Monday, December 9, 2013

Two Months Home

The fact that my life as an exchange student on the other side of the planet is hitting pretty hard now. I'm back to regular classes (meaning actual studying now), being serious, not as many adventures, and my social awkwardness is coming back again (... how does that even work? Thailand DID cure that so why is it coming back?). It's like I was running on high for eleven months straight, have a wonderful time, then I float back down to the ground and hit the ground running, but any slips are totally at my own expense. Why doesn't anyone tell you about this before you go on exchange? Actually, they do, you're just so grateful for being able to go on exchange that you don't really acknowledge it. And that gratefulness sticks until you're home for a bit and realize that wonderful exchange you're so grateful for is done and has been done for a while. At this time last year, I was waking up at 2am to be dressed and have my hair done for that beautiful Thai outfit that first got my Facebook pretty popular. Actually, regarding the Facebook, there's a few things I'm noticing are quite different than before, and it's a bit interesting.

The little thing would be my Facebook. I realized that two years ago, whenever I posted stuff on Facebook, it wasn't much of a thing and I wasn't really the most popular person around. I'm still not; don't have the attitude for it and never have. However, since all my Thai friends added me, plus my Canadian friends, plus the interesting stuff I've added in the past year, suddenly my Facebook page is a little more busy. If we have to go by "likes", then suddenly I went from 6 to 200. 

I've kept a bit of Thai-ness upon returning, which has helped so much. First, I acquired a job as a waitress at the local Our Thai restaurant in Bayfield. The family is Thai and help me to keep speaking the language, as well as eating the food once in a while; both of which are EXTREMELY helpful. Secondly, I opened a small massage business. In the last months of exchange, I attended a Thai massage course and became certified. Alas, I do not have many customers, but just the idea that I'm actually doing something to maintain that skill is  a pretty nice thing.

Tuesday, September 24, 2013

Small Things to Keep Life from Exploding

This is just a list of things I do at school or in the community just to put a smile on my or somebody else's face, to keep life a little more interesting when it seems most dull, and make myself feel less useless.

Random Moments from the Past Month:
- picking plums at Grandpa and Grandma's, and corn at Jim Koeney's, and handing it out to the neighbours
- running up the down escalator at Masonville with Tyler
- the ridiculous collection of bad jokes from Hank's videos I was able to share
- short photography sessions with animals

Wednesday, May 29, 2013

The most terrifying moment/man of my exchange year

Not sure I've ever posted about specific moments, so here we go. Mom and Dad, you're gonna flip.

So there's this guy (we'll call him Pii) who's very good friends with my new host family. He's about 45ish years old and has a wife who's in the hospital, and children. He's not Rotary, but he owns several factories across Thailand and his daily job is to travel the country to check in on them, and answer constant business calls. At first, I thought this was awesome because he's super energetic, happy, drives like a maniac in his suited up car, and enjoys travel for a living. Also, my host family trusts Pii entirely because he's such a successful businessman and has no problem with me going with him, which is extremely rare. It seems logical to assume that, because Pii's middle-aged and has a wife and kids, he's not going to be creepy right? Wrong.

When I first met Pii Pao, he was eager to take me places, and I was eager to go. The first day I met him, he randomly says "hey, wanna go to Lampang?" (he speaks Thai, so any conversation on here is translated) and off we went. Half way there, he stops and decides to show me his houses in Chiang Mai. As he's driving, he shows me photos of the places he's been, tells me about all of his factories and his many workers, about his couple hundred transport trucks he bought, and his two super expensive cars from Japan, about how he only buys top quality things, about how his wife's in the hospital so it's okay to have a girlfriend, about all the good work he's done, etc. After driving past Pii's factories, it was pretty clear that the many workers he talked about weren't living quite as lavishly as he was... at all. One of the only things he said in English was "I perfect man in Thailand". So, even if there's something wrong with his translation, I was getting a pretty clear impression he's kind of a self-obsessed dick.

After getting to Pii's first house, he tells me to make myself at home; I see numerous photo albums sitting on the coffee table, so I sit down to look at them. Now here we go.

After a few seconds, I feel him kneeling down behind me, putting his arms around my waist and chin on my shoulder, talking about how his wife is in the hospital every night and at the temple every day, so she hasn't been around in a long time. He kisses my neck and asks if I will be his girlfriend. Shocked and extremely uncomfortable, I assume it's a bizarre joke, laugh, say no, and stand up as quickly as possible. He starts looking upset and asking why and I, still under the impression it's a joke, laugh uncomfortably and say it's not good. He starts motioning with his hands and explaining he's had a vasectomy so he doesn't need to worry about making anyone pregnant, and when he wants to have children again, he can just get it reversed. At first I don't understand this is what he's saying because I'm not expecting it at all. I say absolutely nothing afterward, so he offers to show me around some more.

We get upstairs and he shows me the bathrooms and kids' rooms, joking how it's for "our kids" in the future. I laugh awkwardly, silently bothered that his joke's gone so far. Theeeen we get to the bedroom that he and his wife used to share before she became badly injured. I try to stay away from him, extremely awkward about his ongoing "joke". He asks if it's a nice, comfortable room. I'm refraining from doing anything, so just answer with answer he expects; yes. I start heading toward the door again, but he wraps his arms arms around me before I get there and is glued to my side. His lips are on my neck again, his hands are moving tightly along my waist, and he says "Anny, I love you; it's the truth." My stupidity finally passes and I realize it's way too far for a joke, that this guy is a creep, and I have to get out. I croak out "Mai dai!" which is like "can't!" and push away, but for the first time ever I feel a man's arms physically holding me hard against my will. His lips travel up my neck and I twist my head as far away as possible. Seeing my response, he lets go with one arm, spins me around, and rips the blanket off the bed with the other. His lips never leave my neck as he says fervently "can lay down, can lay down" I feel him pulling me toward the bed and it sinks into my mind how much stronger than me his arms are. In a burst of panic, I put all my weight into halting, and blurt out "Pai tio dai mai ka?!", which is kind of hard to translate, but is along the lines of asking to go travel/somewhere else. He stops, looks at me, seems to remember that travelling is what he told my host family we were doing, and says okay. He arms let go of me, and I get out of the room. 

I didn't have much of a wave of relief when I left the room because I didn't really process what had happened, and I still wasn't free of him. That was the most the most terrifying moment absolutely, but the story with this guy still isn't done.

The minute we leave the room, he appears completely unaware of what had happened and continues showing me around, which was bloody weird. We continue the rest of the tours of his houses as before, with him being obnoxiously egotistic and occasionally making slight, uncomfortable references to us being together. I ask we can pick up a friend, terrified of being alone with this guy any longer, but he refuses and says he doesn't want to (that's pretty normal for Canada, but in Thailand travelling anywhere is special/exciting and people generally try to bring as many people as will fit in the car). I call my friend Arm who lives in Chiang Mai and ask him to join us. Pii, seeing as I'm on the phone already, says okay. But when he begins talking to Arm over the phone about where to meet up, he just says "We'll call you after we eat" and hangs up. We don't go anywhere to eat for about an hour, so I ask if we can go pick up Arm, but Pii says apologetically "Sorry, we're going in the opposite direction of where your friend lives", and keeps going. Then my cell phone dies and I'm alone with him with no outside contact. Well shit. We go to a hot springs spa park and he buys eggs to boil in the water,  somtam, and other various things to eat, and we put our feet in the water (it's what you're supposed to do). It's super awkward when he keeps taking his shirt off and putting his arm around me.

When we head back to Lamphun, he offers to take me to Mae Hong Son the next morning. (Kay guys, here's where the stupid, travel-obsessed Anneke comes in; Mae Hong Son is beautiful and, creeps aside, I did want to go). I ask if I can bring a friend and he flat out says no. I keep arguing for another person to come, but he refuses bring another person under any circumstance. When I say I don't want to go if my friend can't, he say it's okay and I don't have to come. So that's done, I think.

After returning home, I run upstairs to get away from him, charge my phone, and tell Arm I'm okay. Behind me, I hear Pii telling my host mom he's going to pick me up at 5 tomorrow morning for a 2-day trip to Mae Hong Son. Daffuq???

Upon returning downstairs, my host mom asks me about going to Mae Hong Son tomorrow. I'm not sure what to tell her because they know and trust Pii much longer than they've known me, so I tell her he kissed my neck and that I don't trust him. She's surprised that he'd kissed my neck, but tells me he's safe, assuring me that he already has a wife and kids. Then she says I can take a friend (in Thailand, it is perfectly okay and considered a smart choice if a woman's uncomfortable going alone with a guy, no matter who). Because we're staying in a hotel, she says it has to be a girl friend because girls and guys can't share a room (understandable), so I call Carol and she agrees to come. My host mom calls Pii, who says he understands completely and would welcome another traveller -_-

The next morning, when Carol first meets Pii, she likes him, just like I did. He makes pretty good first impressions. This gets me thinking maybe he's not so bad and, despite the creepiness and extreme self-absorbedness, he's actually pretty cool.

After a few hours though, we're both annoyed with him. Stopping at his factories so he can show us his workers from all over the world [as if these workers he pays so terribly are his property], constantly talking about his cars and trucks, comparing them to random cars on the road, talking about the quality and origin of every article of his clothing, about his millionaire friends, about how his driving is perfect so we needn't be scared, laughing at Carol when she was [and still not bloody slowing down].

[This isn't to bring down where we were actually going. Despite being nauseous from his driving up the mountain road, Mae Hong Son province is stunning; mountains and wildlife everywhere. We went to a missionary camp, which I truly believe was one of the most memorable experiences of exchange. When it was possible to ignore Pii's constant "see these houses? I did that. I gave them all that wood. These people have houses because of me. I never took any money from UN Asia, just my own. I'm so happy because I made all of this", it was pretty amazing. Hidden way in the middle of the mountains, this small community of the Karen tribe lives in handmade bamboo houses, bamboo bridges, dirt roads, and no technology save for a few of the camp officials. Their entire lives and everything they know was this secret little camp in the middle of the mountains. They didn't even speak Thai; they spoke Karenese. I would have loved to stay about a week there; living with them, watching them, learning, and taking pictures. However, we had to go into Mae Hong Son because Pii insisted there was no decent place to sleep in the camp.]

In Mae Hong Son, we visit the same temple we went to on a Rotary trip. It's pretty awesome and the view of Mae Hong Son is beautiful, but Pii has a giant camera and keeps taking pictures of me, and getting Carol to take pictures of me and him. Super uncomfortable. Later, at a restaurant, I take a seat next to Carol, but Pii has us switch tables and before sitting down, he motions I sit next to him. The entire meal, he puts his arm on my shoulders and tries to massage my neck before I push his hand away. He orders a bottle of whiskey, claiming it's to help him sleep, and insists we drink too. When refuse (finding it really shitty that we, the teenage exchange students, have to be the responsible ones), he pours some into our Coke, and Carol and I stop drinking altogether. As his alcohol level increases, he touches me and slides closer more often. Eventually, Carol and I decide to leave, so we tell him we're going for a walk and leave to walk around the city. After a little bit, he picks us up and I sit in the back with Carol, explaining after Pii's many protestations that I want to talk with Carol. During the drive home, it's pouring rain, he's drunk, and talking on the phone to someone. Needless to say, Carol and I start wearing seat belts.

Carol and I sneaked out after midnight to actually go and enjoy Mae Hong Song, which ended up only walking to 7/11, buying chocolates, excitedly freaking out over motorcyclists in the dark, and eating the chocolates back at the hotel room (she and I had our own room). This part of the night was pretty awesome and made the trip enjoyable; we were both eager to actually go out and have some fun, even if it was just walking down the street a few kilometers.

The next day, we didn't want to wake up for breakfast, so Pii ordered room service for us. As we were eating, he came into our room. We weren't saying much to him, so he walked over and laid on my bed, watching and talking as we ate, much to our annoyance. When we left the hotel and made our way down the mountain, he hit the switchbacks as fast as usual. I vomited up my breakfast on the side of the road at one point, and he was quite happy to take pictures of me during that. Not that being sick changed his driving or anything.

When we arrived in Chiang Mai, I got out of the car with Carol and went to her house, rather than going with Pii back to Lamphun. Carol and I both survived and decided not to have anything to do with him ever again.

I've since ignored his calls, but when I was with Nu in Udon, Pii called and I answered. Somehow he knew I was in Udon and offered to pick me up when I wanted to go home. Udon is a ten hour drive. You don't just "pick someone up" who's ten hours away. I said it was fine and I was perfectly happy taking the bus.

Two evenings ago, my host mom handed me a package that Pii dropped of. Inside were over 50 full-size printed photos of me and him from the Mae Hong Son trip. I asked my host mom if there were any pictures of Carol and she said no. She looked at me funny and said he likes to take pictures of pretty girls, and I get the impression she's starting to understand. However, then she looked at me sternly and said "You're going to call to thank him, right?" I said yes. Then "and you're going to start answering his calls too, right?" I suppose he'd told her so I said yes again. I didn't need to call him though, because a few minutes later he called me to make sure I got them. I answered, thanked him, and responded neutrally until he had nothing else to say, and hung up.

And that is where it stands at the moment. Stuck with 50+ pictures of myself and casually trying to avoid him. Wish me luck.

(EDIT: Anyone wishing to know the aftermath of this story can find it HERE)

Tuesday, May 28, 2013

National Waterfights: Welcoming in the New Year Thai-ly

I should mention that just a short time before Songkran, we had to say good-bye to Connor, a wonderful friend and member of the District 6330 family. He was sent home early, although the decision to send him home is seen as highly unnecessary by everyone else.

The week of April 15-19 was the Thai festival Songkran. Loy Krathong is important for the meaning and tradition, whereas Songkran is an all-out fun, crazy way to celebrate the Thai new year. These two festivals are the primary Thai festivals. Chiang Mai is known across the country as the most enjoyable place to play Songkran, so people come from all parts of Thailand to play. The streets are full of enthusiastic participants; from a common child with her 20-baht water bucket to a celebrity with their fancy dancy Super Soaker. Melissa is an exchange student in Udon Thani and came to visit me for the week because Lamphun is so close.

The day before the "official" first day of Songkran, my friend Arm and I rode through the city on our way to explore an abandoned quarry. We didn't expect to get wet because Songkran hadn't started yet, but even the road from Lamphun to Chiang Mai was covered in children with water guns and buckets of ice water. We were soaked by the time we even reached the outskirts of Chiang Mai. Aside from being worried about cameras and phones and such, it was wonderful to watch the excitement from the people on the side of the roads as the water flew from their buckets. I really wish I'd been able to get more pictures of this.

Everyone gets soaked

Over the next few days, Melissa, Arm, and I bought water guns and enjoyed the water fights in Tapegate and other various places in Chiang Mai. We spent our days running through water, tossing water at other people, and being soaking wet, while we spent our nights pretty much anywhere. It is an absolutely amazing holiday; water fights have never been so much fun!

Tapegate gets pretty crowded
For the "official" day of Songkran, my host sisters and I dressed in traditional Thai uniform and rode in the Lamphun Songkran parade for a few hours. The entire city dumped bucket after bucket of ice-cold water on us. It was quite hot out but, after four hours of this, it felt the exact same as if it were in the dead of a Canadian winter. Melissa and I headed off to Chiang Mai directly after this, but just as easily could have slept the rest of the day through.
Dressed up for the parade with host sisters Bambam and Baibua, and my host cousin who came to visit.
That day/night was quite an adventure... we got soaked, soaked people, and went on some adventures [meaning crazy, holyshitdidthatjusthappentoobadIcan'tpostit adventures] in the night. At about 3 in the morning or so, we went to the top floor of a tall, fancy Chiang Mai hotel to wait for the sunrise. Unfortunately, we were on the wrong side of the building and all the pollution made it impossible to see the sunrise anyway, but it was still nice being up there and watching the city slowly come into vision. After it was bright out, we motorcycled our way to a giant abandoned quarry filled with water, swam for a bit, then headed to Airport Plaza for the air conditioning. After a while, we decided it was a good idea to call my hosts to tell them where we'd been the past two days, and went home.

And it never ends! :D
The next day, Melissa and I headed to Chiang Mai again to visit Tiger Kingdom before catching her bus back to Udon. We didn't make it in time though and ended up having to just go to the bus station :( Aside from that disappointment, it was a pretty great week filled with crazy out-of-control adventures that I never would have even considered happening 10 (or even 5) months ago. Exchange student life is insane.

จะคิดถึงสงกรานต์มากๆๆๆ

Songkran was over a month ago. Good lord I'm behind.
สวัสดีคาาาา :)
Anneke
อรจิรา
แอนนี

Tuesday, March 26, 2013

Two Months in Two Minutes

 How many months later? Sorry, Grampa... this one's for you! Also, I promise to use only photos from my own camera on this post. So here we are: the major moments of importance during the last few months:

My 18th birthday. The actual day, January 25, was quite lonely, but then Carol rode in and saved the day, and then Ice and Nye surprised me with a cake!
Ice, me, the surprise cake, and the candles that never died.
The Chiang Mai Flower Festival is one of the most important citywide festivals, and certainly one that makes Chiang Mai famous all around Asia. It's an entire street [and surrounding festivities] covered in flowers and floats decorated entirely in flowers; it's stunning!!





I sat in a flying machine!! Believe it or not, I don't have picture of this event, but I put on the 50kg backpack and turned it on. Not high enough to actually move off the ground because that costed 10000 baht [over 300 dollars], but still!!

We brought my host grandma back to her home deep in the mountains near Mae Sai, on the border of Myanmar, and stayed there for a night.
I don't know why, but I love this picture of Nye.
Ringing the bells at the temple in the mountains. Well of course we went to a temple.
You spineach of these for good luck. Choke dee
My host uncle. He is praying toward the giant Buddha on top of the temple.
View from the temple - a temple is always placed on the highest available space because nothing may be taller than the official temple [wat prathat] of a region. That's why the one in Chiang Mai [Wat Prathat Doi Suthep] is way up on a mountain above the city.
Everyone loves gongs.

Days with Carol... so many days with Carol!
Making our way from Lamphun to the big city, Chiang Mai
And sometimes... Connor comes :D
and this is life with Carol
Among other things, she's an awesome photographer
I became a Thai princess one more day. Granted, the other photos look better, but I promised to use only my own photos for this.


Most importantly, Central Triiiiipppp!!!
Random camels coming into our path

Water market in Kanchanaburi
Snakes
Camp stuff
Floating market in Kanchanaburi
Our first night in Bangkok. Rather than stay at the nightclub, Cole, Hannah, Talia, and I wandered through the city.
Bangkok: Wat Prakaew [aka The Grand Palace]
Bangkok Grand Palace: On the other side of this wall is the super famous Emerald Buddha [or Jade Buddha], but unfortunately we weren't allowed to take pictures inside.
Bangkok Grand Palace: Outside the temple
Bangkok: McDonald's the Thailand way
Bangkok: Dried, salted fish market
Bangkok: Siam Paragon
Bangkok: We spent this evening at Asiatique, the old warehouse-mall on a former trading post.
Bangkok: Buying our meals
Bangkok at night

Bangkok: View from the Rotary Centre
The Bangkok Eye?

Bangkok: First one to the corner get 5 baht :D
Bangkok: Terminal 21, a super interesting mall - every floor is another country
Beautiful temple in Ayutthaya that I forget the name of
Temple in Ayutthaya

Other things:
Dyed my hair red
Biked enough that I am now unable to get lost in the city area of Lamphun, now onto the even more confusing countryside
Changed hosts. Now I live in Laohajit Wittaya, the school I helped in the kindergarten room of a long time ago

Also, I've grown a lot more brave. Not saying that wandering down back streets in Chiang Mai alone at midnight on St. Patrick's day was the most intelligent idea, but it was a clear example of this new bravery. I can ride the songthaew to/from Chiangmai alone now, no longer hesitate to talk to anyone whether or not I fully understand them, make so many more friends who are older than me, and can research careers and actually see myself in them. Things are looking up :D I'm really wondering whether lack of bravery and self-confidence influence how connected you are with your surroundings. It was only after I started gaining these that I started to miss Canada/people back home. Not that I would leave Thailand any time soon [DEFINITELY not], but it will be nice to see people again. I'm wondering this because both Thai people and Brazilians, although polar opposites, both appear very comfortable with themselves/their surroundings, and seem to suffer homesickness quicker than others.

Yesterday evening, a few teachers at Laohajit and I participated in a yearly temple walk [from one temple to another up in the mountains]. Officially, the trip is supposed to be to the other temple and back, but most people only go to the first one and take a car back. There were about 200 people altogether who walked behind the numerous floats and drums. We started around 9, but several people became tired and at around 2 in the morning we took cars up the rest of the way. At around 6 or 7, we woke up to the sound of drums and watched the rest of the parade come in. Afterward, we went into the temple to do the Buddhist rituals and drove back down the mountain to the first temple, and back home.
In the temple looking down the steps; it's so easy to spot the line of monks when everyone else is in white
Giving food to the monks
A stunningly beautiful temple building, not the actual temple though
The beautiful temple building
Lighting a candle and incense sticks


It's "summer" here now [meaning it's a little hotter than it normally is, and "actual" school is out, but everyone still goes to summer classes every day], so things coming up this/next month are [hopefully] swimming [believe it or not, this is rare], making Canadian food, ziplining, going to a festival with my friend Ness, SONGKRAN!!!, and then the Southern trip :D Whooot whoooooot [the sound of excitement, Mack]!
I'm not sure why, but I really like this photo of a temple building in Lamphun, my lovely Thai hometown. The sign says 'Wat Changrong', so it might be separate temple, but connected to the main one.

And those are happenings in my life in Thailand.

ขอบคุณค่ะ and สวัสดีค่ะ

Anneke

Monday, March 25, 2013

Back When I Still Blogged

I actually wrote this a few months ago but couldn't find the bungee jumping photos, but here it is now:
Last Friday was "Wan Dek" (Children's Day). For this day, our school holds an annual 10km mini-marathon and this year I was able to participate. My friends originally told me we must  arrive at the school at 4 in the morning, but was later told 5:30. My friend, Jin, asked if I wanted to run with her, so I said yes. Turns out, she meant actually run, because most of our other friends were planning to walk as a group. Jin runs alone every year, so it was her first time running with a buddy, and my first time ever. It was probably more physical exercise than I had in the past week combined (life of the exchange students). Anyways, it was really great to run with everyone, because whether an experienced runner or not, everyone was happy and equal. There were also a few water stations we stopped at along the way. Unfortunately, as we neared the school again, I didn't think we'd run 10 kilometres yet, so I didn't speed up. As I saw people turning into the school, I realized it was finished, and sped up. So that part was disappointing because I think I could have done better. I ended up in 19, right beside Jin.
Winning the shirt for M5/1.

Then... bungee jumping!!

First, they tied my legs together with a big red strap and knotted a rope between them, which attached to the bungee. I didn't think much about it at the time, but that guy who tied the knot must really have known what he was doing, because it was genuinely just a hand-made knot attaching me to the bungee chord. The guy, Tartan, was talking to me the whole time as we rode up in the crane, telling me what to do, but I was paying attention to the beautiful mountains coming more and more into view. Then suddenly the crane stopped, Tartan gave me a big smile and said "Okay! Now when you reach the bottom, remember to look up and wave back to the camera." Then I hobbled to the ledge and looked down, and saw the buildings and trees it felt like I could pick up between my thumb and index finger, and the mountains felt like I could hop onto them like little hills.

Okay, I'm not afraid of heights. I would have gladly stood up there for hours just to admire the view and gawk at how tiny everything is. But then the Tartan starts saying ridiculous things like "Okay, on the count of three, just fall forward" and you want to say "Um, excuse me? How can I 'just fall forward'; there is no way I will possibly survive. Humans aren't meant to do this." With these thoughts in mind, I don't jump when he reaches three, and shrivel back instead. He smiles and says "Catch your breath and we'll try again." I ask Tartan if it's a really sudden jolt when you reach the bottom and he replies, "No, no, it's smooth. Many people think you just bounce up and down when you reach the bottom, but it's a smooth swing," then he gives me a sudden serious look and says "it's very fast though." I just smile because I'm not really in a state to say anything, but think "That's a-ok. Going fast is perfectly fine, it was only the jolt I was worried about." Then he starts counting again and I decide the only way I'm going to do it is if I close my eyes and just do it without thinking. This is the point where I think you actually need to be a little bit crazy. If you're in your right mind, I think it's impossible to make yourself form the illusion that it's okay to "just fall forward". You have to block out everything around you. He reached three and I fall forward. The moment I'm at the tipping point, my brain screams "ARE YOU STUPID, YOU STUPID STUPID GIRL" and let out my first ever real, irrepressible, terrified scream. I am going to die in a matter of seconds.

Then I feel something around my ankles tighten and open my eyes. I'm much closer to the ground and moving much slower. Suddenly I realize there's nothing to be afraid of, and all I can feel is the coolest sense of elation ever. I burst out laughing and probably sound insane to the people on the ground below. I near the water, reach out my hands, and feel them skim through the cool, wet surface. I feel the rope pulling up again and next thing I know, I'm almost level with Tartan again. This time I'm not afraid though because it feels like I'm flying. I swear it's the greatest feeling possible. Eventually I stop swinging and wave to everyone; to Jin down below, Tartan up above, the worker guy inside the kabodo, the two other worker guys reaching out a pole to tow me down. I am so grateful to Jin for inviting me to run with her and then to go to Chiang Mai with her. I believe this was one of the best and most important days of my exchange and it would not have happened without her.






A few days later, my host uncle fixed the bicycle!! I’ve now spent so many hours biking around Lamphun, seeing more houses around the countryside, examining how most people in Thailand live (my host family is very wealthy and not as “traditional”), watching the beautiful countryside pass before my eyes, feeling the wind on my face, and receiving smiles from so many people!! I absolutely love biking and feel so invigorated by it.

January 25 was my 18th birthday! My host father wasn’t home and nobody in my host family remembered. However, my friend Carol invited me to party with her in Chiang Mai; she is so kind, energetic, and considerate! My host uncle, Pii Poo, was able to drive me to her school and we walked around Chiang Mai until it began to get dark. Then we went to a bar with another exchange friend, Connor, from the United States. After drinking and dancing in the bar, we went next door to the nightclub. We danced the whole night long and it felt amazing!! We slept in Connor’s hotel room and Carol and I left early the next morning before his host father found us in his room. The next few days we spent relaxing I went back home. Two days later, back at home, my host sister, Ice, and her younger brother came into my room and surprised me by singing happy birthday and giving me a cake! It was a wonderful surprise and they made me so happy and grateful to have them as my siblings.

At school, I’ve been become much closer with members of the M5/1 class and with Kru Aee and Kru Jame in Thai class. While there are many good friends throughout the school, these are my closest ones. I am now able to read most things in Thai and can communicate much better. Kru Aee is sometimes like my second mother and I can tell her anything; she wants to take care of me and take me places and is so kind. I like her so much! I still haven’t adapted entirely into Thai culture, but I am trying every day, and I think I’m slowly becoming part of the M5/1 class. I know most people’s personalities, have found specific people who I connect with best, but am friends with everyone.
False eyelashes out of sticky notes with Bas.
The gang! Fly, Name, Faem, me, Kik, Beer, Nun, Bas, and Kat.
Nan is awesome and crazy. We spend a good amount of time stuffing mentoes into Coke bottles.


Two days ago, a few of my friend in M5/1 were filming a video for class and invited me to join when they went to film in a beautiful garden in Lamphun. The gardens were stunning, although I cannot remember the name. There were waterfalls and monuments and walls and archways. We took many pictures and had lots of fun. At one point, I fell into the water and Bas and Name helped me back out. I was soaking wet, but we were all laughing so hard that it didn’t matter.