Interests: I have been discovering some interests of mine while away which is great. Nutrition is something that has always been interesting to me. Seeing what foods are good for you, what foods give you the most energy, and what kind of exercise your body needs to maintain a healthy body. In Udon Thani there is a surprisingly large population of large kids who are eating foods with little or no nutrient. There is an increasingly growing number of 7/eleven's in Udon thus making it very easy to buy that food. It would be great to be able to come in and educate kids over here on how to intake food that will benefit your body, your mind, and your attitude for that matter. Another thing that has been drawing me in is teaching. I recently went to a small village for a week and taught english to students around the ages of 12-16 It was so fun to teach them things they were interested in. I tried to create a fun learning environment so it was easier to stay focusd on the lesson. It was so satisfying to finish a class knowing I taught something worthwhile.
I am living my life
Yes, I am living my life! Recently we started school again after a break of about 3 weeks. I decided to follow one class around and see how I liked it. In my previous schedule I was taking classes with all sorts of people thus making it hard to make connection but whilea following around this 5/6 (grade 11) class I had a great time. Finally feeling connection between some of the people in my school. Great breakthru!
Biking has been something I have done while in Nongsamrong as well. My host dad and I had spoken about biking one day and I mentioned to him that I really enjoyed it. The next week he brought me home a bike which he borrowed from a friend. I was so happy. The next morning I woke up at 7:00 and went biking around my neighbourhood. Finally able to do some exploration! On my way home I stopped by the temple to look around and was ended up getting invited in to their morning service. The morning service is when people come into the temple to give offerings to the monks. Once the monks have enough food they send the food out amonst the people and everyone gets to enjoy a delicious breakfast with the monks. As I introduced myself in Thai I soon came to realize that this was such a unique experience. The women in the blue dress spooned me up some rice and before I knew it I was eating a thai breakfast with monks. After our food was finished and I felt I had spilled every Thai word I had ever known we washed the dishes. The wonderful group od ladies there wanted me to join them at their homes for a tour of the neighbourhood but thought I had better get back to 55/5. I said my wadeeka's and bowed to the Buddha image in the corner.
On the way back home I thought about connecting with some Thai friends today and ended up going to a movie with a group of people. The movie was at the large cinema in town and was 120baht. About 4 dollars! Expensive... We watched the sarrogate which was alright. It was all in Thai so I was a little confused but got the jyst of the story. It is actually an interesting movie because it made me think about how our human race does try to be perceived as perfect sometimes. We are not perfect! We have to see the beauty in that or we will be unhappy forever.
Orphanage trip
While here in Thailand I want to see a different way of life, and learn about a new culture but I also want to expeirence the less glamorous side to the country as well. Look at Thailand as a whole, scars and all. I had spoken with a Rotary member about going to an orphange here in Udon and he found the time to bring us a while back. When we got there I could sense anticipation in the air. As we stepped out of the vehicle we were greated by 100 orphaned girls, ages 3-17. They were all called in at the blow of a whistle. We handed out snacks and began to socialize with these adorable girls. I was introduced o the older girls in the group. I was interested to how this 16 year old was handling having grown up without her mom or dad around. As we began to walk I was so impressed by her motivation to leave the orphange. She had dreamed of being a chef for a long time now. I could see in her eyes that her drive would take her to be succesful. It was an incredibly sight to see a 16 year old far more mature than a grown 30 year old. When we went into the children's play area she took on the role of mommy. Stopping fights, hugging crying children, and speaking with some compassion. It was incredible to see the strength she had within. This particular orphanage was government funded so the kids had access to school, medical care, and special interests. After spending close to an hour touring the building we sat with them to eat where I was witness to a beautiful family of 100 girls sharing stories, laughing, and eating together. The human spirit is so delicate alone but when put with others it is stronger than anything. It was a great trip and definantly worth visiting.
Off to the Village
Our Rotary club recently sent the exchange students in Udon to a nearby village called Nayoong. We would be staying there for 8 days attending school, and home staying with teachers. This was something I had wanted to do for a long time now. Our trip was full of laughter, hiking, and teaching and was the most fun I have had in Thailand!
Day 1: We arrived at the high school at around 3:00pm where we were shown where we would stay. Our home was very nice and we would be bunking up two per room. After taking a quick walk around I already felt more relaxed. No sounds of cars, or people. Just the quiet sound of the wind in the trees and the whooshing sound of the grass. After we had settled into our new pads, we were introduced to the teachers at that school. They were very friendly and I immediatly befriended Kru Kei. She spoke some english but I tried my best to maintain the conversation in thai. She invited to eat som tam with some of the other teacher and I was delighted when I got to ride on the moped through the scenic area of Nayoong. There were rice fields at every corner, with mountains/hills in the horizon. After eating a large meal of extremelly spicy papaya salad I brought up the topic of hiking. Asking them if they knew of anywhere. Just a simple question ledf me to the foot of a steep climb! I was excited to be hiking again. I felt the adrenaline fill my veins as a began my ascent. We hiked for about 20 minutes before reaching the top where there was a beautiful waterfall awaiting to be swam in. Lauren and I didn't hesitate and jumped right in. Headed back in the evening and had an alright sleep on the floor.
Day 2: We woke up early and headed to the temple. We brought offerings to the monks and ate breakfast there as well. After breakfast we headed to another temple. Very beautiful! At dinner time we went to eat a place on the mekong river. We looked over and saw the country of Laos. It was incredible because Laos didn't have any lights on where as Thailand had so many. It amazing how one countries way of life can bring them things like that more quickly than others. It reminded me of my cabin in Ontario not seeing any lights, just trees.
Day3: Took one of many cold showers which never seemed to get any warmer! That day we introduced ourselves to the other students and were sent off to teach english for the morning. I had a blast teaching the kids english. At lunch I tried to convince my friend Kru. Kuy that we should go hiking again at the waterfall. She finally caved and three people went back. This time we went another route though. Much more steep. By the top my calves were burning with pain. The view was so worth the hike though. It was spectacular! Words cannot describe the view!! Also found out that this particular route is still used by monks on their vision quests. It reminded me of Chief Mountain! It was great to be able hike Chief and now hike another similar mountain all the way in Thailand. Very interesting. At dinner we were served sticky rice and chicken. My cheeks are now feeling the extra starch I intook for sure! Was pretty tired at night and was out like a light.
Day 4: This day was very fun because we headed to a cave. This cave is very old and used to used as temple. Some 1000 years ago, with thousands of people living in it. It was very large but I still had to croutch down very low to get thru. It was neat because we still needed to take off our shoes and their were statues of buddha still intact. A very neat experience. It was creepy to think that people actually lived there because it was so muggy. Afterwards we went to see a monk who gave us each a staff.
Day 5: This was a fun day too because we went to go farm rice, it was very fun to see how they do it.We also watched how they created fried bananas. They are so delicious! mmm mmm good.
Day 6: We headed back to Udon Thani.
Day 1:
I am living my life
Yes, I am living my life! Recently we started school again after a break of about 3 weeks. I decided to follow one class around and see how I liked it. In my previous schedule I was taking classes with all sorts of people thus making it hard to make connection but whilea following around this 5/6 (grade 11) class I had a great time. Finally feeling connection between some of the people in my school. Great breakthru!
Biking has been something I have done while in Nongsamrong as well. My host dad and I had spoken about biking one day and I mentioned to him that I really enjoyed it. The next week he brought me home a bike which he borrowed from a friend. I was so happy. The next morning I woke up at 7:00 and went biking around my neighbourhood. Finally able to do some exploration! On my way home I stopped by the temple to look around and was ended up getting invited in to their morning service. The morning service is when people come into the temple to give offerings to the monks. Once the monks have enough food they send the food out amonst the people and everyone gets to enjoy a delicious breakfast with the monks. As I introduced myself in Thai I soon came to realize that this was such a unique experience. The women in the blue dress spooned me up some rice and before I knew it I was eating a thai breakfast with monks. After our food was finished and I felt I had spilled every Thai word I had ever known we washed the dishes. The wonderful group od ladies there wanted me to join them at their homes for a tour of the neighbourhood but thought I had better get back to 55/5. I said my wadeeka's and bowed to the Buddha image in the corner.
On the way back home I thought about connecting with some Thai friends today and ended up going to a movie with a group of people. The movie was at the large cinema in town and was 120baht. About 4 dollars! Expensive... We watched the sarrogate which was alright. It was all in Thai so I was a little confused but got the jyst of the story. It is actually an interesting movie because it made me think about how our human race does try to be perceived as perfect sometimes. We are not perfect! We have to see the beauty in that or we will be unhappy forever.
Orphanage trip
While here in Thailand I want to see a different way of life, and learn about a new culture but I also want to expeirence the less glamorous side to the country as well. Look at Thailand as a whole, scars and all. I had spoken with a Rotary member about going to an orphange here in Udon and he found the time to bring us a while back. When we got there I could sense anticipation in the air. As we stepped out of the vehicle we were greated by 100 orphaned girls, ages 3-17. They were all called in at the blow of a whistle. We handed out snacks and began to socialize with these adorable girls. I was introduced o the older girls in the group. I was interested to how this 16 year old was handling having grown up without her mom or dad around. As we began to walk I was so impressed by her motivation to leave the orphange. She had dreamed of being a chef for a long time now. I could see in her eyes that her drive would take her to be succesful. It was an incredibly sight to see a 16 year old far more mature than a grown 30 year old. When we went into the children's play area she took on the role of mommy. Stopping fights, hugging crying children, and speaking with some compassion. It was incredible to see the strength she had within. This particular orphanage was government funded so the kids had access to school, medical care, and special interests. After spending close to an hour touring the building we sat with them to eat where I was witness to a beautiful family of 100 girls sharing stories, laughing, and eating together. The human spirit is so delicate alone but when put with others it is stronger than anything. It was a great trip and definantly worth visiting.
Off to the Village
Our Rotary club recently sent the exchange students in Udon to a nearby village called Nayoong. We would be staying there for 8 days attending school, and home staying with teachers. This was something I had wanted to do for a long time now. Our trip was full of laughter, hiking, and teaching and was the most fun I have had in Thailand!
Day 1: We arrived at the high school at around 3:00pm where we were shown where we would stay. Our home was very nice and we would be bunking up two per room. After taking a quick walk around I already felt more relaxed. No sounds of cars, or people. Just the quiet sound of the wind in the trees and the whooshing sound of the grass. After we had settled into our new pads, we were introduced to the teachers at that school. They were very friendly and I immediatly befriended Kru Kei. She spoke some english but I tried my best to maintain the conversation in thai. She invited to eat som tam with some of the other teacher and I was delighted when I got to ride on the moped through the scenic area of Nayoong. There were rice fields at every corner, with mountains/hills in the horizon. After eating a large meal of extremelly spicy papaya salad I brought up the topic of hiking. Asking them if they knew of anywhere. Just a simple question ledf me to the foot of a steep climb! I was excited to be hiking again. I felt the adrenaline fill my veins as a began my ascent. We hiked for about 20 minutes before reaching the top where there was a beautiful waterfall awaiting to be swam in. Lauren and I didn't hesitate and jumped right in. Headed back in the evening and had an alright sleep on the floor.
Day 2: We woke up early and headed to the temple. We brought offerings to the monks and ate breakfast there as well. After breakfast we headed to another temple. Very beautiful! At dinner time we went to eat a place on the mekong river. We looked over and saw the country of Laos. It was incredible because Laos didn't have any lights on where as Thailand had so many. It amazing how one countries way of life can bring them things like that more quickly than others. It reminded me of my cabin in Ontario not seeing any lights, just trees.
Day3: Took one of many cold showers which never seemed to get any warmer! That day we introduced ourselves to the other students and were sent off to teach english for the morning. I had a blast teaching the kids english. At lunch I tried to convince my friend Kru. Kuy that we should go hiking again at the waterfall. She finally caved and three people went back. This time we went another route though. Much more steep. By the top my calves were burning with pain. The view was so worth the hike though. It was spectacular! Words cannot describe the view!! Also found out that this particular route is still used by monks on their vision quests. It reminded me of Chief Mountain! It was great to be able hike Chief and now hike another similar mountain all the way in Thailand. Very interesting. At dinner we were served sticky rice and chicken. My cheeks are now feeling the extra starch I intook for sure! Was pretty tired at night and was out like a light.
Day 4: This day was very fun because we headed to a cave. This cave is very old and used to used as temple. Some 1000 years ago, with thousands of people living in it. It was very large but I still had to croutch down very low to get thru. It was neat because we still needed to take off our shoes and their were statues of buddha still intact. A very neat experience. It was creepy to think that people actually lived there because it was so muggy. Afterwards we went to see a monk who gave us each a staff.
Day 5: This was a fun day too because we went to go farm rice, it was very fun to see how they do it.We also watched how they created fried bananas. They are so delicious! mmm mmm good.
Day 6: We headed back to Udon Thani.
Day 1:
I soon found out that it would be Indira's (Mexican) host family taking all 5 of us to the North. We slept in Udon that night and without getting much sleep awoke at 4:00 to hear Indira host grandmother banging at the door. Before we knew it we were in the van heading to our new location. The drive was beautiful and in between naps, and watching movies we got out to see some of it. We stopped at one beautiful national park where I was seriously considering leaving the group and just going hiking in the nearby hills but having received only 3 hours of sleep I thought sleep was pretty important right now. We arrived in Chiang Rai at around 7:00pm after a 10 hour drive and everyone was beat. We stayed in a nice hotel for the night and I slept like a baby. 
On our way back from the hill tribe we stopped at the Chiang Mai zoo. This was the home of the famous Mee Panda. It was awesome to see a panda for the first time. I would have loved to hug the guy though. So it was about 5:30 when we were done there and I finally found out that we were heading back to Udon tonight! So our drivers stopped at 7/11 before we started and stalked up on cafeine filled drinks. I couldn't imagine driving for 10 hours into the night. After a roughride in the car and many stops along the way we finally made it back to Udon. I was walking in the door as my brother was walking out to school and decided it might be best if I caught up on some sleep. Overall it was a good trip. I think it was a good taste of what I would like to see more of!
You could buy something that looks similar to a lantern and then light the bottom of it of fire. This them allows the white fabric to fill with hot air and rise similar as a hot air balloon. It was so beautiful to see them all! There must have been hundreds in the sky.
