April!!

Sorry I'm getting to this so late! A lot happened in April, so I hope I remember everything in order (if not, sorry). Ahh yes, in April we went on our northern trip to Chiang Mai and Chiang Rai. It's hard to believe how long ago that was, and how quickly the time went by. I remember when we had four months until that trip, and now it's been almost two months since it happened.

On Saturday our train from Bangkok to Chiang Mai was on time (if you've ever traveled in Thailand, you'll know how rare that is). It was so nice to be able to talk to everyone and catch up. Most of us hadn't seen each other since the northeastern trip back in December. I took my laptop with me, and that night I watched Scooby Doo with Zann (South Africa) and Crystle (USA).

Sunday after our train arrived and we dropped off our bags at Pornping Hotel, we took a bus to a mountain and climbed over 300 steps to see a temple. If I remember correctly, we spent about 30 minutes at the temple, and omg it was so hot! Well, it could have been worse - at least there was shade.

When everyone was finished at the temple, we went to lunch before going to the umbrella factory. That was so cool! We were running late, so they didn't have a whole bunch of time, but they showed us how to make the paper that they use for the umbrellas, and then we were able to paint our own umbrellas. While we were there, there were people painting designs on different things. Some people had designs painted on iPads, cell phones, and the like. One of the ladies painted flowers on my iPod.

On Sunday night we went to dinner and a show. The food was pretty good, and the show was awesome. I can't remember the story they were telling, but the dancing was fantastic. Of course, I had to use the restroom, and right when we left they did the last act and everyone got to go on stage and dance. Don't I just have wonderful timing? haha

Monday morning we took the bus again, but this time to the White Temple. Wow that place is so amazing. Kinda creepy, but amazing nonetheless. Since I visited the temple in December, the artist has added alot to the mural inside the temple. I had more time to enjoy the art work this time around, and was able to find more characters hidden in the work. I really wish that we were allowed to take photos of the inside of the temple, but at least some of the designs are committed to memory - Neo from the Matrix, Kung Fu Panda, Avatar, Terminator. There really is quite an interesting mix.

After about an hour at the White Temple (we had lunch too) we drove to the Golden Triangle. For those of you who don't know, the Golden Triangle is where Thailand, Laos, and Myanmar all border each other. We took a short boat trip up the river before doubling back and stopping in Laos to do some shopping. They had lots of bags, purses, and wallets because they're all of the rejects that can't be sold in places like the USA and Europe. Basically, all of the products are slightly flawed and don't make the cut to be sold elsewhere.

That night the outbounds had a sort of orientation after dinner. Because of this, the inbounds had some free time. During said free time we cut Hector's hair (ok, Bela cut Hector's hair) while Crystle and I dyed Zann's hair blue. We didn't dye ALL of his hair, he just had a lovely "Z", a star, and "HI" written on the back of his head. He wasn't particularly thrilled about that, but we did warn him, and he got a haircut a couple of weeks later so it didn't even really matter.

A bit later we had a campfire, and some of the outbounds joined us for a while, but eventually they went to go play cards together and do other outbound-y, bond-y things. Hunter (USA), Hector (Mexico), and Zann (South Africa) played guitar and Crystle, Eri, and I joined in singing when we knew the lyrics. Memories like these are some of my favorites.

Ok, I can't keep writing so much about each day... I'm sorry about that. Tuesday morning we went shopping in Myanmar, after shopping we went to a "resort" in the middle of nowhere. That night we lit lanterns like they do at Loy Krathong (I was really happy because I didn't actually get to do that on Loy Krathong). When we finally went to sleep my roommate wasn't back yet, and my creepy neighbors were there, so I ended up rooming with Sally that night.

Wednesday was absolutely amazing. We went to the elephant show, took photos with the elephants, fed them sugarcane and bananas, took an ox-cart ride, shopped a little, took elephants back to the reserve/sanctuary, had lunch, then BATHED THE ELEPHANTS IN THE RIVER. It kind of turned into more of a water fight, and it was wonderful. Apparently watching a group of high schoolers having a water fight with elephants is really entertaining to tourists, haha. After playing with the elephants we took bamboo rafts down the river. It was quite relaxing, and we all had a great time there too. That night and the night after we stayed at a small resort where a small long-neck tribe(?) was.

On Thursday we woke up kind of early and drove to a small mountain town (pop. just over 2,000). We spent the morning cleaning the church and the school. When we were done working we played Songkran with some of the kids before breaking for lunch. There's so much more to the story, you'll have to ask me for details when I get home. We went back to the resort and had some time before hiking up the hill and building a dam for the locals. The guys actually let me drive the bamboo stakes, and I know at least the Thais were impressed. After dinner we had our language test. As it turns out, I still hate taking tests (go figure). Post-test torture we played a big game of BS.

Friday... we went hiking on a mountain.

On Saturday we went back to Chiang Mai, changed clothes at the hotel, and went to celebrate Songkran. Imagine giant water fight, and that's pretty much it, but with music and parades too. The only thing you really have to watch out for is flying ice (it happens, it hurts). After a really good buffet dinner, we went to the night market. Eri (Japan) and I got henna tattoos. We had time to shop a bit later as well (nearer to the hotel) and Crystle and I met up with some of the other YE who were in Chiang Mai for Songkran: Saeko (Japan), to guys from France, Nate (USA), Daniel (USA), and a few others including Willis (USA). We (Crystle and I) didn't have very much time, so our conversations were cut short as we had to run back to the hotel. Of course, we weren't even the last people back.

Sunday, our last full day together. Instead of playing Songkran, Vaula and I got Thai massages and then went to Pizza Hut for lunch. They had parmesan cheese!! After lunch we went to Starbucks. My first Starbucks since being in Thailand. We met everyone about an hour later and headed to the train station. Saying goodbye when we arrived in Bangkok the next day was so difficult. We didn't know if that was going to be the last time we would see each other or not, and that made it even more stressful.

A few days after the trip, I changed hosts! My new host family is absolutely amazing. The first day my host sister Ray and I went to the new Robinson in Kanchanaburi and shopped a little bit before seeing พี่มาก..พระโขนง. It's the first Thai movie that I've seen and genuinely enjoyed. It had English subtitles so it was easier for me to follow.

That's about it for April! I feel like I need to upload photos, but I really don't have time. If you're friends with me on Facebook, they're all there, and if you have any questions, just send me a message.

Finally!! January - March

I can't really make any excuses as to why it's taken me this long to post another entry. My incredible procrastination skills are probably a big part of it.

The weekend after the Northeastern Trip, my dear friend Alica spent four days with me. During that time we wrote our monthly reports, watched movies, and ate lots of chips. The day after she left I changed host families. My first few days were spent figuring out things like what to do with dishes after I eat and where the toilet paper is kept. I was initially told that I was going to be living with this host for a week, but then a week turned into two, which turned into a month, and is now going on three. They're wonderful people, and with their help, I've been learning more Thai, and have been on some adventures.

One of those "adventures" was on January 19th. We (Eri, Japan; Vaula, Finland; Crystle, USA; Zak, USA; Alica, Mexico; Waldir, Mexico) met at Crystle's house and made food from our countries. We had pancakes, mac 'n' cheese, tacos, banana bread, and Eri made a Japanese dish but I can't remember what it was called.

From left to right, Crystle's host grandma, cousin, Eri, host brother, Vaula, Crystle, Waldir, me, Zak, Alica

That evening, Vaula, Zak and I met up with my host cousin Zinny and went bowling. It's safe to say that I'm REALLY not good at bowling. It was a fun night though. I also bought a set of purple contacts (and blue ones). I spent that night at Zinny's, and the following day we went to Phuket.

Bowling!! (Vaula, Zak, me)

Phuket was great. We stayed at the Zign hotel, and had Japanese food for dinner. The restaurant was SO COLD though, that it almost wasn't enjoyable. The hotel was super nice, and the pool was awesome. 

Zinny and I (with blue contacts)

The lobby at the Zign

Breakfast on Monday morning was the best. They had waffles! With actual maple syrup! After breakfast, my host picked us up and we went to the dolphin show. 

Kisses!

After the show we drove back to Bangkok, dropping off my host sister at her university on the way. My hosts talked to Zinny's parents for a bit when we dropped her off, and then we went home. It was so late by the time we got home that I didn't go to school the next day. It was worth it though, I had a great weekend.

In February I went to Alica's new house for the first time. She lives in a mansion! It was so cool! And of course it was great to see her for the third weekend in a row. 

The mansion

The following weekend Alica and I went with my host family to Sai Yok Yai waterfall. My cousin back in the USA had a school project called Flat Stanley where the kids make a paper doll and send it to friends and relatives in different places. At the waterfall, Alica and I made sure to take photos with Flat McKenna, my cousin's Flat Stanley doll.

That brings me to March. March went by SLOWLY save for a couple of adventure-filled weekends. To start I went to a Thai wedding. That was... interesting; a good learning experience, and also kind of awkward (for me at least) because I wore jeans. Jeans! At a wedding! The fact that I wasn't the only one in jeans either... I dunno.

The next weekend I spent with good friend and rebound exchange student Patt. Patt took me and two of her friends to Bueng Chawak zoo and then to the aquarium there. If I remember correctly, almost half of the zoo was large cats. They had so many lions and tigers! They were all absolutely beautiful.  

It was also really cool that we got to feed bananas to the giraffes, ponies, and camels.

 

After we went to the aquarium we had lunch, and that evening Patt took me to the tower in Suphanburi and we spent some time in the park. It was finally starting to cool down outside, so we were actually able to enjoy it. For dinner that night, Patt and I ate ice cream at the Swensen's in Robinson.

The following day was also really eventful. Patt and her mom took me to see the museum that's in the shape of a dragon. The tour talked mostly about China's relations with Thailand - they're very good by the way, and have been that way for generations. During the tour I realized that I actually did learn alot in my AP World History class last year (thanks Mr. Powers!!).

When we were finished at the museum we went to an incredible restaurant for lunch, and after lunch went to the Hundred Year's Market where we got to look around a really old house, watch people make ice cream, and buy a stuffed monkey for my blazer. :)

I think that's it for March. I'll talk about April in my next blog because the Northern Trip was a big part of that. Sorry it's taken me so long to get this post up!!

On The Big Screen

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!! I know it's kind of late to say Merry Christmas as well as Happy New Year, however I was on an adventure and unable to post to everyone. To start off I want to say thank you to everyone who has been supporting me and who has helped me get to this point in my life, it means so much to me and I love you all.

I have recently returned home from the Northeastern Trip with District 3330 starting on the 24th of December. The trip started in Bangkok, with all of the inbounds meeting at the train station and then taking tuk-tuks to the Grand Palace. For those of you who don't know, a tuk-tuk is a motorcycle that has been converted to seat 2-4 additional people. They're probably not the safest mode of transportation, but they sure are fun!

No, this isn't my photo, I found it on the internet

The Grand Palace is absolutely stunning. I haven't uploaded the photos of it to my Facebook yet because I have just recently found the memory card with the photos on it. We spent over an hour at the palace, and were able to see the artifacts that are housed there. Of course, I was not allowed to take photos of the artefacts, however I do have some great photos of the Palace itself.

On the outside wall of the Palace Temple

On our way out...

After the Palace we went to Siam Paragon. Not the first time I've been to Paragon, but it continues to be an enjoyable destination. Whilst at Paragon, we ate lunch and then I bought a pair of shoes along with music. Crystle and I were planning on showing Robert (Mexico) and Zann (South Africa) around because neither of them had been to Paragon before, but while they were in line at KFC Crystle and I went and got our own lunches. By the time we got back to where we had told them to wait, they were gone. I'm actually currently uploading a video of the situation to YouTube right now.

I feel like I'll be writing "after" alot, but I think "and then" sounds even more lame, but that's what happened. After Paragon we all went back to the train station to catch our train to the border with Laos. If I remember correctly, it was about an 11 hour trip, which we slept through most of. Like every single trip I've been on, the train was running about two hours late, making the rest of the trip from then on our roughly two hours behind. You'd think that the next day we could have been on time, but not really. It just wasn't as bad as the previous day. We remained behind schedule for the duration of our trip. HOWEVER, that does not mean that the trip wasn't absolutely incredible.

Train food is... less that appetising....

And that brings me to Laos. Our first day in Laos was spent mostly in the car... ok, a bus, but still, you get the point. After getting all of the visa things sorted out, we went to lunch in Laos. The waiter was wearing a Santa hat!! In America that wouldn't have been really notable, but in Laos it was the greatest thing since sliced bread, and it totally made my day. We got to our hotel at dinner time, so after we dropped off our bags at our rooms we went out. After dinner, we walked back to the hotel, and did a little bit of shopping on the way. I didn't know that they had rotii in Laos (it's a Thai dessert, I don't know how to spell it, don't judge) but it was pretty great -- better in Thailand, but whatever. That night we did as Secret Santa gift exchange as it was Christmas day, it was great, and everyone got a gift (aka nobody forgot!). Our "second day" in Laos was amazing. We started the morning by taking these three-person boats down the river to a cave/temple.

The river from where we stopped.

At the mouth of the cave, the 4Ds and Hunter

The story behind the cave was actually an interesting one. It was used as a refuge for around 300 local people when US had forces in Laos during WWII. During the day the local people would stay in the cave and at night they would go out to farm by moonlight. Since the cave was ventilated quite well, they were able to use lanterns and have a kitchen inside. There was also a  living space as well as a quiet place with a view of the outside for prayer.

We spent the late morning and afternoon on our way back to the border with Thailand, stopping for lunch on a lake. It was amazing, the food was delicious, the company was phenomenal, and it was kind of cold. I actually wished I'd had a jacket with me... actually, I wished I'd had a jacket for most of the trip. Northern and northeastern Thailand is COLD (compared to where I'm staying) this time of year! When we got to the border, they gave us time to shop -- there were small shops, and then there was a big store thing. I don't really know what the name is... ok, I would have known six months ago, but at this point I've completely forgotten. Anyway, this store sold some awesome stuff. I believe there were bags and purses, but we found the candy, so that's where we stayed. There was a wine selection and high-end perfumes as well, but like I said, we found the candy. And I don't mean just regular every-day candy. No, we found Reese's peanut butter cups, Ritter Sports, Finnish chocolate that I'd never heard of but Vaula loves, Haribou gummies, Pez, a wall of Kit-Kats, Smarties... basically all of the candy that you can't find in Thailand. I was able to spend some of my birthday money because they took US dollars, baht, and whatever the Laos currency is (I can't remember).

And Mentos, they had Mentos....

That night we stayed at a hotel in Udon Thani. The hotel was absolutely amazing, but the pool was kind of cold. For dinner that night I ordered a cheese burger. I know, boring fact, but it's so incredibly difficult to find good burgers here, especially in my host town, so... yeah. I had a cheese burger, and it was amazing.

We drove most of the next day. We stopped for lunch and shopping for a couple of hours before heading to the "resort" where we stayed the night before hiking the mountain. That night we had dinner at a restaurant that I believe is owned by a Rotarian (either that or we were staying at his resort). Anyway, the food was phenomenal, and after dinner we got to sing karaoke. Let's just say we spent the evening singing and dancing at is was incredible. I wish I'd stolen some pictures from Facebook before I moved to the realm of sketchy Thai wifi, haha. But it's alright, we had a great time, and Junwon (from Korea) even sang Gangnam Style! Since nobody else knew the words, we mumbled along, sang "HEEEEY SEXY LADY" and attempted the dance.

The next morning was an early one. I believe we were on the mountain by 8am -- luckily the drive wasn't far! There were definitely times during the hike up that I questioned P'Boy's sanity (Boy is the event planner person) and sometimes I wondered if I would make it up the 5km incline with the additional 3km hike to the campsite. But I made it, and oh my gosh it was totally worth it. I actually wish I could go back and do it all again, and I wish that I could go out more now... I miss hiking.

The view where we stopped for lunch.

I'm grateful to the people who carry bags up and down the mountain.

We made it!!

On the mountain there were two rooms for our whole group - a room for the boys, and a room for the girls. It wasn't... comfortable, but it worked. There were thin mattresses lined up on the floor, just with pillows and blankets to show where each "bed" was.

I guess you could say it was our second day on the mountain, but it was kind of our first... ok, not really. Our second day on the mountain was spent riding bicycles. We covered around 21km and were able to see many cliffs with beautiful views of Thailand. It was a great day, and I'm glad I didn't get as sunburned as some...

Our second stop was this pond/lake-thing...

Hunter (USA) and I at the cliff we stopped at for lunch.

We saw the sunset at our last stop for the day....

And that concludes the first day on the mountain - bike riding. The third day was less strenuous, but just as spectacular. We woke up early to walk to see the sunrise from the opposite side of the mountain. It was stunning.

The sunrise on December 30th, 2012 

After breakfast... I don't even know... it was cold...
Dorian (Canada) and Zann (South Africa)

 After the sunrise and breakfast we went hiking. There wasn't any uphill. Well, at least there was no uphill like on our way up the mountain... We stopped at this place that was a bunch of flat rock, or at least that's what it looked like at first. People had built this rock sculpture things, and when asked why, P'Boy said it was for good luck. Thai people believe that when a person dies, their spirit remains back on earth, and it is believed that there are many spirits protecting Phukradeung mountain. So, to keep with the tradition, and for good luck, all of us built a rock statue thing, and signed it when we were finished.

District 3330 Thailand!! :)

It is the tallest one there!

 Throughout the day we stopped at different waterfalls just to enjoy the view and see more of the mountain. For lunch we stopped at this one waterfall that had great boulders and whatnot for us to climb on. It was a lot of fun, and lunch was AWESOME. P'Boy had bought Nutella and bread, so we had Nutella sandwich things for lunch. It was kind of sparse (there wasn't enough bread) but it was so great to have Nutella and being together makes everything great. P'Emma (aka Mom) brought some cheese too, so we all shared that as well.

Where we stopped for lunch!

Not much else happened on the 30th. We finished our hike around 3pm and packed our bags and whatnot for our trip down the mountain on the 31st. Oh, we were tasked with collecting 20kg of trash between the 30th and the 31st, and on the 30th we collected a fair amount.

On the last day of 2012 we hiked back down the mountain. Because we were multitasking by picking up trash on the way down, it took my group four hours to make the 8km hike. However, we weren't going too quickly, so we were able to enjoy each other's company as well as the beautiful landscape that we could see on the way down. At the base of the mountain we had lunch, then Alica, Crystle and I took showers while we waited for P'Boy and Mom to make it down the mountain. After lunch we re-grouped and loaded up our bags into two vans. From there we headed to Kon Kaen. We were in the vans for most of the afternoon, stopping a couple of times for snacks, and arriving at the hotel around 6 or 7pm.

Dinner at MK on the 31st!

We went to MK for dinner, and then to the New Year's celebration at Kon Kaen. The celebration was so much fun! There were over 200,000 people there!! At the beginning of the night I was with Vaula (Finland), Crystle (USA), Alica (Mexico) and Bela (Brazil). After dinner we made our way through the crowds to one of the stages where we struck up a conversation with a security guard. The conversation (which was in Thai) resulted in the five of us being able to go onstage and dance with a random Thai person! It was so amazing, and I was surprised that I had zero stage fright. We just danced and faked knowing the lyrics, it was so much fun! Of course, me being me, I tripped and almost fell on the singer, but he didn't die, and I didn't die of embarrassment, so it was all good.

PROOF!!!

For just about the rest of the night, we were right by the stage. We did break away just after we were onstage and took photos with Iron Man, Captain America, and G.I. Joe -- that was pretty epic too. We also found the AIS booth that was giving away free cotton candy to kids, so what did we do? We crouched down and pretended to be little kids and got free cotton candy. :) We also got the e-mails of three of the guys and the girl who was backstage when we went on. Some friends of ours (Zak, USA and Hector, Mexico) were looking for people when they saw us on the big screen. I dunno, I thought that was kind of cool, especially how Zak described it. They were walking out of the mall talking about how they should find some other people, and BAM they saw us on the big screen. Hehehe. So we all migrated back to the stage (Crystle, Vaula, Alica, Zak, Hector and I -- Bela went with a different group after we danced onstage) for the countdown, and actually, it was kind of a let down until they started the fireworks -- those were pretty cool. 

Fireworks!!

We really wanted to go onstage again, but oh well.

The day after New Year's we woke up at 6am and went to Chokchai farm. Here's another incident where we were running late. The group got a lecture after some issues the night before, so we were about an hour late getting on the road. It wasn't too big of a deal, because once we got to Chokchai we were still able to make ice cream before going back to the tents. Yes, we slept in tents at the farm, however we definitely were not camping. At all. These tents had beds, air conditioners, a mini-fridge thing, and a wardrobe. They even gave us soap and shampoo and BATH ROBES! There were bath robes for every guest. The restrooms and showers were super nice too, and artistic even. They were open to the outside (kind of) and I wish I had a picture because they were so cool! They didn't have a back wall, there were plants. We found out later that it was an enclosed building just made to look like you were in the outdoors.

Sally and Chelsie (USA) before making ice cream.

Ice cream maker-thing!!!

Before dinner we had the opportunity to ride ATVs. It was great, Crystle and I rode together, and "half-way" through we switched and I got to drive. Of course, we weren't half way, and Crystle voiced her thoughts that she should have had more time driving. It was great fun though, and I wish we had been able to go again. Anyway, dinner was phenomenal. There was steak, pork, lamb, kabobs, salad, bread, fruit punch, the works! It was like being on a picnic in the states, and we were all so happy! I now know that Sam (USA) had 7 steaks... I don't know how he was able to eat so much! I guess that's what happens when you're a teenage boy...?

The following morning at the farm we took a short walk before breakfast. I wasn't feeling well, so the walk was a challenge, as was eating, however I managed to take a few photos so that I could enjoy the view later, once I was feeling better.

We took a short walk to this view of the farm.

Cutest breakfast ever!

 It's sad because that's the end of the trip... after a brief tour of Chokchai, we had to load up the vans and head into Bangkok for the southern people to catch their trains.

Sorry it's taken me so long to post this! I've been insanely busy the past couple of weeks, so it's taken me a while to get this post together. Another update should be coming in the next week or so about everything that's happened since the trip. I want to thank all of my friends and family for the support they have given me. It really means alot, and this year has been absolutely amazing.