All I want for Christmas is........To not have a jumping, weeing frog camp in my room!

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Merry Christmas everyone!!!!!! Cannot believe I am sat here writing this blog post on the 4 month anniversary of when I landed in Bangkok. Wow, It only seems like yesterday that I was writing my 3 month status on facebook on my birthday. So I will try to attempt to fill you in on the past few weeks but it will defiantly be in an odd order....

So....this week at school I have just been making christmas card's, playing pin the nose on Rudolf, singing jingle bells and decorating our house with the endless parcels of decorations we have received, courtesy of Robyn's mum (including a christmas tree!) In Thailand christmas isn't celebrated due to the majority of the country being Buddhists........however the lengths that the school has gone to to make us feel at home is massive. We have been given our Mrs. Santa outfits ready for christmas day where we will be on front gate at 7am sharp, ready to hand out sweets to the students. Christmas day all lessons are cancelled and we are going to be on the judging panel of "Tharua's got Talent", singing and dancing, heels and wigs and eyelashes galore. The students have been practicing very hard, infact a group of them were practicing under our house the other day when one of my faves trotted upstairs in his brand new heels to show them off and tell me how his friend can't walk in them so he is teaching her. I felt so sorry for the girls, he had them doing laps and circuits, just thankful no ankles were broken! So as you can tell I am very excited about what is to come on Christmas Day and as should you all be at the photos and videos that will follow! There is also an art competition for the best christmas card or christmas picture and I have to say, some of what I have already seen is absolutely amazing. Whilst I would have maybe drawn a kind of lump-like christmas tree with a few baubles on it if asked to, these kids have got pop out cards, tissue paper, glitter, beads, baubles, paint etc. All of which will be very hard to judge. They are then throwing us a christmas party after school and even though it may not have yorkshire puddings or a christmas cake it'll still be an experience. I was worried I would hate christmas this year and it would make me really homesick as I have always loved christmas with my family and friends......but Im actually really excited this year as it's only one year and Ill always remember it for being different and a part of my amazing year.

Whilst it may seem that all I do is travel and have fun and don't do any cultural things....I do! The natural wildlife seems to love me (we will get onto this later) and a few weeks ago we went to see our friends Holly and Beth in Nahkon Sawan. Their hosts are so lovely, and seem like the perfect hosts. They took us to their house and taught us how to make thai desert. They told us it was #1 in Thailand and after spending an hour rolling tiny dough shaped balls we got to taste some. The desert was warm coconut milk with chunks of taro (purple potato that isn't potato), diced pumpkin a poached egg and the previously rolled random balls of dough with green dye made to look like peas! It was.....interesting! But the fact that I can't remember the name of it gives you the gist of how delicious it was. They then took us up the massive mountain and you could see all over NS (nakon sawan) it was amazing. They then took us for a korean BBQ. Basically this is one of the best inventions ever....for about 2/3 pounds you have an all you can eat buffet of uncooked meats and vegetables. You then take what you want and cook it yourself on a stove type thing on your table, the meat juices then run down and make a soup at the bottom whilst you also have unlimited amounts of fried rice, chips, salad and ice cream! I am always however slightly scared that I havn't cooked it properly and spend most of the meal imagining everyone projectile vomiting later on, due to my phobia of sick. But....I get over it with ice cream.

And now for being at one with nature. First it was the dogs invading our house and we already live with mini lizards who eat the little vampire devils that think Im tasty, but I was not prepared for our visitor the other night. It was bed time in Spider Palace so I went to shut the front door and kick the leaf out from the door....the leaf that wasn't actually a leaf. The next thing I know I have a frog the size of my head humping my foot whilst I am doing some sort of freaky dance, shaking it off and hopping around as to not stand on it and end up with squished frog between my toes. The frog then of course, hopped into my room, first on the wall, then resting for a few minutes on the pillow and then hiding behind my bed. It may sound pathetic and funny now but at the time....woah! How are you meant to get a frog out? You can't spray it with bug spray or put a glass over it.....SO I was stood on my bed for an hour with a broom holding a towel over me whilst Robyn stood at the other side of the room with the washing basket. It was the only thing in our house big enough to catch it! And then.....it went behind the wardrobe. The one place we wouldn't be able to get it! I was so exhausted and all I wanted to do was sleep but I couldn't leave it as I wouldn't sleep for the rest of the year, scared I would have a frog jump on my face at some point! SO we barricaded it in and I slept in the other room. The next morning I told one of the teachers who then told all the other teachers as they found it hilarious and after all of the "its your prince" jokes I was then told it was a "pee-pee" frog. Yep. It wee's every time it jumps. It jumped over my bed, the floor, the wall. Everywhere. I was not happy but a teacher sent her husband round to get it and he got it out in 5 minutes so I can now sleep in peace.

This weekend was spent in Bangkok buying our secret santa presents for the christmas party we are having tomorrow with our extra class. Next Friday we are off for 2 weeks and are heading to Koh Chang with 16 of the other volunteers for New Years eve which is going to be amazing! We then have an extra week as it is our schools exam week so we are thinking of going to Cambodia...maybe! We need to look into it but will be doing nothing until an extra few days on the island is spent!

I am currently sat watching to Grinch, eating my 6 advent chocolates that have been forgotten about! I probably won't be updating again until after our holidays so I hope all of you have an absolutely amazing christmas and new year with your family and make the most of the lovely weather.....oh wait!

Lots of Thai love!xoxoxo

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