสสัน ดันแคน
Friday, November 6, 2009
Friday November 6th, 2009
So today started out with me over sleeping. I turned off my alarm and fell back to sleep for 30 minutes, and only got up because my host mom knocked on my door. I wasn’t the only one who over slept though, both of the others over slept and ended up without breakfast. Breakfast was the leftover noodles from last night’s dinner. We quick hurried out the door and actually made it to school on time.
I waited in the English room for an extra 20 minutes because assembly ran over, but then Sai came and got me. We didn’t have class this morning because there was no teacher (it turns out it’s Chinese so I’ll have an extra free period there where I will do Thai with Ti). Since there was no teacher we went to the library. I sat with a group of girls from my class that I really don’t know, but they were nice and tried to help me learn some new things and to talk to me.
Second period I had Art with Peach. They were handing in bird drawings, but I get an extra week since this was my first class. Next week we are going to learn to draw flowers. The teacher seems really nice and she tries to make sure I feel included and comfortable. Some of the kids in the class are really good at drawing, I am going to look so pathetic next to them, but I think it is going to be fun anyway.
Third period I had social study with my class. We got out early so we went to lunch because they have a free period for meetings (they have to have meetings once a month so they have to have a period set aside for them). For lunch I ate some spicy chicken and some vegetables with pork. For dessert I had the Thai dessert that I had the other day with the ice.
After lunch we went up to our classroom for 6th period (we ate 4th period) and we sat and waited. I studied for most of the period, read for a short time (like 3 pages) and then helped Mo to color some things for math. When it came time for class we found out we had to move rooms. We had English 6th period which is really easy for Mo and I so we were talking. I guess we were talking kind of loud so the teacher called on us and made me read and then made her translate. It was really cool to listen to her translate. She was so fast at it most of the time, but sometimes she would accidentally say an English word and everyone would laugh. After we read some of the kids were trying to get the teacher to make me translate, thank goodness she didn’t fall for it. I said I wish I could translate any of it, so Mo decided to teach me some of the words in the section. She taught me for the remainder of the class.
After English I had Social Study with Peach. She had some packet she was working on so I sat there and studied Thai. After she finished we went to the canteen (cafeteria) to get some food. I got some hot dogs wrapped in bacon and then deep fried (talk about fattening) and then some egg roll like things also deep fried. I also got some mango. I then headed up to my Thai lesson.
In my Thai lesson I learned some body parts and then went over my flashcards. I decided that since I keep getting the same ones right that I should remove them and replace them with new words. I will work on going through them on Sunday if I have free time.
After school Meow and I were supposed to play tennis, but we really didn’t want to so we played for only like 10 minutes and then went and got some food. I got some cookies and some dried bananas and a water. While we ate we watched some people play and she helped me translate some phrases I wanted to learn. We decided around 5 to play for a little longer. We only lost our balls once (well me once her three times). My host mom came around 5:30 and we played until about 5:45. We then went and picked up Mike from school (he was retaking his Math exam because he failed, they have a no fail policy). After that we quick went to the store so I could buy some things for school and some wrapping paper so I can send the package home next week.
For dinner we had some noodles (like Ramon but Thai company). They gave me the non spicy and I told them they didn’t have to worry about me and to not make anything special for me. Meow said she put in peppers into mine and thought it would be spicy for me, but I didn’t even realize they were in there until she pointed one out to me. She said that next time she would give me the ones she eats since I didn’t have a problem with mine. I’m so proud of myself for being able to handle the spice!
After dinner I cleaned my room and sorted through the presents. I have everything in piles but still need to wrap them. When I picked up Tom’s from Srunya ants crawled all over me and like an idiot I put it on my bed instead of the floor so now I will have ants crawling on me tonight and biting me! I’m highly unmotivated to do much of anything tonight, but the gifts are all over my bed so I guess I have to deal with them in order to go to bed.
Tomorrow I’m hanging out with Meow. Should be a fun day, or so I hope. Well I can’t think of anything else to add for now, but I’m sure I will tonight like I always do. I have a mental list of things that I’ve forgotten all week, but I never do add them so I don’t know why I keep thinking about them. Well that’s all for now!
Have a good weekend everyone! Will try and write again tomorrow.
แอลอิสสัน ดันแคน
Side note: Ma can mean: Mother, Horse, Dog, or Come and I can never say it right
Kluay can mean : Banana or FU, and apparently I keep saying the bad one, I think I will try to avoid that word
P.S. I created a picture wall with pics from home so if you want you can send me (via mail, it’s hard to print anything here) pics of what you’re up to or what I’m missing! Thanks!
I waited in the English room for an extra 20 minutes because assembly ran over, but then Sai came and got me. We didn’t have class this morning because there was no teacher (it turns out it’s Chinese so I’ll have an extra free period there where I will do Thai with Ti). Since there was no teacher we went to the library. I sat with a group of girls from my class that I really don’t know, but they were nice and tried to help me learn some new things and to talk to me.
Second period I had Art with Peach. They were handing in bird drawings, but I get an extra week since this was my first class. Next week we are going to learn to draw flowers. The teacher seems really nice and she tries to make sure I feel included and comfortable. Some of the kids in the class are really good at drawing, I am going to look so pathetic next to them, but I think it is going to be fun anyway.
Third period I had social study with my class. We got out early so we went to lunch because they have a free period for meetings (they have to have meetings once a month so they have to have a period set aside for them). For lunch I ate some spicy chicken and some vegetables with pork. For dessert I had the Thai dessert that I had the other day with the ice.
After lunch we went up to our classroom for 6th period (we ate 4th period) and we sat and waited. I studied for most of the period, read for a short time (like 3 pages) and then helped Mo to color some things for math. When it came time for class we found out we had to move rooms. We had English 6th period which is really easy for Mo and I so we were talking. I guess we were talking kind of loud so the teacher called on us and made me read and then made her translate. It was really cool to listen to her translate. She was so fast at it most of the time, but sometimes she would accidentally say an English word and everyone would laugh. After we read some of the kids were trying to get the teacher to make me translate, thank goodness she didn’t fall for it. I said I wish I could translate any of it, so Mo decided to teach me some of the words in the section. She taught me for the remainder of the class.
After English I had Social Study with Peach. She had some packet she was working on so I sat there and studied Thai. After she finished we went to the canteen (cafeteria) to get some food. I got some hot dogs wrapped in bacon and then deep fried (talk about fattening) and then some egg roll like things also deep fried. I also got some mango. I then headed up to my Thai lesson.
In my Thai lesson I learned some body parts and then went over my flashcards. I decided that since I keep getting the same ones right that I should remove them and replace them with new words. I will work on going through them on Sunday if I have free time.
After school Meow and I were supposed to play tennis, but we really didn’t want to so we played for only like 10 minutes and then went and got some food. I got some cookies and some dried bananas and a water. While we ate we watched some people play and she helped me translate some phrases I wanted to learn. We decided around 5 to play for a little longer. We only lost our balls once (well me once her three times). My host mom came around 5:30 and we played until about 5:45. We then went and picked up Mike from school (he was retaking his Math exam because he failed, they have a no fail policy). After that we quick went to the store so I could buy some things for school and some wrapping paper so I can send the package home next week.
For dinner we had some noodles (like Ramon but Thai company). They gave me the non spicy and I told them they didn’t have to worry about me and to not make anything special for me. Meow said she put in peppers into mine and thought it would be spicy for me, but I didn’t even realize they were in there until she pointed one out to me. She said that next time she would give me the ones she eats since I didn’t have a problem with mine. I’m so proud of myself for being able to handle the spice!
After dinner I cleaned my room and sorted through the presents. I have everything in piles but still need to wrap them. When I picked up Tom’s from Srunya ants crawled all over me and like an idiot I put it on my bed instead of the floor so now I will have ants crawling on me tonight and biting me! I’m highly unmotivated to do much of anything tonight, but the gifts are all over my bed so I guess I have to deal with them in order to go to bed.
Tomorrow I’m hanging out with Meow. Should be a fun day, or so I hope. Well I can’t think of anything else to add for now, but I’m sure I will tonight like I always do. I have a mental list of things that I’ve forgotten all week, but I never do add them so I don’t know why I keep thinking about them. Well that’s all for now!
Have a good weekend everyone! Will try and write again tomorrow.
แอลอิสสัน ดันแคน
Side note: Ma can mean: Mother, Horse, Dog, or Come and I can never say it right
Kluay can mean : Banana or FU, and apparently I keep saying the bad one, I think I will try to avoid that word
P.S. I created a picture wall with pics from home so if you want you can send me (via mail, it’s hard to print anything here) pics of what you’re up to or what I’m missing! Thanks!
Thursday, November 5, 2009
Thursday November 5th, 2009
I don’t know how long this post is going to be because I was working on making flashcards and lost track of time so I lost 30 minutes of time. I ‘m going to try and type fast and fit everything in, but we’ll see. Well since there isn’t a lot of time I will get started right away.
Woke up this morning at around 5 because I was really, really hungry. I laid there and waited for my alarm to go off, unable to sleep from being too hungry. I got up and washed my face and brushed my teeth. I then headed back up stairs to put on my uniform. I then remembered I had gym today so had to switch outfits. Then we had breakfast. Breakfast was the left over fish balls from last night (I don’t like fish balls they really taste like undercooked, fishy fish). I had some of the Cream of Wheat mom sent so I had something more in my system and a yogurt. After breakfast I finished packing my things and we left, only 5 minutes later than we wanted to. We stopped at some store or something for Mike and Meow and I waited in the car for like 20 minutes. After that we went to school, but we took the long way so we got there as the anthem was playing. I then went to the English Corner to wait for the girls to come and get me, not knowing that there was not assembly this morning. They came and got me before I had even settled in. We had homeroom this morning and they got a note about tuition (I didn’t know they had to pay tuition until this morning). After that we went to Social Study.
During Social Study and English I practiced my letters. I wrote each of the first twelve letters 81 times. Third period I sat in the English corner, then I was supposed to have English but the girls never came to get me so I continued to work on my letters until lunch. At lunch I had noodles, but I should have put in some of the chili flakes because it really didn’t have any taste. After lunch was gym. I HATE gym here too, but I did what I had to because I don’t want to have to take it at home. I had to do sit ups and pushups today. I got 25 sit ups in a minute and 22 pushups (I thought the pushups were good, for my weak arms). I didn’t do so well but at least I tried. During gym some of the girls were teaching me the vowels and some new words. I love my class, they all are so nice and all are trying to help me learn. I am so happy that I chose to be in this class!
After gym was Religion. I think it’s cool to go to religion to watch them. At the beginning of class they bow and do this chanting thing then meditate for a few minutes and at the end they do something similar. I think it’s cool to learn about it and to see it.
After religion I had my Thai lesson (the teacher’s name is Ti). I love my writing lessons, they are always so much fun. Ti is so awesome. She says that I am learning very fast. Today she taught me 13 letters: yaw ying, daw chat da, taw pa tak, taw tan, taw nangmontoe, taw pu tao, naw neng, daw denk, taw tow, taw tung, taw tahan, taw tong, naw new. The new letters are sooo hard to write, but I have all weekend to practice because I don’t have class again until Monday.
After school I went and played tennis with Meow. We finished at 5 but my host mom wasn’t there so we walked and found a pay phone (our cell phones were in the car). My host mom was doing her errands so we had to wait for 30 minutes. My host mom bought us a snack for the ride home so I tried it without even knowing what it was. I still don’t know what it was that I ate, but it was good, I even had a second. Once we got home I helped to make dinner. I cut the pork and carrots and then helped her to cook it all. Dinner was good, we had something new, Chinese noodles. After dinner I worked on writing my flashcards for the new words from today and for my letters and vowels.
So that was my day. Nothing too exciting, but I was busy. Tomorrow is even busier, but it’s the last day. I guess I will make it through the first week alive and still as excited about things as when I started, so that’s good.
Well I guess that’s all for now.
Till tomorrow,
แอลอิสสัน ดันแคน
Woke up this morning at around 5 because I was really, really hungry. I laid there and waited for my alarm to go off, unable to sleep from being too hungry. I got up and washed my face and brushed my teeth. I then headed back up stairs to put on my uniform. I then remembered I had gym today so had to switch outfits. Then we had breakfast. Breakfast was the left over fish balls from last night (I don’t like fish balls they really taste like undercooked, fishy fish). I had some of the Cream of Wheat mom sent so I had something more in my system and a yogurt. After breakfast I finished packing my things and we left, only 5 minutes later than we wanted to. We stopped at some store or something for Mike and Meow and I waited in the car for like 20 minutes. After that we went to school, but we took the long way so we got there as the anthem was playing. I then went to the English Corner to wait for the girls to come and get me, not knowing that there was not assembly this morning. They came and got me before I had even settled in. We had homeroom this morning and they got a note about tuition (I didn’t know they had to pay tuition until this morning). After that we went to Social Study.
During Social Study and English I practiced my letters. I wrote each of the first twelve letters 81 times. Third period I sat in the English corner, then I was supposed to have English but the girls never came to get me so I continued to work on my letters until lunch. At lunch I had noodles, but I should have put in some of the chili flakes because it really didn’t have any taste. After lunch was gym. I HATE gym here too, but I did what I had to because I don’t want to have to take it at home. I had to do sit ups and pushups today. I got 25 sit ups in a minute and 22 pushups (I thought the pushups were good, for my weak arms). I didn’t do so well but at least I tried. During gym some of the girls were teaching me the vowels and some new words. I love my class, they all are so nice and all are trying to help me learn. I am so happy that I chose to be in this class!
After gym was Religion. I think it’s cool to go to religion to watch them. At the beginning of class they bow and do this chanting thing then meditate for a few minutes and at the end they do something similar. I think it’s cool to learn about it and to see it.
After religion I had my Thai lesson (the teacher’s name is Ti). I love my writing lessons, they are always so much fun. Ti is so awesome. She says that I am learning very fast. Today she taught me 13 letters: yaw ying, daw chat da, taw pa tak, taw tan, taw nangmontoe, taw pu tao, naw neng, daw denk, taw tow, taw tung, taw tahan, taw tong, naw new. The new letters are sooo hard to write, but I have all weekend to practice because I don’t have class again until Monday.
After school I went and played tennis with Meow. We finished at 5 but my host mom wasn’t there so we walked and found a pay phone (our cell phones were in the car). My host mom was doing her errands so we had to wait for 30 minutes. My host mom bought us a snack for the ride home so I tried it without even knowing what it was. I still don’t know what it was that I ate, but it was good, I even had a second. Once we got home I helped to make dinner. I cut the pork and carrots and then helped her to cook it all. Dinner was good, we had something new, Chinese noodles. After dinner I worked on writing my flashcards for the new words from today and for my letters and vowels.
So that was my day. Nothing too exciting, but I was busy. Tomorrow is even busier, but it’s the last day. I guess I will make it through the first week alive and still as excited about things as when I started, so that’s good.
Well I guess that’s all for now.
Till tomorrow,
แอลอิสสัน ดันแคน
Wednesday, November 4, 2009
Wednesday November 4th, 2009
Chan chue Ploy ka!
Alright so first I will start with the day and through that I will tell you what that means.
I woke up this morning at 4 something and couldn’t fall back to sleep. I laid there and laid there and then my alarm went off at 6 and I was like “Ugh, I totally need to get some more sleep!” I got up and got ready for the day as usual. At breakfast I talked with my family about my nickname. Ploy was the only one I could remember so that is the one I went with. We left for school at normal time and arrived there at normal time, but I didn’t go to school right away.
I went to the doctor this morning. I have an infection of my baby toe. The hospital is so different here. First when you walk in you have to stop at this little stand and get a mask to cover your face so you can’t spread germs. Then you go to a counter and they take your hospital card. Since I didn’t have a card I had to fill out a form. It was funny to watch the lady behind the counter try and do the math to figure out when I was born. I eventually did the math for her, it was simpler. After that I went up stairs with my host mom to her office. I am now going to describe what the hospital looks like on the inside. It is white cement walls with hard plastic chairs in various places to sit. There are some doors here and there and then in the middle is some escalators to take you to the second floor. The floor is tile. The hospital is not warm and friendly like ours. They also don’t have many computers, most everything is paper. Now back to my experience.
When the doctor was taking patients I went downstairs with my host mom. We got my little book and went to weigh me, I couldn’t avoid it. Then they took my blood pressure using one of those machines that are usually at the stores. I then had to go and sit with this nurse at a desk and she used this like laser thing to take my temperature (it didn’t even have to touch me). She asked some basic questions like where the problem was and how long I’d had it. I then went and sat by the doctors door and waited. When they told me to go in I was expecting something like in America, but it was a small room with paneling for walls, tile floor, and only a bed and a desk. I sat down in a chair as indicated by the doctor, handed him my book and then took off my sock and shoe. He then shined a flashlight on my toe, asked if it itched, how long I had it, and then said I had an infection. He then wrote out my list of meds (yes ‘LIST of meds’) and gave it to my host mom. We then went and to the pharmacy which was on the opposite side of the large room. My host mom paid for the meds, took the list and gave it to one of the pharmacists and then pressed a button on a machine to get me a number. She was too impatient to wait for the 10 people ahead of us so she went in back and did it herself. I now have to take two pills at breakfast, one at dinner, and one before bed and put on a cream twice a day.
After the doctor I went to school where third period had just started. Fourth period is English (which is taught in Thai). On my way one of the girls from class grabbed me and dragged me into class so I had to throw my shoes down right next to the door. After class my shoes were gone! We found a spare pair of shoes in the hall, but they were way too small. I wore the shoes anyway so that I could go to lunch. When we got to the cafeteria Mo asked the kids in our class if they had my shoes. No one knew anything so we went and got our food. Just as we were heading back to our table someone came and gave me my shoes. Apparently one of the girls had left her shoes on the first floor and forgotten that that is what she did so she took mine thinking they were hers. After lunch I took and put the other shoes back where I found them. For lunch I ate those spicy noodles I had the other day, but this time I finished them and my lips were normal before five minutes had passed!
After lunch we had social study. During class I worked on writing my name. I wrote it 85 times today because at the doctor they needed me to write it and I couldn’t (and everyone here writes it wrong), so I decided it was time I master it. After social study was health. We had a different teacher this week and I don’t know why. They watched some movies on drugs and alcohol and then she let us go early. I then went to the English Corner for my Thai lesson with Gayoon. It turns out Gayoon isn’t giving me a lesson anymore the new girl is. I had a lot of fun working on the next six letters today. I know you don’t care what they are but this is my journal so I’m going to say them. They are Ngaw Ngu, Jaw Jing, Chaw Ching, Chaw Chang, Saw Sue, Chaw Chu. I then had to show my skills by writing them all as she said them, not in order. Then she quizzed me. I really wish I would have done the homework, it would have helped so much. I guess I will do it tonight!
After school I sat and waited as usual. Mike was supposed to meet Eddie, one of the American teachers, but “forgot” and went to the hospital so when my host mom came she had to talk to Gayoon about him. After they finished we ran some errands. Meow and I went to pick up the pictures and then we started back to the car, but then we decided to go and look at video cameras. The cheapest camera was smaller than dad’s and was about $350!!! There is no way I’m buying one here, it would be cheaper to have mom buy me one and send it, then I would save like $200 or more! When we went back to the car my host mom was waiting and then we got some treats for a snack. We then went to a small children’s clinic (it was like a shop front with a little room off to the side. It looked nothing like ANYTHING we have in the US. We went there so Meow could get her Hep A vaccination. After that we headed home.
I quick changed and then Meow and I went to the 7/11 so I could take out some money and then we were going to steal one of the Logatone flags, but they already threw them out. I wanted to go yesterday but it was raining. I was disappointed! After that we came back to the house and messed with pictures, she wanted some of mine and I wanted some of hers. Then we had dinner where I learned that some foods shouldn’t be mixed like Thai food and yogurt covered cranberries your stomach doesn’t like that combination! Now I’m blogging and loading pics to facebook. Then I’m going to write some letters and head to bed because tomorrow they want to leave 40 minutes early for school and I didn’t get a lot of sleep last night.
More pics for those not on facebook:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=123049&id=535566988&l=e1d1832aa3
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=122045&id=535566988&l=3f7102e229
Till tomorrow,
แอลอิสสัน ดันแคน
Alright so first I will start with the day and through that I will tell you what that means.
I woke up this morning at 4 something and couldn’t fall back to sleep. I laid there and laid there and then my alarm went off at 6 and I was like “Ugh, I totally need to get some more sleep!” I got up and got ready for the day as usual. At breakfast I talked with my family about my nickname. Ploy was the only one I could remember so that is the one I went with. We left for school at normal time and arrived there at normal time, but I didn’t go to school right away.
I went to the doctor this morning. I have an infection of my baby toe. The hospital is so different here. First when you walk in you have to stop at this little stand and get a mask to cover your face so you can’t spread germs. Then you go to a counter and they take your hospital card. Since I didn’t have a card I had to fill out a form. It was funny to watch the lady behind the counter try and do the math to figure out when I was born. I eventually did the math for her, it was simpler. After that I went up stairs with my host mom to her office. I am now going to describe what the hospital looks like on the inside. It is white cement walls with hard plastic chairs in various places to sit. There are some doors here and there and then in the middle is some escalators to take you to the second floor. The floor is tile. The hospital is not warm and friendly like ours. They also don’t have many computers, most everything is paper. Now back to my experience.
When the doctor was taking patients I went downstairs with my host mom. We got my little book and went to weigh me, I couldn’t avoid it. Then they took my blood pressure using one of those machines that are usually at the stores. I then had to go and sit with this nurse at a desk and she used this like laser thing to take my temperature (it didn’t even have to touch me). She asked some basic questions like where the problem was and how long I’d had it. I then went and sat by the doctors door and waited. When they told me to go in I was expecting something like in America, but it was a small room with paneling for walls, tile floor, and only a bed and a desk. I sat down in a chair as indicated by the doctor, handed him my book and then took off my sock and shoe. He then shined a flashlight on my toe, asked if it itched, how long I had it, and then said I had an infection. He then wrote out my list of meds (yes ‘LIST of meds’) and gave it to my host mom. We then went and to the pharmacy which was on the opposite side of the large room. My host mom paid for the meds, took the list and gave it to one of the pharmacists and then pressed a button on a machine to get me a number. She was too impatient to wait for the 10 people ahead of us so she went in back and did it herself. I now have to take two pills at breakfast, one at dinner, and one before bed and put on a cream twice a day.
After the doctor I went to school where third period had just started. Fourth period is English (which is taught in Thai). On my way one of the girls from class grabbed me and dragged me into class so I had to throw my shoes down right next to the door. After class my shoes were gone! We found a spare pair of shoes in the hall, but they were way too small. I wore the shoes anyway so that I could go to lunch. When we got to the cafeteria Mo asked the kids in our class if they had my shoes. No one knew anything so we went and got our food. Just as we were heading back to our table someone came and gave me my shoes. Apparently one of the girls had left her shoes on the first floor and forgotten that that is what she did so she took mine thinking they were hers. After lunch I took and put the other shoes back where I found them. For lunch I ate those spicy noodles I had the other day, but this time I finished them and my lips were normal before five minutes had passed!
After lunch we had social study. During class I worked on writing my name. I wrote it 85 times today because at the doctor they needed me to write it and I couldn’t (and everyone here writes it wrong), so I decided it was time I master it. After social study was health. We had a different teacher this week and I don’t know why. They watched some movies on drugs and alcohol and then she let us go early. I then went to the English Corner for my Thai lesson with Gayoon. It turns out Gayoon isn’t giving me a lesson anymore the new girl is. I had a lot of fun working on the next six letters today. I know you don’t care what they are but this is my journal so I’m going to say them. They are Ngaw Ngu, Jaw Jing, Chaw Ching, Chaw Chang, Saw Sue, Chaw Chu. I then had to show my skills by writing them all as she said them, not in order. Then she quizzed me. I really wish I would have done the homework, it would have helped so much. I guess I will do it tonight!
After school I sat and waited as usual. Mike was supposed to meet Eddie, one of the American teachers, but “forgot” and went to the hospital so when my host mom came she had to talk to Gayoon about him. After they finished we ran some errands. Meow and I went to pick up the pictures and then we started back to the car, but then we decided to go and look at video cameras. The cheapest camera was smaller than dad’s and was about $350!!! There is no way I’m buying one here, it would be cheaper to have mom buy me one and send it, then I would save like $200 or more! When we went back to the car my host mom was waiting and then we got some treats for a snack. We then went to a small children’s clinic (it was like a shop front with a little room off to the side. It looked nothing like ANYTHING we have in the US. We went there so Meow could get her Hep A vaccination. After that we headed home.
I quick changed and then Meow and I went to the 7/11 so I could take out some money and then we were going to steal one of the Logatone flags, but they already threw them out. I wanted to go yesterday but it was raining. I was disappointed! After that we came back to the house and messed with pictures, she wanted some of mine and I wanted some of hers. Then we had dinner where I learned that some foods shouldn’t be mixed like Thai food and yogurt covered cranberries your stomach doesn’t like that combination! Now I’m blogging and loading pics to facebook. Then I’m going to write some letters and head to bed because tomorrow they want to leave 40 minutes early for school and I didn’t get a lot of sleep last night.
More pics for those not on facebook:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=123049&id=535566988&l=e1d1832aa3
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=122045&id=535566988&l=3f7102e229
Till tomorrow,
แอลอิสสัน ดันแคน
Tuesday, November 3, 2009
Tuesday November 3rd, 2009
Alright well today was a little crazy, but good. I think though that I will start with last night.
Logatone Festival: Yesterday was the official day of Logatone and there were only two places in all of Petchaburi province that had celebrations, Had Chao Samran and Cha-Am, so everyone close by came here. There were people everywhere, it was insane. There were some fireworks and tons of those balloon things. When we got to the beach you couldn’t find a place to sit. My host dad had gone early because he was judging the beauty contest. The rest of us went later. When we got there Mike kept wandering off and it got really annoying chasing after him because my host mom didn’t want to lose him. We got there and we watched a part of the beauty contest then we wandered around. Mike bought some fried bugs, apparently they are one of his favorite foods. I told them that I would try anything they wanted, but I drew the line at bugs! I couldn’t believe he ate them all! After a short time my host mom got tired so we went back to the house so she could change shoes and rest for a minute. We also grabbed our Godangs (the flower and banana leaf things). When we went back to the beach we bought one of the balloons and then went to release it. Mike was in charge of lighting everything, but he wasn’t very good with the lighter and it was very windy so he continually burnt himself. We started by trying to light the Godangs, but they wouldn’t stay lit for more than a second or two in the wind. We eventually gave up on lighting them and Meow went and put hers in the ocean; it didn’t go for than a few feet before currents brought it back to shore. Once she got back to where we were standing they decided to try to launch the balloon. It was so funny watching the two of them try! They didn’t know what they were doing and they couldn’t get it to light and when they did Mike would burn himself and Meow would not be holding the top properly (at one point she let go to answer her phone). Some stranger had to help them because they were really pathetic. There were people lighting off fireworks not more than five feet behind them and they kept getting closer and closer to them, so I was a little nervous about that. After almost 15 minutes they finally got it into the air. After that I decided to put my Gadong into the ocean. I wanted to keep mine so I put it in and expected it to come back like everyone else’s, but of course mine had to be the one that kept going further and further out. It eventually came back far enough for me to grab it, so for now I’m keeping it. After we finished releasing them, my host mom went to listen to the concert and Meow, Mike and I went off to explore. We met up with some of their friends and just wandered around and took pictures and ate. It was a lot of fun, but I was really tired! We returned back to the house around 12, but then Meow and my host mom and I walked to the river to release my host dad’s and my host mom’s Godangs (I released my host dad’s because he was too tired to come). After showering (which was necessary because I was covered in sand), I did my devotion and went right to bed because I was too tired for anything else!
This morning we were supposed to leave 30 minutes early of school, but of course I knew that wouldn’t happen. We left about 10 minutes before normal and we stopped at the store, but it was a really quick stop and they didn’t get anything. We were at school right at 8, so at least we weren’t late. I went to the English Corner as always to wait for the girls to come and get me, but they didn’t until almost the end of first period. We then went to Physics, where I didn’t understand anything but the signs are the same (like F = force) so I caught some of that. They then had English, which is taught in Thai (I know, very odd). After English I had a Thai lesson with the new Thai assistant in the English Corner. She is teaching me to read and write. I learned the first six letters of the 44 letter alphabet. Even though it means nothing to you I am going to say the names just to show you how confusing it is: Gaw Gai, Kaw Kai, Kaw Kwat, Kaw Kwai, Kaw Kone, Kaw Rak-con. I don’t know how they are read yet, but I can write them all and identify them. My homework for tonight is to write them all 100 times, but I’m too tired (I might do it tomorrow during Social Studies). After my Thai lesson I had lunch, I was sooo hungry (breakfast was 4 mini hot dogs and some rice). After eating the main meal I decided I wanted to try the Thai dessert, which is ice with different candies and syrups. I got Taro, corn (it’s a sweet here), some green noodle like thing, and banana, with a red sauce and the sweet sauce. The first bite tasted like cough medicine, but I was determined to eat it all and after about ½ way it didn’t taste like cough medicine anymore, and I actually began to like it. After lunch we went up to the library and they worked on homework and goofed around. They decided that I have to have a Thai name so they spent like 40 minutes trying to come up with good things for me. They gave me a list to look at tonight and if I don’t choose they are going to nickname me “Farang” which means foreigner and guava (it’s strange but true that it means both things). I keep forgetting to ask my host family about the names, I’ll have to do it before I head to bed. I decided at 2:45 to head to the English Corner so that I could find someone to take me to Thai dance, but no one was around so I missed another class (I’m beginning to think I’m not going to learn any Thai dance, or very little). After school I read. Gayoon talked with Meow about something until my host mom came and then she talked to my host mom for like 30 minutes. Once we left the school they took me somewhere to print some photos. After that we ran a few errands and then picked up Mike from his after school school. We then went home where I’ve been reading and doing things until now. Now I’m writing my blog and preparing to head to bed.
Well that was my day, or what I can currently remember of it in this half stupor I’m in!
Oh yah I forgot that I got my iPod to work again. I took it to school today because the girls said they might be able to do something. I tossed it on the table (not as gently as I normally would, but I was annoyed with it for not working) and then after that it worked! I have it fully charged now, so I’m really happy! I’m going to buy my video camera now, well if I can find something reasonable here.
Now that is really all I can remember for today.
Logatone Festival: Yesterday was the official day of Logatone and there were only two places in all of Petchaburi province that had celebrations, Had Chao Samran and Cha-Am, so everyone close by came here. There were people everywhere, it was insane. There were some fireworks and tons of those balloon things. When we got to the beach you couldn’t find a place to sit. My host dad had gone early because he was judging the beauty contest. The rest of us went later. When we got there Mike kept wandering off and it got really annoying chasing after him because my host mom didn’t want to lose him. We got there and we watched a part of the beauty contest then we wandered around. Mike bought some fried bugs, apparently they are one of his favorite foods. I told them that I would try anything they wanted, but I drew the line at bugs! I couldn’t believe he ate them all! After a short time my host mom got tired so we went back to the house so she could change shoes and rest for a minute. We also grabbed our Godangs (the flower and banana leaf things). When we went back to the beach we bought one of the balloons and then went to release it. Mike was in charge of lighting everything, but he wasn’t very good with the lighter and it was very windy so he continually burnt himself. We started by trying to light the Godangs, but they wouldn’t stay lit for more than a second or two in the wind. We eventually gave up on lighting them and Meow went and put hers in the ocean; it didn’t go for than a few feet before currents brought it back to shore. Once she got back to where we were standing they decided to try to launch the balloon. It was so funny watching the two of them try! They didn’t know what they were doing and they couldn’t get it to light and when they did Mike would burn himself and Meow would not be holding the top properly (at one point she let go to answer her phone). Some stranger had to help them because they were really pathetic. There were people lighting off fireworks not more than five feet behind them and they kept getting closer and closer to them, so I was a little nervous about that. After almost 15 minutes they finally got it into the air. After that I decided to put my Gadong into the ocean. I wanted to keep mine so I put it in and expected it to come back like everyone else’s, but of course mine had to be the one that kept going further and further out. It eventually came back far enough for me to grab it, so for now I’m keeping it. After we finished releasing them, my host mom went to listen to the concert and Meow, Mike and I went off to explore. We met up with some of their friends and just wandered around and took pictures and ate. It was a lot of fun, but I was really tired! We returned back to the house around 12, but then Meow and my host mom and I walked to the river to release my host dad’s and my host mom’s Godangs (I released my host dad’s because he was too tired to come). After showering (which was necessary because I was covered in sand), I did my devotion and went right to bed because I was too tired for anything else!
This morning we were supposed to leave 30 minutes early of school, but of course I knew that wouldn’t happen. We left about 10 minutes before normal and we stopped at the store, but it was a really quick stop and they didn’t get anything. We were at school right at 8, so at least we weren’t late. I went to the English Corner as always to wait for the girls to come and get me, but they didn’t until almost the end of first period. We then went to Physics, where I didn’t understand anything but the signs are the same (like F = force) so I caught some of that. They then had English, which is taught in Thai (I know, very odd). After English I had a Thai lesson with the new Thai assistant in the English Corner. She is teaching me to read and write. I learned the first six letters of the 44 letter alphabet. Even though it means nothing to you I am going to say the names just to show you how confusing it is: Gaw Gai, Kaw Kai, Kaw Kwat, Kaw Kwai, Kaw Kone, Kaw Rak-con. I don’t know how they are read yet, but I can write them all and identify them. My homework for tonight is to write them all 100 times, but I’m too tired (I might do it tomorrow during Social Studies). After my Thai lesson I had lunch, I was sooo hungry (breakfast was 4 mini hot dogs and some rice). After eating the main meal I decided I wanted to try the Thai dessert, which is ice with different candies and syrups. I got Taro, corn (it’s a sweet here), some green noodle like thing, and banana, with a red sauce and the sweet sauce. The first bite tasted like cough medicine, but I was determined to eat it all and after about ½ way it didn’t taste like cough medicine anymore, and I actually began to like it. After lunch we went up to the library and they worked on homework and goofed around. They decided that I have to have a Thai name so they spent like 40 minutes trying to come up with good things for me. They gave me a list to look at tonight and if I don’t choose they are going to nickname me “Farang” which means foreigner and guava (it’s strange but true that it means both things). I keep forgetting to ask my host family about the names, I’ll have to do it before I head to bed. I decided at 2:45 to head to the English Corner so that I could find someone to take me to Thai dance, but no one was around so I missed another class (I’m beginning to think I’m not going to learn any Thai dance, or very little). After school I read. Gayoon talked with Meow about something until my host mom came and then she talked to my host mom for like 30 minutes. Once we left the school they took me somewhere to print some photos. After that we ran a few errands and then picked up Mike from his after school school. We then went home where I’ve been reading and doing things until now. Now I’m writing my blog and preparing to head to bed.
Well that was my day, or what I can currently remember of it in this half stupor I’m in!
Oh yah I forgot that I got my iPod to work again. I took it to school today because the girls said they might be able to do something. I tossed it on the table (not as gently as I normally would, but I was annoyed with it for not working) and then after that it worked! I have it fully charged now, so I’m really happy! I’m going to buy my video camera now, well if I can find something reasonable here.
Now that is really all I can remember for today.
Monday, November 2, 2009
Monday November 2nd, 2009
So I made it through the first day of this crazy week, and it wasn’t fantastic! I had a great day. The beginning wasn’t so great (getting out of bed is always the hardest part of the day). I got up 15 minutes late, someone was in the bathroom so I went back up stairs and then I was running even more behind. Last week I got scolded for wearing even a little make-up so this week I’m not going to risk it (maybe next week) so that saved some time. I threw everything into my bag and went downstairs for breakfast. They were having eggs, but they had some garlic pork for me. As soon as we had finished eating we had to leave. My bag is so heavy, if I don’t get a backpack soon my left arm is going to fall off! On the way to school there was a traffic jam so we took a 10 minute detour to get to school and ended up being 15 minutes late again (just one day I’d like to be there before the ceremony begins). By the time I sat down and had the computer turned on my friends were coming to get me for home room.
Homeroom is very interesting. It is basically designed to check and make sure everyone is following the rules. The lady in charge first made all the girls put their hair down and get in line. She then ran her hands through their hair to make sure it was not layered and then she checked for signs of hair dye. After that they had to be checked for nail polish and nail length. There are only three boys in my class of 30 or 40 so they can get away with most anything. Once everyone passed or failed the check we left for math. I am doing an independent math so I truly don’t have to go but it was better than sitting in the English Corner plus then I got to spend free period with them. During Math some of the girls tried to talk to me but I couldn’t understand them and it was very frustrating. I understood some words but I couldn’t figure out what they meant. During free period they helped me by writing the Thai on my flashcards. I also learned their names. The girl who went to Texas is called Mo, then there is Fern, Kow, and Pow (I think that was her name, but I can’t remember for sure).
Third period is English, but the teacher never showed so it was another free period. Fourth period is Chinese for them so I have Thai, but Gayoon was gone so I couldn’t ask her who my teacher was so I talked to Mom instead. Fifth period is lunch. I had some sweet noodles and some chicken with rice. After lunch was supposed to be Thai but the teacher was gone so we had a free period. We went to the library and they worked on homework and I practiced my writing.
7th and 8th period was Botany (I couldn’t remember what it was in English until after we got there). They had a test the first half and then the second they just had to write their name on a pot for next lesson when they plant some shrubs. We were done 40 minutes early so we went to the cafeteria. I watch Boom do her homework, I wish I could write like she does. Later Mo joined us and we talked. At 4 when school was out I went to the English Corner. Meow came in after a few minutes and told me she was going somewhere until 4:45 and I was supposed to wait there. At one point I had to go to the bathroom so Peach decided to go with me and one of her friends wanted to come, in the end five of us went (girls go in groups here too). Meow came back early and my host mom came and got us.
After we left we ran some errands. There were so many pretty pieces (I forget what they are called, I’ll ask before I finish this blog), I wish I would have bought one. They are for Logatone festival tonight. We release them into the water. They are banana tree pieces and leaves with different flowers and in the middle is a candle. My host family has a few here so I am going to take pictures before they put them in the ocean.
Once we got home I changed and went on the computer to use my Rosetta Stone. Tonight we are going to the festival at 8:30 and won’t come home till after midnight and I have to get up early tomorrow because Meow wants to stop at a store before we go to school, so we have to leave 30 minutes early. If people thought I was tired today (which they did, many people commented that I didn’t smile today) then tomorrow I’m going to be a walking zombie.
Sometime today Gayoon must have talked to my host mom because she told me that Gayoon said they have to speak Thai to me. All night she has been giving me instructions in Thai and is completely surprised that I understand what she wants me to do. I am having a great day with understanding, I think it’s because I’ve been doing it all day so my brain is in that mode. I like it; it makes me feel good about myself! I like it even more when I can respond in Thai, which I sometimes can!
Today was a great day, I hope tomorrow is just as good!
(Sorry about not putting on more photos, didn’t get the chance tonight with leaving for the festival so early)
Homeroom is very interesting. It is basically designed to check and make sure everyone is following the rules. The lady in charge first made all the girls put their hair down and get in line. She then ran her hands through their hair to make sure it was not layered and then she checked for signs of hair dye. After that they had to be checked for nail polish and nail length. There are only three boys in my class of 30 or 40 so they can get away with most anything. Once everyone passed or failed the check we left for math. I am doing an independent math so I truly don’t have to go but it was better than sitting in the English Corner plus then I got to spend free period with them. During Math some of the girls tried to talk to me but I couldn’t understand them and it was very frustrating. I understood some words but I couldn’t figure out what they meant. During free period they helped me by writing the Thai on my flashcards. I also learned their names. The girl who went to Texas is called Mo, then there is Fern, Kow, and Pow (I think that was her name, but I can’t remember for sure).
Third period is English, but the teacher never showed so it was another free period. Fourth period is Chinese for them so I have Thai, but Gayoon was gone so I couldn’t ask her who my teacher was so I talked to Mom instead. Fifth period is lunch. I had some sweet noodles and some chicken with rice. After lunch was supposed to be Thai but the teacher was gone so we had a free period. We went to the library and they worked on homework and I practiced my writing.
7th and 8th period was Botany (I couldn’t remember what it was in English until after we got there). They had a test the first half and then the second they just had to write their name on a pot for next lesson when they plant some shrubs. We were done 40 minutes early so we went to the cafeteria. I watch Boom do her homework, I wish I could write like she does. Later Mo joined us and we talked. At 4 when school was out I went to the English Corner. Meow came in after a few minutes and told me she was going somewhere until 4:45 and I was supposed to wait there. At one point I had to go to the bathroom so Peach decided to go with me and one of her friends wanted to come, in the end five of us went (girls go in groups here too). Meow came back early and my host mom came and got us.
After we left we ran some errands. There were so many pretty pieces (I forget what they are called, I’ll ask before I finish this blog), I wish I would have bought one. They are for Logatone festival tonight. We release them into the water. They are banana tree pieces and leaves with different flowers and in the middle is a candle. My host family has a few here so I am going to take pictures before they put them in the ocean.
Once we got home I changed and went on the computer to use my Rosetta Stone. Tonight we are going to the festival at 8:30 and won’t come home till after midnight and I have to get up early tomorrow because Meow wants to stop at a store before we go to school, so we have to leave 30 minutes early. If people thought I was tired today (which they did, many people commented that I didn’t smile today) then tomorrow I’m going to be a walking zombie.
Sometime today Gayoon must have talked to my host mom because she told me that Gayoon said they have to speak Thai to me. All night she has been giving me instructions in Thai and is completely surprised that I understand what she wants me to do. I am having a great day with understanding, I think it’s because I’ve been doing it all day so my brain is in that mode. I like it; it makes me feel good about myself! I like it even more when I can respond in Thai, which I sometimes can!
Today was a great day, I hope tomorrow is just as good!
(Sorry about not putting on more photos, didn’t get the chance tonight with leaving for the festival so early)
Sunday, November 1, 2009
Sunday November 1st, 2009
Wow it’s weird to type November into the date, it seems like 2009 just started and it’s already only two months from being 2010, this year has gone by soooo fast! Anyway, that has nothing to do with my blog, it’s just a random thought of mine (I seem to have a lot of those today, like right now I’m wondering where my pony went it was right next to me earlier today).
I guess I will start with the festival from last night. It was nothing like I was expecting, not that I knew what to expect but still. It was basically some stands like at the markets, selling clothes and shoes and jewelry and then a whole bunch of tents with food like at the birthday party I went to for the police guy, except this time I had to pay. I got a strawberry smoothie, but it was really bitter and salty so I stopped drinking it after ¼ (it was only like $.10 so it wasn’t a big deal). My host family bought a whole bunch of food, Thai love to eat! They bought some mini crabs, some squid thing, some salad (I didn’t like the dressing on it), some shell thing (it was really chewy so I didn’t eat too many), and some noodles. There was a concert, some famous Thai singer (I didn’t know them so you definitely wouldn’t!) and a whole bunch of screaming, drunk people. The ocean was a lit up so that was really pretty, but I couldn’t understand the concert and no one was talking so I was kind of bored and got really sleepy really fast. We returned home around 11:30 so by the time I showered, did devotion, and a little stretching I was so out of it I fell asleep before I could do any Thai flashcards.
I really wish I had my hair tie, my neck is so sweaty it’s making my hair wet. I’m going to go get my back up quick. Ok back. In that short journey I saw what my family is up to. Here is what everyone is doing:
My host dad is getting dressed and preparing to head to the festival. Meow is doing homework and watching Celebrity Apprentice II (I totally got both of those words spelled wrong, thank goodness for Word or no one would be able to understand a thing I’m writing). My host mom is in her store. Mike is watching TV in the store and eating a half a watermelon (I mean he has a half of a watermelon in his hand and he is eating it with a spoon!). The helper is finishing put things away in the store and then she has to mop the floor before she heads out. The helper’s son is watching TV with Mike. I’m writing this blog and trying to block out all the random thoughts running through my head right now (like I could go for a bowl of Fruit Loops right now). I totally just decided to load my pics from the last day onto my USB so I can put them on my computer, don’t know why I decided to do that now, but whatever!
Alright I’m going to try and stay on topic enough to say what I did today. Today was a much more interesting day than yesterday. To start I woke up before 7 (probably because I left my windows open and so I could hear everything that was going on outside!). I got out of bed around 7:45 and decided to shower in hopes that there would be enough water to shave (I shave once a week because of lack of water, sometimes only once every two weeks). There was a slight amount of water and about ½ through it shut off! I was more than a little annoyed! I finished my shower and got dressed. I then went on the computer until about 9:45. My host mom told me around 9 that I should make some breakfast for myself. She left out the container of instant mush (I don’t really know what it is but it like oatmeal but mushier). I tried to make it but it didn’t turn out well, thank goodness my host mom came into the kitchen to make herself tea. She fixed it, but she added salt to it even though I told her not to. I had to add a lot of sugar to counter act the salt and to make the mush taste like anything. At 9:45 my host mom, Meow and I left. They asked me last night if I wanted to go to the store with them today and I said sure, knowing that it would be way better than sitting at home! On the way to the store we stopped at the temple. There was some big ceremony going on and there were tons of people. There was a huge selection of food, so we ate some breakfast after my host mom gave some money, and then talked with some people. I don’t know how my host mom is related to so many people, but we are always running into someone that Meow says is her aunt (I wonder if it’s a cultural thing). Before we left the temple we went and watched the ceremony that they have to do before they can give the offerings to the temple. They have to dance around the temple three times in a big procession, it was kind of cool.
After we left the temple we headed to Big C, which is kind of sort of like Walmart, to get the computer hooked up with Wireless access (even though we don’t have wireless). I bought some shampoos, conditioner, toothbrush, and nail-file (my nails seem to be getting weaker while I’m here and it’s bothering me). I need deodorant so I went to get some and they have this small, small, small collection of antiperspirant spray stuff and the cans looked travel size (they like mini things here). They didn’t have any deodorant and I’m like almost out, so now I’m doomed to stink for the rest of the year, yippee!! I thought I might have some luck my lotions then, I was wrong. The only lotion that I could find was whitening lotion and I don’t think I need to whiten my skin any more than it already is! My luck was not with me!
After Big C we went to Makro, which is kind of sort of like Sam’s Club. My host mom bought 2 ½ carts full of stuff for 8,294 baht (I don’t know that in dollars right this sec, sorry). By the time we finished the shopping it was almost 1 and I was ready for lunch. To my surprise lunch was a scheduled thing. My host mom had a lunch meeting with a company who wants her and the other pharmacists who were at the lunch to buy their medicines (one was Glucosamine, which mom takes). When we arrived everyone kept asking if I could speak Thai, I was so embarrassed that everyone kept asking and even more embarrassed that I couldn’t that I almost cried! They had squid and fish for lunch, so I mainly ate vegetables. One of the guys was really nice and ordered me some fried chicken and some fruit. I ate papaya for the first time today, it tastes like some medicine the doctor used to give me when I was little but I ate a lot of it anyway because I didn’t want to be rude (Meow has never tried papaya in her life and wouldn’t today). When they were giving their presentation the waitress came and gave us a dessert menu and I got this really good rice and sweet sauce thing. After the information part they did some questions and Meow answered one right so she got some of the pills they were trying to sell. Later they played charades and Meow made me go up with her (as a prize she got some more pills). When we were leaving they asked us to wait a minute so they could do a drawing. They took everyone’s names from when we entered and put them in a bucket. My name was drawn so I got the prize! It ended up being an abs workout set that I wouldn’t mind using but the instructions are all in Thai so I have no idea what to do!
After lunch we went back to Big C to pick up the computer. I almost forgot that the first time we got parked in. In Thailand when you run out of parking you just park your car in front of the other cars, but perpendicular to them, and you leave it in Neutral so they can move it when someone wants to get their car out. Well the person didn’t leave their car in neutral so the security people had to move a whole bunch of cars in order for us to get out. On our second trip we were the ones parking someone else in, but they didn’t have to move our car because we were in their for a very short time. We got back to the house a little after 5 so I decided to go on the computer and read some of the other students’ blogs (I’ve been reading some of the other YES abroad student’s blogs so see what they are up to). My host mom came in a told Mike to come help her wash her car, but he didn’t go. She couldn’t get either of the kids to help her so I went out and helped. Meow finally came out in time to clean the rugs, but then we were done.
After the car was clean I read a little and then Meow came and asked if I wanted dinner because no one else was going to eat. I told her I had to eat, so I ended up eating alone (which worked out because then it was easier to pick out the squid). Now I’m blogging, but I don’t know what I’m going to do after this. I don’t think we are going to the festival tonight because everyone is very tired. Tomorrow we are going because my host mom’s favorite singer is performing. I think I will try to shave tonight and then head to bed so that I’m well rested for my busy day tomorrow.
Lots of love to all of you who are now 13 hours different than me! Have a good day.
I guess I will start with the festival from last night. It was nothing like I was expecting, not that I knew what to expect but still. It was basically some stands like at the markets, selling clothes and shoes and jewelry and then a whole bunch of tents with food like at the birthday party I went to for the police guy, except this time I had to pay. I got a strawberry smoothie, but it was really bitter and salty so I stopped drinking it after ¼ (it was only like $.10 so it wasn’t a big deal). My host family bought a whole bunch of food, Thai love to eat! They bought some mini crabs, some squid thing, some salad (I didn’t like the dressing on it), some shell thing (it was really chewy so I didn’t eat too many), and some noodles. There was a concert, some famous Thai singer (I didn’t know them so you definitely wouldn’t!) and a whole bunch of screaming, drunk people. The ocean was a lit up so that was really pretty, but I couldn’t understand the concert and no one was talking so I was kind of bored and got really sleepy really fast. We returned home around 11:30 so by the time I showered, did devotion, and a little stretching I was so out of it I fell asleep before I could do any Thai flashcards.
I really wish I had my hair tie, my neck is so sweaty it’s making my hair wet. I’m going to go get my back up quick. Ok back. In that short journey I saw what my family is up to. Here is what everyone is doing:
My host dad is getting dressed and preparing to head to the festival. Meow is doing homework and watching Celebrity Apprentice II (I totally got both of those words spelled wrong, thank goodness for Word or no one would be able to understand a thing I’m writing). My host mom is in her store. Mike is watching TV in the store and eating a half a watermelon (I mean he has a half of a watermelon in his hand and he is eating it with a spoon!). The helper is finishing put things away in the store and then she has to mop the floor before she heads out. The helper’s son is watching TV with Mike. I’m writing this blog and trying to block out all the random thoughts running through my head right now (like I could go for a bowl of Fruit Loops right now). I totally just decided to load my pics from the last day onto my USB so I can put them on my computer, don’t know why I decided to do that now, but whatever!
Alright I’m going to try and stay on topic enough to say what I did today. Today was a much more interesting day than yesterday. To start I woke up before 7 (probably because I left my windows open and so I could hear everything that was going on outside!). I got out of bed around 7:45 and decided to shower in hopes that there would be enough water to shave (I shave once a week because of lack of water, sometimes only once every two weeks). There was a slight amount of water and about ½ through it shut off! I was more than a little annoyed! I finished my shower and got dressed. I then went on the computer until about 9:45. My host mom told me around 9 that I should make some breakfast for myself. She left out the container of instant mush (I don’t really know what it is but it like oatmeal but mushier). I tried to make it but it didn’t turn out well, thank goodness my host mom came into the kitchen to make herself tea. She fixed it, but she added salt to it even though I told her not to. I had to add a lot of sugar to counter act the salt and to make the mush taste like anything. At 9:45 my host mom, Meow and I left. They asked me last night if I wanted to go to the store with them today and I said sure, knowing that it would be way better than sitting at home! On the way to the store we stopped at the temple. There was some big ceremony going on and there were tons of people. There was a huge selection of food, so we ate some breakfast after my host mom gave some money, and then talked with some people. I don’t know how my host mom is related to so many people, but we are always running into someone that Meow says is her aunt (I wonder if it’s a cultural thing). Before we left the temple we went and watched the ceremony that they have to do before they can give the offerings to the temple. They have to dance around the temple three times in a big procession, it was kind of cool.
After we left the temple we headed to Big C, which is kind of sort of like Walmart, to get the computer hooked up with Wireless access (even though we don’t have wireless). I bought some shampoos, conditioner, toothbrush, and nail-file (my nails seem to be getting weaker while I’m here and it’s bothering me). I need deodorant so I went to get some and they have this small, small, small collection of antiperspirant spray stuff and the cans looked travel size (they like mini things here). They didn’t have any deodorant and I’m like almost out, so now I’m doomed to stink for the rest of the year, yippee!! I thought I might have some luck my lotions then, I was wrong. The only lotion that I could find was whitening lotion and I don’t think I need to whiten my skin any more than it already is! My luck was not with me!
After Big C we went to Makro, which is kind of sort of like Sam’s Club. My host mom bought 2 ½ carts full of stuff for 8,294 baht (I don’t know that in dollars right this sec, sorry). By the time we finished the shopping it was almost 1 and I was ready for lunch. To my surprise lunch was a scheduled thing. My host mom had a lunch meeting with a company who wants her and the other pharmacists who were at the lunch to buy their medicines (one was Glucosamine, which mom takes). When we arrived everyone kept asking if I could speak Thai, I was so embarrassed that everyone kept asking and even more embarrassed that I couldn’t that I almost cried! They had squid and fish for lunch, so I mainly ate vegetables. One of the guys was really nice and ordered me some fried chicken and some fruit. I ate papaya for the first time today, it tastes like some medicine the doctor used to give me when I was little but I ate a lot of it anyway because I didn’t want to be rude (Meow has never tried papaya in her life and wouldn’t today). When they were giving their presentation the waitress came and gave us a dessert menu and I got this really good rice and sweet sauce thing. After the information part they did some questions and Meow answered one right so she got some of the pills they were trying to sell. Later they played charades and Meow made me go up with her (as a prize she got some more pills). When we were leaving they asked us to wait a minute so they could do a drawing. They took everyone’s names from when we entered and put them in a bucket. My name was drawn so I got the prize! It ended up being an abs workout set that I wouldn’t mind using but the instructions are all in Thai so I have no idea what to do!
After lunch we went back to Big C to pick up the computer. I almost forgot that the first time we got parked in. In Thailand when you run out of parking you just park your car in front of the other cars, but perpendicular to them, and you leave it in Neutral so they can move it when someone wants to get their car out. Well the person didn’t leave their car in neutral so the security people had to move a whole bunch of cars in order for us to get out. On our second trip we were the ones parking someone else in, but they didn’t have to move our car because we were in their for a very short time. We got back to the house a little after 5 so I decided to go on the computer and read some of the other students’ blogs (I’ve been reading some of the other YES abroad student’s blogs so see what they are up to). My host mom came in a told Mike to come help her wash her car, but he didn’t go. She couldn’t get either of the kids to help her so I went out and helped. Meow finally came out in time to clean the rugs, but then we were done.
After the car was clean I read a little and then Meow came and asked if I wanted dinner because no one else was going to eat. I told her I had to eat, so I ended up eating alone (which worked out because then it was easier to pick out the squid). Now I’m blogging, but I don’t know what I’m going to do after this. I don’t think we are going to the festival tonight because everyone is very tired. Tomorrow we are going because my host mom’s favorite singer is performing. I think I will try to shave tonight and then head to bed so that I’m well rested for my busy day tomorrow.
Lots of love to all of you who are now 13 hours different than me! Have a good day.
Saturday, October 31, 2009
Saturday October 31st, 2009
Happy Halloween everyone! Hope you have an enjoyable day.
My day was good, but uneventful so far. I woke up at 6 to go for our walk but no one was up so I went back to bed and slept on and off until 9. I got up and went on the computer then I helped my host mom in the kitchen. She had me cut up a whole bunch of pork, I really hate cutting up huge chunks of meat!!! While I was cutting we heard some drums and they kept getting louder so my host mom went to check what was going on. She came running back and told me to go out front to see. There was a parade going past our house to the beach for the festival!
For breakfast we had garlic pork and some beans in a really good sauce. After breakfast I read and watch ANTM and Vampire Diaries. I then went to turn on my iPod and it wouldn’t turn on so I went to charge it but it wouldn’t respond so I plugged it into my computer and it wouldn’t respond so I plugged it into the wall and decided that maybe it just needed some time! It’s been plugged in for 8 hours and it’s still not responding, I guess that is going in the package for home to so mom can take it to BestBuy and they can mess with it!
At 2 we had lunch which was so fish, pork, and noodles. At 5 Meow, Mike, my host dad, and I went and played some tennis. It was fun, I got some really funny pictures! After tennis we came back and I read while I waited for dinner. For dinner I had the leftovers from lunch. They gave me some Thai melon and a sweet sauce and I told Meow that if I didn’t like it that she was going to eat it, she said she’s never tried it and she doesn’t want to because it doesn’t look good (I don’t know how she is going to survive next year, she is like a 1000 times worse than me!!!). I liked the melon and sweet sauce so it didn’t matter. After dinner I read for 30 minutes and now I’m on the computer.
At 9:30 we are going to the festival. Festivals are held at night here because it’s a lot cooler. I don’t know what it’s going to be like but I’m excited! It is tonight, tomorrow night, and Monday night and we are going all three days. It’s like 2 blocks from my house, I can see it from the end of the driveway, so I’m really looking forward to going! I’ll write about it tomorrow!
Have a great day everyone! Lots of love!
My day was good, but uneventful so far. I woke up at 6 to go for our walk but no one was up so I went back to bed and slept on and off until 9. I got up and went on the computer then I helped my host mom in the kitchen. She had me cut up a whole bunch of pork, I really hate cutting up huge chunks of meat!!! While I was cutting we heard some drums and they kept getting louder so my host mom went to check what was going on. She came running back and told me to go out front to see. There was a parade going past our house to the beach for the festival!
For breakfast we had garlic pork and some beans in a really good sauce. After breakfast I read and watch ANTM and Vampire Diaries. I then went to turn on my iPod and it wouldn’t turn on so I went to charge it but it wouldn’t respond so I plugged it into my computer and it wouldn’t respond so I plugged it into the wall and decided that maybe it just needed some time! It’s been plugged in for 8 hours and it’s still not responding, I guess that is going in the package for home to so mom can take it to BestBuy and they can mess with it!
At 2 we had lunch which was so fish, pork, and noodles. At 5 Meow, Mike, my host dad, and I went and played some tennis. It was fun, I got some really funny pictures! After tennis we came back and I read while I waited for dinner. For dinner I had the leftovers from lunch. They gave me some Thai melon and a sweet sauce and I told Meow that if I didn’t like it that she was going to eat it, she said she’s never tried it and she doesn’t want to because it doesn’t look good (I don’t know how she is going to survive next year, she is like a 1000 times worse than me!!!). I liked the melon and sweet sauce so it didn’t matter. After dinner I read for 30 minutes and now I’m on the computer.
At 9:30 we are going to the festival. Festivals are held at night here because it’s a lot cooler. I don’t know what it’s going to be like but I’m excited! It is tonight, tomorrow night, and Monday night and we are going all three days. It’s like 2 blocks from my house, I can see it from the end of the driveway, so I’m really looking forward to going! I’ll write about it tomorrow!
Have a great day everyone! Lots of love!
Friday, October 30, 2009
Friday October 30th, 2009
Today was pretty fun. I woke up at 5 something but went back to sleep. My alarm went off at 6 but I didn’t get up until 6:30 so I was running behind. I had no clean uniform so I had to wait for the laundry until 7:10 quick change and pack everything up and eat. I was eating 10 minutes before we walked out the door, but I wasn’t the only one behind, Meow and Mike couldn’t get out of bed this morning either. We left the house almost 10 minutes late and we had to stop at the store to get a Thai flute for Mike (which he played on the way to school, most annoying). We were 15 minutes (almost 20) late for the ceremony so Meow and Mike had to fill out some form for the school. I went to the English Corner. I didn’t do anything first period because the class had a test, so I sat in the English Corner and read. They were running on a special time schedule today so I ended up being late for my second period. I had to perform a play, I was the narrator actually, for my English class (this was the last time I was going to be in that class because next week my classes change). As soon as the play was done I had to rush back to the English Corner because I was leaving.
Today I went with a group of volunteer students from New Zealand, Germany, and Finland as well as some former exchange students from my school (like Boom). We went to a bakery and got to make some desserts, and eat some! I talked with the boy from New Zealand, he was really nice. After we finished baking and eating we went for lunch. We ate Pad Thai for lunch. While we were waiting for the others to finish they taught me this song for the parts of the face. After we finished we went back to school where I had to wait for Gayoon to unlock her office where my things were so I didn’t go to class. At 7th period I went to Social Studies with Peach, but they were doing some newspaper things so I read. At the end of the class I talked with Peach and she agreed to help teach me to read and write. After Social Study I had Thai with Pa Taw. She talked with me about all sorts of stuff and when the conversation went to whether I’ve ever eaten crocodile (she heard somewhere the American’s eat crocodile) and decided to take out my flash cards as a hint that we should actually do a lesson. We worked on the flashcards and I got 56/117 right (last night I only got 41/117), I would be a lot better if I could remember any of the months!
After school I sat and read for a little while before Meow showed up and we left. We walked to the train station and then tried to call my host mom but she had her phone off so we had to walk to the hospital which was about ½ mile from the train station. She had just left, but we sat there for a while until we got a hold of her somehow and then we walked back to the train station to wait for her to pick us up. Once she picked us up we went to the end of the month market. It was crazy there and I kept getting shoved around and separated. After they bought the few things they needed we went to dinner across the street. I looked at the menu and saw some sort of Sausage Steak and was curious what it was so I ordered it. It was so small and came with fries and a salad with this really gross dressing on top. I didn’t eat a lot so I’m still hungry! After dinner we ran a few errands and then headed home. I changed and then Meow was flipping through the channels and found America’s Next Top Model so we watched that. After that was over I read for a little while and then Meow and I decided to take a walk on the beach. Tonight was the first night since I left home that I saw the moon, I was so excited! On the way back from the beach Meow was telling me about winter and she asked if I was getting any cooler, I told her no! She told me that some people die from the winter here, I said that they would never make it one day at home then!
Tomorrow starts the water festival, so we will go to that in the evening. In the morning at 6 my host family and I are going to walk on the beach, then I’m coming back and going back to sleep! Since I know I won’t be able to sleep again after waking up I’m going to bed as soon as I finish writing this and I shower! I have pics from today but I didn’t load them onto my computer yet so I can’t post them, sorry.
Talk to you all soon and for those who won’t check in again until Monday, have a great weekend!
Today I went with a group of volunteer students from New Zealand, Germany, and Finland as well as some former exchange students from my school (like Boom). We went to a bakery and got to make some desserts, and eat some! I talked with the boy from New Zealand, he was really nice. After we finished baking and eating we went for lunch. We ate Pad Thai for lunch. While we were waiting for the others to finish they taught me this song for the parts of the face. After we finished we went back to school where I had to wait for Gayoon to unlock her office where my things were so I didn’t go to class. At 7th period I went to Social Studies with Peach, but they were doing some newspaper things so I read. At the end of the class I talked with Peach and she agreed to help teach me to read and write. After Social Study I had Thai with Pa Taw. She talked with me about all sorts of stuff and when the conversation went to whether I’ve ever eaten crocodile (she heard somewhere the American’s eat crocodile) and decided to take out my flash cards as a hint that we should actually do a lesson. We worked on the flashcards and I got 56/117 right (last night I only got 41/117), I would be a lot better if I could remember any of the months!
After school I sat and read for a little while before Meow showed up and we left. We walked to the train station and then tried to call my host mom but she had her phone off so we had to walk to the hospital which was about ½ mile from the train station. She had just left, but we sat there for a while until we got a hold of her somehow and then we walked back to the train station to wait for her to pick us up. Once she picked us up we went to the end of the month market. It was crazy there and I kept getting shoved around and separated. After they bought the few things they needed we went to dinner across the street. I looked at the menu and saw some sort of Sausage Steak and was curious what it was so I ordered it. It was so small and came with fries and a salad with this really gross dressing on top. I didn’t eat a lot so I’m still hungry! After dinner we ran a few errands and then headed home. I changed and then Meow was flipping through the channels and found America’s Next Top Model so we watched that. After that was over I read for a little while and then Meow and I decided to take a walk on the beach. Tonight was the first night since I left home that I saw the moon, I was so excited! On the way back from the beach Meow was telling me about winter and she asked if I was getting any cooler, I told her no! She told me that some people die from the winter here, I said that they would never make it one day at home then!
Tomorrow starts the water festival, so we will go to that in the evening. In the morning at 6 my host family and I are going to walk on the beach, then I’m coming back and going back to sleep! Since I know I won’t be able to sleep again after waking up I’m going to bed as soon as I finish writing this and I shower! I have pics from today but I didn’t load them onto my computer yet so I can’t post them, sorry.
Talk to you all soon and for those who won’t check in again until Monday, have a great weekend!
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