This issue is dedicated to the 168 people I e-mailed this to…simple as that!

Sawadeeka to one and all! January has been somewhat of a slow month for me, so this report won’t be that long…impossible! Well,  what happened?? I have been sooooo busy that I am now struggling to remember what I did and with whom…ok, I think I got it!

At the beginning of January I had to say good-bye to 2 of my fellow inbounds – Masato (Japan) and Kristy (Austrailia). But as soon as they left, we got 3 new ones – Josh, Adam and Kathy (Austrailia). It is extremely cool to have someone we can take under our wings and show them what exchange life is really all about. Josh also happens to be in my school so now I’m not the ‘lone falang’ (foreigner.)

I guess I can say that my Thai is also getting a lot better and sadly but truly…my English a lot worse. Rotary (3350) had a speech contest where we were supposed to give a 3-5 min. speech in Thai about our perspective of Thailand (etc.) Honestly, it was one of the most difficult things you could ever have to do during your exchange year. Especially if you live in a place like me where there are 4 separate words just for the English word “I”… “I” for friends/females, “I” for males, “I” for adults & “I” for public/formal speaking. Most of the speeches were well prepared and well presented and in the end the Y.E. from Dist. 6990 was the winner…oh yeah, hey that’s me!!! I stunned the Rotarians with formal Thai words and quotations. It was actually quite funny because for everything I said they were giggling to each other and jotting down notes. I remember hearing their response for the word ‘pra-ma-hat-gra-sat’…which is like a super, super, super formal word for king. They all started whispering, “pra-ma-hat-gra-sat, pra-ma-hat-gra-sat, geng-mak, pra-ma-hat-gra-sat!” (geng-mak = very clever) Hahaha! So the results were me – 1st, Anne-Sophie (Belguim) – 2nd, Isabelle (Germany) 3rd, and Ryan (U.S.A.) – 4th. Almost everyone received some sort of prize so I guess our efforts were rewarded. Also, Anne-Sophie, Isabelle and I must give our speeches in March at the District Conference in Pattaya province …hahaha so much for a nice prize!

On January 24th, we celebrated Chinese New Year…it was really different and it appears that most of Thailand is partly Chinese. The city was so quiet as many shops closed and many people stayed inside their homes. My host-mom says that Bangkok will be even quieter for ‘Songkran’ which is Thai New Year in April. Everyone returns home to their province during that time and I would really like to stick around and actually see a city with 10 million people deserted. But we’ll be in Chaing Mai (Northern Bus Trip) which is the center point for festivities during that time so I’ll just have to take my host-mom’s word for it.

Another highlight for this month were when two other exchange students (Anne-Sophie & Mariko) and I walked the (Sukhumvit) BTS Skytrain line…all the way from Mo Chit to On Nut. The line is about 20 kilometres long (12 miles??). It was fun and pretty easy. We walked directly under the skytrain with dust masks over our mouths while listening to many tuk-tuk and taxi drivers shout, “WHERE DO YOU GO???!!!!” At the end of the walk some other exchange students met us as we surprised Mariko and then had a little good-bye party for her.

Oh yeah that’s another thing…Mariko a.k.a. Marijan a.k.a. Y.E. mom finished her Y.E. year and left us in early February. It was the saddest good-bye ever. I have never seen so many people cry at the same time. (MARIKO, WE MISS YOU SOOOOO MUCH!!!!!!!) Most Bangkok Y.E.’s went to the airport to see her off and stayed until 2a.m. as we watched her plane take off. For me, that was when the shock hit that my best exchange friend had gone. It was a crying session all over again for everyone…and this time me included. 

I have also went out about 4 times with my host family to eat this month (the first one which I am still in.) Armar (host-grand-mother) had a birthday party where all of her children gathered and celebrated Chinese style with a 10-course meal. (This may explain to many of you why I am getting so ooan (gain weight)…because my host-family is Chinese so we eat a lot of 10 course meals…sometimes 2 per day!) Then, I went to Bussaracum to gin-cow (eat) with my host-family one Sunday. This was exciting since the restaurant’s name is the same as my Thai name (BUSARA) which is the yellow gem stone I think is called ‘garnet’ in English. Last weekend I traveled to Thonburi province (sim same Bangkok…but different) to eat seafood with family and friends at a restaurant located on what they call the sea but which is actually in the middle of swampland. And of course, Chinese New Year where all diets were put aside and Chinese people ate like there was no tomorrow.

I have about 2 more days until my last official day of school in Thailand. Final examinations begin this month and then there is graduation and summer vacation. Since my class (M6 = gr.12) is graduating…I do not have to return to school in my last month when school re-opens (only to give a good-bye speech.) Wow!!!! My oh my…how time flies!!!!!

If you missed issues 1-8 check out District 6990’s web-site: www.rye6990.com

Ok, that’s all for the ninth issue of “BUSARA’S DIGEST”.
Look forward to issue ten (10):::::::::::



SAWADEE KA !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Signed: BARBARA ZÁ FRANKS
R. Y. E. 2000-2001
Dist. 6990 (Grand Bahama) – Dist. 3350 (Thailand)

P. S. A big thank you to my cousin Kenton Williams who created my logo...love ya!