Thieves

I'm a little angry.. and now bikini-less. Whilst my bikini was hanging out to dry... it went missing. So there is only one conclusion which I can come to: someone stole it. I don't know who took it, but the chances are that it's not coming back. And apparently my host mom's underwear has also misteriously dissapeared... which I find kind of strange. It's one thing is steal a bikini that is hanging out to dry, but stealing another person's used underwear? Esepcially when Thai people are so paranoid about underwear to begin with... Anyways, if anyone's stumped about what to get me for my birthday on Saturday, I'm in need of a new bikini ;)

S'Mores!

Today I went to Patch's house, where we made ourselves a little campfire and roasted hot dogs and made smores (thanks to Mama Brock for providing the marshmellows!).. It was a good time. Everyone liked the smores, which was cool because most of the people there had never eaten them before.. and I got to show off my amazing skills at roasting marshmellows to the perfect point without burning them.. which none of the Thai people seemed to be able to do (but then again it as their first shot at doing it... so I can't be too hard on them). Overall it was a very enjoyable day.. except for the heat, which pretty much always sucks, but it sucked even more when you're sitting next to a hot fire trying to roast hot dogs...

Anyways, I've been thinking about Thai phrases that I will be sad to have leave my vocabulary when I go back to Canada... so I figured I better make a list of them all and give explanations of them to you so that you'll all understand what the hell I'm talking about when I get back.. so, here is my list of the most awesome Thai phrases:

1. Mai Bpenrai - Can mean sooo many things (that's what makes it so amazing).. including, "you're welcome," "don't worry about it," "it's no problem," etc.

2. Jing Law - Means "really?"... although since each area of Thailand has it's own dialect, I've noticed that mostly in my area people instead say "Oh Law"

3. Jing Jing - comes after the "jing law" or "oh law" question.. and means, "really really".

4. Arai Go Dai - means "whatever"... for example: "yak gin arai?" (what do you want to eat?) "gin arai go dai" (whatever)

5. +55555 - used on MSN or hi5 etc.. is the Thai version of "hahaha" or "lol" since the number five in Thailand is pronounced like "ha"

6. Sanap Sanoon Doi - okay, nobody uses this one in conversations.. it just sounds sooo cool... means "sponsored in part by" (like for TV or radio shows...)

7. Na - a word with really no meaning that Thai's tend to add on to the end of sentences (kind of like the stereotypical Canadian "eh?") even when speaking in English, such as "I miss you na".

8. Mai - the easiest way to explain this one is that it's pretty much the same as a "?" at the end of a sentence in English. Thai's don't raise their voice to ask as question, as we do in English.. instead they just add the word mai... for example "hiew mai" (are you hungry?)... but of course adding "mai" has kind of become a habit for me to do in English as well.. "you want mai" "eat mai" etc.

Another interesting thing about the Thai language.. I swear, everything rhymes! For exmample, "bye nye?" (where are you going?) or "puad pa sa Thai dai mai?" (can you speak Thai?)

SongKran

Here's what happened during each day of SongKran (copied from my diary):

Monday April 13, 2009

Well so much for Songkran festival... I talked to Patch on the phone last night, since we had plans to go Songkraning together today... but she figured that with all the demonstrations and what not going on, it was better to stay home today and watch on the news about what was happening downtown with Songkran.. and if all looked safe, we would go on the 14th.. Well, to be perfectly hnest, things don't look all that safe. I went to Rose's school this morning to meet with her, Elisabeth, Sinan, and Khaled.. and on the way there I was really surprised to ee how empty the streets were.. not just of people playing water, but also of cars, buses, pedestrians, etc. It was crazy.. like the city was dead or something. We watched the news in Rose's AFS room, and apparently the protestors had burned a bus or 2, which is why none of he buses were running. I honestly don't understand what is going on with the government here. All I know is that there is a red team and a yellow team, and that right now the red ones are wrecking havoc in BKK. So much actually that Songkran just isn't really happening now. Which sucks, bnecause this is my first, and probably only, chance to playing Songkran.. but what could suck even more would be if Thailand is put under MarshallLaw, which would mean all exchangers will be sent home... The only thing we ended up doing today that was at all Songkran like, was walking around Rose's school and spraying this liquid on different shrines.. which seems weird to me, because I would think that in Western culture, throwing liquid on something that is supposed to be sacred would seem really disrespectful.. unless it's like holy water or something I guess....

Tuesday April 14, 2009

Today was definately a very productive day.. Finished my AFS yearbook page this morning, worked on my afghan.. got Easter mail from Canada, including the movie Religulous, which I watched already. At 4 I met Patch at Tops where we were picked up and taken to Cherry's house to get ready for Songkran. It was kind of a weird feeling being back there.. kind of made me remember all the good times I had there and how there were certain things I liked there better than with my new host family. I got to see P'Keng's baby girl, who is completely bald and is uber cute. P'Beam wasn't there though.. which kind of sucked because I was hoping ot see her. Everyone else was there though.. all of my old host brothers, etc. It was kind of funny because I guess they didn't realize that now I can speak and understand Thai alot better than when I lived with them. The first thing P'Keng said when he saw me was how fat I am (in Thai of course), and I told him I understood what he said... which I guess made him kind of embarassed :S Anyways, we all climbed in the back of the truck, where we were equipped with 3 big barrels of water and various water guns. I pretty much just used a water gun the whole tim, because that way I could stay sitting down rather than having to stand and scoop water out of the water barrel, which I didn't like because it was slippery and I was parnoid that I would fall. Honestly, the whole time all I was thinking about was how illegal this whole festival would be in Canada... people standing in the back of pickup trucks throwing water around? Not the safest thing in the world, that's for sure. We drove around until w were out of water... everytime we would go by a group of people at the side of the road who were throwing water at traffic, we would stop and have a mini water fight with them. Some people would have ice cold water to throw on us, while others had powder or colouring mixed in with their water (and the powder/water mixture really stung your eyes), and some would just run up with a handful of powder and smear it on you face.. and everyone seemed to want to rub powder on the foreigner's (i.e. me) face. The whole thing was fun, but it really seems that this whole festival is an excuse for Thai people to be drunk in public and maybe do things that would seem inappropraite during other times. Like Rose told me, Songkran gives Thai people a chance to be crazy.

Wednesday April 15, 2009

Elisabeth and I went to Rose's school, where we met Rose (obviously).. Khaled and Sinan eded up not coming... The original plan had been for Rose to take us to the Corcodile Farm outside of BKK, but since Songkran downtown was back in fullswing, we decided to go to Khao San instead.. and I'm so glad we did because Khao San during Songkran is definatley an experience of a lifetime. It was sooo crowded with people (almost as bad as Central World at New Years) and amazingly they were pretty much all Thai, which is weird because that area is usually all foreigners. Some people had water guns, but mostly peope just walked around smearing a mixture of powder and water on eachother's faces.. or pouring bottled water down eachother's backs. And I swear pretty much every guy we walked by was determine dto touch mine and Elisabeth's faces. Quite amazingly we ran into Galina and another AFS girl from Germany.. we walked around with them for a bit, and then headed home. While I enjoyed the whole Songkran thing, I must admit I liked the whole actual water fighting aspect of it better than the powder aspect.. mainly just because I wasn't fond of all these random guys rubbing their hands all over my face. I was also surprised at how slutty Thai girls generally become during Songkran.. smoking and drinking in public.. just doing things that good Thai girls really never do.

I got home just in time to shower and get dressed them go to Ron's home welcoming (?) party at the new house they just moved into. It was pretty much just annoyed by the same guy who annoyed me at Ron's baby shower the whole time. He was just trying to force everyone to talk to me, even if they didn't want to, which was kind of embarassing... Then of course he told me he knows "I love you" in 11 languages, and told me something completely nonsense that he claimed was "I love you" in French. And then there was the whole confusion of him asking me if I was Catholic, me telling him I'm not Christian.. then him being all confused because apparently my name is Christian.. me telling him it's Kristen, not Christian.. and him nodding like he understood the difference when really he didn't. Needles to say I was happy to leave that party.

Oh, and unfortunately I wasn't able to take many pictures during this whole festival.. due to the fact that I didn't want my camera to get soaked. And also, as of today it's only 5 weeks until I'll be back in Canada...

HuaHin (and my first encounter with SongKran)

Just got back from my 2 day excursion to HuaHin (which is pretty much a beachy, touristy town). Katrijn and I went to Kathy's house in Bangkok on Thursday, spent the night there, and then took the train to HuaHin in the morning... where we met Marissa and Jackie. The weekend was quite enjoyable.. we spent one day inside the nice air conditioned mall.. shopping around, eating, etc. The usual. The other day we lounged around the pool (which contributed to a nice lobster red sunburn I now have on my shoulders). We stayed up late at night visiting and going for midnight McDonald runs. Certain people had spur of the moment hair dye jobs (for only 400 baht!) And we even went for a late night swim fully clothed in the ocean (which wasn't such a good idea for me since I was wearing a white skirt +555). To be quite honest I didn't really want to leave today. I actually always find it weird going back to my host family after spending a few days with foreigners... back to eating only Thai food.. only speaking Thai... etc. But I guess I am IN Thailand.. so those things should be expected.

We went back to Bangkok by Taxi, the cost of which ended up being about the same as the train we had taken down to HuaHin once we split it four ways. The taxi took us to the train station, and when we got there I phoned my host dad to see if he could pick me up.. but he couldn't. Of course there was always the option of taking a taxi.. but since I'd rather save my money and spent it on souvenirs, rather than taxi rides.. I took the cheap, long way home. Which meant I took the bus. The non air conditioned bus. And, to top things off, I decided to sit near the front of the bus, right behind the door. Now, this seat wouldn't be problematic on any normal days.. but apparently some people got a little too excited about the fact that SongKran festival starts tomorrow, and decided to start playing water today. Which meant there were people standing along the side of the street, with water guns, water hoses, etc..... which they would throw through the open windows and doors of the bus. And since I was so conveniently situated right by the door.. I got a good soaking. So that, my friends, was my first encounter with SongKran festival. It was nice, actually... helped cool me off a bit in this crazy heat. Probably would have enjoyed it more though if I felt a little more relaxed about busing it home by myself from the train station for the first time. The bus reached the end of the route, and we weren't where I thought we were supposed to be. So there were a few nice Thai ladies getting off the bus who told me which bus to take next in order to go out of my village... and in the end I made it home safe and sound.. and only a little damp.

HaPpY sOnGkRaN eVeRyOnE! (and of couse, Happy Easter as well!!!!... although for me.. along with Halloween, Thanksgiving, and Christmas.. Easter doesn't really exist this year)

Stuff and Such

Nothing much has happened in the last couple of days.. I've just been enjoying relaxing around the house.. watching movies, reading books, eating tons of mangos (apparently it's the season for mangos here)... Tomorrow I'm going to Kathy's (from America) house to spend the night, since we have to get up super early on Friday to catch our train to HuaHin. It'll be me, Kathy, Katrijn (from Belgium), and Marissa (America) going... should be a good time. We'll get back on Sunday, and then Monday-Wednesday next week is SongKran festival! Which, in case you didn't know, is THE festival in Thailand (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Songkran). Pretty much the first thing everyone new Thai person I meet asks me is if I've ever "played water" at Songkran before (and I tell them no, because we don't celebrate Songkran in Canada).. because that's pretty much the whole gist of Songkran.. it's a giant waterfight which lasts for 3 days. Most people tend to say it's tons of fun, esepcially since it's so hot out in Thailand now, being soaked in water helps cool you off.. But I have heard from other people that sometimes people on the street are a little too drunk and things get out of hand. I don't have any for sure plans for the festival so far.. I'm hoping that P'Kla (my old host brother... remember him??) will take Patch, Cherry, and I around in the back of their truck to play (because apparently that's funner than just walking around on the street since it's easier to bring around a big supply of water with you)... Anyways, I've been looking forward to this festival all year, so hopefully I have a good time.

In other news, my parents changed my flight schedule for going back to Canada... I will still be back on May 21st, but instead of my final flight being from Vancouver to Calgary.. and then having to drive another 5 hours home from Calgary... the flight will be from Vancouver to Cranbrook, so it's only a 1 hour drive home from the airport.... which means that my parents can bring along Dookie with them to the airport. Now if you know me personally, you will understand how super excited I am to see him at the airport!!! And if you don't know me personally... Dookie is my dog. (+555)

And that picture up there is my new haircut, when it was looking all nice and straightened :P

9 MONTHS!!!!!!

Today is my 9 month anniversary with Thailand... and I will only have 1 month anniversary left before I head back to Canada... here is a funny list of how to know when you've been an exchange student in Thailand: (oh, and also, I uploaded pictures from my families visit.. just go to the photopage link on the right)

You know you've been an exchange student in Thailand when..

You've mastered the 'Wai' and laugh when you see other 'farangs' try to use it.
You don't mind peoples stares when you're walking down the street in the school uniform. In fact you encourage it, so the taxis will stop for you.
You know what a thai barbeque is, and will beat anyone over the head with your chopsticks who tries to steal that slice of fish your grilling.
You know how to maneuver through the mazes of all the Soi's to get home. 'Take a left, then another, three rights, a u-turn, go down the darkest alley possible, then another left...'
You don't use just a fork anymore, and don't know how you ever ate without a spoon. In fact, when you try using a fork again you just end up with food on your lap.
You get a break from that shitty rules about dress code in school, just because you are a 'farang'.
You discovered not every dog is touchable, and have the shot scars to prove it.
If you have a cold, you don't tell your host-parents, because you know they will just make you go to the hospital for no reason.
You can speak thai, even just a little. And laugh in the face of those who can't.
You can sing atleast one song in thai, even if it's as lame as 'Loy Loy Krattong' or your school song.
You've learned how to bargain, and damn, can you bargain good. Shop owners suddenly realize they are selling a 300 baht item for only 50 baht.
You finally understand whats expensive and whats not. And find yourself buying a good meal for the low cost of $1.00 US.
You don't buy at the Malls or Department stores anymore because everyone tells you that it's cheaper to go to JJ Market, even the salespeople.
You don't mind someone handing on your arm or holding your hand anymore, and find yourself doing it to them because it seems weird not to.
You wear a pair of jeans, shoes and socks, a long sleeve shirt, and use an umbrella; all in 90 degree sunny weather.
You know the tones, and ignore them completely anyways.
You find riding in Tuk-Tuks are a lot more fun to use, and know how to not get ripped off by them.
You have the King's shirt, the Queen's shirt, the wristband, and the bumpersticker because you love the King just as much as the Thais do.
You happen to mention to your family that you maybe have the sniffles and end up suffering because you have to drink warm water (absolutely NO ice!) for at least 2 weeks.
You have ever warned someone that you will, and I mean will, kill them if they try to bend your hand back for thai dancing.
You know what the BTS is, and know that standing is cooler and more fun then sitting any day.
You often say "I don't like that 7-11, let's go to the one over there" while pointing a mere 10 feet down the street.
You're soo good, you only need one bowl of water to flush a squattie pottie.
You know the toilet paper is for the dinner table, and it is a sin against all thais to use it for the bathroom.
You know that karaoke is always just a trap for thai people to mock you openly.
When you see a white person you point and yell 'Falang' just like the Thai people do.
It doesn't matter if the foreigner teachers at school are from England or Australia, if they speak english, then you two are practically related.
When you've had (on more than one occasion) to explain what "555" means to someone back home.
When you are used to weird questions such as "what day of the week were you born on?" or "what is your blood type?"
When you can eat pizza with ketchup, sugar on ramon noodles, fruit dipped in hot sauce, and not throw up.
You take 'eat the spicy stuff' challenges, and usually just to break the ice and make people laugh when they meet you.
You totally ignore that those DVDs and CDs are pirated, and buy them anyways, because even thai people don't know where the nearest video store is.
You get really excited when you get to eat McDonalds or KFC because you haven't eaten 'farang food in a month.
You hate family gathering because they all speak a dialect together (like the Southern language) and you have no idea what's going on.
You're used to being complimented on you're extremely white skin.
You have been called and frequently call others 'uan' or 'chaang.'
You know that 'taai ruup mai' means that you could be taking pictures for an hour.
You know of and can sing songs by Bodyslam, Endorphine, Hangman, Potato, and Big Ass.
You know that Bangkok's real name is Krungtep (Maha nakaun....) and will not let someone punch you in the nuts if they ask you...
You can now sit cross-legged for hours."
You couldn't remember the names or faces of people you met when you first arrived because 'they all look the same' and you've never heard their names before.
You knew how to speak about food in Thai before pretty much anything else.
You're used to being force fed by Thai people so matter how "im" you insist that you already are.
You hate farangs, with a passion.
When you actually find a cute thai boy you must tell all your exchange friends to get them to see him, since it is quite rare where ever you live.
Baby powder will never be used in the same way again.
When you look down and see that there isn't a spoon among the silverware, you begin to seriously panic.
When you can fit 10 people in a taxi/tuktuk and 5 people on a motorcycle, without flinching.
When You know a movie is dubbed in thai because it's always the same two people/voices doing it.
The only reason you carry around a backpack for school is to hold the clothes you are going to change into when you skip and go to the mall instead.
It doesn't matter if your the skinniest person in the world, you will always be fat in Thailand.
You don't understand how there are no places to buy sunscreen because everyone in thailand loves white skin.
When you feel like doing the wai to beg or apologize your foreigner friends.
When you have used the 1 baht weight machines as a way to get rid of spare change.
When you recognize your friends not by their faces, but by the bag their carrying.
When you still bow at cars when they stop for you to let you cross (or, at least, when you've forced it by being halfway across the street already).
When you can't help but keep your head ducked when two older people, or teachers are talking and you have to walk past them.
When you got some gifts and ended up in a five-hour "the-act-of-receiving-presents-photoshoot" with the biggest fake smile EVER on your face and the face of the present-giver!
When you think staying out till 9 is a late night out, or atleast your host-parents do.
When your friends invite you to go out and drink some "milk" and you really go out to drink milk.
When it being your birthday means you dont get the first slice of cake anymore.

Prachuap

So I am back in Bangkok, for now.. but I have a feeling things are about to get uber busy for me, especially since I have only 6 weeks and 5 days left! I got back last night.. but have been having problems with my internet which is why I haven’t yet updated on here. I’ll have a good connection for a couple of minutes.. and then nothing. It drives me crazy honestly. But at least I have other things to keep me busy, such as finishing knitting my afghan which I’m determined to do before I leave Thailand, working on my friendship book and AFS yearbook page, reading one of the many books my parents brought over for me, etc. Although lately I really haven’t had time for any of those things.

Our trip to Prachuap was quite enjoyable. We stayed there for 2 whole days, and spent these days just hanging out on the beach. We stayed at a rather cheap but fairly nice hotel right near the ocean… it was nice.. and just, relaxing. There were only 5 of us who went… Ajarn Rose, Elisabeth, Sinan (boy from Turkey), Khaled (boy from Egypt), and myself. But really there isn’t much to tell about the whole excursion. We just swam, sat on the beach, and talked about many things… mainly complaining about AFS. It was a good group of people to be with… We came back to Bangkok yesterday, and arrived in the afternoon. Since we had some free time, Elisabeth and I decided to go with Rose to the hair salon to get spur of the moment haircuts! Which is exciting, believe me, since it’s the first time I’ve cut my hair since being in Thailand. To be honest, I was quite nervous because I thought the hair dresses would cut my hair too short and it would end up like an afro or something, but luckily all turned out alright, and I ended up with a kind of bob haircut that is slightly longer in the front than in the back… all for only 250 baht!! The hair dresser even straightened my hair all nicely for me, and I haven’t yet washed it, so hopefully it looks alright when it’s all curly. Today I went to the mall with Elisabeth, since we needed to get some pictures printed, and we in desperate need of seeing a movie. We ended up seeing Fast and the Furious 4 (which I had honestly never even heard of before now), since it was the only English movie playing. And I must say, I actually quite enjoyed it. Oh, and before the movie they played a preview for Angels and Demons! Which I’m super excited for.. and it turns out it’s coming out in theatres May 14th, which makes it even better because it means I will be able to see it with Elisabeth and Patch, since they are also both super excited for it, before heading back to Canada.