Thailand 09-10

ฉันมาถึงบ้าน- I am home?

2010-07-26T20:32:00.000-07:00

I have arrived..

My last few days in Udon Thani were spent packing, enjoying family, and most of all squeezing all I could out of the short time frame I did have left. It seems like a strange thought to be going back to "my home" when in alot of ways I had made Thailand my home. Being brought the airport seemed surreal and unimaginable. I was greeted at the airport by a large group of my friends from school whom were all bearing gifts, and cards to give me. We shared hugs, pictures, and our final goodbye's before the female announcer came on to announce the flight to Bangkok was ready for boarding.
As a walked through the gate I still found myself waving to my friends through the dirty windows. Something about seeing them through glass now seemed to make me realize that I wont be seeing them tomorrow in Biology, or after school on the bus. Was this really over? A year of memories coming to an end? The flight to Bangkok went quickly as I read some of my goodbye cards from friends and snacked on the salty snack they served complimentary on the flight.Ended up spending the night in Bangkok and leaving the next morning for Vancouver International airport. I said my final goodbye's to my host dad who had came to Bangkok and was on my way the west side of the globe.

I remember distincally feeling awkward around all of these white people sitting around me. Remember thinking to myself, "how should I act?". It was almost as if I didn't know how to go about having a conversation with someone in english. The flight attendant had asked me if I needed a pillow snd I found myself studdering to find the words in english. Arrived in the Vancouver airport and was able to meander my way over to my next gate for the flight to Calgary. Close to 2 hours passed and I had arrived back on albertan soil, strange thought. As I walked toward baggage claim I saw the first glimpse of my mom. She was holding a bouquet of flowers and wearing a familiar smile. I have never been so happy to see my mom. After I grabbed my luggage I headed outside to start the jouney back to the bridge.

My impression now.
I find coming back is more of an adjustment that Thailand was. I have been able to get a fresh view of things and am looking at our culture with new eyes. I see the route of our society being run around the idea of materialism and the pressure to buy more than you need. The excess makes me cringe and is hard to seewhy we have chosen a path such as this. Something that angers me most is the amount of waste we produce. Because we see everything as limitless we do not stop to cherish what we do have when we have it. Instead we toss that and go for the next best thing. Why? My questions have yet to be answered and I have been doing some searching myself.

Going away has allowed me to see our culture in another light. I am sure within a few days I will have come to realize alot of the positive things in our society but I will leave it at this for now.

Going away to Thailand was such an eye opening experience. I want to thank Rotary for giving me this amazing opportunity to go away. I realize that not all of us can get this opportunity and for that I will be forever thankful. Thank you to everyone who helped me get to Thailand and for all of you who supported my decision to go.

Oh the places you go.

2010-05-14T09:27:00.000-07:00

I orginally intended this blog to be a part journal/informative place for me to express my ideas and share my experiences with friends and family. Although I have done a poor job at keeping up with it, I will do my best to give you a run down of my most recent activity.

Library outside of town:

I had mentioned in my previous blog about my opportunity to volunteer building mud houses in the central part of Thailand. Having gotten experience building I decided I wanted to find a way to do a mini project involving a mud house. I got this very oppurtunity when my host dad mentioned their was a school nearby that was lacking the funding to build a library. Rotary said they would be willing to find the project if I did the other end of things. Super excited to help, I agreed imediatly and the process began. When I first arrived at the school their was nothing more than an old cement platform, cracked but useable. Speaking with the teachers at the school I soon realized that this project to build a library was very much possible if I, as well as the students were willing to put the time in. My work started immediatly and I began making plans on when we could begin making the bricks, building the foundation, building the walls, applying a top coat, and finally installing a roof. After a few weeks of planning, organising and frequent visits to the school we were able to come up with a date to test the dirt. I originally wanted to use an all natural method which involves nothing more than clay, rice husks, and water but heard mixed opinions about the method and decided to stick to the method I learned volunteering. This method involved adding cement, dirt, and rice husks.

Bricks:

First day of brick building was hot but many students, teachers, and vounteers came to help. The plan was to complete 1800 bricks in two days. Clearly I was a little too ambitious at first, but it came together. The number of students got smaller everyday but after 5 long days of filling moulds we got the number we needed.

Building:

I had called in some volunteers I knew from Bangkok who were able to come last minute and am so thankful they could come and help. We were able to finish the building process in the two days expected too leaving time to begin the top coat on the walls.

Applying a top coat:

This process is still in the making and is only half complete. The students and I will hopefully be able to finish this before the roof is installed.

The library so far:

To be continued...

Voluntering abroad

2010-03-02T23:03:00.000-08:00

Recently I have gotten involved with a group in Thailand that build houses out of mud. Thety are cheaper than a regular house and anyone can make one. I learnt my first time in Sageow ith my friend Kheb. We stayed for 3 days and learnt the basic steps to building one. I was surprised by how easy it was and the ingredients were so easy to find. This is a picture of the almost finished home for a monk. There were about 20 volunteers that came. I have been to build 2 others and it feels so good to be helping others!

That's all the time I have... so catch you later.

Just wanted to say congratulations to Canada for their amazing performance at the 2010 winter olympics. When I heard I felt so extremelly proud! Wooo

DecJanFeb - Time is flying

2010-02-06T20:55:00.000-08:00

Well hello, so nice to be back on this blog of mine. I have been procrastinating writing this blog for a while now.

A very Merry Christmas
My Christmas and New years away from Canada was very relaxing. I have to admit I did the miss the delicious food, the time with family, but I was happy to feel no stress about gift buying, gift receiving, christmas plans... ect. I think I learnt that the most important thing about christmas is not about the gifts, food or snow. Its about family, and good food! haha I was thinking how neat it is to travel around christmas time. I wonder where next year will take me. New Years was great because I climbed up to the top floor in my new house and watched the fireworks from the roof. I did the countdown alone and had a really awesome time! I love knowing that no matter where you are you have a friend.. yourself! :)

A village visit
A friendly teacher at school gave me a call a few days after new years and invited me to meet her family at her village. I took the chance and got to go travelling! It was great to get out of the city again. We arrived on the 1st and in Thailand this is a special day to donate money. This village in particular were donating money to the local school but you could choose to donate it to the temple as well. It was amazing because it seeemed everyone in the village was digging in their pockets to find money. Whether it was 20, 50, 100 or even 1000. All the money was pinned to a triangle shaped obejct which was carried in a parade to the school. The parade was already fairly large when I arrived and most of they had already had their new years celebration drinks so the crowd was a little rowdier than usual. They were dancing, laughing and having a great time! After the excitement died down a bit we walked over the school where I was introduced to what seemed like the whole village and then invited to eat lunch. After eating we headed to a temple which was very small. There was only one monk! I was so interested to see that because I have only seen a minimum of 30 or 50 in Udon! We got a tour afterwards of the surrounding area by a very cute thai boy who is studying engineering in bangkok. He was teaching us how to cut open the rubber trees, and cut down sugar cane. I enjoyed a nice nature walk as well. We spent the night at the village and went back to Udon the next day because my teacher had to teach. It was short but a nice trip!

Well I am now with my third host family. They are a family of 4. Their two daughter are away at school. One on exchange in USAand one is now in Bangkok working. The home I am in now is a tall building and is currently right in front of a cafe. I have probablygotten my fair share of "cappucino ron". A 1$ a cup its hard to resist. My last 2 months here have gone so quick its almost unreal.At times it feels I am not even foreign anymore. I understand the Thai culture and its so exciting.

In about 3 weeks we will be out of scI went to a restaurant withb ny host dad when I got back. I had said how much I loved sushi and he suggested we go. When we got there my host dad ordered and when the order came my mouth began to water. It looked as if the sashimi was alive it was so fresh. I drank a delicious green tea to "clear my tastebuds". All I could say the whole meal was mmmmmm, mmmmmmm ,mmmmmm!! Too bad it wasn't so expensive or I would be there every other day!

School's almost out for the summer.
Although they will be the scorching hot months I will be sure to stay busy and do my best to travel around. I have been involved with a group of people who volunteer building mud houses ~ban deen~ for the poor. I have now been to 2 seminars and am amazed at how easy it is. This type of building could be of use to anyone because it is sturdy, warm in the winter (Thai winter), and cool in the hot months. At the seminar we learnt how to make homes out of mud, cement, and water. Also we were introduced to a new technique this past weekend which uses regular hay, dirt, animal poop, and sand. It was such a greatidea to create such a natural home. I have been speaking with my host dad and their is a school nearby Udon that does not have enough classrooms for their students. He sent me a picture of their cafeteria and it consists of 4 wooden poles and a blue tarp to protect the students from rain. I felt that with this new skill I could build the proper room or rooms they would need to have a better time at school. Its been great so far because I have realized how easy it can be to help others. You do not need to be an expert to at something to help.
A Good friend

While I have been here in Udon I feel very lucky because I have met alot of great people. Thai, and foreign. There is one girl in particularwho I have become close friends with. She lives nearby the central park so I often drop in for a cup of tea and a good talk. She has been my thai tudor ever since I came, a friend suggested I call her. She speaks english very well so usually we speak a mixed language of english and thai "tinglish". She is a huge fan of tennis but because of a hip problem she is no longer able to play. We both like to watch Nedal play on TV. She usually has some sort of delicious baked pastry ready from the oven to taste too! Aroi dee.

Haiti
The horrible events in Haiti have shaken not only their country but the world. It was incredible to me how many countries have come together to help with the events of the earthquake. I remember a few days after it happened I looked at a clip on CBC and I had never seen anything like that. I began to cry, and realized how lucky I am. I feel sad that so many people's lives have been taken from these events and my prayersgo their families, and friends that are still managing to survive. I feel as if I want to go there and help but know right now is not my time. While the world shines light on Haiti.

... My current host family has no internet so this is a working process! I will be back soon to complete my blog entry!

A Blurry December

2009-12-19T23:30:00.000-08:00

I have not updates since my trip to the Village and I have been out and about so I thought I had better write.

Trip to Chiang Mai with Host family
Was so excited to hear that my host mom was going to be visiting her family in Chiang Rai one week before I changed families. We would go for 5 days and tour around the area. My host mom grew up in a small village outside of Chiang Rai and hadn't been back to visit for a while. I remember the day before we left I went into her room to find one the largest bags I have ever seen in my life. I look inside and it is stuffed with clothes. I knock on my mother's walk in closet door and she answers. Inside that room their was another bag half full with all sorts of clothes the ground as well. She said she would bring the clothes for the people in the village who cannot afford clothes. It really made me happy to think that she was so giving and considerate. It was amazing to see how one person could have so many clothes too. We left at 5:00 in the morning from my house and there were only 4 of us going. It was momma, my host brother, Lauren; the exchange student from USA, and me. We had rented a van that would drive us there and back so my mom wouldn't have to drive. We arrived in my host mom's village in the evening and were able to get introduced to everyone and do a bit of exploring. The moment I saw it, the moment I loved it. It was so natural and wonderful. Noone was concerned about where they had to be or where they were going. They were just relaxed and easy going. Sometimes it's easy to lose that in the city. We met my mom's 84 year old dad who is going deaf. He does not speak much but is an amazing man. Everyday he goes around the village on a little bike that requires no peddling just the pulling of a handle. Then he gardens for another part of his day in their backyard. They have pineapple, vegetables, apples... and more. He was such a cute old man and I wish I could have hung out with him a bit more. I was also very lucky to meet my host mom's sister who is.. well a replica of her sister. They are very much alike which made for a hillarious dinner time. The next morning my host mom and I had woken up before the rest of the family so we decided to walk over to her sister's house to say hello and possibly raid her cupboards for a caffenated beverage. Her house was just down the road and had the best view in the village. I drank a lovely cup of natural Thai tea that had steeped over an open fire and watched the sun come up. I had never felt so at ease. After breakfast her sister went quickly to work in the fields to farm rice. I was able to try for a bit and was surprised by how difficult it was. Doing that all day would be quite the workout. Later on that day we headed to a large national park. It was so beautiful and I was excited because we would get to go hiking! My host mom payed a little hill tribe girl to give us the guided tour up the mountain. It was very tall and was wasn't surprised to see the top was closed off with wire to keep people from jumping off the cliff. At the top Lauren and I met a couple from Australia who had been travelling all around Asia for about 8 months now. They were heading home the next day and thought they had better do this hike before they did. Glad to have met them. There were camping spots at the base of the hike to and if I ever come back I will definantly camp there. Anybody interested?
Day 2- Today we headed up to the golden triangle. It was great to go and visit but it has become a huge tourist trap now. I guess the country benefits in some ways from that. There were lots of boat tours going around to show you Myanmar and Laos. I wasn't expecting to go until my host mom handed me a ticket and said it leaves in 5 minutes. All of us hopped aboard and before I knew it we were sailing down the Mekong with Myanmar to my left, Laos to my right, and Thailand behind us. Our driver ended up stopping in Laos before our trip was over too. It was a small island filled with different vendors selling all sorts of things for low prices. It was getting late after our boat trip and ended up staying with some family friends in that town.
Day3: Woke up early to go for a run down the Mekong River which was very close to our house. It was so nice to run beside it. In the day we made a long trip to Chaing Mai then ariving at our hotel in the afternoon. Went to the night bizaar for dinner and then headed in for an early night.
Day4: We went to a lovely flower garden. It was new and well taken care of. The tickets were not cheap but the huge bus full of foreigners that came in probably brought in a good chunk of money. As Lauren and I started exploring the more it reminded me of Granny Audrey's backyard in Mt. Tremblant. I used to run down the little stone steps to get to the lake and I remember the smells, the flowers, the grass, and even the stones that you would have to remember to jump over so you didn't fall. There was a similar atmosphere in this garden and it made me feel like I was back at Granny's house. Love the childhood flashbacks. Lauren and I were very busy exploring actually and hadn't even realized we had roamed into an out of bounds area. It took us some time to find our way back to the trail but had quite the adventure along the way.
Day 5: Woke up early in the morning to enjoy a nice continental breakfast with Lauren after hauling her out of bed. Today was the day I had been waiting for. We were going to go see the long neck tribes. When we arrived to the area there was a small village that was selling bags, and accessories and I didn't see any members of the long neck tribes. After walking a bit longer up the road we came across a sign and explained that this particular area was residence to 15 long neck tribe members who had been recruited from their tribes to come work for wages making handicraft items. As we walked up this steep hill I was able to see my first hill tribe person. She was stunning. She ws probably the same age as me, 18-19. She was sitting down and looked at me as I reached for my picture. I asked for permission and she nodded seemingly unbothered by my interest. The more we walked the more I noticed that the number had clearly grown from 15 members because we had spotted close to 25-30. The rings around their neck were so fascinating but having not seen them before made me feel a bit quesy. The childrens collar bones had been bruised from the pressure of the heavy rings around their necks. I soon learned that they will be add new rings every 2 years. It was such an amazing experience to see something so different. After speaking with one of the members I really understood that they were just normal people with a different definition of beauty within their own society. I bought a small something at her shop and thought about how lucky I was to be in Thailand and seeing this first hand. We headed back to the city to see the large flower festival that happens every year in Chaing Mai and was impressed by their new faicility. They had built a new temple in the center of the gardens where there was performances going on. We walked alot and were beat so headed back for our final night in Chiang Mai.
Day 6: Bye bye Chiang Mai, Hello Gravol!

The Changing of host families and the adoption of another sister.
Well packing was my first obstacle in the changing of host families because I had left it to after I came back from my trip to Chiang Mai. Who knew you collected so much while away? It was sad to say my goodbyes to my host family but knew it was time for another change. Now I would be in the city more and not be able to enjoy the quiet area of Nongsamrong but know that this new home would be great. Also I recently learned that I would be adopting a new sister for the next 4 months too. She is the exchange student from Mexico. She is super nice and was gave me a warm welcome as arrived after her. I know I will learn alot from this experience and will learn how to live with someone else.

Funny story: Before I left for my second host family my mom wanted to take us all for dinner so we tried starting the car but the battery dead. She had to call a friend of her's to give a boost. After about 30 minutes he arrived and started the car. It was great, the car was on and we were all celebrating outside the car. When I try to get in though the car appears to be locked. I guess my host mom had forgotten to unlock the doors. So the doors were locked and the keys were in the ignition. We had to call my host dad whoas away and get him to come in. It was a great night because we laughed about the whole experience over a delicious dinner of sushi.

English Camp:
Well even though I have just arrived to my second host family I will be heading off again. This time to an english camp in the south of Thailand. Nakonayook with the gifted english students in my school. I was looking forward to it because it was being payed for by the generous teachers in the english department. There is me and Jazz at Udon Pitt and she came along as well. We left the school at 10:00pm and got onto a large chartered bus which would take us to our destination. It was an estimated 10 hour drive to get there so the students had brought their singing voices so they could play kareoke into the night. It was good fun to hear them sing along to the subtitles but by 1:00am it was getting a little old and Jazz and I began to protest anymore. In order for me to stay sane I would have to venture downstairs into the VIP section where some of the guys were playing poker just to drown out the sound. Other than the music the drive wasn't too bad. At 8:00am we were all awoken by the loud welcome of a camp leader. He was intructing us to get off the bus to start camp. Noone seemed very excited but we all managed to get off. The first day was mostly orientation. We met the leaders, there were 2 foreigners. One from Ireland and another from the States. I insisted on the camp leaders give me a name tag and a workbook so I could feel a little more involved. The girl from Ireland handed me my name tag and it said poo. Looking at Jazz's I realized it said Pee. I guess I have a new nickname!

Here comes the sun

2009-11-22T06:00:00.000-08:00

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:

A trip to North, Halloween in Thailand and one amazing festival!

2009-11-03T00:10:00.000-08:00

My Trip Up North

Day 1: Well my adventure up North began on October 22nd when my host mom told me over dinner that I would be leaving in about an hour to go to Chiang Mai. I was very excited but very hungry so I quickly gobbled up as much as my cheeks could carry and headed home to pack. When I got home my host dad said the car was here so the pressure was on. I went upstairs and just ended throwing alot of stuff into my bag. My host mom would come in ever minute or so just to suggest things to bring. I dont think I have ever packed that fast in my life. I didn't know much about where we were going, who we were going with, all I knew was that I was going somewhere which I have had my sights on for a while now. 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.

Day 2:The next morning we spent alot of our time in the van. We drove the Northest part of Thailand which I now believe was apart of the golden triangle. The city was called Mae Sai and it was beautiful. Our driver brought us up a small hill and we climbed a large set of stairs to see the surrounding scenery. The air was so fresh up there. I loved it. My friend Lauren from the States were picking out which house we would live in. Would we chose the Thailand side or the Burma (Myanmar) side? I was excited to be out of the car again and took the advantage to stretch my legs. I deicided to run down the large staircase to the bottom of the hill. Running down them kind of lost the desired effect but was still nice to breathe in the fresh breeze. We walkeda round the market for a while and then piled into the car for one more topsy tourny journey. We stopped at a beautiful resort on our way up the mountain. There was a lovely garden which overlooked what seemed like 9 valleys. You could see small hilltribe communities and it was an amazing spot. We ate lunch here and enjoyed enjoyed the view. That night we arrived in Chiang Mai late but still went to the "night market" where we all did some looking around. Amazing how many foreigners there are! I counted 30 just in one area. Popular place I guess. Our driver brought us back to our hotel and I had picked up a map of Chiang Mai just to get a feel for things. I saw an advetisement for a climbing place in town. It immediatly caught my eye and I called then almost immediatly. The man who answered was an American and he was fleunt in both Thai and English. I asked him if climbing was popular around here and he said because this is such a touristy place a lot of people come here to climb. I wanted to go to their shop because they have a small bouldering wall but the next day their ended up to be no time. Instead I just got his email address and whenever I am in the area I can give him a shout. Rock climbing is something I have been missing while being away for sure!

Day 3: Everybody woke at 6:00 and we ate at the hotel at around 7:00. At 8:00 we headed out to see a monkey school where they train monkeys. It was closed but they did have a little monkey outside on a leash wearing makeup and a tutu to draw tourists in. I had a hard time watching him just because it seemed so wrong. I was glad when we left soon after getting there. After not seeing the monkeys I guess it was only "right" to go see an elephant camp. It was interesting to see where they lived and what they ate but still had that inner voice inside telling me to set to them free. They are such smart animals. Much smarter than humans and why are they not allowed to roam free anymore? I thought I would lighten my mood with a nice cappucino from the nearby cafe and try not to think about those poor animals.

Next stop was a hill tribe. Now this is something I have been wanting to go to the North for. Hearing so much about them makes me really excited. Going there I was feeling extremely car sick because the roads are crazy windy. Indira's host mother gave me some medicine but I had to move to front in order for it to work. The hill tribe was not what I expected because it was so modern. There were alot of tourists and very little hill people. I asked the driver this and he said that most of the hill tribes today have integrated themselves with the modern world so some do not wear their tradiational clothes anymore. I spoke to a few of the children in the village. 3 of the girls I spoke with were selling tickets to a museum. The tickets were 10baht so I purchased one. The museum ended up to be free so I chuckled to myself looking down at the ticket I just bought. I actually ended up seperating myself from thr group because they went to go rent hill tribe dresses and get pictures taken. This is something I am seeing more and more in Thai culture. Pictures, pictures and more pictures. I snuck away and enjoyed a nice adventure thru the village with myself. While I was walking around one little boy dressed in hill tirbe costume approached me and asked if I wanted a picture with him? Sure, I said with much enthusism. 5 baht he said. So i got a good picture with a nice Hill tribe boy for 5 baht!

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!

Happy Halloween!
October 31st was an exciting day. I got to sleep in and at 4:00 went to a halloween party that an english school in toen was putting on. The teachers running the school were from Britain, and America so tried to make it as close as they could. There was pumpkin carving, apple dunking, lots of candy, scary movies, great costumes! I just brought my housecoat and said I was sleepy. I ended up leaving the festivities early and went to my friend Deb's house where she had invited some of her friends over and made pasta and bread. I was already stuffed of candy but miraculously made room for more and enjoyed every bite of her homemade bread and delicious pasta. There were two girls from the states there who were 22, and 19. They were hillarious and I will definantly be in touch with them while I am in Udon.

Loigratong festival!

Now this has got to be the coolest festival I have ever been too. They make little rafts out of banana leaves and put candles on them. This is a symbol of fogiveness to the water to apologize for the way we treat it, they do it to honor and thank the Goddess of Water, Phra Mae Khongkha. We got to make one and send it out into the water. Making a wish as it floats away. There were also a different design of grotong. 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.

Cut to the chase

2009-09-26T04:29:00.000-07:00

Ok so its been exactly 77 days here in Thailand and I am still hanging on. It’s actually becoming more of a reality now that I live in Thailand.

Teaching:
A couple weeks ago I went to teach English at a sports college in Udon and it was so fun. They didn’t know much so we taught them really basic stuff. Because it was a sports college we went to the school gym and were put into groups. My group learnt words like Push, Pull, Come, Go, Sit, Stand. I got them to act the action out as they said it and we had a good time!

A funeral and a Wedding
The night after that one we went to the mayors father’s funeral. It was interesting to even see the differences in the reception! Everyone was to wear black and white and at this particular event there were a lot of people so it was outside. It was about 40 degrees outside and anything I had tried to put on my face to stop it from sweating was now on the collar of my shirt. After the longest reception I have ever sat thru everyone lined up and had some delicious Thai food. The next night our family went to a Thai wedding! It was neat to go see. My host mom let me borrow a dress of hers and we were off to the conference center where there would be a dinner. The man getting married was from Paris. The bride was half Thai half Vietnamese so we ended up eating more Vietnamese food than Thai food. They served us delicious food. I got to try shark!! It’s so delicious. The whole Pewngaam family went so it was nice to have a big group there.

The people you meet:
I have been going to the gym now for about 2 months and I have met some cool people. My first encounter was about 1 month ago when I was running on the treadmill and a female ferong (foreigner) and I began to talk. Her name is Debra and she came over from the States about 8 years ago and is involved with a local organization that teaches the Thai people who are interested about Christianity. She is fluent in Thai and is fun to be around. She gave me a few pointers on learning the Thai language and we have spoken ever since. The other day she had asked me for dinner so we planned to go. My host dad wanted to check things out before I went with her so he called her and we actually ended up going to her house so my host dad could meet her. She lives really nearby which was a coincidence and she has a nice little place. We went out to the local Sizzler and enjoyed a nice American meal, shopping around the mall with a friend of hers after eating. It was a really great time. We went around sampling cappuccino in the Robinson store and were pleasantly surprised to find some very cheap cookie mix which Debra thought we could make next time! I have been craving some good cookies lately. A nice home cooked mom cookie would be nice but I think these will do!
I also met another ferong at the gym. His name is Tim and he owns an touring company in the Stated called rustic pathways. I have been thinking about touring when I return to Canada but was not sure if that’s where I wanted to go. His company takes kids around my age and younger and brings them to countries all over the world for periods of time and allows them to learn about a different culture. Similar to what I am doing only you do not go to school and there are more planned activities for the students. I’ve done some research on it and it sounds really great. He said that at the end of the exchange if I’m still interested to give him a call and he would be happy to set me up with a position!

Temple in Udon:
About 2 weeks ago my temple teacher and I went to the large temple in Udon and gave offerings to the monks. I really do enjoy going to the temple because it is so peaceful and calming. When we arrived to the temple at around 7:30 it was packed. I couldn’t believe how many people had come with food to give. The people line up and give food to the monks and then everyone gathers inside the temple where they divide the food up between monks giving the best food to the oldest monk. He eats before all the other monks. Once he is finished the rest of the food which will not be eaten is passed out to all the other people in the temple on trays so we get to enjoy a nice breakfast that has been blessed by all the monks. After the eating section people gather around the oldest monk and give him more offerings. It was incredible to see the amount of respect people have for this man and all monks for that matter! There was one monk from Canada whom I met. He grew up in Toronto and now lives here at the temple. I also met a really neat woman that is friends with my temple teacher. She decided that she would give a tour of the temple explaining all the sacred areas. There was one area where the oldest monk lived and he had a long strip of concrete behind his home. It was for meditation. One of the techniques they use is to walk back and forth just focusing on the sounds your feet make on the concrete. She said this particular monk can do this for hours at a time. She showed me where she shares a house with 20 other women. It looks similar to a bunk house and there is limited space. It is such a beautiful area though so you’d have the space outdoors! Before we left the women gave me an English DVD all about Buddhism. It was made by a monk from England. He talks about the human condition and how the world is in a big mess. Money is such a huge issue in our lives now that it is dragging down the world. We are constantly being told to be greedier. We are progressing externally but regressing internally. More trouble is to come to our world because everyone is being told the same thing. Even the once most rural villages in different parts of the world were not concerned with money. Now they are being told that they need more and eventually we are raising our world on greed. Its such an interesting DVD and I am learning a lot from it.

The Hospital:
Well I have learnt that the wealthy people in Thailand believe that when you have a cough you should go to the hospital. When you feel sick you should go to the hospital and if you have a sore throat you should go to the hospital. Its just a way to allow others to know that they do have money. My little host cousin had a cough and was rushed into emergency and was well taken care of at the hospital. It was so great to see his whole family including myself rush over every day after work and make sure he was feeling ok and to keep him company for a few hours. We would eat there together and then stay and talk. Family in Thailand is such an incredibly important part of their lives. I loved seeing the amount of love within the family towards everyone!

The trip down south:
These past 2 weeks I have been off school because of semester break and the Rotary decided to send us down to the south. I was very excited to be able to go because we would finally get to see the beach. We drove there in a large van and it took about 6 hours to get there. We made a few stops on the way. One of the stops was for some ruins of an old temple which was beautiful. It had been reconstructed about 50 year ago and was very neat to explore. We arrived in Hua Hin around 8:00pm and found out we would stay in a nice condo with a swimming pool and a small kitchen. We met with the Rotarians of the Hua Hin district and I was pleased to find out that there was a 16 years old girl who would show us around during our time. Luc and I had asked a Rotarian if he could come get us in the morning so we could go running on the beach. He agreed and came to get us every morning for 6 days at 5:30. It was so beautiful to run on the beach. The sand made it extra challenging but it was worth it all the same.
Day 1: Travelling to Hua Hin
Day 2: Drove to Floating market 100km away and stopped at 2 famous temples on our way. One of which has about 300 golden Buddha’s lining the outside of the temple and the other is a temple which a tree has actually begun to grow around it without destroying the structure of the building. The floating market was very cool. There were people selling all sorts of things from the water and to buy something you ordered it and then the person in the boat would pass a fishing net in which you would put your money into and take the item which you ordered. Very neat system! After walking around the area the man we were with rented a boat and we got paddled down the river to a beautiful temple where we gave our respects to Buddha.

Day 3: We were off to the beach but before we stopped to see a giant Buddha. It was created in memory of a famous monk in that area and it was very beautiful. The beach near Hua Hin that we went to was so nice. The water was WARM! I couldn’t believe my senses when I first stepped in. I was so used to either Kiosk lake, Castle river, or the ocean on Vancouver island! It was awesome. The salt tasted great and I felt at peace while swimming around. After swimming for a while the 16 year old Meow suggested renting a banana boat. They are long plastic banana shaped things that are pulled behind a Jet Ski. You can get as many as about 8 people on them and get pulled around for a while. It was hilarious to go on one. Brandy and I then decided to rent one tube and get pulled behind the Jet Ski. It was so great to be tubing on the ocean!! The sun began to go down and then we washed off in the public shower which consisted of a huge bucket of cold water. That was definitely a cool experience while being there. We dried off and then headed to enjoy a delicious seafood dinner right by the water. There was so much seafood and I loved it all! I ate Snail, Crab, Fish, and Shrimp. Everything was fresh and we actually got to choose which seafood item we wanting before they cooked it. It was something I had never done before. I was stuffed so 2 of the exchange students and 2 other Thai people went for a walk down to the beach and saw a beautiful sunset. I think that was one of my favorite things that we saw while in Hua Hin.
Day 4: We went to a local mountain/hill here in Hua Hin which has a beautiful view of the beach. There were walking trails and I was so excited to be finally doing some form of hiking again. All the walking trails really reminded me of my cabin in Ontario. Kiosk. I felt as if I was walking to Aunt Jean’s house again. The smell was identical and I couldn’t help but smile. I think as I get older I really do value that spot and how lucky I was to have had the opportunity to go there as a kid. We also stopped in at another beach and got to enjoy the sun’s radiation for another few hours.
Day 5: This day we went to the CHA-AM ATV PARK. We got to play paintball which was fun and was happy to not have only been hit once. Paintball was followed by some ATVing in a little track that they had designed. It seemed a little absurd but fun nevertheless. It had rained previously that day so the tracks were covered in mud. Its definitely fun to get muddy sometimes. The park was fun but I would have loved to jump the fence to visit the people harvesting their crops. At 6:00 we were told that there was going to be a party here for so we washed up and headed to the barn area. It was cowboy themed so I felt right at home. The western music was playing and all the Thai staff were wearing cowboy hats. Somehow that just doesn’t seem to fit. They cooked an American meal which was nice of them and it consisted of Ribs, Sausages, Spaghetti, Fries, Calamari and lots of ketchup! It was an interesting arrangement but was good. I think I still like Thai food more though. After dinner the owner of the park taught some of us how to use a bow and arrow. Archery is so fun. I felt as if I was in the movie Pocahontas and was trying to protect my men.
Day 6: This day was more of a free day. We got picked up by the van at 10 and headed to the local mall where most of the foreigners in Hua Hin go. So I got my fair share of hello’s and how are you’s. The stores were rather expensive so I only bought an expensive coffee and a scarf. I really wanted to go see some elephants while I was there. I love elephant because I think there such majestic creatures. Meow finally found out where were elephants and we went there. I was excited.. I was going to see elephants! I couldn’t believe my eyes when we arrived and I walked up to an elephant. I felt sad because he was being used as a tourist attraction. His commander had a stick with a medal end that would hit the elephant with if he acted out. It reminded me of when my sister and I joined peta the organization that helps animals in dangerous situations. We learnt a lot about how elephants are treated in some circuses and fairs. They use these sticks as threats to keep the elephants from doing anything that may scare their audience or their visitors. I did my best to see where the workers were coming from. In not having very much but it just didn’t seem fair. We bought bananas and I fed 4 of the 5 elephants. One was behind a large pile of dirt and they wouldn’t allow me to feed it. The elephants were kept chained to posts so they couldn’t leave and I was very tempted to go back and free them. I could just run away with them and we could live forever free in the jungle. Then reality set in and I said my goodbyes and went back into the van. It was a good experience and I was happy to meet my favorite animal in person. They truly are a sight to see.
Day 7: Today was the day we left Hua Hin so we said our goodbye’s and had a 5 hour car ride to Korat where we spend 2 nights at a lovely resort. It was in country and we stayed in a home. It was beautiful. We went into the night market the first night and bought dinner and enjoyed some delicious sticky rice and pork for dinner and breakfast the next day. It was nice to see some countryside in the Korat area.
Funny experience:
The other night my host mom, dad and I went to a Vietnamese house warming party. There was about 200 Vietnamese people, maybe 6 Thai people and 1 ferang! The party was set up on the street and everyone enjoyed a delicious meal and some great entertainment. There was a karaoke machine up on stage and people were free to use it. This one man kept hassling me to sing. I told me him no its ok. Mai pen rai (Never mind) but he was persistent. I finally realized that maybe it was time to come out of my comfort zone a bit and get on up to that stage and sing a song. So I chose a Yesterday by The Beatles. I started to sing my first line and I heard ooooo. The DJ man had underestimated the beauty of my voice. Ha-ha so he asked me to start again only this time the music was much louder than my voice it was only a soft whisper! It was great. I truly had an awesome time and will be considering doing karaoke again.

Anyway hope all is well in everyone’s lives and your ups and downs are keeping you alive because I know they are for me!

Confusion, excitement, and curiosity! My 3rd update from the land of smiles!

2009-09-19T04:04:00.000-07:00

รายการบล็อกของฉันที่สามจากประเทศไทย!
My third blog entry from Thailand!

Hello World! This is Christine from Thailand again just keeping you posted on my adventure!
Udon Pitt, my school schedule

Music anyone?
I am now taking a class at Udon Pit where I learn a thai instrument. The instrument is similar to an xylophone only larger in size and is called "Kong Wong Ya". I have been taking the class with another Rotary exchange student from Pensylvania. Learning a new instrument has been very fun and exicting but it also has taken quite a bit of patience. Practice is definantly key and I now understand why my piano or guitar friends were always taking the time to improve their skill. I can now play 3/4 of a song and am very pleased with myself.

Thai Dance
Well this dance has been in Thailand since the early 1800's. It is a beautiful and flowing dance.. that is when a Thai person dances it. I am definantly not built like the Thai people so immendiatly the dance looses some of its natural flow. My hands are not at all double jointed and my legs are probably 3 times the size of a thai's legs. I feel sometimes like I could trample my teacher. I also take this class with the Rotary Exchange student; Jazz whom is a ballet dancer. She is also trying to adjust to a completely different style of dancing.
The other day actually Jazz and I had a very unusual experience during class. We arrived at class like usuall and began to practice our dance. Our teacher then instructed us to change our clothes so we could "look the part". We did as we were told and after many size adjustments finally found a fit. The teacher then sat me down and pulled my hair back and placed a black wig on my head. It was.. hmm... hideous. Mostly because you could see my blonde hair above the black wig. Then came the makeup. It was white and and red and wasn;t very flaterring. After this I looked in the mirror and was honestly a little scared of myself. Jazz put it as well.. are we supposed to look like witches? I actually was a little confused to whether my teacher was actually trying to make us look bad because after he had dressed us up he would add a new addition to our outfits. Gold bracelets, head dresses, necklaces, eyeshadow.. every addition he seemed to laugh harder and longer then the last. By the end I felt tired and ready for a nap but of course he wanted to take a photo. So he lead us to the garden which by this time was surrounded by Thai students giggling and pointing. I dont think I have laughed so hard in a long time. Jazz was first to stand in the garden and did her photos very gracefully. Next was Christine... I stepped into the garden and thought it might be fun to stand on the trunk of the tree nearby. After about 2 photos I began to feel a burning sensation on my right foot. Looking down I was shocked to see that my foot was covered in little black spiders biting my foot. I screamed and fell into the bushes behind me. I was stuck in the bushes for a while before I finally could pull myself up. It was humiliating, awkard and hillarious all at the same time. My teacher thought it would be best if we finished the photo shoot inside the classroom. I agreed 100%.

Thai Cooking
I have been going to my Thai cooking class now for 3 weeks now and I have to admit it is not what I expected. I assumed it would be similar to my cooking class in Cnada but of coursee. it wasn't. The first day of cooking I went in and was pleased to see the ingredients to make Pad Thai sitting on the counter. I waited for my other classmates and the teacher to arrive so we could receive a recipe to follow and be divided into groups. Well.. the students arrived and immediatly started chopping, boiling and stirring without any previous instruction. Our teacher didnt actually show up until the students had assembled everything. It was almost as if they were little chefs. My first job was given to me by one of the smallest thai students, she was holding a knife with garlic. She instructed me to peel the garlic and when I was finished it would be blended in with the rest of the ingredients. There are about 10 others in the class and their was alot of garlic so another thai student helped me. I finished up with the garlic beaming with pride that I had completed my first task with no blood or tears. I looked around and was extremelly surprised to see the meal was almost complete. I didnt even see the rest of the ingredients. They added the garlic and before I knew it I had a beautiful plate of Pad Thai in front of me. So... I guess I will have to wait on the other ingredients until then I know that Pad Thai takes about 15 cloves of garlic.

Canadian dinner:
Last week I decided I would make a Canadian dinner for my host family. I was thinking about what I could make that would be Canadian and relatively simple to make. I decided on a good juicy burger. My host mom and I went to the local grocery store and bought ground beef, onions, tomatoes, lettuce. I ended up forgetting to get the actual hamburger buns and got my host mom to buy them after work. The bakery she went too only had the baby version so we had big patties with little buns. It was cute. I invited my Thai friend over to enjoy some homemade burgers and she helped me set the table and get ready for supper. I fried the onions with a little but of real canadian syrup which added a nice touch. The burgers were a little on the black side but a little burnt never hurt anyone. I brought some candies from Canada thank to the courtesy of my wonderful mother in Canada and they were a big hit at dessert. All together it was a big success!

Chanelling frustration:
I have been learning a ton about the importance of chanelling negative emotions on this exchange so far. The way you handle set backs in your life can really affect your spirit. At school I have found it hard to get into the groove of things because there isn't alot of places to go when you need a break. The longer I spend the more creative I become. I have been taking a neat buddhism class at school that starts off with about 30 minutes of meditation which I love. This has been one way that I have been trying to cope with stressful situations. Another way I have been finding very useful is reading. Before I left to Thailand my dad sent me off with a wonderful book called "love your life". Its all about enjoying the life you are in now. We are all equal and each one of us is full of amazing potential. If we are supportive to ourself then we can give back to others more full heartedly and feel better throughout the day. Music has been another tool that I have been using. I would love to hear how others handle a hard time in their own life!

Story of the week:
At school the other day I was feeling quite hungry at around 10:45 and at our school you are not permitted to buy anything at the canteen during class time. Only before school, lunch, and after school. I asked my thai friend where I could go. She said she knew of a good little place behind the school. Instead of walking out the front entrance we walked to the back of the school and went up to the cement fence that surrounds our high school. We peeked thru the small holes lining the top of the fence and saw a small little reaturant on the other side. My thai friend "Porche" called to the women across the street thru traffic and asked her to come here. The women crossed the traffic to meet us on the other side of the fence. I ordered sticky rice (Cow Neow) and chicken (guy). She went back and got it all organized and delivered me my meal thru the fence. I was so impressed by their service and I would definantly do that again. Although it is forbidden at our school it is easier getting away with things as a foreigner!

That evening my host mom picked me up from school and we went to the market called O-TOP. It is a huge market filled with authentic thai crafts, foods, clothing.. ect. It only comes to Udon once a year and it was great to see different styles of poduct of different areas of Thailand. I saw alot of shops selling things from the mountain people in the North of Thailand. I am incredibly fascinated by them and was considering buying myself a bag but decided otherwise. I was incredibly surprised when my host famity surprised me a few days later with a nicely made bag from that same shop. So considerate of her to do that!

My 18th birthday:
I am getting old. I am finally out of my adolescance and going into my adulthood. I am extremelly excited to be turning 18 in a foreign country and was happy to have a great day eating ice cream, cake and really good food. I woke up early so I could give offerings to the monks in the morning. I was very excited to do this because I haven't gotten an opputunity to do that yet. In the evening I arrived at a restaurant for dinner with the Rotary and saw a sign at the entrance that said Happy Birthday Christine. It was so neat! Everyone sang happy birthday and I received many gifts from the Rotary and the other exchange students. I am now officially in Adult! Its weird to think...
"Growing up, its something you can measure
Growing up, it happens everyday
Being young is something you should treasure."

The next monday my friends at school called me to come into the canteen and sang me happy birthday with cake. It was so thoughtful of ev eryone to buy a cake for my birthday! At lunch another group of friends did the same thing. I was very full of dessert after that monday.

Tennis lessons:
I have begun to take tennis lessons in thailand. My host mom signed my brother and I up and I was very excited to be be developing a skill. The coach who teaches us is great because he has been working with me one on one making sure that I know the motion of the swing. There are about 16 in each lesson and everyone is very inviting and very fun to be around!

Going to a school in Nong Khai:
My thai friend told me that her class was going to be going to a small village in Nong Khai and delivering supplies to the students. She asked me if I wanted to come and I was so excited to say yes because I really want to experience the village life in Thailand. In Nong Khai we end up going a school out of town but the school is in very good condition. The night before Porche and I had bought supplies for them. I bought toothbrush and toothpaste thinking they would need that in a village. I probably could have juyst brought candy but I fugured toothbrush was better for their health. It was so cool because we were in charge of these kids all day. We played games together and drew pictures together. It was so exhausting but incredibly fun.

Nong Khai #2
Today the exchange students headed to Nong Khai to do some sightseeing. It was beautiful but very hot. I was able to eat lunch on the mekong river in a little boat. It was very neat to go and I was pleased to be able to see some wonderful buddhist sculptures. It was a very scenic trip!

I am feeling rather tired and looking forward to a nice sleep. I will update again soon and until there
Je Gun Ka!
(See you soon)

My second update in Thailand

2009-09-03T01:27:00.001-07:00

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!!

My update thus far.

2009-08-17T00:01:00.000-07:00

Well hello my Lethbridge friends. I hope everything is going well in your lives and you are enjoying all the rain you have been getting. The cold weather will pass soon enough and the "classic" scortcher summer days are just around the corner. I have tried to organize my blog into catagories so it can save you searching for something you want to read.

When I arrived in Thailand:
After what seemed like an eternity we finally touched down in Bangkok. I was happy to have been greated by a group of about 6 people. My host papa, my host sister and Joe (he had been an Rotary exchange student to Canada this year) and some of Joe's friends. They had a little banner for me and I was greeted with open arms and smiles. We then were brought to my host aunts home in Bangkok where we spent the night and took off for Udon the next morning. I got off the plane in Udon and was greeted by all the Rotary members of the Magkang Rotary club. It was amazing, they had cameras, video recorders. I felt as if the paparazzi had found me. The club was so kind, they presented me with 5 beautiful lais. I could barely see after being presented with these but smiled anyway as the paparazzi went at it again. I arrived to my home later that afternoon.

Family and living arrangements:
I am living with my host family in Udon Thani, family of 4. Momma, Papa, Ichiro (boy age 14), and Natjang(girl age 16). They are a delightful group of people. They do not speak very much english so it has been an adventure trying to communicate. Sheraids, drawings, and laughter has been one of the many ways I have been getting my message across. I was given the tour of this.. home, house, palace? I am not sure what to call it but it is stunning.

My room was to be on the second floor looking out into the beautiful tropical trees with my own bathroom to enjoy and an amazing AC system that still gets me excited to use. There are 5 rooms with 6 bathrooms, 2 kitchens, 2 living rooms, 1 computer room, 1 TV room, 1 room dedicated to buddha, a room for washing, and 2 dining areas. I was hoping that I could have been living in mud hut on the top of some mountain but took my new home with open arms and was glad to be there.

The City:
I live in Udon which is about 600 million people. Full of mopeds, motoryced scooters, oh ya and did I say mopeds? They are absolutely everywhere. Travelling in the city is relatively easy and fairly cheap. I have been able to get rides from my host brother and sister which has made things alot easier. In the city their is a large mall and a large park. That is usually where you can find just about every teenager/young adult in the city. The park is great because they have one track for walkers/runner and one for bicycles so nothing gets too dodgy. It is rainy season here so everything is soggy but the rain usually doesn't last too long. I have been witness to 2 big storms, one of which sounded like our house had been hit by lighting and I myself had to hide under the blankets for a while.

School:
I currently go to a school that has about 5000 students. All of which wear uniforms and must wear their hair short. The students are very bashfull, giggling and blushing at almost everything they come in contact with. I have met some very neat people who have been on exchange here at my school and they are all very good at english. There are 3 whom I eat lunch with sometimes. One went to Quebec, Canada and is fluent in french. We are exchanging Thai words for french words that he forgets, It's rather fun. My teachers, for the most part are very kind and understand that I am completely lost. I usually just follow people into their classes until I get my own time table.

At school there is 5 different buildings for 5 different subjects and there is library, a large canteen, mass hall, and a small temple. The school is always humming with the sound of giggling, screaming, or cheering. It has been an adjustment getting used to the sound differences too. Even during lunch I am used to a relatively quiet cafeteria with students who eat their lunch and then get on with class but this is a completely different environment. My ears are quickly adjusting and I know I will have a greater appreciation for Canada's quiet atmosphere upon my return.

Serve me some Thai food:
Wow.. wow.. mmmm I can taste it now. The food is incredible. They know exactly how to combine the best spices, herbs, and flavours into one. I have been trying to go easy on the spicy because after my first experience with the big D i dont want to have to experience that again so I have been taking it slow. The food at school is even great, pad thai, noodles, soup, rice, chicken, beef. Nothing like I have ever had.
Now don't get me wrong after eating all of this delicious food I somehow still craze simple things like Peanut Butter, Milk from Canada, M AND M'S!!!, oh and did I say peanut butter?

What I have seen and done:

I have been to one temple so far and it was stunning. I think it isnt the architecture that does it for me it is the respect people pay to the Buddha. It really made me feel at peace in that place and was sad when we had to leave. I was thinking about living with the monks but hasd no time to act because we were already on the moped driving wuickly thru the streets of Udon.
Right after I had arrived we had a family dinner where I was invited to go get my picture taken by a photogrpahe. Not thinking anything else of it until the doorbeel rang the next morning at around 9:00am. I was a little distraight when 2 lady boys walked in with their extremelly masculine, yet feminine features and said they were to do my makeup. I did what I was told and opened my eyes to an expirience. It was great to see their desire to improve my features ("feaasurresss" as they would say it). We quickly hopped in the car and drove to a photography where we were dressed in royalty clothing. I was wearing a gold dress that I could barely breathe in and was covered in gold jewerally to match. The photographer was funny so it made it a little more enjoyable. I just received the pictures and my "feaasurresss" look great!
Taking the tuk tuk with friends to go bowling and had an adventure getting there.
Made fried noodles with a class I did not know to other students in the school for free. I love helping others and realized that this is something I need to do this year. Help others in need.
Cooked pancakes for mothers day (in thailand) and burnt them terribly, she still managed to swallow them and bless her heart ate them all too.
I was able to experience the night life first hand. Last night my host sister and a group of friends went to the night market where we browsed a huge mass of shops and food stands. It was probably on my first feelings of culture shock. I was completely in awe that people can live this way. So fascinating and yet so shocking. I saw wealth and I saw poverty, I saw sickness, and pain but I never witnessed a frown. On our way home from the chaos and told myself that I was meant to come here, to see this.

Thank you Thank you Thank you

I wanted to say Thank you to everyone who believed in me, to everyone who help me get this far. With words, dollars, or even a nice email. These gestures mean the world to me because as I live here in Thailand I am already having such an incredible experience. The exposure I have to this culture is once in a lifetime and hope that you too can experience something like it. I have to send a special thanks out to Jean Mcarthy. I read one of your envelopes and have never had anyone do such a kind thing before thank you so much for being so unique. Also to my sister, who is sitting on my dresser with a purple umbrella. I think the world of you and love you very much. And Papa bear of course. You are my sunshine papa and I miss you terribly. Thank you again to everyone else for supporting and I did not forget about your kindness.

Mothers know best:

So here I am in the directors office this morning exaclty 2 weeks in to my adventure and I begin to feel these emotions coming up. I began to cry. I relized how overwhelming it can be sometimes. The director was no longer there and I felt totally silly crying in his office but then I looked at the calender. It said August 17th 2009. I could not believe it. My mom had been right. She said you will do great Christine when 2 weeks hits though it might get a little tougher and you may feel a bit overwhelmed. I could not believe it. I began to laugh and realized that my mother's prediction had been correct. Although sometimes I may not give her credit, like when she predicts the wheather without reading a whether report and nails it everytime, or calls me from the mountain when she senses I am feeling blue, when she seems to know what I want for dinner, or that I want a hug. Its incredible how I have overlooked these incredible skills my mother posseses and how much I love her too. Thank you mom for being so amazing and I am sorry if this is overdue.

Realization of the day:
No matter who you are you have something to give. Whether it be a small bowl of rice, your last cookie in your lunchbox, the empty seat on the overcrowded bus, the spare change you have in your pocket... You have something. I encourage you today or whenever you read this to think what you could give to a complete stranger that could brighten their day? A smile, a quick hello, or a thoughtful comment. I have been thinking about how in my own life I do not do this enough and have made it my own goal to start giving back to the universe. They come from innocent acts of generosity and kindness that I hope others can begin to do. We all have have the potential to give and I challenge you to use your potential.

So here we are.. 2 weeks in and a few more to go. I look forward to keeping you all updated.
Ps. More pictures are coming
Love you loads

Christine Nicole Hill
(Shum puu Nuut)-Thai name

Leaving for Thailand!

2009-07-20T16:06:00.000-07:00

Sawasdeeka family, friends and everyone else out there. Christine is off to the land of smiles(Thailand) for 12 months on the Rotary Youth Exchange program and thought it would be a good idea to get a blog started so I could share some exciting adventure into your lives.

While I am away I will be living in the Northeastern part of Thailand in a city called Muang Udon. I will be attending a Thai High School there and trying my best to learn the language. Although I have completed all my requirements for High School in Canada, the program envolves another year of High School there. I am very excited to be going because a year away is an amazing appurtunity for growth and discovery. While I am away in Thailand I will do my best to embrace every aspect of the Thai culture and realize that all people of different ethnicities are very similar. This year is going to be something that I will always remember and appreciate all the support I have recieved in going. Talk soon
Sawasdeeka friends
Christine
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