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Published: December 27th 2006
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Host Club Welcome
Wow! This was what I stepped off the plane to! Even though the sign welcomes me from South Puget Sound, the message of welcome is loud and clear! It has taken a while to poke through my hundreds of pictures to get to the start of my visit and fill in the blanks!
When I got off the plane at Krabi I was greeted by virtually the entire Rotary Club!
My host Club in Krabi is amazing as you can see from the welcome pictures. Every one showed up and there were hugs all around.
Once the first week was past, I got to settle in with Coun Ma and Coun Paw. (Thai for Mom & Dad). Coun Paw was great about sending me information and pictures before my arrival so I felt that I already knew them. He is a lawyer and has his office attached to the house. He has three assistants who will occassionally change as new opportunities arise. They are always wonderful, though. Pee Gai was our original go-between as she is fluent in Thai and English so she was the lucky one who would translate our emails.
Coun Ma is a nurse and teacher in my new school, Amart. Coun Ma is a fashion queen and loves to shop more than I do. Living out of a suitcase and on a
Welcome Flowers
This is my host brother Oh (Jetsada) with me in Krabi Airport. I was greeted with flowers and a huge welcome party! budget, I will not be able to keep up!
I have two host brothers but neither of them will be living in the house while I am there. Oct, is attending University in Bangkok and Jetsada (O) is on exchange to South Puget Sound in Washington. They will be without their sons but with a new daughter. This was an intersting adjustment for every one!
The house is like most Thai houses in the downtown area. Very narrow and very high. My room had quite a few stairs to get to it. There were also two resident dogs. One a larger poodle and another with the name Tarro (i nicknamed him Q-tip for my stay) who was very lovable even if a little much on the poodle side.
Our house was a 2 minute walk from the school so between Coun Ma and the close proximity, I would have no excuses for being late for school! (trust me though there were a few close calls) The school has 3,000 students and I think I am the only non-Asian student in the bunch. All of the students are very friendly but the boys are a lot shyer than
Coun Maw and Paw
This is a picture of my first host family which was in an email before I met them. In the background is the beach near where I will be staying. I am used to.
Choosing clothes for school is a no-brainer... White shirt with crest, long blue skirt, white socks and shiney black buckle shoes. That's right - a uniform! At least I don't have to decide what to wear!
When attending school in Thailand every day feels a little like the first day. I always have to be ready for something new and be ready to play a language guessing game at the drop of a hat. My first day at school has to be the oddest first day any one has ever had. All the kids were color coded. Every Wednesday, depending on the student's class, they wear a colored shirt. The host sisters I am with now are red while I am blue. There is also yellow, green, and pink. But on my first day I was still new to asian features and part of the uniform is hair as well so to a North American it looks a little like someone cloned a smiling Thai kid and stuffed them all into groups of colors.
Right now I am studying quite a few subjects (language barrier excluded) including Thai, French, Japanese, Thai kick boxing,
The family Dog
This is the family lovable dog Tarro (code name Q-tip) who will rip my shoes to shreds if given the chance physics, Thai Dance, Thai History and get to occassionally assist in teaching english.
One week after I arrived Pee O (Jetsada) left for America. He talked to my host parents on the phone almost every day and went through a period where he was a little homesick (like we all are at some point) but he is now very popular and has developed a love for pizza (go figure)
I mentioned briefly that language sometimes feels like a guessing game. That is, indeed exactly what it is. As I arrived during low season with very few tourists every one I met spoke a "little" english. I never knew a "little" could come in so many variations. And when making new friends we always manage to find a word in either english or Thai that the other does not understand. At that point all actions are opened. For instance when trying to ask where the bathroom is if all else fails use the universal "pee pee dance" The message tends to get across. Anyways, I must be off to eat rice. ;-) I hope to hear from you all.
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