Dance, Sing, Floss, Travel: Exchange Students are the Coolest Kids in the World :D

OK so the following post was written throughout this last week with the main portions written on two days. Please try to follow along because in all honesty I am too lazy to revise it.

21/08/2011

So it’s, Sunday night, and I arrived home about half an hour ago. After unpacking and a long shower, everything is starting to feel normal again. After having such a crazy awesome weekend, the normal feeling, is not welcomed.

On Saturday, I woke up at five am and drove three hours to Nakhon Ratchisma, for the Rotary Orientation. As soon as I walked in and everyone was joking around in English, I knew I was going to have a ton of fun. I talked to some guys from the US who live about 45 minutes away from me for the first little bit while they told us all the boring stuff. After they told us the rules and gave us some presentations on learning the language and culture shock. We went on a field trip to a silk weaving factory.

We took this big double Decker karaoke party bus, to and from the factory. It was very cool. It had flashing lights everywhere and this crazy psychedelic upholstery. It was really sweet. I really enjoyed talking to the other exchange students in Thailand. We could really relate on the culture shock and missing home. Everyone was so chill and nice. I love exchange students!! They are honestly the coolest kids in the world. After the silk factory, we hung out at the hotel traded pins and talked a lot! We had a banquet dinner at a buffet style restaurant. I think I ate more food there than I have since I left home two weeks ago. It was all so delicious. On the way back from the restaurant, we turned music on in the bus and danced in the aisles on the top floor. It was really crowded and everyone was dancing on everyone else. It has to be one of the best things I have ever done. One day I am coming back here and going on a road trip on one of these buses. Travel and sight see all day. Drive and Party all night! Could there be a better way to do it? I think not!

We went back to the hotel and danced in the stairwell for a while until the Rotarians came and told us to go to bed. I learned some dance moves from the Brazilian girls who are amazing dancers!! It was so much fun! I then went back to my room and crashed. As soon as I sat down on my bed I was out!

This morning, I woke up around seven and had a delicious breakfast of TOAST and fruit. We then went back upstairs and they explained more rules to us along with an extensive section on bathing and washing your clothes. I guess maybe they have had some stinky exchange students in the past? I found it quite humorous. If you had some lady telling you how to shower in broken English you would too! We then had one last lunch together and set off home with our host families.

My first stop with my mom and dad was a village that was known for their pottery. The village was situated on the only exponential clay reserve in Thailand and everyone in the village makes pots and sculptures for a living. It was really cool, my parents talked to some people and they let us in the back of their homes to where they made the pots and figurines. It is amazing it took them about two minutes to make a pot. I watched them make like 6, all exactly the same size, shape and colour. It was really interesting. It is so much more different than how things are made in Canada.

After that we went to an ancient castle called Phi Mai, it was a palace from thousands of years ago. It is believed that the north eastern part of Thailand was invaded by the people of Cambodia. This castle resembles a great palace in Cambodia, although on a much smaller scale. The castle was built using many different angles and symbols giving it a lotus shape. The castle was very beautiful.

On our way out I noticed a tree that had roots growing up its trunk. My mom said there is a forest of these trees nearby. The forest is actually all one tree. The trees roots grow up along the branches and then grow down towards the ground forming a new “tree”. It then continues growing back up that tree and out along its branches to form yet another tree. The cycle continues from there to create a gorgeous forest of tree roots.

While there I saw my first lady boy, actually dressed as a lady boy. Lady boy is what they call gay boys or cross dressers here. The Lady boy actually looked like a girl; she was wearing leggings and shorts with a shirt that said “cute” across it. She had really long brown hair and breasts and was wearing makeup. The only reason I realised it was a lady boy was because of her voice and after further examination her shirt said, “CUTE, clothing inspired by girls.” They actually have lady boy brands here! There is a lady boy in my class, but you could never tell because of the uniform and what not. The only way you could tell is because of how nicely kept he is. That boy knows man-scaping he always has perfect hair right down to his perfectly shaped sideburns. Unlike most guys here, who like to sport the just rolled out of bed, look.

25/08/11

School is still very boring, very hot and very long. There are so many subjects in a day and I just sleep through them all. It is so hot all the time, its death I tell you, death. Especially in those hideous uniforms, oh how they make me cringe! I like it here though it’s very beautiful, everyday something happens that wows me and makes it worth it!

Today I had my first Muay Thai lesson and it was hard!! But I felt so good after!! I have Boxing three days a week for two hours and a membership at the gym I can use whenever. I think this a really good outpost and distraction. It felt great to get out of the house and forget who I am and where I was. I was still the” swoy farang” (beautiful foreigner) but after the initial hello, they left me and my trainer alone. My trainer is a world champion boxer and she is in her twenties. She doesn’t speak much English but she works me hard and I like that. It just me and her so I should be whipped into shape in no time. I am really excited to learn.

I am starting to feel a lot more at home here, the routine is coming into place. My host family is starting to feel more like family and I really like it here. However, I have not gotten used to the weather yet. I sweat 24/7 all day, all night. My favourite time of the day is the car ride to and from school. Can you say <3 air conditioning<3? I shower twice a day, sometimes three times if it’s really hot or I am bored. I will be sending a box or an envelope home soon with letters!! I love you all and miss you all lots!!