Yesterday...
1. Skyped my real family back home
2. Realized I had to put the word "real" in the above sentence because I refer to my "host family" now as my "family" so it'd get confusing if I didn't.
3. Spent the entire day talking to my mom and dad in Thai... And learned a lot of Thai too.
4. My dad told me he thinks I know about 80% of Thai language (I'd say this is a bit exaggerated, but it still felt pretty awesome:)
5. My family learned that I'm ticklish... Uh oh.
6. At dinner I learned that my sister can look like a bunny and my mom and dad can make super hilarious faces... And so we all spent the rest of dinner making awesome faces at each other.
7. Spent the evening listening to Christmas music and singing along while sitting by our Christmas tree which now has presents under it!
Andddd tonight we are celebrating a little Christmas in Thailand (and I'm making mashed potatoes yuuuum!)! So happy, I love my families--both of them, and I can't wait for tonight. Life is good ♥
Saturday, December 22, 2012
Friday, December 21, 2012
Photos!
I was told that the photo link wasn't working so great so here are a few photos from my life of late! The above is what I've been doing in art class!
These are two other exchange students Lydia and Jon at a random dance class that we found one day at school.
Little "fairy house" that Lydia and I made in plant class... I know how to say the class in Thai but not in English... >.< so I'll just call it "plant class" hahaa.
My family's doggy :)
Empty hallway at school, the closest door is the AFS room attatched to the English teachers office. The exchange students are always welcome to stay in there.
And here are the famous Lop Buri sunflower fields. SO AMAZING.
These are out of order, where the plant class is.
The plant class room
Sunflowers, sunflowers, sunflowers
My good friend Alex, from Oregon, who is also living in Lop Buri this year
All of the Lop Buri exchange students (except one)
Muu pad pik, delicious food my grandma made for me :) One of my very favorites! Come back to visit Grandma!
We went with Rotary to help at some schools on the edge of the neighboring province
at one of the schools
the schools were affected by flooding last year, the brown shows where the water was.
These kids were so sweet!
And to end on a sunny note, more sunflowers! I love them!
Probably going to start putting up some videos from everyday life here, so follow me on Youtube! My Youtube name is just "Kearney Newman"
-kearn
Saturday, December 15, 2012
Dekdek-dokmai-wainam.
Dekdek, dok mai, wai nam. Little kids, flowers, swimming. This describes my Thursday.
The morning started around 8am (got to sleep in because I didn't go to school!), got ready, packed a swimsuit, towel and my camera in my bag and headed downstairs expecting to eat some cereal and head off. Instead when I reached the kitchen my Grandma had cooked "muu pad pik" for me! It's definitely one of my new very favorite dishes, spicy pork, my host Grandma is only staying with us for a few weeks and then heading back to her home in Chonburi province, but because I (and everyone) likes it so much she has been cooking "muu pad pik" everyday for breakfast, lunch or dinner. I thank her and start eating the delicious pork with rice, before heading down to the bottom floor to head out Grandma asks "Don yen gin ik mai?" (In the evening, will you eat more of this?) Yes! I answer and with Grandma's promise to make more deliciousness in the evening and simply her pure kindness I leave with a smile and a spring in my step.
Downstairs I meet my host dad and he drives me into the old part of town, where school and Prang Sam Yod and my last host family's house is. We talk the whole twenty minute ride until we arrive at our destination, the home of one of the other exchange student's in Lop Buri. She lives very close to school and Prang Sam Yod at a motorcycle shop. Here I meet four other exchange students and then we head off. Today we are going with Rotary to help some schools in the area that have been affected by flooding last year. (We go with the Rotary Club of two of the student's in Lop Buri, it is not my club though.) The ride is about half an hour and the five exchange students ride in style in the back of the truck. A few days ago the club had dropped off some furniture to be used to create a nurse's office in each school, today we clean and paint the furniture and also talk with the children some. We go to four schools. The children, though very shy, ask us questions and preform dances and songs for us. It is very sweet. When we finish at the last school we head back to Lop Buri and one of the exchange student's Rotary Councilor takes us about twenty minutes out of town the other direction. We stop at the famous Lop Buri sunflower fields which are now fully blooming... and absolutely gorgeous. I can't describe how beautiful the miles and miles of yellow contrasting against the dark of the mountains in the distance is so I will attach some photos so you can see for yourself. After running through the sunflowers and running into another friend there with her host mother we all head on a few minutes to a large lake to go swimming.
We swim, see an enormous spider (largest I've ever seen) and eat. It's a wonderful evening and when it comes to an end my friends councilor drops us all back off at home.
The next day is Friday so it's back to school. My friend Alex (exchange student from Oregon) comes to my school in the afternoon and we leave together. Before going to my house we stop at Big C (the large grocery store chain in Thailand) so I can buy candles. When I get home I find that a package has arrived for me! I can't open it yet though because that evening we go to Angtong (a neighboring province about halfway between Lop Buri and Bangkok) for a large Rotary celebration/fundraiser put on by the Angtong Rotary Club. When we get home I open my box (from my Aunt and Uncle, thank you so much!) I find wrapped Christmas presents! One thing isn't wrapped though and that's a CD of children's songs by a band that my Uncle plays in. Alex and I listen and dance to the songs which are about animals mostly, quite informative and super fun! We decide I'm allowed to open one gift now and save the rest for Christmas. In the morning we listen to our favorite song from the new CD and if that wasn't a great start to the day, then we made blueberry pancakes and played with my dog! After Alex went home I spent a lot of time with my host mom and dad and then with my oldest host brother, just talking. In the evening, I used the candles I had bought the day before to make my own "Menorah", though I wasn't able to light the candles every night, I made sure I did on the last night, Happy Hanukkah everyone! It was a great day! And theres a new one tomorrow! Life is good!
Photos! <--- Here's the link again! Photos of the schools we went to, the sunflowers and lots more! :) I think about 40 new ones. Please let me know whether or not the link here is working out.
-Kearn
The morning started around 8am (got to sleep in because I didn't go to school!), got ready, packed a swimsuit, towel and my camera in my bag and headed downstairs expecting to eat some cereal and head off. Instead when I reached the kitchen my Grandma had cooked "muu pad pik" for me! It's definitely one of my new very favorite dishes, spicy pork, my host Grandma is only staying with us for a few weeks and then heading back to her home in Chonburi province, but because I (and everyone) likes it so much she has been cooking "muu pad pik" everyday for breakfast, lunch or dinner. I thank her and start eating the delicious pork with rice, before heading down to the bottom floor to head out Grandma asks "Don yen gin ik mai?" (In the evening, will you eat more of this?) Yes! I answer and with Grandma's promise to make more deliciousness in the evening and simply her pure kindness I leave with a smile and a spring in my step.
Downstairs I meet my host dad and he drives me into the old part of town, where school and Prang Sam Yod and my last host family's house is. We talk the whole twenty minute ride until we arrive at our destination, the home of one of the other exchange student's in Lop Buri. She lives very close to school and Prang Sam Yod at a motorcycle shop. Here I meet four other exchange students and then we head off. Today we are going with Rotary to help some schools in the area that have been affected by flooding last year. (We go with the Rotary Club of two of the student's in Lop Buri, it is not my club though.) The ride is about half an hour and the five exchange students ride in style in the back of the truck. A few days ago the club had dropped off some furniture to be used to create a nurse's office in each school, today we clean and paint the furniture and also talk with the children some. We go to four schools. The children, though very shy, ask us questions and preform dances and songs for us. It is very sweet. When we finish at the last school we head back to Lop Buri and one of the exchange student's Rotary Councilor takes us about twenty minutes out of town the other direction. We stop at the famous Lop Buri sunflower fields which are now fully blooming... and absolutely gorgeous. I can't describe how beautiful the miles and miles of yellow contrasting against the dark of the mountains in the distance is so I will attach some photos so you can see for yourself. After running through the sunflowers and running into another friend there with her host mother we all head on a few minutes to a large lake to go swimming.
We swim, see an enormous spider (largest I've ever seen) and eat. It's a wonderful evening and when it comes to an end my friends councilor drops us all back off at home.
The next day is Friday so it's back to school. My friend Alex (exchange student from Oregon) comes to my school in the afternoon and we leave together. Before going to my house we stop at Big C (the large grocery store chain in Thailand) so I can buy candles. When I get home I find that a package has arrived for me! I can't open it yet though because that evening we go to Angtong (a neighboring province about halfway between Lop Buri and Bangkok) for a large Rotary celebration/fundraiser put on by the Angtong Rotary Club. When we get home I open my box (from my Aunt and Uncle, thank you so much!) I find wrapped Christmas presents! One thing isn't wrapped though and that's a CD of children's songs by a band that my Uncle plays in. Alex and I listen and dance to the songs which are about animals mostly, quite informative and super fun! We decide I'm allowed to open one gift now and save the rest for Christmas. In the morning we listen to our favorite song from the new CD and if that wasn't a great start to the day, then we made blueberry pancakes and played with my dog! After Alex went home I spent a lot of time with my host mom and dad and then with my oldest host brother, just talking. In the evening, I used the candles I had bought the day before to make my own "Menorah", though I wasn't able to light the candles every night, I made sure I did on the last night, Happy Hanukkah everyone! It was a great day! And theres a new one tomorrow! Life is good!
Photos! <--- Here's the link again! Photos of the schools we went to, the sunflowers and lots more! :) I think about 40 new ones. Please let me know whether or not the link here is working out.
-Kearn
Wednesday, December 12, 2012
Change
I'm sitting here watching the sun slowly lower in the sky; a group of black birds just flew by and now my vision is all blotchy because I looked straight out the window to watch them (and thus kind of right at the sun...55). Anyways, I'm realizing that it's seems quite a lot has changed since I last wrote. Firstly, I have a window! Which translates into the fact that I have moved to my new host family.
To start off, lets just say that I absolutely LOVE them. They own a car air conditioning repair shop and we live upstairs above the garage. The family is wonderful, I now have three host siblings. One brother who lives at home and goes to the same school as me, Boss (age 17), a sister who goes to college in Bangkok but comes home on the weekends, Beam (age 20) and another older brother who also lives in Bangkok and comes home on the weekends, Bank (age 23). All three of them went on exchange to different cities in California during different years, Boss got back just before I arrived in Thailand. It's awesome having siblings at home again, though not having any in my first family really did make me realize how much I really do appreciate and love mine back home (shout-out Ri-man and Maya, love you guys!) Now if you think having three great host siblings is as good as it gets think again, because I also have three great host moms! That's right, three. They are all sisters and all happily married to my wonderful host dad. It sounds kind of crazy... and mind you I was definitely a bit more than a little surprised when I found out, but the family dynamic is wonderful; so loving and nurturing and who wouldn't want three mom's there to talk to, cook dinner with and just hang out with? I love them. Now on to my host dad, he's awesome. He speaks English very well and is super understanding about everything. Though my three host moms (Meh Noon, Meh Nim and Meh Nok but I just call them "Meh" or "Kun Meh" which means "mom") don't speak English, they are really keen on teaching me Thai (as is my host dad (Paw Chutipon but I just call him "Paw" or "Kun Paw" which means "dad"), proof by the fact that he spent about half an hour last night just teaching me Thai classifiers and answering my questions about Thai language! yay!) and I am even more keen to learn from them.
I moved to their home on Friday, it was an interesting day. I spent the first half with my host Aunt making cake (because it was soon to be my new host Dad's birthday) and then came the time to roll my suitcases aaaand backpacks aaaand duffels aaaaand boxes aaaand kitchen sinks aaaaand okay no I didn't have that much stuff, but I certainly have accumulated some things over the past four months! Anyways then it was time to leave and I put all my bags in the back of my host family's pick up truck. My host dad drove me to my new home (about 20 minutes away, on the other side of town, but certainly not too far for me to go back and visit my first host family once in a while) and my host aunt and mom came along as well. After seeing my new room and talking to my new host dad for a few minutes they left and here I was, starting a new chapter in my year abroad! And what better way to start than to head to the beach for the long weekend?!
I was supposed to be ready to leave the house at 5am the next morning... by mistake I woke up at 4:45am and got ready quite quickly so as not to hold everyone up. By 5am I was set and went to find that my host brother had yet to wake up, my host dad yet to shower and two of my host moms and I were really the only ones ready to go. Due to Thai time we left more like 6am, but I can't really blame them, we got to the beach in good time anyways after a stop to wai the monks at a beautiful temple somewhere in between here and there. My host dad drove all ten of us (my host grandmother (Kun Yaiy) and a friend of Bank came along also) in the family's van. It took about 4 hours for us to arrive in lovely Hua Hin, Thailand. We spent the days eating delicious seafood, swimming in the two pools and sunbathing on the beach (I was alone in this activity as Thai people want to keep their skin as white as possible because they think it's more beautiful). I'm not really craving a tan, I just love the sun and I figure I better soak it all in while I'm here this year! Anyways, I re-learned again that the sun can burn you (I wore sunscreen I swear, Mom. I just went swimming and didn't put any more on after... sound familiar? Just like what happened in Mexico. Happens to me every time! 555).
On Monday morning we piled back into the car and headed back to Lop Buri. That evening we celebrated my host dad's birthday by eating the cake I'd made and singing happy birthday (Thai style) with candles and all.
Tuesday morning it was back to school again. The first time in what seems like quite a while... I haven't been to school since the Monday before Loy Krathong. It was good to see my Thai friends again as well as the other exchange students. I spent most of the day hanging out with the two AFS students because they will both be going home next week (one finished her year long program and the other finished her 6-month long program) and will probably only come to school one more day before their departure. It seems crazy that they're heading out already, when I arrived Naomi (the year long student) was just a little more than half way through her year and now it's over... which means that I am getting awfully close to halfway through my year... but I don't want to think about that. Not yet. Boy, time flies.
A few other things that have happened in between last time I wrote and now are;
- I went to Bangkok to see a few exchange student friends and my German friend Sophie and I were able to barter in Thai and got quite the deal... hello 250 baht tuk-tuk taxi for four people for 100 baht! (about $3)
- This ^ was not my first bartering experience though... that was quite a while ago. I'm proud to say the first thing I ever bartered for in Thai was a carrot and two cucumbers. 18 baht and quite delicious if I do say so myself! (about 50 cents)
- I uploaded more photos for you all to see! ---> New photos! <--- click here!
- I got two care packages! One from my awesome Aunts Tig and Gail and one from my momma! Thank you! I'm now getting fat from Thai food aaaand chocolate that you sent me and the wrapped up "Do not open until Christmas" bag that was inside my care package from Mom is staring straight at me from all the way inside my closed suitcase all the way across the room screaming to be openedd... but I'll be a good girl. (Thats not to say these aren't the first care packages I've gotten though, thanks Grandma and Aunt Ronnie too! :)
- I'm currently wearing the MOST comfortable pants in the world. They are Thai pants and they have elephants on them and I am quite pleased with them... bought them in Bangkok with my friends the other day.
- Today I remembered that The Hobbit movie comes out tomorrow and I am soooooooooooooo so so so so so so so so excited.
- I've been told that this "winter" in Thailand is a bit warmer than normal... and that Alaska has barely any snow now! I guess that's cool that I'm not missing an awesome snow year like last year, but really Thailand... why be extra hot the year that there's a born and raised Alaskan girl living here?! That's just rude.
- My host family has a Christmas tree! We set it up a few days ago and though my eyes welled up a teeny bit at the thought that I wasn't decorating this tree at home in freezing cold Alaska with my mom and brother and sister, I couldn't get the smile off my face. Feels nothing like Christmas time here, but a Christmas tree just for you (Thailand is Bhuddist country so Christmas is not celebrated) with twinkling lights and the whole family together to decorate it can't not make you smile.
Anddddd... that's all for now guys, the sun has gone down and it's almost completely dark outside my window. Hope you are well! And hopefully there is more snow now!
Love,
Kearn
P.S. Today is 12-12-12 here so that means tomorrow (most likely when you read this) it will be 12-12-12 for you! Enjoy it because another day like this won't happen again for... what? A century?
To start off, lets just say that I absolutely LOVE them. They own a car air conditioning repair shop and we live upstairs above the garage. The family is wonderful, I now have three host siblings. One brother who lives at home and goes to the same school as me, Boss (age 17), a sister who goes to college in Bangkok but comes home on the weekends, Beam (age 20) and another older brother who also lives in Bangkok and comes home on the weekends, Bank (age 23). All three of them went on exchange to different cities in California during different years, Boss got back just before I arrived in Thailand. It's awesome having siblings at home again, though not having any in my first family really did make me realize how much I really do appreciate and love mine back home (shout-out Ri-man and Maya, love you guys!) Now if you think having three great host siblings is as good as it gets think again, because I also have three great host moms! That's right, three. They are all sisters and all happily married to my wonderful host dad. It sounds kind of crazy... and mind you I was definitely a bit more than a little surprised when I found out, but the family dynamic is wonderful; so loving and nurturing and who wouldn't want three mom's there to talk to, cook dinner with and just hang out with? I love them. Now on to my host dad, he's awesome. He speaks English very well and is super understanding about everything. Though my three host moms (Meh Noon, Meh Nim and Meh Nok but I just call them "Meh" or "Kun Meh" which means "mom") don't speak English, they are really keen on teaching me Thai (as is my host dad (Paw Chutipon but I just call him "Paw" or "Kun Paw" which means "dad"), proof by the fact that he spent about half an hour last night just teaching me Thai classifiers and answering my questions about Thai language! yay!) and I am even more keen to learn from them.
I moved to their home on Friday, it was an interesting day. I spent the first half with my host Aunt making cake (because it was soon to be my new host Dad's birthday) and then came the time to roll my suitcases aaaand backpacks aaaand duffels aaaaand boxes aaaand kitchen sinks aaaaand okay no I didn't have that much stuff, but I certainly have accumulated some things over the past four months! Anyways then it was time to leave and I put all my bags in the back of my host family's pick up truck. My host dad drove me to my new home (about 20 minutes away, on the other side of town, but certainly not too far for me to go back and visit my first host family once in a while) and my host aunt and mom came along as well. After seeing my new room and talking to my new host dad for a few minutes they left and here I was, starting a new chapter in my year abroad! And what better way to start than to head to the beach for the long weekend?!
I was supposed to be ready to leave the house at 5am the next morning... by mistake I woke up at 4:45am and got ready quite quickly so as not to hold everyone up. By 5am I was set and went to find that my host brother had yet to wake up, my host dad yet to shower and two of my host moms and I were really the only ones ready to go. Due to Thai time we left more like 6am, but I can't really blame them, we got to the beach in good time anyways after a stop to wai the monks at a beautiful temple somewhere in between here and there. My host dad drove all ten of us (my host grandmother (Kun Yaiy) and a friend of Bank came along also) in the family's van. It took about 4 hours for us to arrive in lovely Hua Hin, Thailand. We spent the days eating delicious seafood, swimming in the two pools and sunbathing on the beach (I was alone in this activity as Thai people want to keep their skin as white as possible because they think it's more beautiful). I'm not really craving a tan, I just love the sun and I figure I better soak it all in while I'm here this year! Anyways, I re-learned again that the sun can burn you (I wore sunscreen I swear, Mom. I just went swimming and didn't put any more on after... sound familiar? Just like what happened in Mexico. Happens to me every time! 555).
On Monday morning we piled back into the car and headed back to Lop Buri. That evening we celebrated my host dad's birthday by eating the cake I'd made and singing happy birthday (Thai style) with candles and all.
Tuesday morning it was back to school again. The first time in what seems like quite a while... I haven't been to school since the Monday before Loy Krathong. It was good to see my Thai friends again as well as the other exchange students. I spent most of the day hanging out with the two AFS students because they will both be going home next week (one finished her year long program and the other finished her 6-month long program) and will probably only come to school one more day before their departure. It seems crazy that they're heading out already, when I arrived Naomi (the year long student) was just a little more than half way through her year and now it's over... which means that I am getting awfully close to halfway through my year... but I don't want to think about that. Not yet. Boy, time flies.
A few other things that have happened in between last time I wrote and now are;
- I went to Bangkok to see a few exchange student friends and my German friend Sophie and I were able to barter in Thai and got quite the deal... hello 250 baht tuk-tuk taxi for four people for 100 baht! (about $3)
- This ^ was not my first bartering experience though... that was quite a while ago. I'm proud to say the first thing I ever bartered for in Thai was a carrot and two cucumbers. 18 baht and quite delicious if I do say so myself! (about 50 cents)
- I uploaded more photos for you all to see! ---> New photos! <--- click here!
- I got two care packages! One from my awesome Aunts Tig and Gail and one from my momma! Thank you! I'm now getting fat from Thai food aaaand chocolate that you sent me and the wrapped up "Do not open until Christmas" bag that was inside my care package from Mom is staring straight at me from all the way inside my closed suitcase all the way across the room screaming to be openedd... but I'll be a good girl. (Thats not to say these aren't the first care packages I've gotten though, thanks Grandma and Aunt Ronnie too! :)
- I'm currently wearing the MOST comfortable pants in the world. They are Thai pants and they have elephants on them and I am quite pleased with them... bought them in Bangkok with my friends the other day.
- Today I remembered that The Hobbit movie comes out tomorrow and I am soooooooooooooo so so so so so so so so excited.
- I've been told that this "winter" in Thailand is a bit warmer than normal... and that Alaska has barely any snow now! I guess that's cool that I'm not missing an awesome snow year like last year, but really Thailand... why be extra hot the year that there's a born and raised Alaskan girl living here?! That's just rude.
- My host family has a Christmas tree! We set it up a few days ago and though my eyes welled up a teeny bit at the thought that I wasn't decorating this tree at home in freezing cold Alaska with my mom and brother and sister, I couldn't get the smile off my face. Feels nothing like Christmas time here, but a Christmas tree just for you (Thailand is Bhuddist country so Christmas is not celebrated) with twinkling lights and the whole family together to decorate it can't not make you smile.
Anddddd... that's all for now guys, the sun has gone down and it's almost completely dark outside my window. Hope you are well! And hopefully there is more snow now!
Love,
Kearn
P.S. Today is 12-12-12 here so that means tomorrow (most likely when you read this) it will be 12-12-12 for you! Enjoy it because another day like this won't happen again for... what? A century?
Monday, December 3, 2012
It just makes sense. Right?
Lately I've also been wondering what people back home do when they first meet and say "hello" for the first time... without "waiing"... what do you do with your hands? Just awkwardly have them at your sides? Of course sometimes you shake hands, but depending on your profession that doesn't occur extremely often, so really... most of the time... you just have your hands at your sides? How awkward and strange is that? And when you see a teacher or someone older or are thanking someone older, you don't wai to them... weird. I swear when I go home I'll still wai people. It already seems weird not to...
Sometimes when I'm speaking Thai I just stop and think about the words I'm saying. I realized recently that I've been spending a fair amount of time simply musing over how much sense they make. It's just common sense... of course "leow gaw" means "and then"... right? When I stop and think a bit further though... I realize that there is absolutely no basis for me to think that "dee" is the perfect word for "good"...
But I do have a few examples of places where Thai does make sense... The Thai language has very few words compared to the English language thus many words are simply two or more words added together. The word heart is appropriately used in many emotion words. Here's a few examples...
Thai Direct Translation English
jingjai true (jing) + heart (jai) = sincere
jaidee heart (jai)+ good (dee) = kind
dtokjai fall (dtok) + heart (jai)= surprised
See? So where English has to make up a whole new word that has no similarities to the defining words, Thai makes it easier by using the defining words to make up a compound word! Of course... it's quite easy to get confused though... after all... "jai dee" and "dee jai" have two entirely different meanings...
So there's your first Thai lesson! Also don't forget "sawadika" (female) and "sawadikrap" (male) means hello or goodbye!
Sawadika! Chok di na ka! (good luck!)
-Kearn
Sometimes when I'm speaking Thai I just stop and think about the words I'm saying. I realized recently that I've been spending a fair amount of time simply musing over how much sense they make. It's just common sense... of course "leow gaw" means "and then"... right? When I stop and think a bit further though... I realize that there is absolutely no basis for me to think that "dee" is the perfect word for "good"...
But I do have a few examples of places where Thai does make sense... The Thai language has very few words compared to the English language thus many words are simply two or more words added together. The word heart is appropriately used in many emotion words. Here's a few examples...
Thai Direct Translation English
jingjai true (jing) + heart (jai) = sincere
jaidee heart (jai)+ good (dee) = kind
dtokjai fall (dtok) + heart (jai)= surprised
See? So where English has to make up a whole new word that has no similarities to the defining words, Thai makes it easier by using the defining words to make up a compound word! Of course... it's quite easy to get confused though... after all... "jai dee" and "dee jai" have two entirely different meanings...
So there's your first Thai lesson! Also don't forget "sawadika" (female) and "sawadikrap" (male) means hello or goodbye!
Sawadika! Chok di na ka! (good luck!)
-Kearn
Video #1
Click on the link^ The video explains itself!
Here's my Rotary club and I, got my flag from Thailand now!
The man on the left of me in the white shirt is my first host dad, the man next to him in the brown shirt is my current host dad. The man on the very left next to my current host dad in the red/white is my last host dad and his wife is the woman in the green dress, next to their daughter-- the girl in the white shirt on the far right (my last host mom and sister). (I have one more family in between the time when I move to their home though).
-kearn
Long, Long Loy Krathong
My feet hurt from the six inch heels I'm wearing, my eyelids are heavy with makeup and fake eyelashes, my face hurts but I keep my smile plastered on my face... I can't believe what I am doing right now... that brings a new smile, a sincere one. I'm laughing inside. What a ridiculous thing this is!
The beauty contest is over and boy am I glad. Parts of it were fun and parts of it were painful but it was most definitely an experience (and I definitely have a new respect for people who often do pageants, it's harder than you think)! Here are a few photos of the crazy, hilarious outfits I wore.
There were four rounds in the contest. The first with everyone, the second with less people, the third with only ten people and questions to be answered and the last where they crowned the winner. I was in the first and second round. I got to skip out on the questions because they were difficult and asked in Thai but then was asked back for the fourth round to receive a trophy for friendship between cultures. The judges were glad I joined the Loy Krathong festivities.
I left home around 1pm to go to the salon to get my makeup and hair done and I didn't get home until about 1am. After changing my clothes I headed off to float my Krathong on the river, possibly the part of the evening I was most looking forward to. The Krathong I made is made from a round from banana tree trunk, though you can also make them out of styrofoam or bread, banana tree trunk is most commonly used. Flowers, folded banana leaves, candles and incense are used to decorate them. Just before we floated our krathongs on the river my host aunt slipped a few Baht coins between the flowers. We held lit the candles and incense, then, with our shoes removed, held them up to our heads as we made a wish for the new year and then let them down into the river where they floated off and joined the many other little lights floating slowly down the river...
...and then I went home... it was around 2am. I scrubbed as much makeup off my face as possible, fell into bed and slept for ten straight hours.
Loy Krathong is a really beautiful holiday and I look forward to sharing it with everyone back home next year!
-kearn
The beauty contest is over and boy am I glad. Parts of it were fun and parts of it were painful but it was most definitely an experience (and I definitely have a new respect for people who often do pageants, it's harder than you think)! Here are a few photos of the crazy, hilarious outfits I wore.
There were four rounds in the contest. The first with everyone, the second with less people, the third with only ten people and questions to be answered and the last where they crowned the winner. I was in the first and second round. I got to skip out on the questions because they were difficult and asked in Thai but then was asked back for the fourth round to receive a trophy for friendship between cultures. The judges were glad I joined the Loy Krathong festivities.
I left home around 1pm to go to the salon to get my makeup and hair done and I didn't get home until about 1am. After changing my clothes I headed off to float my Krathong on the river, possibly the part of the evening I was most looking forward to. The Krathong I made is made from a round from banana tree trunk, though you can also make them out of styrofoam or bread, banana tree trunk is most commonly used. Flowers, folded banana leaves, candles and incense are used to decorate them. Just before we floated our krathongs on the river my host aunt slipped a few Baht coins between the flowers. We held lit the candles and incense, then, with our shoes removed, held them up to our heads as we made a wish for the new year and then let them down into the river where they floated off and joined the many other little lights floating slowly down the river...
...and then I went home... it was around 2am. I scrubbed as much makeup off my face as possible, fell into bed and slept for ten straight hours.
All the people who won awards at the beauty contest
on the first evening, wearing traditional Thai clothes
Also on the first evening
with a few other girls from my school who were also competing, the other girl in red is in my class :)
turtles and crocodiles made of bread! they are another sort of krathong! If you float a bread krathong you're feeding the fish too :)
the inside of banana tree trunks fascinate me
my krathong all done!
my krathong!
Brook (a girl in my class) and I ready for competition day 2!
Loy Krathong Fireworks!
Loy Krathong is a really beautiful holiday and I look forward to sharing it with everyone back home next year!
-kearn
Chicken Dinner on Thanksgiving Saturday
Bow ca di, don wan Thanksgiving krab krua chan bai Seattle, Washington. Bai yuu nung atit gub krab krua. Wan Thanksgiving mi kon yu (krab krua le peun) ti ban gin kao duai gon. Tuk kon jai di, jer tuk kon nung wan don bpi. Chob wan Thanksgiving ti sut.
Usually, on Thanksgiving my family goes to Seattle, Washington. We stay with extended family for one week. On Thanksgiving many people (friends and family) come to eat dinner together. Everyone is kind and I only see every one once a year. Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday.
This year I shared Thanksgiving with my second host family. I cooked chicken for dinner because Thailand doesn't have turkey. And we celebrated on Saturday instead of Thursday, so that my host sister was home from college in Bangkok to celebrate too. We ate mashed potatoes, chicken (with Oregano spice mix that I brought from Alaska), macaroni and cheese (my family has a special way of making it for Thanksgiving... no silly box mixes for us!), salad, apple pie and some Thai food my host mom cooked.
Every year my family takes a branch from a leafless tree inside in a vase. Everyone then writes what they are Thankful for on a construction paper leaf and pins it to the tree. This is one of my very favorite traditions and so this year I drew a Thankful Tree. I had a few teachers at school, exchange students and my host family all write on it.
Though the chicken was not a turkey, the macaroni didn't quiet taste up to standard because of Thailand's lack of worthy cheese, and the Thankful tree was just a drawing it didn't really matter...
Thanksgiving is truly my favorite holiday because I get to share it with so many of my favorite people, my family and friends. I was surprised to hear that my host family, who has hosted exchange students for about ten years, has never had an exchange student share Thanksgiving. Thanksgiving is about family and I'm glad I got to share a few of my favorite traditions with my new family and they were glad too.
Usually, on Thanksgiving my family goes to Seattle, Washington. We stay with extended family for one week. On Thanksgiving many people (friends and family) come to eat dinner together. Everyone is kind and I only see every one once a year. Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday.
This year I shared Thanksgiving with my second host family. I cooked chicken for dinner because Thailand doesn't have turkey. And we celebrated on Saturday instead of Thursday, so that my host sister was home from college in Bangkok to celebrate too. We ate mashed potatoes, chicken (with Oregano spice mix that I brought from Alaska), macaroni and cheese (my family has a special way of making it for Thanksgiving... no silly box mixes for us!), salad, apple pie and some Thai food my host mom cooked.
Every year my family takes a branch from a leafless tree inside in a vase. Everyone then writes what they are Thankful for on a construction paper leaf and pins it to the tree. This is one of my very favorite traditions and so this year I drew a Thankful Tree. I had a few teachers at school, exchange students and my host family all write on it.
Though the chicken was not a turkey, the macaroni didn't quiet taste up to standard because of Thailand's lack of worthy cheese, and the Thankful tree was just a drawing it didn't really matter...
Thanksgiving is truly my favorite holiday because I get to share it with so many of my favorite people, my family and friends. I was surprised to hear that my host family, who has hosted exchange students for about ten years, has never had an exchange student share Thanksgiving. Thanksgiving is about family and I'm glad I got to share a few of my favorite traditions with my new family and they were glad too.
My new host family :)
Apple Pie in Thailand!
Thankful Tree!
This is what I ate on real Thanksgiving. Not exactly the average American Thanksgiving dinner, but delicious nonetheless! :)
Started off Saturday (Thanksgiving celebrating Day in Thailand) with a skype with some of my extended family! What a great way to start the day!
Hope all of your Thanksgivings were wonderful!
-kearn
Friday, November 23, 2012
Thankful
Today and everyday I have so many things to be thankful for...especially my amazing parents who always support me and my big brother and sister who are the best friends I could ever ask for.
I'm thankful for Ms. Kassie Bluefishes and my entire extended family.
I'm thankful for Thanksgiving traditions, especially biscuit breakfast and drawing and dress up.
I'm thankful for giraffes and surprises and best friends who are like siblings and for my second mommy and daddy.
I'm thankful for mermaids and Rotary and snow and laughing. And I'm thankful for all my new Thai friends and family.
I'm thankful for kittens even if they have to grow into cats and I'm thankful for comfortable beds and air conditioning.
I'm thankful for hot chocolate on cold winter days and I'm thankful for the beautiful place I got to grow up.
I'm thankful for all my childhood friends, playing elves and dwarves and Narnia...
I'm thankful for authors and for artists.
I'm thankful for dancing and for singing and for uniqueness.
I'm thankful for differences and culture and language.
I'm thankful for smiles and for generosity.
I'm thankful for honesty, kindness and promptness.
I'm thankful for friends.
I'm thankful for Earth, for the ocean and the mountains.
I'm thankful for forests and flowers and gardens.
There are infinite things that I am thankful for, this is just the beginning...
What are you thankful for?
-Kearn
I'm thankful for Ms. Kassie Bluefishes and my entire extended family.
I'm thankful for Thanksgiving traditions, especially biscuit breakfast and drawing and dress up.
I'm thankful for giraffes and surprises and best friends who are like siblings and for my second mommy and daddy.
I'm thankful for mermaids and Rotary and snow and laughing. And I'm thankful for all my new Thai friends and family.
I'm thankful for kittens even if they have to grow into cats and I'm thankful for comfortable beds and air conditioning.
I'm thankful for hot chocolate on cold winter days and I'm thankful for the beautiful place I got to grow up.
I'm thankful for all my childhood friends, playing elves and dwarves and Narnia...
I'm thankful for authors and for artists.
I'm thankful for dancing and for singing and for uniqueness.
I'm thankful for differences and culture and language.
I'm thankful for smiles and for generosity.
I'm thankful for honesty, kindness and promptness.
I'm thankful for friends.
I'm thankful for Earth, for the ocean and the mountains.
I'm thankful for forests and flowers and gardens.
There are infinite things that I am thankful for, this is just the beginning...
What are you thankful for?
-Kearn
Monday, November 19, 2012
Reflections with Wether's
The packaging isn't quite the same but I open it anyways and pop it into my mouth. The flavor... That's the same. I can taste the cold rainy days at the Alaska State Fair, quietly raiding the free candy bowls with my older siblings and friends, Mariah and Kaila especially. This reminds me of the days we would arrive early in the mornings and while Mom opened the booth we would run off to buy huge waffles complete with fresh peaches and whip cream. Vendors only. We'd bring them back to the booth, drizzle birch syrup on them, gobble them down... The times we went to the petting zoo and watching the "How to Milk a Cow" show over and over just because it was a place to sit. The little trucks dad would always take us to drive and me... I was always the one who drove straight into the tires lining the tracks and got stuck. Hoopin' Hula cookies with a cup of cold milk, the hula hoops and all the quarters we spent on steaming buttered buns from Bushes Bunches. Playing Bingo with peanuts in the little trailer and trying unsuccessfully to catch grasshoppers in the shadow of the big barn. Horse rides. Corn fritters with Dad. Wax hands. And of course, our annual family photo button. This is what I taste. All this... held inside one silly little candy. All this, these memories of a faraway place called Alaska... all this as I sit in Thailand eating one simple candy made in Germany. Thank you Werther's. Thank you.
Absolutely.
Tiny green ripples propelled by the slight, rare breeze. The sun beats down on us as we sit. My toe touches the water. Warm. It's strange for me, a childhood in Alaska has taught me that water is most definitely always cold. But here again, Thailand has shattered yet another of my ignorant generalizations. I am reminded how little I really know compared to how much is truly knowable... Tiny fish and water bugs make their way. The leaves in the banana trees rustle and we can hear the muffled voice of a teacher in a room in the building behind us. A thai voice, a few floors up, saying something we don't understand. The sound blends into the background and I realize how still it is... but at the same time it is not still at all. Ants scurry to and fro, water bugs and fish swim every direction, leaves fall silently to the ground, the grass sways, the fans in the rooms behind us spin onward, onward, onward... truly it is chaos, in a way. And here we are, sitting in the middle of it, insignificant to the tiny creatures and lives around us. "What are you doing?" we hear as a student in the building behind us calls out to us from the open window on the top floor as we get up to leave. We look at each other. No words pass our lips.
What are we doing? What is this thing we call life? What is our purpose? What is our goal? What are we doing? Tiny ripples... to the water bugs they must seem like huge waves. So could our tiny individual goals make a difference... could they be the waves somewhere, someday?
Absolutely.
What are we doing? What is this thing we call life? What is our purpose? What is our goal? What are we doing? Tiny ripples... to the water bugs they must seem like huge waves. So could our tiny individual goals make a difference... could they be the waves somewhere, someday?
Absolutely.
Wednesday, November 14, 2012
The shore, the ocean or the ship?
"Man cannot discover new oceans unless he
has the courage to lose sight of the shore." -Andre Gide
Alaska is the shore. Home is the shore. My
parents, my friends, my family is the shore. My school is the shore. My
hometown is the shore. My family traditions are the shore. My way of life
is the shore.
I am the shore.
The ocean? The ocean is Thailand. The ocean is
Thai people. The ocean is my host families. The ocean is my new school. The
ocean is my new hometown. The ocean is my new group of friends. The ocean is my
new way of living. The ocean is everything I hear, see, smell and breath
now.
So in a way, I am also the ocean.
Before I left home I remember describing exchange as feeling like I was falling. I wasn't sure who or what or if anything would catch me, but for some crazy reason I was willing to jump. And I'm glad I did.
Here's something my Dad reminded me;
"A ship in harbor is safe -- but
that is not what ships are built for."
So maybe I'm the ship? And exchange is part of my voyage?
-Kearn
English? Arai na?
Uhm... uhm... uhhh...
My mind is racing. My teacher is standing across the table from me; she's stopped looking at the pink flowers she was arranging and is now staring straight at me, watching as I struggle to remember English. She has asked what we call a flower that has not yet bloomed. She has one in her hand and is showing it to me... of course I understand what she is asking but what... what is the answer? I close my eyes and open them again, tap my fingers hopelessly on the desk, turn to the other girl in the room--she is Italian--"Don't look at me!" she says, I close my eyes again, think-think-think, this is taking altogether too long... OH! It comes to me, "bud". English, my mother tongue, ฉันจำไม่ได (Chan jam mai dai.) I can't remember it.
This is certainly not the first instance in which I've been unable to remember English words, and this word-- "bud"-- is perhaps a bit more obscure than a few of the other's words such as; biscuits and gravy, endangered, wardrobe, monk and perhaps the worst of all... bus, which I have been known to misplace somewhere in the rusty English dictionary in the back of my mind...
I often find myself repeating English sentences in my mind and wondering if they are grammatically correct. ("I'm going to go take a shower." still gets me... you are not taking the shower anywhere! It stays where it is! What in the world, English! Why?) I often think in Thai and translate into English when I'm writing. I type, delete and retype words. I talk to myself in Thai.
This forgetting of my mother language; it's strange, obnoxious at times and also in it's own way, it's wonderful. Of course, it's all part of the adventure and I hope you'll continue to follow along with me despite having to bear with me as my English slowly gets worse and worse... I'm apologizing now for any spelling or grammar mistakes I've made previously and for all of those which I will undoubtably be providing you to laugh about in the future. Wish me luck with my language skills -- both Thai and English!
So... I'm out, off to sleep, but I'm going to leave you with this little man... I think he feels kind of like I do when I try to remember English. (<--- Oh dear, overuse of commas? Run on sentence maybe? I don't know. English language strikes again... :o)
Pasa angrit? Arai na? English? What?
Kearn
My mind is racing. My teacher is standing across the table from me; she's stopped looking at the pink flowers she was arranging and is now staring straight at me, watching as I struggle to remember English. She has asked what we call a flower that has not yet bloomed. She has one in her hand and is showing it to me... of course I understand what she is asking but what... what is the answer? I close my eyes and open them again, tap my fingers hopelessly on the desk, turn to the other girl in the room--she is Italian--"Don't look at me!" she says, I close my eyes again, think-think-think, this is taking altogether too long... OH! It comes to me, "bud". English, my mother tongue, ฉันจำไม่ได (Chan jam mai dai.) I can't remember it.
This is certainly not the first instance in which I've been unable to remember English words, and this word-- "bud"-- is perhaps a bit more obscure than a few of the other's words such as; biscuits and gravy, endangered, wardrobe, monk and perhaps the worst of all... bus, which I have been known to misplace somewhere in the rusty English dictionary in the back of my mind...
I often find myself repeating English sentences in my mind and wondering if they are grammatically correct. ("I'm going to go take a shower." still gets me... you are not taking the shower anywhere! It stays where it is! What in the world, English! Why?) I often think in Thai and translate into English when I'm writing. I type, delete and retype words. I talk to myself in Thai.
This forgetting of my mother language; it's strange, obnoxious at times and also in it's own way, it's wonderful. Of course, it's all part of the adventure and I hope you'll continue to follow along with me despite having to bear with me as my English slowly gets worse and worse... I'm apologizing now for any spelling or grammar mistakes I've made previously and for all of those which I will undoubtably be providing you to laugh about in the future. Wish me luck with my language skills -- both Thai and English!
Pasa angrit? Arai na? English? What?
Kearn
Friday, November 9, 2012
Three Months
After tucking the keychain on my backpack inside my bag I'm ready to go. I walk across the uneven pavement and across the train tracks. Monkeys are all around; they gnaw on banana peels, the remains of someone's uneaten lunch and anything else they can scrounge up on the street. As I pass, some of them stare at me, there eyes following my every step. [This is why I have tucked my keychains inside my bag. After seeing a monkey rip one of my friends keychains off and steal my other friends glasses right off her face, I know I have to be careful around the monkeys.] It's about a twenty minute walk home from school, but I stop here and their looking in the windows of shops and down streets. I stop in one shop and the shop owner begins a conversation with me... asking about why I have a school uniform on. I explain that I'm an exchange student and this fuels his interest, we end up talking for about fifteen or twenty minutes solely in Thai. He explains that he is trying to learn English and asks me what I want to do when I grow up. So many people ask me this now and still I don't know... journalism, design, international relations, baking, forestry... so many options. Finally, I take my leave but not until I've promised to come visit his shop again. A week later I visit again and I'm pleased to see he can remember me. I enjoy talking with him and as I leave today he gives me a bunch of fresh bananas. A simple gesture, but one that illustrates perfectly the kindness I have found in Thailand. Today marks my third month in Thailand. So many strange things now seem entirely normal to me; watching out for monkeys on the street, elephants being led around town late at night, entire squids in your soup, fried fish--the whole thing--eyes, skins, scales, tail on your plate, taking off your shoes when entering shops, going to the market rather than a department store, wearing a school uniform, showering twice a day, eating dinner food for breakfast, wai-ing, going outside in November without a coat and so many other things. I've met innumerable kind people, been taken in by a wonderful family, been shown many places in Central Thailand, been taught about the culture and customs of Thai people, learned a ton of Thai, acquired a sick addiction to spicy food and gained a new perspective on and appreciate of many things.
This is an amazing journey. Every day there are challenges, trials, successes--every day, every little thing is part of the adventure. I love it.
Right now I'm looking forward to Loy Krathong which is a holiday celebrated on November 28th. Thai people make Krathongs which are vessels made from banana leaves and flowers and float them on rivers, lakes or the ocean. With the Krathong they cast away the negatives of the year and wish for happiness and success in the year to come.
Also... funny fact, my "try anything once/just say yes" attitude has gotten me entered in a two day Thai beauty contest later this month. I will be wearing modern Thai traditional clothes and right now I'm just hoping I don't trip in my heels... try everything once! It's all part of the adventure! :)
Life is good!
Kearn
This is an amazing journey. Every day there are challenges, trials, successes--every day, every little thing is part of the adventure. I love it.
Right now I'm looking forward to Loy Krathong which is a holiday celebrated on November 28th. Thai people make Krathongs which are vessels made from banana leaves and flowers and float them on rivers, lakes or the ocean. With the Krathong they cast away the negatives of the year and wish for happiness and success in the year to come.
Also... funny fact, my "try anything once/just say yes" attitude has gotten me entered in a two day Thai beauty contest later this month. I will be wearing modern Thai traditional clothes and right now I'm just hoping I don't trip in my heels... try everything once! It's all part of the adventure! :)
Life is good!
Kearn
Monday, November 5, 2012
Back to School & Halloween
The sun is hot and I'm standing by the side gate of Pibulwittayalai... trying to imagine that there is shade when there is not. I'm waiting to be picked up by my host Aunt. It's my first day back at school after a month break. It was strangely normal, waking up in the morning, pulling back my hair and putting in my shiny little black bow. Wearing a skirt and button down shirt, that shiny belt with no purpose but to look shiny and my funny white socks and black Mary Jane shoes... It's makes me feel like a little kid again but I don't know why... I certainly never wore this uniform when I was young. I'm staring off down the road, supposedly watching for my host Aunt's car but really just daydreaming. I feel a tap on my shoulder and I'm jerked out of my reverie, I turn to see a girl standing at my shoulder. "Hello!" she says and then scurries off without waiting to hear my reply. "Hey--" I say, my voice trailing off halfheartedly after her. It's silly but so many Thai students act like this. They're surprised and excited when I speak Thai to them. The other day I went to art class, the teacher asked me a question and I replied, speaking Thai naturally. "Whoah! You can speak English!" one boy exclaimed mixing up the words English and Thai. I laugh, why yes... I can speak English... though I think you meant to say Thai.
I'm really enjoying being back at school. I've been to History, Violin, P.E. (handball), English, Math and Cooking class.
Well, I can't deny I sort of forgot about this here blog thing-a-majig. Thanks Dad for reminding me! :) [Happy Belated Birthday to my awesome Dad!] Lots and lots has happened since I last posted. So lets see... a quick list... went back to school, went to the temple and saw a sort of parade in which they duplicate the time when Bhudda came down from Heaven, taught my host Aunt how to carve pumpkins (well squashes, since Thailand doesn't have pumpkins), got to see my friend Yin who lives in Bangkok and was an exchange student at my school last year and saw elephants playing soccer!
For now, I'm off to sleep but I promise I'll write more soon! If you have certain questions please comment here or message me! :)
Hope you are staying warm in AK!
Kearn
I'm really enjoying being back at school. I've been to History, Violin, P.E. (handball), English, Math and Cooking class.
Well, I can't deny I sort of forgot about this here blog thing-a-majig. Thanks Dad for reminding me! :) [Happy Belated Birthday to my awesome Dad!] Lots and lots has happened since I last posted. So lets see... a quick list... went back to school, went to the temple and saw a sort of parade in which they duplicate the time when Bhudda came down from Heaven, taught my host Aunt how to carve pumpkins (well squashes, since Thailand doesn't have pumpkins), got to see my friend Yin who lives in Bangkok and was an exchange student at my school last year and saw elephants playing soccer!
For now, I'm off to sleep but I promise I'll write more soon! If you have certain questions please comment here or message me! :)
Hope you are staying warm in AK!
 |
| Traditional Thai dress, these girls represent the angels (at the parade replicating when Bhudda came down from Heaven). |
 |
 |
| an elephant is hugging me! :) |
Thursday, October 25, 2012
Dai. Can.
A few days ago I was at a shop to take photos for my Visa. The attendant began to take me into the separate photo room, suddenly she turned... "Poot Thai dai mai?" she asked my host Aunt. (Can she speak Thai?) I expected the reply to be "Nit noi." (a little bit) because this is always the way I always reply when asked if I can speak Thai. Instead I hear "Dai." Dai. It means "She can." She can speak Thai. One word. One simple phrase, but it most definitely puts a smile on my face. In the past few days multiple strangers have asked my why I can speak Thai so clearly or complimented me on my Thai. Upon being asked if I can speak Thai and answering that I speak Thai a little bit, my host family has begun to interrupt me and say that I speak a lot of Thai already. There is always lots more to learn, but these simple happenings are so very encouraging and they certainly put a bit of spring in my step.
"Poot Thai dai mai?"
"Dai nit noi ka--"
"--Dai yuu leow."
(Stranger-Can you speak Thai?
Me- I can speak a little bit.
Host family- She can speak a lot already!)
School started back up on Wednesday! I've been going running... though the 90 degree plus, sunny, "winter" weather really isn't agreeing with me... Anyone want to send me some snow?
-Kearn
"Poot Thai dai mai?"
"Dai nit noi ka--"
"--Dai yuu leow."
(Stranger-Can you speak Thai?
Me- I can speak a little bit.
Host family- She can speak a lot already!)
School started back up on Wednesday! I've been going running... though the 90 degree plus, sunny, "winter" weather really isn't agreeing with me... Anyone want to send me some snow?
-Kearn
Wednesday, October 24, 2012
Time
How time flies. Today I went to Immigration to renew my
visa. I have to renew my visa every three months. As I drove to Immigration I
realized the fact that I was on my way there meant something… it meant that I
had lived in Thailand almost three months already. Key word; already. Time is
really flying… in a really strange way. My last week in Alaska was such a
whirlwind and it seems as if it was forever ago. Hugging my family goodbye at
the airport, meeting exchange students on the plane and being ridiculously
excited and clueless about what was to come upon arrival, my first day in
Thailand, my first day at school...everything seems ages ago. Yet
when I step back and think about the fact that I’ve lived in Thailand for
almost three months now it seems ridiculously fast. Time is a strange, strange
thing.
Hope you are all well! Sending lots of love,
kearn
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)