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October 2, 2010
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Hey!!!! This is my first post OMG! So much to
tell! Wow, yea now I understand the importance of writing these things as
soon as you can. Alright, well, my flight to Thailand consisted of 3
separate flights from Florida to Chicago, Chicago to Japan, and Japan to
Bangkok. Getting up early and going to the Miami airport wasn’t really a
problem, but when it came time to go through security and leave my mom and
Rick I guess I could say I felt a little uneasy, especially when my mom
started crying. Of course Rick didn’t because he’s a MACHO MAN! But
anyway, I hugged them and walked through security to my gate.
On the flight to Chicago I think I might have been the only one not
sleeping. Usually, dark, quiet areas are a good environment for sleeping,
but when you wake up at about 3 or 4 in the morning and you’re heading out
on an adventure of a lifetime, you don’t really feel compelled to sleep.
So the flight in itself was very boring. When I arrived in Chicago, I
called my mom and sister just to let them know that I was fine, and I
checked which gate I was supposed to depart from. Once I knew, I got
something from Quiznos and took a seat. Little did I know that Emily, also
from Florida and heading to Thailand was sitting right behind me J. After
talking for a little bit I spotted some kids in blazers walking around
that looked like they had no clue where to go. I hurried and grabbed them
and brought them to where Emily and I had been sitting. We talked about
our schools and our Rotary orientations as well as some things that were
on the TV at the time. About a half hour before our flight a girl sitting
across from me asked if I was going to Thailand. Before she asked, in my
head I was like this girl must know something because she keeps looking at
us lol. We then found out that she was an inbound in Florida from Thailand
and her name was Yin. We also found 2 other inbounds from Japan.
The flight to Japan was surprisingly alright for a 12-13 hr flight.
Unfortunately we couldn’t sit together because we had assigned seats, but
I got to set next to 2 Koreans going on a trip around Asia. I don’t know
if its just Asians but almost all of them were sleeping on that flight lol.
I slept for maybe an hour, but they slept almost the entire time. A couple
movies were showing so they kept me from being completely bored out of my
mind. In Japan everything was really cool, and CLEAN!!! That airport had
sections to it that you’d probably find in a homeowners magazine. I wanted
to lay down on the couches, but I was too busy trying to find a way to
call back home. OMG, using a Japanese payphone is so ridiculous its funny.
Zane and I had to exchange our American money for yen and then spent the
next hour trying to figure out how to use the thing, a when we asked the
people at the help desk, they couldn’t really help us either lol, lack of
language. But we eventually figured it out and made our calls. Oh and they
have free wifi!!!
The flight to Bangkok was ok, and again, had an Asian sitting next to me
and they slept for most of the flight. When we arrived in Bangkok, I
realized that we actually had to fill out those immigration cards and had
to get another one lol. I know your rolling your eyes, but whatever. We
arrived in one of Bangkok’s largest airports and man was it huge. If we
didn’t have Yin with us we wouldn’t have known where to go. We went
through immigration and looked for our bags. One of the YE’s bags was
missing so we had to wait. Abeth and I were messing around with the carts
trying to figure out how they work. Apparently you don’t just push them
around. You have to push down on the lever to release the clutch on the
wheels so that they can move.
After everything was settled we headed out to meet our host families.
There was a crowd of people with so many signs and I didn’t know where or
whom to go to. I was so nervous. As I was walking through a man next to me
said my name and asked me if I was Brooke, and when I said yes he went
ecstatic and called over some people. That was when I met my host family
and some other people whom I still don’t know who they are. At that time
my mind was kind of dazed and I didn’t really know what to do. They took
pictures of everyone and I just went with it. Then my host brother came up
to me and we started talking and I was like OMG HE CAN SPEAK ENGLISH!!! He
was an exchange student to Australia a couple years back so that’s how he
learned.
When everything had calmed down a bit we started to make our way towards
the car. My host sister and host mom don’t speak as much English as my
host brother and dad but I could still get the jist of what they were
saying, and I totally don’t believe that my host sister is 17. She
literally looks like a 12 year old! In the car we talked about random
things between school, what time to be home by, and anime. They drive on
the left hand side and the steering wheel of the car is on the right hand
side. Also, people drive insanely fast here. I mean between 80 and 120
mph. I was a little worried so I made sure I put my seatbelt on lol.
Apparently there is a law here that says people in the front seat must
wear a seatbelt but people in the back don’t have to. I wasn’t taking any
chances lol. Oh, and we stopped at a gas station called Jiffy (hehe) to
pick up some cornflakes and milk for me to eat that next day. Yay!
By the time we got home it was late Aug.9 and everyone was pretty tired.
Kunmee (host mom), Tarn (host sis), and Thon (host bro) showed me my room,
which was Tarn’s room, and the bathroom. It’s pretty big and it’s on the
second floor. It has 2 beds, a book shelf, a computer desk, 2 fans
(because the air conditioning isn’t working), 2 windows, and a small night
stand in the corner. When things got settled I called my mom on the Magic
Jack and told her everything was fine. Finally after all the days and
1/2’s events I finally got some sleep.
The next day was just new. Thon had to go to school and Tarn stayed home
because she is also an outbound from Thailand going to California. So she
wasn’t going to school of course. Kunpaa and Kunmee were working as usual
that day and so Tarn and her friend Mai decided to take me to the
Crocodile Farm. Kunmee dropped us off and we were on our own. It was so
cool. Elephants kind of just walk around of their own accord. Nothing is
really in a cage, except for the monkeys, which I understand why because
one little monkey splashed water on Mai and Tarn lol. We saw the Crocodile
show, which had two guys messing around with crocodiles dragging them
wherever by their tails and sticking their heads in their mouths. Then Mai
and I went in a small boat around the river that winds through the park
and fed the enormously large cat fish. After that we saw the Elephant
show, which was too funny. They had elephants playing games and soccer as
well as a little play about the history of elephants in Thailand. By that
time we had to head back home but apparently kunmee wasn’t picking us up
so I was like ooooooook. Then Tarn, Mai, and I walked out to the main
street and took a songteo. This is like a pickup truck with a benches and
a cover on the back. It is about 6 baht. Very new for me lol. Once we got
off we crossed over to the other side of the street and stopped by the
motorcycle taxis. Never did I think I would travel by this, but Tarn told
the guy where to go and he dropped me back home. Luckily Kunpaa was there
so he paid the guy because I had no clue what he was saying. Tarn and Mai
showed up a minute later the same way.
Later that day Kunmee made dinner and we had Patthai. It is one of the
dishes of Thailand and it is so good. Kunpaa was a little shocked by how
little rice I took. I don’t normally eat a lot of rice, but he filled over
half his plate with it. Then because it was Tuesday there was a rotary
meeting, so I had to go to that. And that is where I met Susan, another YE
from Canada although you would never think it because she is Vietnamese.
She’s awesome and we were just talking the whole time we were there. We
also had to introduce ourselves to the other rotary members of the club.
We got Buddha pins from the club and took pictures.
For that whole week things were kind of random. I went to Tesco Lotus with
Kunpaa, Kunmee, and Tarn to pick up some food one day. It has a small food
court with a Swensens (an ice cream restaurant), and small shops on the
1st floor and a shopping center on the 2nd. I was amazed by the escalators
lol. They aren’t like stairs, but they are flat and slanted and when you
put a shopping cart on it it magnetizes to the escalator so that it
doesn’t roll down. Also a couple more of Tarn’s friends came to the house
to see her. Om and Mine are really funny and can speak some English. They
took some pictures and gave Tarn some presents for her trip. And later,
Tarn, Thon and I did karaoke. Although most of the songs are pretty old
and the spelling of the words is not all that correct lol.
Not long after my arrival, Tarn had to leave to go to California. I went
with them to see her off. I didn’t get many pictures of the airport on my
way out so I got more on the way in hehe. Afterwards it was just me and
Thon at the house because it was mother’s day weekend and he was off from
school. I gave Kunmee one of the necklaces I brought from Florida for
Mother’s day. And I had given Tarn one as well before she left. That
weekend I didn’t really do much. I went with Kunmee to her mushroom
factory and she showed how they grew the mushrooms. The only thing I could
say was that I have never seen anyone grow mushrooms before!
The next week I went to go see my school and my administrator. Mai showed
me around and introduced me to some of her friends and teachers. There is
one girl who almost has the same Thai name as me, which by the way is
Buachompoo. It means Pink Lotus. For those who are reading this and know
me very well this is kind of ironic. But anyway, Kunmee, Mai and I went
around making mushroom deliveries. When we stopped to get something to eat
was when I tried Somtam for the first time. A spicy papaya salad with
peanuts. It is good once your tongue has gotten used to the feeling of
nearly burning to a crisp.
I started school on Tuesday and it was a day filled with so many new
experiences. When I got to my class they were in Math at the time and they
just stopped what they were doing to talk with me. I was so nervous, and
somehow by the grace of whatever power I was put smack dab in the middle
of the class. They speak English pretty well and they were all trying to
see if I understood them. Oh, and not even 5 minutes into my first day in
my new class they asked me to sing the lyrics they had for Telephone by
Lady Gaga. OMG, they went hysterical. It was so funny. When we went to
computer class I was surprised to find that people had their cell phones
and music players in full view and were using them as well as going on to
face book and email. Normally all that stuff is either taken once seen or
blocked on the internet, but here they are like, you can use them as long
as you pay attention. I was like, awesome. Lunch was a little daunting
because I have never seen so many lunch lines, let alone almost over 1000
people staring at me as I went from line to line. Thank god I had friends
with me so I didn’t look completely lost. Unfortunately at school they
don’t use chop sticks; only in outside restaurants. Here they just use a
fork and a spoon. Oh and no one uses a knife; not even to cut with. They
use the fork and spoon to do everything, and my friends tried to show me
how to use them when we were eating. You use the fork to put the food in
the spoon and the spoon to eat. Of course my American mind was thinking
“Why not just eat with the fork,” but after you eat for a while you start
to realize that their way is faster. Try it and you’ll see.
There are a lot of foreign teachers at school, but whether Thai,
Philippine, American, Japanese, or Chinese, they all speak a little
English. My physics teacher (Ajan Desha) is too funny. Even though he
can’t speak much English he is still hilarious. He kind of just goes crazy
and plays around with the students and their games. I have him speak
English to me because his reaction is funny. Whenever he can’t figure out
a word he speaks in Thai really fast, goes aaaaah, messes up his hair and
then goes on google for the translator, lol. I have to admit that when I
first met him I thought he was a student because he looks so young. But
turns out he’s the most recent teacher there; only been there a couple
years. Thai people look insanely young. People my age look like 10 year
olds.
Anyway, my schedule is a little spread out. I have English, Thai,
Japanese, math, physics, chemistry, social science, Thai music, music,
cooking, handicraft, muay thai, and Buddhism. My favorite class is
cooking. A little while ago we made galli bpub, which is their
pronunciation of curry puff, lol. It was so delicious. It is cooked
chicken, potato, and onion inside dough we make from flour, water, and
sugar. Simple and delicious, exactly how I like itJ. Buddhism is okay
after the first time you are in the class. I don’t think there is any
other religion in the world with prayers as long as theirs. I thought I
didn’t have legs anymore when it was time to get up. Girls have to sit
sideways when we pray. But it is kind of funny; most of the kids in the
back aren’t really paying attention. They are listening to music, talking,
or sleeping, lol. I guess some things don’t change no matter how far from
home you go, lol.
School ends at about 3:20, but if you have another class you end at 4:10
and all the buses whether you have another class or not leave after 4, but
for my first day Kunmee picked me up. Now I take a van to school at 6:10
am and take it back home and take a motorcycle taxi for the rest of the
way. The van is so tripped out. It has karaoke, an awesome base, lay back
chairs, a video screen, and it’s clean! Sorry people, I like things that
are clean.
Well since I have been here school has been steady. I’ve been adjusting to
everyone and everything. Some days are the same and some days are
completely out of my imagination. Like one day the school set up at stage
to have some kids from grade 12 in a band play and sing. It was a mini
concert and I got a video on my camera. Of course the girls were crazy and
screaming lol. And another day, I was wondering why my class wasn’t going
to our normal classes. It turns out they were preparing something for the
monks where we had to get small trees planted in a bucket of rice. Then we
had to glue colored paper on the branches and hang little ornaments on
them. I have to say that my group’s looked the prettiest hehe. Oh and some
days I am a little confused when the teachers don’t come to class. I’m
like are we learning today and then they tell me “Oh, teacher not teach
this period.” When that happened at P.E. we all just got a ball and start
playing volleyball. I just stick with my philosophy: go with the flow.
Well, this is only some of things that have happened since have been here
in this wonderful country. I will have to post more and shorter messages
for my family, friends and future outbounds to get the full picture. Sorry
about how long the message is. I just can’t leave anything out. Everything
is amazing here. I will talk to you again soon. I send my love to my
family and friends and I thank them for supporting me and helping me. And
thanks rotary for granting me this opportunity. Love ya. P.S. 555 means
lolJ |
