My second update in Thailand

Well Hello again my fellow bloggers,
My update this month is full of excitement in which I am excited to share. My pictures have been being posted on facebook but I will be trying to post them onto my blog when I get the chance to update.

Events this month:
Orientation: Our Rotary district had our orientation in which we got to do a 4 hour scenic car drive NE of our city. It was a beautiful drive and I was glad to be driving with another exchange student from the USA, Lauren. The orientation itself was very short and not very eventful. Their were 3 speakers who came and answered some of our concerns which was nice. We were able to meet some of the other exchange students from different countries and I got to meet some pretty cool people. Their were students from Mexico, Canada, the States, Taiwan, South Africa, and Germany. We sat for most of the orientation but got to get up at the end to take a photo with everyone and say goodbye. The Rotary club of Magkang took the students from Udon to the mall where we had a delicious sushi dinner with ice cream for dessert. We then we had to stop to take a photo with the "waiing" Ronald Mcdonald. That was one of the first real bonding times I experienced with the other exchange students. It was great to get to know people from another part of the world with a completely different view on the world. On the way back we stopped at the local 7/11 so I could satisfy my craving of a delicious bag of M&M'S and juice! A long but exciting day.

Home sickness:
The week following orientation was a tough one. Monday I woke up having dreamt one of my wild and crazy dreams and started becoming more aware of my current environment. I knew that I needed a break from school and spent close to an hour trying to explain to my host mom and dad that I wasn't feeling up for school today. We concluded on the fact that I had a headache and was able to partially relax for some of my morning. My mom and I spoke on skype at noon and after our conversation I decided I was feeling good enough to head off to school again. I went for the last 3 classes. I felt their had been some miscommuncation with my host mom so I took the bus after school to her shop where she helped me with the thai alphabet and I helped her with some english words. It was hillarious to hear both mine and her pronunciations of some words. We went to the supermarket called Lotus which is basically like a smaller wal mart and shopped for some groceries. When I arrived home their was a lizard in my room so I called down to my host mom and we worked together trying to swat it out of the room. We had quite the laugh trying to do this. I realized that day that "life's bleak moments don't last forever." You just have to relax during times of stress. Look at your situation from above yourself and watch. The rest of the week I did my best to wake up a little bit earlier to squeeze in some yoga and a quick medidation before school began. Its amazing how much of a difference a positive morning can make on your whole day.

Fun visit:
On the wednesday of that week I had a very unique experience that I thought I should share. I decided to have some cereal for breakfast and poured some into a bowl. What did I find but about 100 little bugs crawling in my bowl. I was startled to see this but decided to place them nicely back in their bag because I was sure the little bugs were hungry too. They are still sitting on my fridge in the kitchen so I am assuming they are still doing well.
That night I was informed that we would be going to a temple for a funeral style ceremony. I was confused on whos ineral but decided that questions usually complicate things so I just went with the flow. The "funeral" was for the death of a 94 year old monk. He had devoted his life to the monk hood for 54 years. The temple was beautiful, it was very large and had an amazing lake nearby that was so serene and beautiful I felt I didnt want to leave. The Rotary had set up a small food station for all the people who went into the temple. They were serrving noodle soup and frozen beverages. Their were about 30 other booths set up by other local bussinesses and organizations in which they were giving out free food. I was very happy to help out by placing the dried noodles into the huge pot of water and then slopping them into their rightful bowl. This process was a blast but too hot so I had to leave my post for a while. I then walked around the area of the temple and was so amazed at the simplicity of a monks life. Their were huge trees all around and their huts were hidden in the bushes. I was feeling rather adventurous and was hugging alot of trees and smiling more than usual. I surprised the boy from USA a bit with my lively spirit. It was a magical night for me. I was also able to try my first thai banana that night too, I am still amazed and will have to adjust again when I eat a canadian banana. Definantly not the same.

Meeting the Mayor:
The Rotary Club took all the exchange students in Udon to meet the mayor. It wasn't as exciting as my recent trip to the temple but I still enjoyed myself because we got some delicious morning snacks to munch on.

Trip to Phu Phrabat Historical Park:
On this past Saturday I was able to go to the Historivcal Park about 2 hours out of our city and do a bit of hiking around with 3 other friends. It was very cool to take the bus up there with the only the three of us. Transport in Thailand is so much more fun than in Canada because your basically riding on the back of a truck with a small roof on it. You feel the wind in your hair and the rain on your face. It was about an hour bus ride and we stopped at my friend Pong's house and got a ride to the HIstorical place with his father. It was a beautiful drive and I was excited to begin our hike around 11:00. Although the people I was with her breathing heavily I was astonished at how much shorter hikes are here than in Canada. When we arrived at the top of the "montain" about 20 minutes in I was very confused as to why we were stopping. It was definantly worth it though because the view was nothing I had experienced yet it Thailand. As soon as I saw it I said to myself "this is why I came to Thailand" There were rice fields down below and I got very excited. My friends and I relaxed at the top for a little while and shared a bag of Shrimp Lays chips which were very scrumptious. The walk down was over quickly and I was able to see some of the oldest Buddha reminents in the whole world. They date back to 14th-16th buddhist century. On our way back to Udon we stopped at my friend Pong grandparents house where his 91 year old grandfather lives and his 85 year grandmother lives. His condition was amazing. He was walking around with a huge grin. The most amazing thing I noticed by this amazing man was his ability to sit cross legged. He sat down and with ease place his legs together. I hope to be like that at 91 except still skiing, running and rock climbing too of course!

The Rotary Party:
The Rotary put on a party to welcome other rotary clubs that were coming to Udon to join us in our temple tour the next day. They had us (the exchange students) perform a dance together in front of other rotarians. I dont think I have ever laughed so hard as we rehearsed for the show. The other people I am with are so hillarious and we always have a good time together.

The temple Tour:
This 16 hour tour was long but fun. We started this tour at 6:00am and saw 3 temples in Udon. Those were realtiovely uneventful because their was mostly just chanting going on but then we began driving further out of town. It seemed the farther we were away from Udon the more beautiful and remote the temple was. At each temple we could present the monks with robes, food, and water and would say a prayer that lasted around 20-30 minutes each. We sat in the van for most of the time, driuving but all the exchange students rode together which made it more enjoyable. The only trouble I experience dwas forgetting my Gravol at home and we had to stop so I could get out and get some fresh air. We were back on the road in no time and I didnt go into the next temple with fear that I might make a scene. I ended up waiting in a fancy van with plenty of sticky rice and pork so I was very content. The other temples were standard and lovely. The second last though put myself and another exchange student from the USA in a strnage mood. Their were sculptures of hell and heaven and wht the buddhists perception of these places are. I will not elaborate too much but was a little shoked and surprised at what we saw.
Overall though it was an amazing day touring around Udon Thani Province. Afterwards we went to dinner and I tried pig stomach. It wasn't delicious but it was an experience.

Well I guess thats all I got today so until next time... Stay cool, calm and collected!!