Today

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Tuesday September 7.


So last night we went out for Vietnamese food. It was super yummy, and my host dad taught me a phrase to say to the owner complementing his restaurants cuisine. Of course, the counterpart of the phrase in English is “This is so F***ing delicious!” But I didn’t know that until after. The owner was a friend of my host dad though, and he gave me free ice cream. So it’s all cool between us 😊

Today, I went to school and carved tomatoes. But you can’t actually carve a tomato. What you do peel it all the way around so you have just a strand of skin, then you wrap the skin around and make a rose. After you’ve used the peel, you do the same thing with the inside, and keep going until you hit the really mushy part. It’s fun, but it’s really annoying when the tomato keeps breaking on you :P

Also, I missed Thai dancing today, as a different art teacher was coming in to Bapa’s class, to show different painting techniques. So offered the chance to try something new, I eagerly went. As I sit down I realized, everyone had just pulled out a drawing of a scene. Luckily, one girl noticed my woe and handed me a piece of paper. Quickly I sketched out a sunset. It was easy and simple, and made me look creative. Then, we were all given tote bags, instructed to trace our drawings onto them, and paint. I never liked painting before, and let’s face it, I’m terrible at it. But there was something about the way he showed me that made way more sense, and I feel like my 5 second sketched sunset, is the best painting I have EVER done! Legit, everyone was calling it beautiful.

Also, today is Tuesday, so that means “Club Class”. As usual, I went to music. The first time I went there three weeks ago, they gave me a traditional Thai flute, which is just like a recorder, and sounds just like one. So last week, and this week I’ve tried the Kim, a small traditional Thai instrument. I can only play scales, so for the majority of the time I just sit there, as everyone has been playing longer than me, and observe. Its way different then band in Canada. We all sit with our instruments in groups, at different walls, and the teacher sits in the middle, with a Thai xylophone. Then, he plays part of the song, and says as he plays it “Do-fa-mi-ray-do” for example. Then, everyone echoes it with their instruments. There are no different musical parts, everyone just plays in harmony, and learns in sync. No sheet music, just ears and memorization. I sit there in class but I’m defiantly not bored. A little fun fact, I think possibly next semester, on Saturday mornings there is a beginner Kim class, and I have plans to join it!

One thing I forgot to mention this weekend is that on Sunday night I was bored and tired after English camp, and noticed my room looked a little bare. So out of Post-it notes I made a calendar. I wrote down the day of the week in Thai on everyone. Now I know the days and how to write them!

Love you 😊
Jessica

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Comments

[Mom]

It is beautiful--can you make me one?

[mom]

Is that your orange dinosaur from the bank?

[Mom]

Did you make these?

[Kimberly Green]

Wonderful blog and photos
Jessica -- Thanks for sharing these photos of one aspect of your cultural exchange. All the best to your carving teacher, host family and friends. And of course to you! ~Kimberly, Language and Culture Specialist for Rotary District 5080