Market

The branches of trees drape lazily over the multitudes of electricity lines. Leaves make gentle scraping noises as they are caught by the breeze and skitter across the uneven pavement. Tiny cats meow forlornly as they weave between waste baskets and parked motorbikes. I keep my eyes wide open as we zip along the curving streets. The almost eighty degree early morning air feels cool compared to the temperatures the afternoon is sure to bring. The smells of fish, meat, spices, vegetables and so many other things mix together making a jumble of aromas that is entirely indescribable. Flowers are sold directly across from pigs heads, chickens feet, socks, hot peppers, hair accessories... beef hangs on metal hooks and vegetables are being chopped and passed out in bags. Money changes hands and different Thai voices mingle together in the air. We weave between stalls selling fish in round bamboo boxes, spices in enormous bags, vats of soup and various other unidentifiable foods. This is the market. We stop here and there buying things in tiny bags tied with rubber bands. Monks dressed in their orange robes weave between the people as well, receiving their daily food. We remove our shoes, bow our heads and wai to them. They open their receiving bowls that are strung around their shoulders or held in their arms against their chests and I place the bags of food we have bought inside. They close the lid and I place flowers on top. We bow our heads again and the monk speaks to us in a low, purposeful voice. I think it is some sort of blessing or good luck message but I understand none of it. The monk shuffles on to the next person hoping to present him with food and receive his words of wisdom. 

Here and there and everywhere.

Today I went to the swimming pool with my host aunt. The sun was hot in the sky as we floating around and exchanged a few words in Thai. After a bit I start to swim. Looking around, of course I see no other white people, but I'm used to this. It's the lack of swimming that I notice most; people float around and perhaps swim a few strokes every once in a while but no one really swims for the sake of swimming laps. It makes me feel a bit self conscious but as I glide through the water I try and will myself to forget that at least six pairs of eyes are watching me. Swimming freestyle I feel fine, smooth... I swim at a good pace and I'm pleased to know that I haven't forgotten how. It's a pool and though it's not the Palmer Pool in Alaska and it's not full of familiar faces, it's comfortable in it's own unique way. The next time I push off from the wall I choose breaststroke-- the stroke I spend the most time trying to perfect, the stroke I love to race, my favorite. As I swim a few meters I feel a lump form in the back of my throat. I need air but I push myself forward in the water instead. My goggles fog up and the lump grows larger. At home, right now I think to myself, my teammates are just waking up. They are heading off to a day at Palmer High School and then to swim practice... if I was at home right now, I would be doing just the same. If I was home right now I would be spending two hours in the pool five days a week, I would have a competition this weekend and I would likely be packing my bags tonight. I try and will the lump in the back of my throat away but it's standing it's ground. Today I miss swim team, the people, the familiar faces. After swimming a bit more I feel my heart begin to beat a bit faster.  I wonder what my fellow teammates will swim today... perhaps a dreaded fly set or a distance set or perhaps it's an easier day, a kick-swim set maybe. I realize that I miss the feeling of being out of breath, the exhaustion after a long, hard set and dry land workout. Here, I am always exhausted by the end of the day, but it's my mind that's exhausted, not my body. This is proven by the fact that I feel as though I could keep swimming for hours if it weren't for my eyelid's constant want to droop... As we leave the pool I know that I am glad I came but I am also glad to leave.

Talking to people at home the last few days I've been reminded that the State Fair is going on. It's strange to think that I almost forgot about the fair which is such a big deal in Palmer. I'm realizing now that I think a teeny tiny part of me had the idea that while I was away, time would stop. A tiny piece of me thought or maybe hoped, that when I returned from exchange I would pick up exactly where I left off...from August 9th, 2012. Time in Thailand would fly by, but I wouldn't miss anything at home. I fully realize now, that life goes on. Not only in Thailand, but also in Alaska. Days flip past both here and there. Here and there and everywhere... but this doesn't upset me. I wouldn't give up my life in Thailand for anything. Though at times I must employ all my patience, sit back and smile though I'm truly entirely frustrated and confused... or hold back the voice in my head that's screaming at me that Thai is too difficult and studying is futile, I truly appreciate every moment of it. When I go home, there will be no denying the fact that I've missed an entire year of simple happenings in the place that I love so dearly and that changes have occurred. Some people, places and things will be unrecognizable and others as familiar as ever. But, going home is ages away and I have multitudes of exciting adventures to go on and friendships to form before then. Though there are certainly times when I miss my family, my home, peanut butter and my pets, I know that this year abroad is still my dream come true.

Kearn

It's automagic.

Today as I counted to myself in my head I realized something... I wasn't counting "one, two, three" I was counting "nung, song, sam". I was counting in Thai in my head. I was thinking in Thai. Albeit... I only needed to count from one to eleven (or should I say from nung to sipet?) it was still a wonderful moment.

Last week when I was in Pattaya I bumped into someone and immediately apologized in Thai only to look up and see a rather confused American tourist.

Though I know very little Thai and I can understand much more than I can speak, it is starting to come automagically (to use my brother's word:).

Bought a sketchbook today. Sketchbook, journal, blog and photos. I just don't want to forget a single second.

-Kearn

Sunset.

Driving through Bangkok in the evening. The rain beats against the window and sprays up as we splash through puddles created by the torrential rain. I can see the sky, tinged slightly orange behind the clouds, the sun, as it sinks behind the line of skyscrapers. Buildings fly by. For an instant I catch one more glimpse of the sunset and then it's gone. More buildings cover the view. A small town girl from Alaska, I never thought I'd find the city beautiful... but this is. The whole thing is beautiful. The fact that I'm sitting in a car surrounded by a family that has opened their arms to me. The fact that I'm starting to understand what they're saying to one another. The fact that I have an entire year to learn their ways and find my place in their puzzle. The whole thing, the whole opportunity is beautiful. So, when all four of my host family members start talking at once in rapid Thai, me right in the middle back seat... literally in the middle of it all, I sit back... confused certainly, but I listen and I smile. Someday I'll understand what they're saying. Today I'll just listen and know that this is beautiful. 

YKYT

You know you're in Thailand when... (YKYT)

You don't need a hairdryer because you have a motorcycle. You eat vinegar, chili powder and soy sauce with breakfast. You drink out of water bottles with straws. Lane lines don't count. Three adults and a toddler on a motorcycle is no problem. You have some sort of fancy cover on your tissue box and you have a tissue box in the car. There's someone riding in the bed of your truck. Finding the words "not" and "spicy" together is a fairly rare occurrence. No one likes to be tan. People use umbrellas... rain or shine. There's a monkey following you. You try to tell someone they're beautiful but use the wrong tone and call them unlucky instead. You speak in third person. Twenty five degrees celsius is cold. Yes or no questions aren't answered with "yes" or "no" [ex: "Are you hungry?" you don't say "yes/no" you say "hungry/not hungry"]. If it's raining, it's pouring. The three closest towns to you all end in "-buri". Gas is about $1 a gallon. You really, really love the king. Every morning, every student (uniform clad of course) praises Bhudda and sings the national anthem. Sunscreen is part of your daily routine. On the street you can buy anything you'd ever like to eat or drink. Fruit is always fresh. The fan is your favorite invention [beyond air conditioning of course]. There's a good luck message from a monk drawn on the ceiling of your car. 

Just... A few things I've noticed. I'll continue updating the YKYT list every once in a while. Had a fantastic time in Pattaya with my second host family, but more about that later! Exhausted and off to bed, school tomorrow!

Hope you are well,

Kearn 

Futbon. Soccer.

So far the time I've spent in Thailand has been quite confusing. I fluctuate between being very confused "ngong dtek maak" just confused "ngong dtek" and a little confused "ngong dtek nit noi". Yesterday though, there was a pure thirty minutes of blissful understanding... aka I watched half a soccer game. It was wonderful. Obviously it was great because I love soccer, but also because when I was watching soccer it was the first time since I got to Thailand that I did something that I also do at home. Even though I was sitting in a stadium full of foreign people speaking a foreign language and singing foreign chants... it was still somehow familiar. And maaaaan, did it make me miss playing soccer. :)

Makes me miss my team... I love you guys!

On a different note...

What's the first thing you think I did in my lovely Thai school uniform? Go to school? Pshhaww. No.
Ride on a motorcycle of course! (side saddle...can you call it that on a motorcycle... or is that just for horses? Who knows?) I love riding motorcycles! Some day I will drive one... some day!

I introduced myself in front of all 3, 300 students at my school today. It was actually not nerve wracking at all and I was told that I have a very clear accent... I'm not entirely sure if that means they can understand my Thai well or if I have a very bad accent... I took it as a compliment though. Haha :)

Anyways, off to sleep. Getting up early tomorrow to go to Pattaya with my second host family! I cannot wait!

-Kearney

Rieng kam sap mai. Learn new vocabulary.

Conversation here is impossible. Most of my day consists of pointing at things and saying "arai ka?" (what is it?). I am told what it is in Thai and I repeat it. Taew, my host sister, will often point to things and tell me the name in Thai. I tell her the name in English. In this fashion I am learning many new words. Learning new vocabulary (rieng kam sap mai) and learning how to speak are very different things though. I have not had a true conversation since the plane here when I talked for hours to other exchange students. It is good to be here and I think I am learning but I cannot deny that I am a bit starved for conversation. I remember now how the rebound students said it took them months to be able to carry a true conversation in their host language... then I remember that I have been here for less than a week. The road to conversing is far too long...

A few nights ago I went to a very cool restaurant. When we arrived in the parking lot it was very very full. A man ran out with a flashlight to direct us as to where to park. The lot was so small that when my host father tried to turn around he had to do about a 20 point turn... still he couldn't quite make it so the man with a flashlight just pushed a car out of the way so he could. It was pretty funny. You eat on a float that is tied out on the river (gai meh nam, near the river). You can buy fish food and when you sprinkle it into the water big fish (bpaa) come to the surface and eat it. When we arrived at the restaurant (ran a han) my host father saw some of his friends. He took me to meet them. They gave me a fork and told me to try everything. I just said "aloi, aloi" (delicious, delicious). All they wanted was to watch my face as I tried everything. Everything tasted pretty good except some strange chewy brown thing... I think it's made from fish but no one could explain exactly what it was and I didn't like it so I don't want to think about it too hard... haha. When they asked if I could speak Thai I replied by saying "Poot pasa Thai di nit noi ka." (I speak Thai a little bit.) They are shocked. "Geeng! Geeng!" (Excellent, excellent!) they say. They are very kind, I tell them it is nice to meet them in Thai. My host father and I return to our table. We are served food... an entire fish is on the plate but lucky for me we do not eat the head or tail. (Pheww. Only in Japan, Maya! haha) My host father drinks and after a while says "maew!" and shakes his head around. Taew explains that it means drunk, I can't help but laugh a little. My host father tells Taew to tell me two things; First that if I am hungry I should just open the fridge, even if it is midnight and second that if I don't like my other host families I can come back to his home. I think it is very nice but I'm not sure what will happen if/when I do get hungry and open the fridge... who knows what I will find in there! haha.

A few days later Taew took me on her motorcycle! It was so fun! Sanuk-sanuk (fun)! We drove up to little shops along the street and bought Thai desserts. It was funny because we did not even turn the bike off, we just drove right up, bought what we wanted and went on our way. So far I don't like Thai desserts... they are all gelatinous, not very sweet and strangely colored... it's seems bit unnatural to a girl who is used to cupcakes and cookies! Haha

Sunday (not Monday, oops)was the Queen's Birthday. That means it is Mother's Day (wan-meh). Happy Mother's Day!

Yesterday (Tuesday) I went with some people from my new Rotary Club. We went to another town named Ban Mi. Here we met Rotarians from Japan and Ban Mi. Our Rotary club, the Rotary club of Ban Mi and two Japanese Rotary clubs had worked together to provide water filtration systems to 43 rural schools who  were negatively affected by a two month long flood last year. The Rotary clubs also provided lots of students with backpacks of schools supplies. It was very good to see Rotary at work in another country. I will go to my first Rotary meeting next Wednesday... I will present my powerpoint then. I hope they will understand my bad Thai...

Tomorrow I will go to school for the first time. (Prung ni chan bai rongriene). I have been told that I must introduce myself in front of all the students at my school. There are 3,300 students and I am not very good at speaking Thai. Oh dear. haha.

On Friday I will go to Pattaya with the president of the Rotary Club. She is my second host mom. i am very excited because Pattaya is on the beach and looks very beautiful. Also, I will get to meet her family. She has three kids and I am very excited to have host siblings in my second family. Her oldest son, Ohm, has just returned from California for Youth Exchange. I am so excited to meet him because he will speak English!

Also, I talked to Yin (the exchange student who lives in Bangkok who went to Palmer High School last year) on the phone. It was so good to hear a familiar voice. Hopefully I will be able to go see her in Bangkok sometime soon.

Kaohom. It doesn't really seem like my name, but then I realized that I already answer to it. Still, I wish people could call me Kearney. Kaohom seems so foreign. I suppose everything here is foreign though. I just have to get used to it. Also... I think the first time someone translated my name for me it was translated wrong... I've now been told that it means "rice and good smells" or "rice that smells good".

A friend of mine sent me a few questions she had so I will answer them here. If you have questions please let me know! You can comment below or email me.

I have seen very few Americans here. With my blond hair, height and white skin I stick out like a dragon at a petting zoo. Most people either stare at me as if they have never seen a white person before or pretend as if they haven't seen me, but keep looking up as if to check that I'm actually there. Young children often nudge their friends when I walk by. When I smile at them they smile back and nudge each other, whispering inaudible things in Thai. At the store the other day a young boy walked by me and said in a small voice "Hello?" and kept walking. I didn't think fast enough to realize he wanted to talk to me. His mother hurried him along and tried to act like she had not noticed me. In America, I am just another white girl walking down the street but here it is impossible to go unnoticed.

Anyways, I don't have much time to write. Wish me luck introducing myself tomorrow!

-Kearney

First Few Days...

Landing in Thailand was unreal. Through customs, money exchange, baggage claim... it was still just a happy dream. As the group of thirteen of us Youth Exchange Students left the customs area with our luggage we wondered where to find our host families. Luckily the signs in the airport are for the most part translated into English. Following signs for "Meeting Point" we finally found the correct place. We passed two other "Meeting Points" before coming to the one where our families were. When we got to the last point people started to separate as the noticed handwritten or typed signs with their names on them. As I stood there before the meeting point gate with the last two Inbounds yet to be collected, searching for my name on a sign,  I admit I had a teeny heart attack. "Oh no. Oh no. No one is here to pick me up. What am I going to do now?!". But, seconds later a man came through the gate and up to me... "Kearney?" the man says except it's more like "Keewee". "Yes!" I say. The man is Chutipon my Youth Exchange Officer. I shake his hand and walk with him beyond the gate. Here I meet Toon, a woman who I have been in contact with on facebook. It's as if a tiny part of me already knows her. Now I notice the enormous sign they have for me. It must be three feet long! It says "Welcome to Thailand, Kearney Tate Newman" and has pictures of me from facebook on it. Now I meet a bunch of new people... my first host father Jumnong, my second host mom who is the President of the Rotary club, my third host dad, my first host family's oldest daughter Cartoon, a boy named Boss who is the son of one of the Rotarian's proclaims "I have a pretty cool name, I know." I laugh. It is so good to be here. We take pictures with my welcome sign and they hand me four beautiful, wonderful smelling, flower bracelets (I think they are bracelets, but they don't fit on my wrists so maybe not...). I'm not sure what they are called but as I smell them I am told that they smell good and I agree. As I look back at the photos of my arrival I realize that in each picture their is a new person or two... and some people that I don't even remember being at the airport. I suppose I will meet them all at some point!
The drive to Lop Buri is two hours but takes more because we are in a large van and must drop others at their homes first.

We finally arrive at my first home and I meet my first host mother "Janpen". Then we go up three flights of the most well shined wooden stairs I have ever seen in my life. I have my own room and bathroom. I am exhausted and almost immediately fall asleep. I am told I must be ready to leave the house at 8am tomorrow to go to school with Bee (Toon's neice who will go on exchange to Colorado at the end of August). I wake up at 7am and put clothes on. I walk up and down the three flights of stairs at least three times... I need a towel, but I don't know how to ask and I don't know where my hosts are. The house is dark. I am sweaty from Thailand's heat, dirty from two days of travel and I have no towel... I take a shower anyways. Using a t-shirt as a towel really isn't so bad... I will ask for a towel later.

I go out to breakfast with Bee and her father. Never before have I had rice porridge. It is slimy, white and has pork in it. Bee's father gets something different from the porridge Bee and I have. The smell and look of it reminds me of something I might eat for dinner, eating it for lunch might be a stretch... but for breakfast... never. Chili paste and soy sauce for breakfast... I really really want some bread and butter.

I spend most of the day at Bee's school, which is different from the one I will go to. Thai students laugh and talk loudly a lot. They call me "sooai" and "narak" meaning beautiful and cute. It is so nice. I spend almost the entire day with a girl named Nanny. She is very good at English and I think we will be good friends.

When I go home I give my host parent's gifts from Alaska and they sign to me to go to sleep by putting their hands under their heads and pointing upstairs. I go happily. I am to be awake at 6pm for dinner. At 5:30pm I am awoken by a knock on the door. My host father and a girl walk in. Is it Cartoon... she looks like her but I cannot tell...? She takes my phone from me to check the time, she seems to think that I thought it was nighttime in Thailand and went to sleep. I cannot explain that I know it is not yet nighttime but that I needed a nap. I learn later that the girl is Taew the youngest daughter of my host father, Cartoon's younger sister. We go to dinner at the Lop Buri Inn and Resort and I eat even though I am so full already. I write down an entire page of new Thai words just at dinner. How will I ever remember them all? I see that the Resort has a pool... the water looks sooo inviting.

When we get home I go over a few of the First Night Questions with Taew. She says she will wake me up at 10am today. I woke up at 7:20am... after sleeping for 10 hours (that is why I have a little time to write on my blog). I am a bit jet-lagged, I think. Today Taew will take me on her motor bike (yay!)  to see Prang Sam Yot, a famous monument in Lop Buri. I tell her "Chan dtuun-den." meaning "I am excited." After that, Toon will take me to buy my school uniform. I will start school on Tuesday. Monday is Mother's Day here, Happy Mother's day to all mothers! :)

My room is nice. I have no drawers or anything though so I think I will be living out of my suitcase. The air conditioner in my room is my best friend. My room is on the third floor along with a bathroom and I think another bedroom. There is a balcony also. It is the Rainy Season here. I thought that meant it would just never stop raining but it's not true. It just means that one moment it is sunny and the next it is pouring down rain. I can hear it on my ceiling because I am on the top floor... it truly happens in a instant. The first time it happened I thought it was something with my fan because I had just been adjusting it... haha.

Anyways, not much time to write, but I am doing well! Will write again sometime, not sure when. Stay well :)

Kearney aka Kaohom (my new Thai name, it means rice and sweet milk)

At the airport

 My first Thai dinner

Left to Right: Taew (host sister), Jetip, Janpen (host mother), Jumnong(host father)

This is the beginning...

From crying while saying goodbye to the people I love to zipping up my suitcase with a smile, the past few days have been an emotional roller coaster. You could say that I’m excited for this year… but that might be an understatement. You could also say that I’m scared for this year… but that too might be an understatement. As I write this I am sitting on Korean Airlines Flight 20 from Seattle to Incheon-Seoul Airport in South Korea. An hour there and I’ll be on a plane to Bangkok, Thailand. A few hour drive and I’ll be stepping foot in Lop Buri—my final destination, my new home. That will be tomorrow… but really quickly, let’s visit the past few days.

It’s Monday August 6^th. What better to do than wake up at 4am in time to watch the Alaskan sunrise with my best friend? Spend hours talking and somehow laughing even though we both know that when we part today it will be for a very long time. Somehow we manage an entirely fantastic day free of sadness or tears until of course the goodbyes begin. From my last farewells here I head to the first day of Palmer High Swim practice. I’m not swimming this season of course, but if I were spending the next year in Alaska I certainly would be. It’s good to be able to see the team; lots of new faces and of course all of the familiar ones. I realize, though it seems odd, I’ll truly miss the smell of chlorine along with the echoing noise of voices in the pool and the chaos of swim meets. Many watery hugs later I head home. I remind myself that today is my sisters 18^th birthday. We celebrate by going to Benihana and watching in awe as our food is artfully cooked right before our eyes. All this and the day is not yet over, a quick visit to a few more friends. A wonderful conversation cut short because of lack of time… People can say time is money, but I’d say time well spent is worth more than any amount of currency.

It’s Tuesday August 7^th. I leave Alaska at 5:01am on Wednesday… meaning; I’m leaving home around 2am (on August 8^th). But what to do with my last day in Alaska? Swim in a freezing cold Alaskan lake seeing as I probably won’t be feeling very cold for quite a while, eat sushi and lay on the sun covered grass with two of my favorite big sisters, play croquet with the family, play twister with my brother and sister, eat one last truly American meal of mashed potatoes, gravy and meatloaf, bake chocolate cupcakes with my sister, say quick farewells to two more close friends and get less than two hours of sleep before heading off.

The last days and weeks before I left were hectic. I stayed up late and got up too early. I washed altogether too much laundry and constantly fluctuated between being super excited, tearful, contemplative and scared. Somehow, even in the last few days leading up to my departure it seemed as if the fact that I was leaving for a year hadn’t really hit me. Ridiculously enough, as I sit here on the plane that’s halfway to Asia it is still just hitting me. I can’t believe how lucky I am to have this opportunity.

The night before I left, as I tried to sleep, everything normal seemed magnified. I realized that the next night I wouldn’t be staring up at my glow in the dark star covered ceiling or listening to my super loud clock tick tick tick away. I wouldn’t hear the soft rustle of the cool air blowing through the vine-like bush that climbs the wall outside my window or the bark of my dog or the occasional creak of my timber frame house. I wouldn’t feel the weight of my cat sleeping next to me in the dark or the soft fleece of my warm blankets. Yet somehow, these thoughts weren’t discomforting. Somehow, I was able to set my alarm for 1am and drift off into a peaceful sleep knowing that tomorrow was the big day.

Saying goodbye at the airport was strange. It was upsetting, naturally, to leave my family behind, but also undeniably exciting when I focused on where I was going and what I was doing. I cried, but after that third round of hugs I went on my way. Through security and off. Though people told me before not to look back after that, that it would only make it worse, I did anyways. I watched as my parents turned and brother and sister followed. Then, then I tried not to look back.

The plane to Seattle was odd as well. I’d taken that flight so many times, even by myself a few times, but this was different. I watched out the window reminding myself that this was the last time I’d see Alaska for a long time, thinking I had to soak it all in… that didn’t last too long though because I fell asleep almost immediately. Four hours later I found myself sitting at a table by the window in the Seattle Airport, then a few hours later on a train to the International Departure Terminal listening to people jabber away in Korean and make announcements that I don’t understand (so the confusion begins, I think to myself… :P), then in line with twelve other exchange students, then on the plane. Korean Airlines, flight number 20, estimated to arrive in Seoul in 10 hours.

As I sit down on the plane, the Korean woman next to me asks in perfect English where I am going. I tell her I am flying to Bangkok and that I am an exchange student. She tells me I am very brave and that I must be very smart. She cannot even get her daughter to leave for a short time to go to boarding school she explains. Her friendliness is comforting.

On a completely different note, I’ve been on international flights before, but let me just say that this international airlines treat you so much better than normal airlines.  A blanket, pillow, slippers, toothbrush and toothpaste await you on your seat as you board. There are televisions built into every seat on which you can watch movies, play games or track the planes progress. A meal is served, but it’s nothing like… excuse me as I say {super duper gross} American plane food. Then a few hours later, snacks and orange juice (Dichan ao nam-som nung gowie ka. I want one glass of orange juice—in Thai). Aaand… they sell perfume and fancy watches and curry paste… on the plane… all on the same cart. I’m not sure why…

I made it to Lop Buri safe and sound. I will write more about my first days in Thailand and my host family and such later. 

-Kearney

P.S. Why is blogspot.com in Thai script? Just because I am in Thailand now doesn't mean I can read Thai yet! Help! haha

Goodbyes...

July, July, July! Never seemed so strange...

Well, I’m quoting a song, but this part certainly seems to describe my life right now.  July was in a rush, it seems like it just started a few days ago yet I find myself looking at the calendar and reading today as August 1st. My last full month in Alaska has passed and I am leaving for Thailand in six days. Everything feels so strange... but I like it.  My suitcase is packed and my schedule is as well. Six days from now I’ll be across the world. I’ll be meeting new people, becoming part of a new family and community, going to a different school, eating different foods and speaking a very different language. I know this year will be difficult, it will present challenges I cannot even imagine, yet I still know it will be amazing and it will undoubtably change my life for the better. So, even though I’m leaving behind so many familiar faces, places and people that I love, it doesn’t have to be sad. In a strange way, I feel like I'm the happiest girl alive.
So here it is... goodbye Alaska! See you in a year!

Thailand, here I come! =D 

-Kearney

On another note, if you put your email into the box on the top right side of the page, you will be notified when I update here.