Five Stories, Six Months

I've just finished eating breakfast and as I put my dishes in the sink something catches my eye out the window... the building... when I first arrived it was just a foundation and some piles of bricks... now it is more than four stories tall. I see the workers, they look like small ants from here, scurrying to and fro and I watch the building grow. As I stare at this building I realize something else that has changed, it's not my first days here...my first week... my first month... what is it? It's the first day of February. February 2013. This new building, that one I could barely see when I arrived, is going on five stories tall now and me, I'm an oldie. I'm over halfway through this year, it feels like this life is halfway over. My return flight plans are being processed. I'm going on six months next week. It feels strange, it feels sad. Now I know it must seem as if I am being a bit overdramatic, but it feels like yesterday was Thanksgiving and Christmas and suddenly now it is a month after New Years. The time has flown so much and I don't like it. It seems as if at this rate, next week I will be leaving home.

Chiang Rai

"Wherever there is a human in need, there is an opportunity for kindness and to make a difference." -Kevin Heath 

I'm sitting in the consistently shunned middle seat of one of the very back rows of the plane, it wasn't much of a bother to me though because this plane ride was much different than the one I took to come to Thailand, this one was only about an hour. Bap Dtiao. Very short. Chiang Rai back to Bangkok.

The intercom turns off and so do the lights. I look up from my dark, my eyes struggle to adjust to the dark as suddenly the page I am reading is dark, but as I reach up to turn on my overhead light the kindly man next to me smiles and gestures up, he has already seen that I am reading and turned it on for me. Just another show of the simple kindness of the Thais.

I've had a wonderful week travelling, seeing old friends, helping others and learned some about myself but I am tired and I'm ready to be heading home; back to my family and my friends and homemade dinners and my comfortable home.

A week ago I took the ride to Bangkok in the front seat of my Dad's friends little truck, sucking on some strange Thai hard candy, occasionally talking, but mostly staring out the window as we pass houses, rice fields and banana trees. Arriving quite early at the airport I have time to get a foot massage before boarding my plane. Upon arrival in Chiang Rai my friend Mook (exchange student to Alaska last year, Wasilla Sunrise Rotary) and two of her friends are waiting for me at the airport, they even have a welcome sign for me! I see them and wave excitedly but I have to wait for my bag before heading out to meet them.

The next few days are spent travelling and sightseeing in Chiang Rai. To the mountains, to see huge gorgeous gardens, to eat Kao Soi (a very popular Northern Thai food, noodles with curry), to the Golden Triangle, to visit Mook's grandparents, to the famous White Temple (Wat Runkun) and to other interesting sights in Chiang Rai province.

I also got to see Whitney, another exchange student from Alaska who is staying in Chiang Rai and who I haven't seen since we parted at the Bangkok airport over five months ago. It was great to reconnect with her and to be able to share stories as of course coming from the same place we both really understand whats going on for each other.

Friday morning we woke up early to go to Maechan which is a smaller city about 40 minutes away, still in Chiang Rai province. I freely admit that with wet hair in the 15 degree celsius air I was absolutely freezing... and wearing both the coats I have with me in Thailand. (Side note; Ja gap yuu Alaska yangai?! How will I live in Alaska?!)

Anyways we arrived in Maechan just before 9am and Mook and I were both very excited to see Kathleen, a Rotarian from Anchorage, Alaska. We met all the other camp helpers, including Alaskans, Hawaiians, Australians, Chinese and Thais. The camp was at a boarding school for orphaned hill tribe children or hill tribe children who's parent's didn't have the money to give them an education or keep them at home. The children live in dorms at the school and have chores and quite regimented schedules. Children from two other schools also came for the English camp.

There were around seventy kids at the camp and seven groups each having two foreign teachers. The first thing on the first day of camp was to learn who your group was and create a team cheer, name and poster. I was paired with awesome Calethia who is a college student from the US but is studying in Shanghai, China this year. She and I had a fantastic team consisting of kids from all three schools from ages eleven to seventeen. Our team was named Ignite.

Camp consisted of games, listening games, drawing games, competitions, acting, singing, dancing-- lots of dancing, silly faces and lots of fun. Some things were difficult and some simpler but all in all it was a total success.

The first day didn't end until late because we had a special treat for the kids. The Hawaiian Rotarians had brought marshmallows and graham crackers from the US and we taught the kids how to make s'mores. That evening everyone wrote down something the wanted to release from there life and taped it to one of around six paper lanterns then we lit them and watched as our worries, annoyances and negativities floated away on the cool Northern breeze.

Before going home (I stayed at the home of a Thai teacher at the school) that night, one little girl came up to me. It had seemed to me that the day had been very difficult because her English was not very good, I was a bit worried that she was not having fun but all my worries were gone after she spoke to me. She came to me... pulling on my arm gently... "P'Kaohom" which is the polite way for her to call me, "P" because I am older than her. She then proceeded to tell me in Thai how happy she was that I had come and how happy she was she could meet me and the other foreign teachers, she told me she had lots of fun today and she wasn't lonely anymore. Her small voice made a big impact on me. I pulled her into a hug and she more than willingly squeezed her arms around me tightly. Soon other kids came, standing back from us a little bit but watching. Releasing this little girl I opened my arms to the next closest child and hugged her goodnight. Then another and another, they started coming in pairs-- shy at first, I hugged two at a time, they squeezed me tightly and buried there faces in my shirt. I hugged some of them more than once and told them all sweet dreams and that I would see them tomorrow. My parents came to my room and tucked me in each and every night, on my request, probably until I was in something like 7th or 8th grade. So, knowing that they don't have their mom and dad to hug them goodnight everyday is something I cannot even begin to understand... and only makes me appreciate this and so many other small things so, so, so much more. This thing that I cannot understand only wants me to help more, if it takes something as simple as a hug to make a child's life brighter then even if it takes my entire life, I will hug every single orphan on every single continent of the world. I've realized the joy it brings me to be of any comfort to these underprivileged children and I can't wait to be able to help other children.

The second day of camp another little girl came to me, also speaking in Thai she said, "big sister" and pointed at me and "little sister" and pointed at herself, then she hugged me, long and tightly. The end of camp was sad, I knew that next day the kids would go back to their normal lives; school and chores and strict schedules but mostly it was the fact that I had made connections with, laughed and smiled with all of these kids and I wasn't yet ready to leave them.

I suppose the purpose of me going to Kumjornwit school was to teach these children English but really I think the children taught me more than I taught them.

So, anyways, I found myself back on the plane... sitting between a sleepy young woman and kindly old man who turned on my reading light for me. This week I've certainly learned how far a simple act of kindness can go.

Kearney

P.S. Here are some photos, ---> January Photos <--- a few are from Ayuthaya which is a place I went with my family before going to Chiang Rai. It is one of the old capitals of Thailand and is very famous, the following photos of Chiang Rai and of camp.

SLOW DOWN

A quiet knock on my door and then my host mom comes into the room, I'm awake already but sitting in bed just thinking.

"Bai gin kao, mai?"

"Bai, plean chut gon ka."

"Dtiao Kun Meh lorh hong leang na."

"Do you want to go out for breakfast?"

"I want to! I'll change my clothes first."

"Okay, I'll wait for you downstairs."

So began my day, a short walk to the restaurant just down the street and then my host mom asks me what I want to eat. I look at the menu, but really I know already what I want to eat. Tom Yum Goong aka spicy shrimp soup. I laugh inside at the thought that the first few days I was in Thailand all I wanted was toast for breakfast... when was the last time I had toast for breakfast? Who knows... perhaps a month or so? Not for lack of bread or toaster but for lack of wanting it. That which I once considered "dinner" food and thought it was crazy to eat it in the morning, strangely enough that's all I want for breakfast now. 

This evening as I sat in my host dad's office six o'clock rolled around and so the turned on TV show stopped and the Thai National Anthem played, as it does each and every evening, I found myself singing along and humming the bits I don't yet know. Strange I thought, just a bit ago I didn't even know a single word of this song... in fact, I couldn't have even picked it out from a CD upon arrival.

Today was littered with thoughts of my first week here which led to thinking... just how long ago was that? Well, it was five months, five months ago today I left home to create a whole new life. 

Fittingly enough, today was the day that the letter I wrote to myself before leaving arrived... I've decided to share with you...something I wrote... last April, completely forgot about and now got to read today.

Here goes...

--

April 15, 2012

Dear Kearney,

Firstly, I hope you've realized the wonders of Thailand. Before you left, at this moment, though you are overjoyed and wouldn't give anything to change the fact that you're going on exchange, there is a niggling feeling/thought/question in the back of your mind...Is Thailand right for me? Will I succeed on exchange? Will I accomplish all I hope to? And so many more. By this time, half-way through exchange, I hope I've made wonderful connections. I hope I have already formed some amazing relationships with my family, host club, school and students my age. Remember this chance is once in a lifetime. You have one year to learn about yourself in a whole new place. Of course you will continue learning for the rest of your life, but remember to use this time wisely. Say "yes" to opportunities that show themselves. Don't be afraid to make mistakes! Spend time practicing Thai. Learn about Bhuddism, learn everything you can about yourself, your home, your heart, your beliefs and those of the people and countries around you. Don't get frustrated, don't call home too often. Take every chance you have to make a positive impact on someone elses' life. Live life to the fullest! Try new food! Learn Thai! Read and write in Thai! Ride an elephant! 

Kearney T Newman

--

Well, to be very clear... I have realized the wonders of Thailand. I have no question that Thailand was right for me. I feel accomplished. I have met a million great people and have made many wonderful new friends, I have parents that I call "mom" and "dad" and brothers and a sister who I love. I have a good relationship with my host club, family, school and students my age. I say yes to every opportunity and I spend time practicing Thai everyday through conversing. I am proud of my Thai. I try new foods and activities everyday. I've ridden an elephant and learned so many important lessons. I've had my hard days and my homesick nights, but every piece is just part of the roller coaster. This is truly amazing and I just cannot stop smiling. Life is truly wonderful.

Kearney

P.S. The reason that this is titled "SLOW DOWN" is because time is going altogether WAY WAY WAY WAY WAY too fast. I can't believe I've been here five months already and I don't want to think about it. Please time, slow down, please.

Christmas & New Years

95% of Thai people are Bhuddist, 4% Muslim, 0.5% Hindu/Sikhs and other religions... that leaves about 0.5% for Christianity. Anyways, what I'm trying to say is there isn't Christmas in Thailand... or so one would think. My host family is wonderful and so I had a little... though nothing like Christmas in Alaska... celebration. I actually ended up going to the most "Christmas Parties" I've ever been to this year... strange how that works. Soon after Christmas I headed up to the North for my host family (and extended host family)'s annual roadtrip for New Years. It's been a little while since I last wrote, so heres a quick overview of the past week or so.

December 23rd- Celebrate Christmas with the family. The day was just a normal day spent hanging out a home... or so it was planned to be, but it turned out that I found myself becoming even closer to my host siblings. In the evening we had Christmas dinner which was quite a funny affair. We ate barbecue pork ribs, spaghetti, duck, mashed potatoes and fruit by the lit up Christmas tree. Each person in my host family got me a Christmas gift and I gave my family gifts from Alaska. We started out the evening wearing Santa hats but soon my host mom came out with crab hats that my host brother brought back from exchange in California last year... so in all Christmas fashion we spent most of the night listening to my host brothers music-- mostly top of the charts radio music from last year--mixed in with random bouts of Jingle Bells and We Wish You a Merry Christmas wearing crab hats and laughing. It was a great evening.

December 24th- Slept in late and then went out to breakfast/lunch with my host sister, we went and got our nails done, ate Christmas ice cream at Swensen's and learned that we are both quite forgetful sometimes. That evening I went to another exchange student's host family's "Christmas" party. I put Christmas in quotations because Thai people don't really know what Christmas is... 555 Anyways, the night include karaoke (of course!), trying to make cookies without a recipe or the right ingredients, Santa hats/Batman masks/squeezable pig sound makers/confetti and two person bike rides (there are lots of bikes with sidecars here).

December 25th- Woke up early on Christmas morning for... drum roll.... presents! Just kidding, woke up at 6:45am on Christmas morning to go to school. Yes, I'm serious. So now I can say I have been to school and worn a school uniform on  Christmas! But school didn't last long, two other exchange students and I had been enlisted to sing Christmas carols at the morning assembly, so after doing our spliced together version of We wish a Feliz Navidad Jingle Bells we headed to my house and spent the rest of the day with all the other exchange students in Lopburi making cookies! This time with the correct ingredients and a recipe! After make dark chocolate white chocolate almond cookies, Moon cpokies/Mexican Wedding Cakes/Russian Tea Cakes/Russian Wedding Cakes (whatever you call them, we all had different names for them!) and peanut butter cookies we watched the Jim Carrey version of "How the Grinch Stole Christmas" which is something I do every year around Christmas (and I learned one of the other exchange students has the same tradition!). That evening we went out to a nice dinner... wearing our crab hats of course. Late that night I skyped my family back home, so I got to see them all bright and early on Christmas morning like always.

December 26th- Went to my friend Alex (exchange student from Oregon)'s house and helped she and her host mom cook food for the party that evening. That night twelve exchange students all got together  to hang out which was quite fun. I ended up spending two nights there before heading home in the afternoon on the 28th.

December 28th- Packed up and headed off on my host family/extended host family's annual New Years trip to the North. We left the house around 10:30pm and drove through the night. Somewhere in the middle of the night I found myself at a temple. We "Waied Phra" (I don't know how to say this exactly in English, but it's something like "gave respect to Bhudda") and also walked around the temple a bit. My host mom told me that God's bones were here and that to come here was very good luck. Though I have visited many temples already, at this one there was two new things I had never done...
1. There is heavy metal elephant and you Wai Phra and then ask a question about your future, then try to lift the elephant with only one finger (a different finger depending on whether you are male or female). You then let go, ask again and try to lift the elephant one more time. It is good luck and a positive answer if the first time you can lift the elephant and the second time you cannot. Though the second time the elephant was quite a lot harder to lift, I was still able to lift the bottom about a centimeter off the ground so I suppose the answer to my question was mediocre.
2. There is a tall cup of number chopsticks which you hold as if waiing and then shake. Shake, shake, shake... and boy does it create a racket especially when it's the middle of the night. Supposedly one should fall out and that one will hold your fortune, but not everyone can get the hang of it so instead of one chopstick falling out... they all did... twice. After this happened my older brother told me to just choose one stick and so I did and then, remembering the number--two, I went to the side wall and ripped of a little rectangle of paper that gave me my fortune.
These two practices were interesting and I really enjoyed them.

December 29th- Arrived at Obluang National Park and set up tents. Spent the day talking, sleeping and eating, took a short walk to the famous "Obluang Rock" before settling down for some dinner and a good nights sleep.

December 30th- Drove for hours, stopped at a hot spring where we were able to cook eggs in the 90 celsius water. Stayed at a little group of guesthouses in Samoeng, Chiang Mai Thailand. Spent the evening listening to my host brother and cousin playing guitar and trying to sing along.

December 31st- Packed up a left and drove out to a strawberry feild where we picked our own strawberries and where given tastes of strawberry wine and dried strawberries. Got to see the inside of the workspace where they make strawberry juice/wine/candy etc and it reminded me of my work the summer before I left. Labeling bottles, stirring pots, sweet fruity smells... lots of memories and of course a lot of sympathy for the pour girl who had to bottle everything, that is the least fun job. That night we planned to sleep in Chiang Mai city but the place we had planned to stay wasn't what we expected and everywhere else was full on New Years so we ended up going back out to Samoeng and staying another night. The woman who owned the questhouses was quite happy to see us again and we all danced and listened to karaoke with her and her daughters before heading back up to our little houses where we sat on the ground, played music, talked, sat by the fire, lit off a few small fireworks and floated lanterns in the sky (something I have always wanted to do) and ended the night exhausted and falling into bed beside my host sister, but not before wishing her a happy birthday (January 1st)!

January 1st- Drove a whole lot today, stayed by another hot spring, this one much larger than the last. Took hot tub/saunas for 10 baht per person (about 30 cents for 10 minutes). Rented tents... yes, you can rent pre set up tents! How cute and convenient is that? Spent the night eating, talking, laughing and celebrating the birthday of my host sister and her younger cousin.

January 2nd- Spent the whole day driving home. Got back around 5pm and said goodbye to the extended family. They are all so kind and welcoming, it was wonderful to meet them and I'll really miss them, especially one host cousin named Mai who is the same age as me. They live in Chonburi which is maybe four hours away so maybe I will get to see them again! I hope so!

Anyways, that's my Christmas and New Years! It was a whirlwind, so busy, nothing like home at all but definitely wonderful. I cannot believe that it is already 2013, it seems not so long ago that right about now... January 3rd, 2012, I was counting down the days until the 15th so I could find out what country I was going to be spending this year! Boy how much has changed since then. I cannot believe that it's been almost five months since I left home. Time is flying... they say it does that when you're having fun!

I'll post photos later, for now I am off to Bangkok for the day!

Hope you all had a wonderful holiday season! สวัสดีปีใหม่ 2556! Happy New Year 2013! 

-Kearn

Happyyy

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 ♥

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

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