What's goin' on?

Amazing how normal things become after a while! Five months ago things like seeing an elephant in town, going to Bangkok for a few day to hang with friends, or riding a motorcycle seemed crazy to me! Now it's just everyday life! And my thai has gotten so much better!! I can usually understand what people tell me and reply; I'm no longer lost all the time. It feels like everything is coming together here and there's no way I'm gonna want to leave in another five months! Can everyone just come stay with me here instead?
So my life has been pretty routine in the past month with my second host family. Going to school (most days), playing basketball or badminton after school with the kids at my home, eating dinner with the teacher's who live here, and going to Zumba most nights with my host mom! It's the same everyday but I never get bored, there's just no time to be.
Last weekend was "Mid-Year Counseling" for all the exchange students. I was supposed to go to Hua Hin with my host family and all the teachers at the school where I live but Rotary said it was mandatory for me to be at the meeting! I was a bit bummed but I got to stay in Bangkok with Emily for four days which helped make up for it! Thursday and Friday we didn't want to go to school so we hung out around Bangkok and met some other exchange students for dinner! There was one part of the day on friday we got lost and were running to catch the next train and I had the joy of falling down a flight of stairs, but I was mostly fine! On Saturday we went to stay at our friend Reily's house. That night we went to Khao San for shopping, tacos, and our friend got a tattoo!
Sunday was the "counseling" which was really just all the YEs talking together and eating pizza, only stopping to listen to the Rotary president welcome us. There was also a thai speech contest and I was one of the top ten students and won a rotary backpack! Not bad for righting my speech at midnight the night before! ;)

Overall it was fun and great to have everyone together! I went back home with the student from Mexico who live in the same city as me! We got to my house and found out that we have the same second host! He switched hosts on Monday and lives four rooms down from me! It's cool to have another exchange student here and he's fun to play basketball with!

OMG! 2015!!

                                       Happy New Years! 

This ginger bread house has
real cookies!

Wow! Can you believe it's been five months since I came to Thailand! Because I can't! This year is flying by and before I know it I'll be getting ready to go home! I only have five and a half more months!!! Well, on to other news.
So Christmas came but it didn't really feel like Christmas with everyone else in school and work. As planned, I went to Bangkok to visit Emily and we went to a Christmas diner with a ton of foreigners who happened to be traveling in Bangkok on Christmas. It was fun to talk with them all about their traveling and they seemed shocked that we are only 17 and living in a foreign country for a year! This was Christmas Eve and on Christmas Day we mostly slept and hung out. I Skyped my awesome family back
home and opened some presents they sent me! Emily and I also went to see Night at the Museum 3 which was surprisingly good for a third movie!
On the 26th was Rotary Day! All the RYE in my district were there and it was super fun to hangout with them all! We did a show in the talent competition and did so well that we didn't even place! But we had too much fun to care! We performed in the morning so for the rest of the time we just messed around! My favorite part was the water fight! The great thing about water fights here is that you dry rather quickly and don't mind being soaked because it's so hot here! :)

After Rotary Day Emily came to stay at my house for the weekend because she had nothing better to do! We didn't really do anything but it was great to have another American around!
For New Years I want with the people who I think will be my third host family to visit their extended family. I don't know the name of the place we went but their house was right by the Bing River! This meant that I got to not only swim in the river for most the day but I also got to BATHE in a RIVER!
(it probably wasn't the best way to get clean but it was cool to try.) Since there were so many people at the house some of us camped in the front yard and as hard as it may be to believe, it          did feel cold! I never imagined I'd wish for a coat in Thailand!
On the 2nd we left the river house and went to visit the other side of the family! This time I got to sleep inside and on a bed! I spent most of my time entertaining my 2 year old host cousin since he immediately liked me! Plus, he doesn't talk much which I was totally fine with!
Now I'm back home and tomorrow I have school. :( As much as I like school here, getting up at 6:30AM is just not something I will ever enjoy. But I only have about two more months of school before I'm finished for the year (haha I finish in march and don't start again till September!) So I think I'll make it!
Until next time! I love and miss you all!

Trading ↔ Spaces

I have finally switched to my second host family! Of course I will miss my first host family because they were super nice and helped me a ton but my new place is so cool! I am not actually living with my host parents but in a dorm like place across the street! My second host parents own a preschool and some of the staff live in little apartment things at the school and I have one all to myself! I've only been here 4 days but I love it already! I missed having my own bathroom! And I get to be way more independent here. I can go places around town or even to Bangkok by myself! (Yes, I am always careful and safe.) I get the perks of being an adult with freedom and space with the perks of being a kid because I have people to take care of me still!
The secretary of the school is like the mom of everyone here. She cooks us all dinner, takes me to school, and makes sure I have everything I need! She's basically my host mom. Then there's the teachers who live here and they're all very friendly! Even though the youngest teacher is 26 I can still talk with them and they keep me entertained! One of the teachers has a 2 year old son who won't come near me and waits until I leave a room before entering. It's so cute but I have made it my mission to make him like me!
Yesterday I went to Bangkok by myself for the first time to hang out with another RYE named Emily. For the most part it was amazing! Being the teen girls that we are, we started by shopping where I found a super cute dress! Next went to the Art and Culture museum and got a charcoal drawing together. Then we stopped by a beautiful park with tons of flowers and a lake with a fountain! From there we went to check out one of the temples in Bangkok but it was closed so we could only look at the outside (which was of course gorgeous). By that time we had done a lot of walking and felt that it was necessary to go get thai foot massages! Completely necessary! Our final stop was at a super tall hotel where we wanted to go to the top and look at the sky view but it was only for guests. It was a crazy day overall and so very very fun! We also took every type of transportation! Buses, the Sky Train, taxis, a tuk tuk, and numerous motorcycles!

Since everyone where I live is Buddist, there's no Christmas celebration. I was very sad to find out that there is school on Christmas! Of course I won't be going because they have midterms and I want to celebrate Christmas but all my friends will be busy studying! So Emily and I made plans to go to a Christmas dinner with a bunch of other foreigners in Bangkok and spend the night at her house! Hopefully it will be great!
It's so hard to believe that Christmas is already here! Before I know it I'm going to be scheduling my flight home and I am nowhere near ready for that! I swear I just got here! So many things are happening and I just want to do it all!

In case I don't post until after Christmas, MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE!!   I love you all!

Feeling Happy :D

Hard to believe it's been a month since I last updated! I haven't really been busy just haven't done much. But today was just a truly great day so I thought I'd share it with you all!
I went to Bangkok today with my host parents and host cousins to visit my host aunt who is in the hospital with Cancer. She is so amazing! Even with being sick in the hospital, she still smiles, makes jokes, and makes everyone in the room feel happy to be around her! After that we went to visit one of the big temples in Bangkok and I got to see a monk-in-training become a monk! I got to talk with some funny people who were there to help celebrate and eat some delicious pastries! Overall very fun! I also got to spend some quality time with my 10 year old cousin who was very shy at first but quickly warmed up to me. When we got home, my host dad asked if I wanted to go swimming and of course I wanted to! I got to swim around for an hour just relaxing which felt awesome! It was the first real physical activity I've done in weeks (I have seriously been so lazy)! After showering I went to eat dinner and found that my host dad got cheesy hot dogs and chocolate milk! In such a short time he has got me figured out haha. It was totally the perfect meal to end my day and I just feel very happy!

In other news, school is good and I'm having fun. Second semester started last month and I've officially been placed in a class, grade 11 class 1. Most of the subjects are boring like math, science, and history but all my friends are in this class so I wouldn't want to switch. Every weekend I've been doing something, whether it's shopping in Bangkok or Saraburi, going to a wedding, or hanging out with my friends!
Last Friday was Father's Day/The King's Birthday so I had no school! Unfortunately I had to get up at 4:30am so we could go to Pattaya. We went to a family memorial sight where we gave offerings to their ancestors then ate all the food used in the offering (it was a lot of food). After that We went to this super fun place called Ripley's Believe It or Not! I got to see some strange artifacts, walk through a very realistic wax museum (I was fooled more than once thinking something was real),  and go through a later maze! It was so fun and cool to see everything!
Soon I'll be switching host families. I'm sad to leave this family which I've gotten so comfortable with but I'm also very excited to get to know a new family! I promise to tell you all about them!
I miss everyone so much but not to worry, I'm having fantastically amazing time here!

Myanmar!

Hard to believe I've only been here three months! I feel like too much has happened for it to be such a short time! I've already gone to two other countries besides Thailand!! I just can't believe how amazing it is here and I am so thankful that I get to be an exchange student and go on all these adventures!
So last weekend I went with a large group of strangers (and my host uncle) on a trip to Myanmar! It was not what I was expecting at all! We spent three days at a temple and when we weren't at that temple we were visiting a different temple. It was a very interesting adventure. While I learned a lot about Buddhism, how it works and what they do, its not something I'd volunteer for again. We spent three days doing prayers while sitting in uncomfortable positions and giving offerings such as money and food to the monks. They told me that we were doing a ritual for the monks who have apparently been in the temple for three months praying during the monsoon season.
Since it was my birthday, they decided I should be the one to give the monks the big gift of 1 million baht! Its a huge honor and is supposed to bring me good luck in my next life. It was also cool when a temple full of people sang me happy birthday and I turned red as a tomato! They thought I very amusing.
As far as my 17th birthday, it was very sweet. Since I was in Myanmar on my actual birthday, my host family took me out to diner the night before I left and surprised me with an ice cream cake when we got home! It was so nice! Then on Monday, my friends gave me a chocolate cake and sang me happy birthday! Of course being the foreigner who everybody knows, everyone who saw me told me happy birthday! People here are just so sweet and it made me feel so loved! Finally to top it all off, I received a birthday package from home filled with my favorite candies! I was super happy and my friends loved the sour patch kids I brought to school! They all thought the candy was covered in sugar and had a fun surprise when it turned out to be sour! Haha!
In general, I am having a great time! I am spending time with my thai besties and with the other exchange students. It's always great when we're together because we can really understand each other! My thai is getting better everyday! I even surprised my friends the other day when I said a full sentence in thai correctly! I can't wait to see what I get to do next!

My trip to "Malaysia"

Exactly one week ago I got home from my trip south. It was a rotary trip with my club and my friend Danielle's club. We went island hoping stopping at numerous beaches for sight seeing, swimming, and even snorkeling! It was so fun and everything was absolutely beautiful! They originally told me we would be going on a trip to Malaysia, so I assumed the whole trip would be there. Turns out we were only spending one day in Malaysia. It was of course beautiful but we mostly went to museums and did tours which were in thai. My favorite part of the trip was after the day of island hopping in southern Thailand when we arrived at an island called Koh Lipé! The resort we stayed at was right on the beach, which is where Danielle and I spent most our time. And the beds felt amazing after sleeping on a bus the night before to get to the south!
Of course, after spending so much time in the sunny south on a boat and in the water, I came home with a fantastic sunburn. I think it was the perfect shade of lobster red! Though now it has turned into a pretty nice tan! When I told my friends here that I got a tan they looked at me like I was crazy because to them, I'm still incredibly pale.
After the trip, I was so tired that I could have slept for days! Unfortunately, they had other plans! In the week since I've been home, I've gone shopping in Bangkok twice, to language camp with the other exchange students, hung out at my friend Lek's house, and today went to the opening of my third host family's 7 eleven! And if all this hasn't been enough, I'm leaving for Mayanmar in 3 days! I can't wait to see what it's like in yet another country!

This weeks high light was going to language camp on Sunday. I missed the first two classes because I was going on trip and I'll be missing the last one for the same reason, so I was really happy to get to go! We didn't really learn and thai that we didn't already know but we spent hours talking about everything! It was so great to have everyone together finally! I can't wait until we're all together angain because we all understand each other so well! We also got to make Loi Gratongs, which are small floats decorated with flowers, for the festival next week!
There are just so many fun things going on here! Hard to believe it hasn't even been three months!

10 Days of Fun and Friends

I have been so busy this last week! Going on trips and having visitors non stop for 10 days! I guess I should start from the beginning so you all can understand just how crazy it's been!
It started two fridays ago on the 3rd. It was five minutes before I left for school that morning when the house phone rang and it was for ME! I mean, who in thailand would be calling my house here? It was my host cousin, Bird, the same person who took me to Kowyai. She asked me if I wanted to go on another trip so, of course, I said yes. She told me to go pack my bag for the weekend and that she would be picking me up in an hour to take me to another city and see another exchange student! That was all the information I got! So I packed and told my host mom that I wasn't going to school but was instead going away for the weekend! Bird came and got me and we were off!

Now what happens when you put six people into a car made for five, add four dogs, and drive at 80mph on a very bumpy road for many hours? You get one very car sick girl named Jen who is sneezing due to her allergy to dogs. The car ride was a nightmare and I was more than happy to get out when they said we had arrived in Lopburi. Next I went with a rotary member who drove me to a birthday party that his rotary club was throwing for their president. This was where I met the other exchange student named Danielle. Turns out that she had no idea I was coming to stay at her house for the weekend.
We bonded immediately due to the fact that we understood each other completely and could actually have a real conversation. The weekend passed rather fast. The birthday party was a bit crazy with loud music and some rather "exotic" dancers. We decided to leave the party a bit early. We stayed up talking way too late! The next day we went bowling with her rotary club in Bangkok and met up with another student named Israel. It was so fun even though I was a terrible bowler! We also got to spend one night at her family's second home just us and we had a total slumber party with movies, a ton of pillows, and junk food!
On Sunday night her host dad told us that Danielle would becoming to my house for a week and we were going back the next day! Since I still had school for another week, we went to school on Monday and Tuesday. Monday was rather boring because they were doing set up for tuesday. Tuesday we got to dress up in traditional thai dresses and walk in the parade. It was so cool to see myself in the thai costume. After the parade we watched a couple soccer games and cheered! We didn't go to school the rest of the week though. We were way too tired and used Wednesday to catch up on sleep.

We figured we could relax the rest of the week and just have fun hanging out! But on thursday we find out that we are leaving on another trip the fallowing day! So we spent all of Thursday making sure we are ready for our trip to the south!
Friday comes and we are off to Hua Hin! It is a great tourist town 3 hours south of Bangkok! We did lots of swimming though mostly in the giant pool because the ocean had jellyfish! Though we did find a cocoanut at the beach!
We stayed at the Sheraton resort! It was gorgeous and had a karaoke bar that we went to on our first night! On Saturday we went with a group of people into town. In this group where a bunch of rotary members from Australia! It was fun to talk to other english speakers!! We went shopping at the mall and got massages! The oil massage was waayyy less painful than the thai massage I got last time! On Sunday we went back home, well, back to my house anyway! Danielle and I spent the night watching the new movies we bought at the mall!



Since we brought the cocoanut we found back with us, we figured we should open it. After a few failed attempts, the housekeeper brought out a big knife and opened it for us! I think it was out of pity for our terrible failure at trying to open it by beating it on the ground! Then it was time for Danielle to go back to her house in Lopburi. It was a great 10 days especially since I had someone who knew exactly what I was going through and we could compare our experiences!




Next up I have two days of rest before I'm off again! I'm going to Koh Lipe (an island in southern Thailand) and Malaysia for five days! Can't wait to tell you all about it!