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Published: September 18th 2010
Petaunqe
Basically just like bocce, only you throw differently Saturday September 11th
Chan yuu muang Thai nung duan! Incase you can’t read phonetic Thai, it’s been one month today since I landed in Thailand, and I honestly can’t believe it’s been that long already! : )
I haven’t really been home sick though. I mean, I miss a lot of things, like people, pizza, and wearing jeans and a hoodie in cold weather. But I don’t miss it to the point of crying, or wanting to go home. Granted, I did have a bit of homesickness the second week. The first week, I was so excited to be here, that it didn’t think about home, I think I emailed home once in my first ten days. But, I think that around the 9th day, right before my host sister left was when it was the worst. She spoke English, so it helped a lot when asking questions about rules in the home, things to do, and because I hadn’t started school yet, she was also a friend. After she left, I felt, not alone, but scared. I knew hardly any Thai, didn’t know the city, and barely knew the rest of
my host family.
I think another reason I felt so home sick, was because renovations were also happening in my house. I hadn’t fully unpacked because renovations were still happening in my room, so I was living out of suitcases in an empty room. However, the day after we came back from Bangkok, my room was finished. Once I started to unpack, and make this empty room my own, I started to feel less homesick. I haven’t cried in a long time, and have a really good relationship with my immediate host family, and the extended portion. I really think I lucked out in the host family department, they’re really welcoming. My host cousins (15, and 18), are always inviting me to hang out with them, and try things Thai style. Tonight, Bapa called me to go to the park with her, and try “Snake Boarding”. It was crazy fun! A snake board is like a snake board, only it has two wheels, and there is a spring-like tube connecting the two halves of the board. Then, you shake your back foot, which propels you to move! At first, it was hard, and I thought “Ok, can I
be done now? I’ve tried it”, but then I realized, it was also a month that I had been here. When the homesickness was at its worst, I remember thinking, “Thai is hard to learn, I miss everything at home, but I’ve been here and tried it. Can I go home now?” Then I realized I can read the consonants of the alphabet (still having issues with vowels), know a lot of verbs, and can understand more in conversations then I could a month ago. So, with a little bit of practicing (or fuk in Thai), I was still snake boarding like a beginner, but I didn’t need the wrist guards, elbow pads, or knee pads anymore : )
My host dad is always wanting to show me this or that, and encouraging me to try something else, and I say “Why not?”. I realize that you need to keep an open mind in a new culture, or else my year abroad won’t work. The second day I was in Trat, I came home, walked into the kitchen and saw a cockroach on the floor. For a second I had a mini heart attack, but then I realized
that no one was making a big deal out of it, and I didn’t either. I have now come to find that cockroach’s only come out when it rains, and people pay as much attention to them, as they do worms. So yeah, you just get used to it.
Now an update: So because it’s super obvious I’m a beginner in my Taekwondo class, the teacher has offered the option of extra classes this week. Everyday, form 5-7. I’m pretty excited about them, but I’m going to be dead tired. 8-4 wears me out, so 8-7 with physical activity is going to kill me :P
Speaking of physical activity, I went for my first run yesterday, and that was crazy. I haven’t run in a month, because I’m unsure of where to run, and the heat makes me wimp out. However, since I had the invite, I decided to go for it. I went with Baipa and her friends, and we ran laps around the boys school campus. At first I thought “Awesome! I’ve missed running, this is so good!”, but after a few laps my tune changed. So then it switched to a
running-walk pace. When I fell on my bed after I got home, I got a major head rush, which resulted in a headache. Also, even after a cold shower, my face was still burning. It was fun, but I’m not sure when I’ll go running again…
September 12-17 Sorry everyone! I haven’t updated in about two weeks! But I’ve been busy, and drop dead tired. Particularly this week, every day, after school I had Taekwondo classes, which were crazy intense. I was a beginner, and the majority of the people studying had been doing it for at least a few years. However, it was really interesting how class was run. There were kids from the elementary schools there, all the way up to grade 12, at all different levels. But they we all did the same drills and had the same lesson. Then the teacher corrected individually. Another thing I found interesting, was one night, a student taught the class, because the teacher was sick. It was a hard workout, because she was more intense than the teacher, but another thing that was crazy was the fact that she was only 13 years old, and fighting
like a champ! Legit, there were girls in grade 11, who had just gotten gold 2 weeks ago at a competition, and the 13 year old, was correcting them on their round kick!
My brief conclusion on Taekwondo: I was given the opportunity to try Taekwondo, and I stuck with it even though it was draining. It was fun, but I found it wasn’t a sport I particularly enjoyed. However, I am happy with myself that I forced myself to go, even though I was so tired and sore after the first day.
The rest of the week was pretty fun. It was the last week of the semester, so students were either writing tests or not doing anything. When we don’t know anything, it’s a really good time for me to try and practice my Thai. I get to listen to their conversation, and try to say a few words or two. Other times, they’ll practice their English by talking, and I reply in Thai. Yesterday, in Chemistry, Pe, one of the girls in my class, asked me to tell a joke in English. The first joke I said was “Why did the chicken cross the playground?”
(To get to the other slide), but upon seeing all the blank stares it became super obvious to me that not everyone in the world had herd the original joke about the chicken crossing the road, or if they have, they’ve never heard it in English. So then I moved on the muffin joke, I figured it would be easier to explain, then why a chicken crossing a road for no reason is funny.
The muffin Joke goes as follows:
“Two muffins were in an oven, the first muffin says ‘boy it’s hot in here”, the second muffin replies “Ahhh! A talking muffin!!”
Pe didn’t get it, and neither did the other students. So then, we spent about 10 minute’s translating the joke. First I tried to tell it in my broken up Thai. “Song Kanom Pangs yuu fia, Kanompang nueng pod ‘Laun mak mak!’, kanompang sam ‘ahhhh! Pod kanompang!”. That made a little bit of sense, but still didn’t get across. So then I drew a picture, that made more sense, and once one of them got it, she was able to translate the joke for the rest of them. Then we were all laughing, as
we went down for lunch, and I now know how to say the muffin joke in Thai. : )
Last night, my host mom took me to a Thai wedding reception. It was just like Canadian reception, many people laughing, drinking, and singing karaoke because this is Thailand, and every party must have karaoke! It was more of a dessert thing though, so afterward, we still went out for supper with a few other people from the wedding, to this amazing seafood place, right on the sea. Fresh everything! I sat by a woman who spoke English, and Thai with me. It was awesome! I think she was a governor’s wife or something. Either way, she had connections with the big wigs. How do I know? Well, as we are all dinning, and talking, I happen to glance over at the other table, and see a man with blond hair. I said to the woman “I wonder where he is from”, only to have her reply, “Oh, he’s not a foreigner, he’s the head of Trat Province. Would you like to meet him?” Thus, I went over and meet the head of the province. He asked me where I
was from, and wished me a nice time in Trat. We’re pretty much best friends now. Ok, not quite, but I like to think I now have super important connections ; )
Anyway, I’m off to do something productive.
Jessica
PS: something super awesome about my week was the fact that my host aunt went to Bangkok, and thought of me. She brought me back a McDonald’s cheese burger, it was delicious. : )
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christopherr
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