The Land of Smiles

Sa wad dee ka from the Land of Smiles!

I could not have asked for a more beautiful country to do my exchange in. Everything about Thailand takes my breath away from the front yard to the wild dogs roaming the streets to the magazines with Thai superstars on the front covers. Even as rediculous as it sounds, everything is so foreign to me here. But I am loving and breathing in every minute of it.
So this is my first official post of my exchange so I will try to say as much as I can about my travelling experience so far. But words or pictures cannot do justice to all of the amazing journeys I have already encountered.
However... I will try.
To start off I left my teary family at security at the Pearson Airport at 12:00 pm and from then on I was on the adventure of my lifetime. After I had been checked over I picked up my stuff, turned around and my family was standing there, behind all the other travellers waving goodbye and yelling at me. That image is the last I will have of them for the next year.
After I got to my gate I went to the washroom and waited to board. I was seriously dreading the 13 hour flight to Tokyo but I definetely lucked out. It turned out that I had an entire row of three seats to myself so I stretched out and slept for almost the entire plane ride. I only watched half of a movie and the rest of the flight I dozed off with the help of ear plugs [Thanks mom :)] The food, however, was as awful as always so once I landed in the Tokyo airport the first thing I thought of was getting food. Once I had gone through security [for a second time] and reached my gate I found somewhere to sit and eat some french fries and orange juice while I wrote in my journal. After waiting a couple hours for my next flight I was off to Bangkok accompanied with a man sitting next to me who reaked of beer and looked very unhappy. Oh well. The flight to Bangkok wasn't nearly as wonderful as the flight to Tokyo. But what can you do?
As we were landing in Bangkok I looked out the window and couldn't help butt stare at the bustling of the city below me. It was almost 11pm and the city was wide awake and full of life. After claiming my baggage, going through customs and all that jazz I followed the long hallway lined with people holding signs with pictures and names to find their loved ones. I had NO idea who or what I was looking for until a man came up to me, looked at me, then turned to a waiting crowd of people and yelled "Emma!!!" At that, a group of people ran over including my host aunt, uncle and cousin, Peter head of Youth Exchange in my district and many other people.
I was asked to call my host mom in Nakhon Phanom to let her know I had arrived, and then I called my mom in Canada to let her know she could sleep without worrying :)
On the way to my host aunt/uncle's house we stopped for dinner [at 1 am] at a small restaurant off the highway. For 1 am the restaurant was busy! I was surprised that this many people were out for dinner so late at night. As I got out of the car and walked to a table [I must have looked horrible after 20 something hours of travelling and extreme jet lag] all the Thai people stopped and stared at the blonde "falang" in their country. It was madness. Two Thai boys even came over to me while I was eating and said "Where are you from?" and [I was very proud of myself] I replied "mah jak Canada". They smiled and ran back to their table where I could hear them chattering in Thai and saying "Canada, Canada". It seemed as if everyone else in the restaurant had wanted to know the answer to the very same question, as after I answered they stared for a few seconds and then returned to their dinner.
Now, I know that most of the exchange students will probably say the same thing no matter WHICH country they are in, but FOOD IS HUGE in Thailand. Everyone in the restaurant seemed to know each other [even though they didn't]. The way that everyone came together over food was amazing, and all the food that arrived at our table looked magical and enough to feed a small army. I wondered how the Thai people who are so small could fit so much food in their stomachs! First came pork satay with peanut sauce, then battered shrimp, then sweet and sour chicken/pork with rice, and then came a big bowl of what looked like pink shrimp soup. Apparently you scoop out the soup stuff and put it on your bowl of rice.. well... that's pretty much what they did with everything. Some of the food will take getting used to but for the most part it was delicious.. and spicy!
Then Ja-Eh [my cousin] and I went to the 7Eleven and I was marveled by all the Thai goodies on the counters, and even more excited when I saw Mentos and Clorets on a rack. On our way home Ja-Eh helped me learn more Thai and I am proud to say I remember all of it today! [Two days later]. I had always been frightened that I wouldn't learn the language, but it is much easier to learn now that I am surrounded with the language and I can practice all the time.
My aunt and uncle's house is gorgeous! Not in a "Paris Hilton's mansion gorgeous" kind of way, but in an authentic, rustic, magnificent kind of way. Every little detail of the house I love [except maybe the immense amount of ants that like to attack the garbage can in the kitchen], from the marble patio out front and all the different kinds of plants on the lawn. Types of trees I had never even imagined before. It's literally like a jungle outside the front door [minus the monkeys and such]. My bedroom is like a little hotel room with a balconey I like to stand on in the mornings after I have a shower, and windows that open to the backyard of the neighbours [who blar Thai music at 7 in the morning]. It is breathtaking.
Yesterday I woke up and I was home alone, my aunt, uncle and cousin were out at work and school so I came downstairs and wrote in my journal and tried to write letters. Then after my aunt came home from work she took me to a small restaurant on the river. The food wasn't great, but the view was wonderful.
Then we went to a temple across the river; I can't put into words just how peaceful and special the wat was. We had to take our shoes off outside and inside we waid [bowed] to the buddha and the statue of the grand king. The architecture of this building has increased the beauty of Thailand for me by far. Then we went to the Bang Pa-in Palace and again we had to take our shoes off. The buildings here are so defined and particular down to the last piece of cobblestone or golden archway. I will try to put pictures on later this week, Lord knows I took many. My aunt took a picture of me in front of almost every building we walked by, she is so adorable. Her English isn't the greatest, but she tries very hard to speak English with me, and to help me learn Thai.
After such a long day in the heat I came home and took a four hour nap [it was 4 in the morning back in Canada] and I awoke to the sound of my aunt calling me from outside my door. I opened the door and she said "gin-gin! we eat dinner!" I swear to you almost every hour she asks me if I am hungry and she is surprised when I can't finish all the food we have. She once said to me "you no eat a lot, why?" I guess my stomach isn't Thai enough yet. But soon I will probably be eating like mad. Anyways it turns out we were going to KFC for dinner. Haha, a little taste of home. Then Ja-Eh and I went to the department store so I could buy a razor and hairclips etc. [all the stuff I didn't take with me and needed] and then we looked at cellphones. I think my uncle will take me tonight to buy one. You can buy a phone here for 800 baht, which is roughly 25 dollars I think. Then you just buy minute cards to put on them. :)
As soon as we got back from dinner I checked my email and went to bed. Then I awoke this morning to the sound of the neighbour's music at 7 am and took a shower. Showers are much needed here, I felt soo much more refreshed and cooler after my shower and I laid on my bed in my towel for a couple hours. It was wonderful.
I have given up on trying to watch DVD's when no one is home. I am not technologically advanced so I have noooooo idea how to use their DVD player. Plus I was watching the Incredibles earlier [in Thai, with no subtitles... it's a good thing I've seen it before and have some idea what is going on] and it decided to just shut off on me in the middle. Oh well.
I am going to leave this long blog message now and have some lunch [leftovers from yesterday's pork satay and peanut sauce]
Ki tu. [Miss you]

"And there was evening, and there was morning - the third day."
Genesis 1:13

Peace and Love,
Emma. xo