Harlem Shake

The last day that I stayed with my last host family my host dad asked me if there was anything special I wanted to do the night before I left. All I could think was... the Harlem Shake of course! So here it is! (Two of my host siblings couldn't be in it, thanks to my oldest host brother for making the video!)

In case you don't know what the Harlem Shake is, it is... well... it's easier not to explain so he is one of the first Harlem Shakes....http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4hpEnLtqUDg

Here is my family's Harlem Shake... Host Family Harlem

Even Grandma got in on the action! Or rather... didn't get in on the action...

kearn

New Familyyy

I spent the three days after I was in Bangkok with the Bechtolds at home. I hung out with my host family and soaked up every minute of it. I finally decided on Wednesday that since I was moving in the morning I had better get a start on packing up all my things. It ended up only taking about 2 hours -- two suitcases, two bags, a box and a trophy without a container to fit inside. The car ride was short and I kept my eyes glued out the window trying to hide the fact that silent tears were rolling down my cheeks. I tried not to cry, but as I left my mom and dad it was impossible. I was extremely welcomed into my new host family though. They own a very large van rental company and have four workers working in their office in the front room of the house, all of them were very talkative. I moved my things into my room, it's a super cozy room and I absolutely love it! That night my new family took me to a shopping mall and even bought me a new swim suit for my Rotary trip to the South which is at the end of this month! Two nights at my new family's home and I was away from home again though, on Saturday morning I headed to another province (Angtong) where I met about 15 other exchange students and spent Saturday and Sunday learned traditional Thai dances from all four regions of Thailand. We will practice once more next weekend and then be presenting our dances at District Conference at the end of this month. I am very excited! Just a few days after District Conference all the Inbound will be heading off on our first Rotary trip to the South of Thailand! I couldn't be more excited! Well, that's all for now, talk to you later!

Oh wait, oh wait! Happy Birthday to the best big brother in the world! I love you Riley! Happy 21st birthday today! <3

Here are some photos from my weekend in Angtong ----> Dance Camp

Kearn

Check Out

I'm staring at a little green light. On. Off. On. Off. Sitting in the second floor kitchen you can look out the open window into the high ceiling garage where my host dads car air conditioning fixing shop is. I'm watching the light of the machine where the workers use their fingerprints to check in in the morning and check out at night. Upstairs, my suitcases are packed... ready to be carried down tomorrow morning. My heart is heavy. Tomorrow morning I'll be checking out. Checking out for good. 

In other words, tomorrow is moving day. I'm moving to my final host family. They seem like very kind people and I think I will be very happy living with them, but I can't deny the sadness I feel about leaving my current host family. I truly cannot thank the entire Pitakpanichkul family enough for taking me in and treating me as truly a daughter, little sister and part of the family. 

No matter how many times I say thank you, it will never be enough.

Bechtolds in Bangkok!

The other exchange student who I am closest friends with here is named Alex, she is from Oregon, this week her mom and little sister (Madison) are in Thailand to see her! I went with Alex to the airport to pick them up and spent a few days in Bangkok with them. Before we picked them up at the airport I got to see River and Whitney who are the other two exchange students from Alaska, they are staying in the Northern district so we do not see each other, luckily they happened to be in Bangkok on their Central Rotary Trip when I was on Thursday! It was great to see some familiar faces! Also I tasted my first hamburger in about seven months... bacon cheeseburger... it was pretty delicious. Alex and I shared it so technically we still haven't eaten a whole hamburger this year! We hung out with some other friends in Bangkok and also got to meet students from the other Rotary districts in Thailand... and I saw one guy who I talked with on the plane here and never saw again! It was all a pretty great day and in the evening, Alex and I headed to the airport. We ate dinner and of course dyed Alex's hair in the airport bathroom... that confused the cleaning ladies. Once the time for the arrival of Alex's family got closer and closer we both started getting pretty impatient... she a bit more so than me. We played cards to pass the time until finally I thought I saw the shape of her mother and sister through the not quite see through partition...

"Alex! Alex! I think I see them! Look, in the green shirt!"
"Well... my mom does like green..."

Unfortunately when the pair rounded the corner and came into view it turned out to be an elderly man and his small wife... not Alex's mom and little sister. False Alarm. A few minutes later I really thought I saw them...

"Alex! I see them! I really think it's them this time!"
"Noo... not yet, well maybe..." *looks up and looks through the partition, screams and runs off*

Alex practically knocked her poor mom over from running at her and hugging her. It was quite a sweet reunion! I felt like I sort of already knew them from seeing photos and hearing stories, so I gave them both a welcome hug too!

From there we headed to our hotel and were off to sleep. In the morning we were off for some Bangkok touring! We went and saw many temples, got massages and road in a tuk tuk on Friday. Then came home, exhausted, and went into the cold water hot tub on the roof of our cozy hotel. It was quite fun and we even saw some stars in the city! The next day we woke up early and went to a floating market and the JJ market which is a famous, enourmous, market where you can buy anything from pet monkeys, to jade Bhudda statues to pants, to bags with American flags on them to... well basically anything you want, including fresh orange juice and delicious foods. In the taxi between the floating market and JJ Alex and I composed a story in Thai because Madison (Alex's little sister) asked us to. Our story involved puppy eating snakes and a mother who was a ninja and saved her baby daughter. It was a pretty crazy story and when we finished we realized the taxi driver probably understood everything we said... that was a funny but sort of awkward moment.

Dear Taxi Driver in Bangkok,
Yes, we are crazy.
Love,
Alex and Kearney

After a sticky, hot day of shopping I headed off taking the BTS (sky train) a few stations and then the van two and a half hours back home to Lop Buri while the Bechtolds headed to the airport to go to Phuket!

Also, we had to have a few servings of sticky rice and mangoes... the most delicious dessert I have ever eaten in my life.

Sweet mangoes (which are in season right now) and sweet sticky rice with coconut sauce on top.









Here is the link to my photos of the past few days--> Bangkok with the Bechtolds!

xoxo Kearn