Thailand + Host Family

So, although I flew out of Calgary on Thursday, I didn't actually get to Bangkok until 4 in the a.m. on Saturday (2 in the p.m. Creston time (14 hour time difference)) , and was then whisked off to the Rama Gardens Hotel in Bangkok for my arrival orientation camp thing. Turns out, not only am I the only Canadian to come to Thailand this year, I am the first to come with AFS ever. The journey here was long and lonely I must admit. My flight from Beijing to Bangkok was delayed for 5 hours, during which we were stuck on the plane. Luckily I had no one in the seat beside me so I was able to lay down across two seats and sleep. Apparently the orientation camp started on Friday, so I missed some of the information. Then on Saturday, when everyone else knew how to count to 10 in Thai and such, all the group leaders kept giving me evil glances for not paying attention the day before (even though I wasn't there the day before). There were about 120 AFS students from around the world there, the majority of which were Americans and Germans (!). There were also students from Norway, Sweden, Turkey, Egypt, Brazil, Agentina, etc. There was only one girl from Australia, who I shared a room with. During the whole camp I was so tired and jet lagged (not sick though thankfully) that honestly, none of the information they told us stuck in my head. I really wish they would have let us had a couple days to rest before the orientation. On the last day of the camp (last night) they had a "welcoming party" for us, during which we met our advisors, and had to put on a talent show. Each student has their own advisor, who is supposed to be there person they can talk to about anything, and who will help them get through the rough times. Not only was my advisor there, but my AFS coordinator was there to welcome me as well. I hate to admit it, but I forget their names already :S This morning my host family came to pick me up at the hotel. Most of the other students had to take a bus or train to their host families because they live in other parts of Thailand. Since mine live in Bangkok, my host dad ("Papa"), my host mom ("Mama") and my host sister ("Cherry") came to pick me up. First they took me to their friends house, I'm not really sure why. It wasn't too enjoyable because they were all just speaking Thai, pointing at me, and then either laughing or just smiling. We then went for lunch at a fancy Chinese food restaurant. The food was very good, but still, greasy Chinese food makes me feel icky. We then went to this HUUUGE shopping mall to get my school uniform. I feel so silly in it, and also kind of on the larger size, since all Thai girls are so small, they had to keep giving me bigger and bigger sizes of skirts. My uniform is, a button down bluish-white shirt, a very high waisted black skirt with a leather belt, white knee high socks, and black shoes. We then finally went to my Thai home. I fell asleep before I could really see much of it. My advisor and coordinator showed up, along with a bunch of teachers from my school. We sat around and talked a bit, or more like they talked about me and one of the teachers translated it to me. Its funny, they commented on how tall I am. I think that's the first time I've ever been told I'm tall in my entire life. My host mom speaks absolutely no English, so she was talking away in Thai and the teacher lady translated to me that she said she loved me the minute she saw me this morning. Awwwe. She is nice. My host brothers are nice too. And when I say brothers, I mean it. I guess they forgot to include one kid in the host family application, because I actually have 4 brothers. Right now, I have no idea what their names are, except for Korn. The other ones are different than they were on the application... so I'm completely lost. Their house is right by this mucky-muddy looking river. They own a rice factory which is right next to the house and oh my god I've never seen so much rice in my life. They also raise "fighting cocks" for cock fighting, which kind of disturbs me a little. Apparently every Sunday people come here and they have cock fights. Right outside of my bedroom, I might add. In preparation for me coming, they have built a whole new bedroom type thing for me and Cherry to live in. I really don't understand their house so far. You have to go outside and walk around to get into a different room. But thank god they have western flushing toilets. Although the shower is just kind of a part of the bathroom, meaning you shower just right next to the toilet and there in a drain in the middle of the bathroom floor. I'm so tired right now, but they are only just finishing up the new bedroom right now, and I think I have to wait until they move my bed into it until I can go to sleep... and there is nobody on MSN right now.. hence this post being very long. Here are a few things I've noticed, and been told about Thailand since I've arrived.

-they drive on the left side of the road
-the law says you only have to wear a seatbelt in the front seat of a car, not the back, and therefore there are no seatbelts in the back, and when you are going 120 down a busy freeway.... it's just scary
-apparently (I haven't encountered this yet) most bathrooms with squat toilets don't have toilet paper. This means either I have to carry around my own, or wipe myself with my hand and water, as the Thais do. This is why school children must keep their fingernails short.
-Thai keyboards are exactly the same as English ones!

Oh, and on Thai uniforms, the students Thai name is embroidered on one side. My host family came up with a Thai name for me so it could be put on the uniform. My name is pronounced "gaw-cha-pord" or something along those lines... Thai pronounciation is hard. The meaning of my Thai name, anyways, in "flower".