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
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