Hello, everyone!

            It’s been over a week since my first post, so here goes another one filled with details of the past few days.

Monday, January 2^nd

My family and I drove to Chicago. It was a slow ride due to the weather; scary if you ask me. Refer to picture number 1 to see how little visibility we had as we drove. This made me that much happier that I wouldn’t have to deal with snow and cold weather for quite a while after that—but my heart also hurt for those of you who will! After hanging out with family friends, I decided to stay up for as long as I could to start myself on the Thailand schedule (which is exactly 12 hours ahead of Michigan).

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Tuesday, January 3^rd

My flight left at 11.30 a.m. Since I didn’t make it through Monday night awake but slept the bare minimum, I was very sleepy on the plane and, after one movie I fell asleep for a good hour before realizing that I was too uncomfortable to sleep. I think I only slept one more hour later for the rest of the 14-hour flight. It turns out that 14 hours on a plane are bearable, although very very long. At one point in the flight, I could not remember what it was like not to be on the plane—that means that I got used to the crappy middle seat with people sleeping comfortably at each of my sides. Refer to picture number 2 for a view of Russia from my crappy middle seat.

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Wednesday, January 4^th

            Needless to say, we made it to Korea safely! It was about 4.45 p.m. when we arrived (yes, we lost 14 hours to time difference), so we waited for our shuttle bus to the hotel and proceeded to check in and go out for dinner. Our hotel rooms were really nice; everything felt super fancy (the lights for the whole room could be operated from the TV remote, the shower was a glass cage with steamers all around it, there was a Jacuzzi next to the glass shower, the toilet would wash your butt for you, we had a sterilizer box next to the TV, and we each had our own pair of slippers to walk around the room). Anyway, so we familiarized ourselves with our rooms and asked the hotel workers for a good place to have dinner. You know how I said that I was happy that I wouldn’t have to deal with the snow and the cold for a while? When we walked to the restaurant, I realized that this wouldn’t be the case in Korea. Although there was barely any snow on the ground, it was very cold outside—bitter cold, actually. So we get to restaurant and realize that it is a make-it-yourself Korean barbecue. I knew we were in trouble then. We were seated at a table with two places to grill our meat (refer to picture number 3).

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         After much debate about what each thing on the menu meant and the help of a waitress with little knowledge of English, we put our order in. It turns out that, among other things, knowingly or unknowingly (we still don’t know at this point), we ordered pig skin. If it’s hard to get your mind around that, simply picture leather…but cooked to eat. We figured we had to eat it, so we cooked it like we were cooking everything else. Once it was done, we tried it. Let me just say that, first of all, it tasted awful and, second, it was like chewing on rubber—except this was grease. No one else in our group liked it. But the rest of the meal was quite delicious, although it would have been better if we had known what everything was in order to enjoy it more. Refer to picture 4 for what my area of the table looked like. While on our Korean-barbecue experience, we were quite the sight to see. Here is this pack of foreign kids trying to eat like everyone else. We stood out, no doubt, and we were quite funny to the tables surrounding us, who probably were wondering what the heck we were doing most of the time. As you will probably read in my next blog posts, this will be common for us this semester.

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             We only walked around for a little bit after dinner because of the cold and headed back to our hotel rooms (not before buying ice cream and snacks). We hung out for a while, but needed to get on the sleeping schedule for this side of the world, so we decided to get to bed.

Thursday, January 5^th

            At noon, we headed back to the airport for our 5.30 p.m. flight. We had lunch at a restaurant that gave us the wrong order of noodles, so we all ended up with a plate of stir-fry noodles with seafood. Because of my “allergy” to seafood, I only ate a few noodles, but I must have had some pieces of seafood or just the fact that they touched the noodles because I ended up sick on the plane. After lunch, we kept ourselves entertained until it was time to check in. As we were walking toward our gate, we spotted a group of Korean students who seemed to be going on a mission trip somewhere. Tanner decided to ask them to take a picture with him. When he asked, he directed his question at 4 girls…it was incredible to see how the whole group surrounded him and began posing for the picture. Then they called the rest of us to the picture, and this is when you refer to picture 5. Even closer to our gate, a group of children waved at us like we were celebrities (refer to picture 6). We made some friends that day.

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            Except for nerves building up, and the realization that we were, in fact, on our way to Thailand, our flight there was quite uneventful. When we arrived in Thailand (at around 9:30 p.m., their time—we lost another 2 hours to time difference), we met with some people from ISDSI (International Sustainable Development Studies Institute, where we will be studying), who took us to a guest house in town for the night. We got to ride in a cool little taxi that looks like an ambulance (refer to picture number 7). After checking into our rooms, some of the girls and I decided to go find ourselves some food; it was almost midnight at this point, so our choices were limited. We ended up buying snacks from 7-eleven, which was about two blocks away. It was nice to be out so late at night and 1) not be in any real danger, and 2) not be cold. We returned to the guest house and hung out in the garden to the sound of the wind and frogs on the trees around us.

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Friday, January 6th

            Waking up in Chiang Mai was one of the best mornings yet. I woke up to the sound of birds chirping outside and cars bustling around. I liked this a lot because it sounded just like waking up in Guatemala—the beauty of nature combined with the beauty of a busy place. Refer to picture number 8 for the view that I got from my room. 

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             During the morning we walked around Chiang Mai looking for a bank. Once we found it, we exchanged some money and headed back to pack our bags to leave the guest house. We were then taken to the mall for a couple of hours—I was not looking forward to this. After walking around for a bit, we found a place to buy cellphones. We got a good deal, so we all bought the same phone. We are such a family, that all of our numbers are the same except for the last two digits. The mall in Chiang Mai wasn’t much different from a market in Guatemala. There isn’t really much more to say about the mall because the most exciting thing that I find was a cellphone. Refer to picture number 9 and 10 for views of the mall (outside and inside).

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            After the mall, we headed to ISDSI for orientation. Our orientation consisted of meeting some of the teachers and workers at the institute. We met Pi Kristen and Pi Jack, who work in the office and did this semester a few years ago; Pi Pooh, who also works in the main office; Ajann Wilasawee, who is one of the Thai teachers; and Ajann Mark, who is the program coordinator and in charge of admissions along with his wife (who we haven’t met yet). Because age is very important in Thailand, a differentiation is made between the young and the older. If someone is your elder, no matter how much older (it could even be a day or a few hours), you refer to them as Pi (pronounced pee). Knowing who is older than you matters because, when you say hello to someone, the younger person (the Nong) shows respect to the older by doing the wai first. The wai is a symbol of respect and reverence that is done by putting one’s hands together at chest level, with elbows close to the body, and bending forward as one says “Soari ca” (or “Soari crop” if the person doing the wai is male). The older person then returns the wai saying the same thing. We learned to do this in our orientation along with what-not-to-dos to get us started for the weekend.

            In Thailand, the head is regarded as the highest and cleanest point in the body; therefore it is the most respected. You may never touch anyone’s head or shoulders, even if they are your Nongs. It is for this reason that tank-tops are not common in Thailand, because Thais prefer to cover one’s shoulders (although some of the younger Thai and the vast majority of foreigners chose not to follow this). The feet are regarded as the lowest point of the body and, therefore, the dirtiest. Showing the bottom of your feet is taboo and a sign of disrespect. Your shoes are even dirtier than your feet, which is why they never make it inside the house. 

            Besides these cultural things, we learned to say “my name is,” “what is your name?” and “what is his/her name?” Ajann Wilasawee thought this would be enough to get us through the weekend with our host families before beginning our Thai classes. She was wrong.

            After some free time anxiously waiting for our host families, it finally got to be time. All the students sat where we’ll be having lunch every day in school, with our bags in neat piles at the entrance, and Ajann Wilasawee and Pi Pooh waited closer to the parking lot for our families. One by one, the families started coming and we got to see other students wai their parents to greet them. When families started showing up, I was excited to meet mine. By the time mine got there, I was very nervous—I had had lots of time to imagine what the weekend would be like. I walked over to meet them, did the wai, and all of a sudden I was very sure that I was not going to make it through the weekend without a melt-down. I was wrong J. Mae Nhi (mama Nhi) and Paw Noi (papa Noi) were both wearing masks on their nose/mouth because they are both sick. This, to me, was not a surprise. In Korea, I noticed lots of people wearing masks in public place, and I figured the reason was no different than what I had read about Thailand: wearing a mask is a blatant act of selflessness so as to not get others sick. We got my bags and headed to the car. And just like that I was off to figure my own way into conversation, outings, meals, and…life. It was before dinner time, so we drove off from ISDS for about 20 minutes and got to a restaurant. One thing that you need to know when coming to Thailand is that host families will feed you well. No joke, they made me eat so much at dinner, I almost cried from feeling so full. They ordered for me, chicken fried rice and soup. Once I finished that, a plate of noodles came out of nowhere. So I ate them. Then they asked me if I wanted ice cream. Did I want it? Yes. Could I eat it? Probably not. Saying “no,” however, is not the respectful thing to do. So I said yes, and two minutes later, a strawberry sundae (the biggest one I’ve ever had) was set before me…so I ate it. When we got home, I asked myself if the pain of being so full was worth the meal. I decided that it was…so, so worth it; even though I was sure that I had never been this full in my life. During the meal, Mae Nhi and Paw Noi kept teaching me little things in Thai. They taught me how to say “water” because they noticed I drink water all the time. Mae Nhi said “water: naan.” I said “water: agua” and they both burst out laughing. They said this would be a fun weekend filled with English, Spanish, and Thai; I said I was okay with that. Mae Nhi speaks very very little English. Paw Noi knows little phrases. Me? I knew about three words in Thai at this point. But I felt really willing to learn. Mae Nhi told me that she feared that I would get lonely at home (their daughter is about 30 years old and lives in New Zealand—I think that’s what she told me, her sentence was a mixture of Thai and English), but she wanted me to be happy. This is the land of smiles (truth), so being happy is very important. Paw Noi told me that my nickname is Mai, because they met me in Chiang Mai J. So now, when they call my name, they say “Mai?” and I respond “ca?” I like that they call me Mai (it’s a sign of endearment when someone gives you a nickname).

            After dinner, we drove home. One of the things that I was concerned about was how far I’d live from ISDSI. Because I don’t know much Thai, I figured getting around on public transportation would be a challenge, so I was hoping to live nearby. Well, the drive lasted quite a while, and although I didn’t time it, I was pretty sure we lived more than 20 minutes away (I was right: we live about 30 minutes away on car, but I’m sure on taxi it will take about an hour or longer to get to and from ISDSI every day). When we made it home, I noticed a little altar near the driveway; Paw and Mae both went to it and called me over, they told me to do the wai, so I did it with them. I felt exhausted when we got inside the house (half of that was simply because I was so full). It was about 7 p.m. Mae Nhi and Paw Noi showed me every single cool detail about my room: my dresser, all the windows (which cover one and a half walls) and curtains, my bed with each blanket, my desk lamp, the drawers, my slippers. It all seemed so nice. Then they called me over to look closely at the desk: the pictures of my family that I sent with my introduction letter had been printed and pasted on my desk. Mae Nhi said “you no cry now.” Like I said, being happy is very important in Thai culture, and my parents are doing everything they can to keep me happy. As I unpacked, I saw something move across one of the walls. I turned to see a gecko. “Welcome home!” I thought to myself. Mae and Paw let me unpack my things a little bit, then Mae Nhi came in and said: “you shower now.” I had no choice. In Thailand, it is common to shower twice a day; once in the morning when you wake up, and again at night before or after dinner (to relax). I knew that I would be told to shower—frankly, I prefer that than doing it when it is not appropriate. Being “rip roi” (appropriate) is a major concern for Thais (and is, therefore, the probable reason why being from the United States has a negative connotation: “Americans are not rip roi”).

            I showered and headed back to my room to continue unpacking. I found the placemats that I brought for my family and brought them to Mae Nhi. She was so excited. The placemats even match her tablecloth, which is a bonus. I explained that they were from Guatemala and I’m sure she liked them even more then. She called Paw Noi and showed him. I’m sure they said thank you about three times each. The next morning, I found the table set with the placemats for breakfast (refer to picture number 11).

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           After I gave her the placemats, Mae Nhi walked away to give me a gift: a beautiful sarong (wraparound skirt). Paw Noi brought me a little wooden box for jewelry and a little leather wallet. They sent me to bed after that J. Because they are my elders and my parents, I say hello and goodbye to them with a wai. This is only done twice a day, when I first see them in the morning, and when I go to bed. I did the wai and Paw Noi began babbling in Thai and gesturing to me to stand up straighter and raise my hands higher on my chest (this isn’t something that I understood then, I figured it out the next night, when the same thing happened). After a few tries, they called it good for the day and let me go to sleep. As I pulled the cover off of my bed, a spider a little bit smaller than a dime scurried across the blanket. I think my heart stopped. I attempted to kill it, but failed. So now, I share my room with a spider, a gecko, and quite possibly many more bugs and critters that I don’t know about. Feels like home to me.

Saturday, January 7th

            I woke up at 7 a.m. and got ready to go out. We had breakfast at the beautifully-arranged table. They made me eat a lot, which, by now, I have come to expect of every meal. They taught me the names of the things I was eating and how to say “cup of water,” but I can’t remember anything by now. I am pretty sure that Mae Nhi told me what we would be doing that day, but I understood about two words: “uniform” and “shopping.” When we were getting done with our breakfast, one of Mae’s friends came over and I was introduced to her. They talked about me for a while. She told me that Danielle (a girl from the program) was staying with her, and I was really happy to find that out. They noticed how happy I was and I’m pretty sure they plan to have play-dates for us. I was told by Mae’s friend that Danielle and I will be going to school together, which was very good news considering the fact that we’ll have to walk to the road, flag a “rot luong” (yellow taxi) to take us closer to ISDSI and then find a “rot daeng” (red taxi) to get us to ISDSI. Having someone to do this with makes it easier (hopefully!). On our ride to the mall, I taught them that, in Spanish, they were “mami Nhi” and “papi Noi.” They seemed to really like that J. I thought we were at the mall when we first stopped the car, but we were actually going to the hospital to see Paw Noi’s sister. I don’t really know what happened to her (it’s possible that I didn’t understand when Mae Nhi told me), but she seemed really glad that we were there. After that we went somewhere else to pick someone up. My parents have been host parents to three other U.S students. Alice, the girl we were picking up, is their daughter from this past fall. They introduced her to me and she said she was going shopping with us. I was glad she was there, but I also think that they called her because I didn’t understand anything that they were saying to me since the night before (very true!). Alice speaks good Thai, which gave me hope that I might actually learn a little (although sometimes I’d ask her what was going on and she had no clue). (Mae Nhi keeps saying “one week!” until I can speak well. I don’t really believe her.)

            Mae Nhi, Alice, and I looked for a skirt. No lie: I bought the first one I tried on. I think that’s how they figured out that malls aren’t my thing. Alice and I were sent away while Mae and Paw ran some errands. I ran some of my own, too. It was nice having Alice to help me with certain things and she was very willing to answer some of my questions—and therefore, calm some of my anxieties. After the mall, we headed to lunch, where I felt even fuller than the night before. It was then that I learned that, if I finish the food on my plate, they will assume I want more. At home, it is simply polite to finish what you are given; here, it is a sign of being hungry. Because the previous night at dinner I had liked the fried rice with chicken, I was given a similar meal this time, too. After that came a plate of noodles and beef and a little bowl of soup. It was all delicious. Since I finished the noodles, Mae Nhi bought me snacks for the ride (once again, assuming I was still hungry). Those snacks are still sitting on my dresser.

            We drove back home for “a break,” Mae Nhi said. They sent me to sleep for a couple of hours until we’d go out again. What a beautiful nap I tookJ. “Mai, get up,” was what Mae Nhi said to me from outside my window (they don’t come in my room, even if they door is open—especially Paw). Alice knocked on my door shortly after and delivered a map with step-by-step instructions on how to get home from ISDSI. What a life-saver! Once I was ready, we headed to a market about 45 minutes away. The market was a beautiful place, full of vendors everywhere. It was very much like weekend markets in Guatemala, except for this one was clean. Refer to pictures 12, 13, and 14 for some sights of the market. 

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          The smells, sights, and sounds were overwhelming, yet delightful. Mae and Paw kept buying little snacks here and there and feeding Alice and I. Needless to say, by the time we made it to dinner, I wasn’t so hungry. Mae and Paw let me pick my food this time, and I ordered pork in curry, which turned out to be really spicy…but it was so delicious! After dinner we dropped Alice off—I was so thankful that she had been with us because I’m sure it would have been much harder to feel like I had had a fun day if I hadn’t understood at least 10% of what was being said. Alice was very helpful. We exchanged phone numbers and she told me I could call her any time—she is here until February 4^th—and that was very reassuring to me. I fell asleep on the way home, which Mae and Paw thought was funny because they were laughing at me when I got out of the car all groggy. When I was walking up the steps to get inside, Paw Noi called my name and said “Are you happy?” I said yes and asked Mae Nhi how to say “I am very happy” and she proceeded to respond with a long sentence that I repeated almost perfectly. They both clapped for me and smiled so wide I could count their teeth. What a moment! Mae Nhi told me that, on Sunday, I could get up whenever I wanted to.

As I sat in my room after my shower, the events and words that I had learned on that day ran around my head over and over. It was just as overwhelming as living them. Getting to the point where I am able to understand a conversation in Thai and responding with confidence is something that I cannot wrap my mind around.

Sunday, January 8^th

            I called home the previous night from my tiny cellphone. It was good to talk to my parents and Lui. I went to bed later than expected because of it. I was woken up by Mae Nhi (calling outside my window: “Mai, get up”) at 9:30; so much for sleeping in. She seemed in a hurry, and in broken English and perfect Thai, I thought she told me something about going to Danielle’s house. I didn’t really know what was going on. I asked her if I could shower and she said no, so I changed and was sitting down for breakfast when she said “you go now!” I grabbed some fruit and ran out the door. We walked over to Danielle’s house and sat down at the table to discuss our adventure taking the taxi to school. Dee explained to me what her sister had explained to her about taking the taxis, but I knew most of it because of what Alice had explained to me. After talking for a while, Mae Nhi left me at Danielle’s and said something about seeing me later. Oh, well, there I was left to figure things out on my own again. Dee and I talked for a while, getting to know each other—we had only met for about 10 minutes at the guest house. It was very nice talking to her and I found myself suddenly looking forward to the rest of the day—although neither of us really knew much about what was happening.

            Mae Noi (Dee’s mom), Paw Nung (Dee’s dad), Nong Viu (Dee’s sister, pronounced “View”), Dee and I drove to Dee’s grandpa’s house for a little celebration. The house with the guests was next door to grandpa’s house, but Dee’s aunt lived on the other side, so we were invited to that house. Dee’s aunt is married to Ed, a guy from the U.S who was very kind to Dee and I. We hung out at their house for most of the day, going to the neighbor’s house only when we were called for lunch and before we went to the temple.

            Dee carries around a notebook, in which she writes all the new words she learns with the help of her sister. I carried a piece of paper that Dee gave me. We were writing new words throughout the whole day! There is so much to learn!

            We went to the neighbor’s house when we were called for lunch. Before us was a plate of noodles soaked in an orange-ish broth with reddish-brown squares in it. Refer to picture 15 for what our meal looked like. 

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           Dee and I looked at each other, shrugged our shoulders, and started eating. After just the first spoonful, we both realized it was the spiciest thing EVER. We had a few more bites and our eyes were watering and our noses running. Nong Viu told us there was pizza if we couldn’t eat it. For a second, I wanted Dee to say “okay!”…but that didn’t happen. Dee and I decided to go through with our meal. I told her that we could have a sweet if we both finished our meal. We shook on it. Needless to say, we suffered through our meal and finished it! This is when you should all be proud of me. Like…really proud. Because we were told that the reddish-brown chunks were chicken blood. Yes, you read that correctly. Not only was this meal the spiciest we had ever had, but this was also the first time we had both had chicken blood. What a day.

            After that, we headed back to the other house until we were called again. To kill time, we watched some TV, talked, learned Thai phrases, and talked to Ed. We ended up getting into a very good conversation with Ed concerning sustainability, Bangkok as the capital, the city of Chiang Mai, development, permaculture (look it up and be a nerd like Dee), among other things. It was such a good conversation. He is such a nice man; we had a good time talking with him. We exchanged email address to keep in touch. Refer to picture 16 for a picture of Dee and I with Ed.

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            Ed also let us make some French fries (definitely a commodity) in his kitchen. Refer to picture number 17 to see Nong Viu, Dee, and I cooking J. Dee’s family took us to a lake afterward. Refer to picture number 18 for a view of the lake and I!

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            Then it got to be time to go to the temple. Refer to picture number 19 to see what the march to the temple looked like. This was really fun, lots of music and singing and laughing. It was such a good walk. Refer to picture number 20 to see what the temple looked like.

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            Being in the temple was the most exciting thing I have done here, yet the most peaceful. To see such devout people and to be surrounded by them was amazing—there was such community there! For part of the ceremony, people had to touch each other in order for the blessings to transfer (one person would go to the front and touch something that was being offered, and a chain of touch would be formed throughout the temple). It was such a good experience.          

The strange thing is that, although I feel lost when it comes to the language, everything else in Thailand makes me feel at home.