So yesterday wasn’t anything overly eventful. I woke up and got ready and ended up running a few minutes behind because someone was in the bathroom when I first got up so I couldn’t get in right away. It was okay though because Alpha was running behind too. Everyone knows that when mom is gone kids get away with a lot of crap, well Papa let Alpha stay up past 1 AM watching a movie and then she couldn’t get out of bed in the morning and was late for school. Also she forgot to take care of the rabbit and hamster/gerbil things and the rabbit got hungry or something and started to chew on one of the hamster/gerbil things and killed it so now she is sad and I’m grossed out!
Anyway back to my day. I got to school and they gave me to this university student who is teaching some classes so that she can get practice. I spent the morning giving presentations on America to her English classes. It was fun. I smiled so much that my mouth was dry so for everyone who says I don’t smile enough they need to shut their mouths!
She took me out for lunch. It was kind of fun. It was my first time eating sticky rice in the northeast which I’ve found strange because in the northeast supposedly they don’t eat steamed rice but only sticky rice. I ate some chicken and so other things.
After lunch I was supposed to learn to make a Thai center piece but the teacher wasn’t there so they told me to take a nap. At around 3 (so after 2 ½ hours) she got back and she put me in a room with a student and then left. I watched the girl make one and tried to understand what she was doing but she didn’t explain so I was left to my own way of doing things and let me say it didn’t turn out that great. Oh well, hers looked cool.
At around 5:30 I went to a party for some teachers at my advisor and coordinators school. It was a farewell to the teachers who are changing schools and a hello to their replacements. It wasn’t fun but I met a girl from Spain who was really nice. I spent the day with her and her host sister today.
Today I woke up late, but so did they so it didn’t matter. I talked to Sarah on MSN for a little while then they picked me up and we went to the hospital for Thai massages. They were filled for the morning so we scheduled for the afternoon and went for brunch. After brunch they came to my house and we watched a movie. I had some computer problems but eventually I got it to turn on and I burned some songs for Catuxa, the girl from Spain. We then went for our massages. She got a foot massage and I got a full body. Though the full body was nice I like the foot massages better I decided.
After our massages I went to the house she was staying at and helped her pack, she was on week exchange here so she had to go back to Bangkok where she is staying. It was really nice to meet her and I hope to see her again before I leave.
Friday, March 5, 2010
Wednesday, March 3, 2010
End of February and Beginning of March
Sorry I haven’t posted in a while, I’ve been busy. As you all know I moved a week ago so that has been a big change in things. I finished school on February 19th, which was kind of sad but I know that I will go to school for at least two days before I go back to America. Before I left I had them all sign my friendship book. I took a picture of each person and put it on a page and they left me messages. I also had them all sign one of my uniform shirts. It was a nice day with my friends. You can see the pictures at:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=149457&id=535566988&l=1da0c61bb6
On that Saturday I packed my things! It was crazy to see how much stuff I’ve collected this year. As I was packing I was sorting. I went through and took out the things that I don’t need any more this year and the things that I can just throw out. I don’t know what I’d do if mom and dad wouldn’t be bringing an extra suitcase to take things home!
On Sunday I went and met my advisor and P’Dai at a hotel in Cha-Am. My advisor’s name is P’Am and she is really nice. We went to Bangkok and stayed at her best friend’s house. We went for dinner at the Sizzler and then we went back and read and watched TV. In the morning we went in the city and did some site seeing. We took a boat into the city to avoid traffic. On our way to the National Museum we accidentally ran into one of her other students and his mother. We ended up spending the day with them. The museum was closed to we went to the Temple of the Emerald Buddha. It was nice to go a second time since I don’t remember much from the first time being that it was the day after we arrived and I was so jetlagged! We then went to another palace but we couldn’t take photos inside, but it was really nice. After that we went back to her friend’s house, buying some pizza on the way, and packed up and went to the bus.
The bus left Bangkok at 9, stopped for 20 minutes around 12, and we arrived shortly after 7! It was very long and I didn’t sleep so well. P’Am took me to my host family. I met my host mother and my host sister along with some of the shop assistants (they have a pharmacy on the first floor too). I slept and unpacked most of the day but I did spend some time with Alpha, my 11 year old host sister, playing piano, watching a movie, and learning some Thai. It was fun.
On Wednesday I went to P’Am’s school and met my coordinator and the German teaching assistant. I didn’t do much but sit around and help to grade a few papers but it was nice. On Thursday I had a Thai lesson. The problem that I have with the move is that because I don’t speak fluent they assume I don’t speak at all. They are always explaining what everything means even if I understand and they are acting like I just arrived.
On Friday I went to the welfare school to help out. The welfare school is a school for the children who can’t afford the normal school, have problems, or learning disabilities. They house over 500 of the 800 students on the grounds as well as many of the teachers. It seems to me to be a nice school. In the morning I helped out in an English class, but in the afternoon they taught me how to make a traditional Thai flower piece.
Over the weekend I spent some time with the family. Saturday was Alpha’s 11th birthday so we went to Ubon for a Japanese dinner (they took the kids to Japan last year and they fell in love with Japanese food). I bought an external hard drive and stayed up late to mess with it. Sunday I tried to sleep in but people kept coming in my room so I probably got about 5 hours of sleep. Sunday was nothing special. Monday was a holiday so they were going to take me to do some sightseeing but Papa made plans to bike ride with some friends that got moved to the afternoon so we didn’t do anything.
Tuesday I learned to do a Thai foot massage. First I got one to see how it was done! Then I had to give one, the teacher who I did it for had the boniest legs ever! In the afternoon they taught me how to carve a pumpkin and watermelon Thai style. I wasn’t very good but I tried. I laughed when I made a mistake, which was very often, and just kept saying Mi pen ri and Sabi Sabi (no big deal, take it easy)! It was a fun experience.
Today I didn’t do anything in the morning but in the afternoon I made a Thai dessert. The teacher wants me to teach her to make a few American desserts now so I have to get recipes and ingredients. I also watched some Eason dancing (Eason is Laos in Thai, because we are on the boarder there is a lot of Eason culture and everyone speaks as much Eason as they do Thai, which confuses me but I’m managing). The teacher then taught me a Northeastern Thai dance. I wasn’t very good but it was fun to try. I draw quite the crowd wherever I go in the school, when I made dessert the kitchen got really full and when I was dancing the windows where full of peepers! Even though I’m not very good at the cultural stuff, I smile and laugh my way through it and I am loving the new experiences!
Well that’s all for now. Any questions just let me know and I’ll try to answer. I’ll try to write again sooner!
Pictures:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=152595&id=535566988&l=017881d9ee
Email:
buttonnose626@hotmail.com
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=149457&id=535566988&l=1da0c61bb6
On that Saturday I packed my things! It was crazy to see how much stuff I’ve collected this year. As I was packing I was sorting. I went through and took out the things that I don’t need any more this year and the things that I can just throw out. I don’t know what I’d do if mom and dad wouldn’t be bringing an extra suitcase to take things home!
On Sunday I went and met my advisor and P’Dai at a hotel in Cha-Am. My advisor’s name is P’Am and she is really nice. We went to Bangkok and stayed at her best friend’s house. We went for dinner at the Sizzler and then we went back and read and watched TV. In the morning we went in the city and did some site seeing. We took a boat into the city to avoid traffic. On our way to the National Museum we accidentally ran into one of her other students and his mother. We ended up spending the day with them. The museum was closed to we went to the Temple of the Emerald Buddha. It was nice to go a second time since I don’t remember much from the first time being that it was the day after we arrived and I was so jetlagged! We then went to another palace but we couldn’t take photos inside, but it was really nice. After that we went back to her friend’s house, buying some pizza on the way, and packed up and went to the bus.
The bus left Bangkok at 9, stopped for 20 minutes around 12, and we arrived shortly after 7! It was very long and I didn’t sleep so well. P’Am took me to my host family. I met my host mother and my host sister along with some of the shop assistants (they have a pharmacy on the first floor too). I slept and unpacked most of the day but I did spend some time with Alpha, my 11 year old host sister, playing piano, watching a movie, and learning some Thai. It was fun.
On Wednesday I went to P’Am’s school and met my coordinator and the German teaching assistant. I didn’t do much but sit around and help to grade a few papers but it was nice. On Thursday I had a Thai lesson. The problem that I have with the move is that because I don’t speak fluent they assume I don’t speak at all. They are always explaining what everything means even if I understand and they are acting like I just arrived.
On Friday I went to the welfare school to help out. The welfare school is a school for the children who can’t afford the normal school, have problems, or learning disabilities. They house over 500 of the 800 students on the grounds as well as many of the teachers. It seems to me to be a nice school. In the morning I helped out in an English class, but in the afternoon they taught me how to make a traditional Thai flower piece.
Over the weekend I spent some time with the family. Saturday was Alpha’s 11th birthday so we went to Ubon for a Japanese dinner (they took the kids to Japan last year and they fell in love with Japanese food). I bought an external hard drive and stayed up late to mess with it. Sunday I tried to sleep in but people kept coming in my room so I probably got about 5 hours of sleep. Sunday was nothing special. Monday was a holiday so they were going to take me to do some sightseeing but Papa made plans to bike ride with some friends that got moved to the afternoon so we didn’t do anything.
Tuesday I learned to do a Thai foot massage. First I got one to see how it was done! Then I had to give one, the teacher who I did it for had the boniest legs ever! In the afternoon they taught me how to carve a pumpkin and watermelon Thai style. I wasn’t very good but I tried. I laughed when I made a mistake, which was very often, and just kept saying Mi pen ri and Sabi Sabi (no big deal, take it easy)! It was a fun experience.
Today I didn’t do anything in the morning but in the afternoon I made a Thai dessert. The teacher wants me to teach her to make a few American desserts now so I have to get recipes and ingredients. I also watched some Eason dancing (Eason is Laos in Thai, because we are on the boarder there is a lot of Eason culture and everyone speaks as much Eason as they do Thai, which confuses me but I’m managing). The teacher then taught me a Northeastern Thai dance. I wasn’t very good but it was fun to try. I draw quite the crowd wherever I go in the school, when I made dessert the kitchen got really full and when I was dancing the windows where full of peepers! Even though I’m not very good at the cultural stuff, I smile and laugh my way through it and I am loving the new experiences!
Well that’s all for now. Any questions just let me know and I’ll try to answer. I’ll try to write again sooner!
Pictures:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=152595&id=535566988&l=017881d9ee
Email:
buttonnose626@hotmail.com
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