Last week was spent primarily in Chiang Mai with Ice and preparing for Sport Day with the school. During the afternoons, the whole school participated in preparing for Sport Day. Our school is split into colour groups and our group is "Si Daeng" (Red). It was fun because we learned the different team cheers and took many "Thai teenager" pictures with friends. I also started to discover which friends are the most fun and which ones are the most reliable.
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| Wasan goes western and I go Asian! |
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| Kat and I with Nan, who is part of the "Dance for Health" team. |
In the evenings, Ice and I went with various people to help her mother’s food stall at a huge Chiang Mai festival. We helped prepare food, arrange it on the tables, and sell it. It was a really interesting experience because there is nothing like it back in Canada and we were right in the thick of it. It was a little stressful because it was so loud and there were always people surrounding us and shouting things in Thai that I couldn’t understand, and we generally worked from 4:30 in the afternoon until 4 in the morning, but it was still a great experience. I became close friends with many people in Ice’s family members and friends. There were also several ladyboy fashion shows, which were great. Not only were they often funny, but it was incredible to see a woman in a bikini, female in every way, and know they were born male; it shows that people aren't confined by the body they were born with.
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| See this delicious Thai food? |
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| Well look who made it! (Ice's mom, Ice, and I) |
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| Beauty is pain... ahah |
Then Friday was Sport Day!! I spent the night with a friend and went to get my hair done at 7. We had to "doze" on our faces so it didn't get damaged, then makeup and costume at 4 in the morning. When the parade finally started, it was so thrilling to walk down the street in the most beautiful outfit I’ve ever worn, surrounded by other people wearing incredible outfits and makeup, and have people continually wave and smile at me and take pictures. It was definitely one of the greatest and overwhelming experiences of my life. The boy I was walking with, Nicky, was a gentleman and always asking if the sign was too heavy or getting Pop to carry it for me; it was so sweet! After changing into regular clothes, I spent the day with Pop and Nay, watching activities and participating in a bizarrely embarrassing eggplant game in front of the entire school (in which I had an eggplant hanging from my ass and had to push a pingpong ball across the floor with it, at which I failed miserably). The cheerleading performances were incredible; it felt like I was watching a professional performance! It blows my mind how much preparation and effort goes into Sport Day, and it is ENTIRELY organized by students. Canadian kids really need to step it up ;) Our team was very disappointed that we didn’t win the cheerleading, but it was still a wonderful day.
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| Carrying the sign for "Si Daeng" (Red) with Nicky and Om in front. |
On Saturday, Ice and I went with her mom to the festival in Chiang Mai again and came back at 4 in the morning. Needless to say, I had a very bad cold on Sunday due to serious lack of sleep and slept the entire day through.
