Mrs. Dictionary

Last week three foreigners from Holland were travelling in Laos. After one of the girls seriously injured herself while tubing, they were brought to Nakhon Phanom to the hospital.

It was 9pm at night and my first host mother called me. She wanted me to go to the hospital and translate for the doctors what the girls wanted, and in return explain all the procedures and tests the doctors were going to do. I felt really bad for the girl, but it was a really exciting experience. When I got to the hospital the doctors pulled me into an office and explained to me all of the questions I needed to ask them about medical insurance, the type of room they would like etc. I also had to explain to them that the next day she would have a CT scan and they were going to be frequently taking blood samples and Ultrasounds. I gave them my number so they could call me if they had any problems and the next day the friends of the patient called me asking to give a message to the hospital.

It's exciting how well my Thai is getting. I feel proud that now instead of replying to "Can you speak Thai?" with "I can speak a little Thai", I can now say "I can speak Thai". I feel proud that instead of being told I speak well, I am told my accent is just like a Thai. I feel proud that I can be a translator for other falangs, that I can wander the city by myself and have no problem talking to people and that I can now understand everything that is said in yoga classes.

"All I can do is keep breathing"

I miss you <3

I miss her.

My best friend, the only person I've ever met who is EXACTLY like me in every way. There's just something about her that intrigues me, something that feels so familiar. I've only known her for three months, a short three months; our first encounter of which was only a day. The next time I saw her was the Northern Trip with the exchange students. Fourteen days of fun filled adventures and then we had to part ways to our home towns. I saw her again two weeks ago, for the last time, at Kate's birthday party. It seems rediculous to me that we are such good friends, I feel closer to her than I do to some of my friends back in Canada, and yet I've only known her for 3 short months. I've only talked to her on the phone a few times for a minute here or there, and only occasionally do we chat on the internet. There's just something there.

Last week she left home to go back to Canada; it was a shock when she told me. She called me as I was on my way to Chantaburi, with no way of going to see her off in Bangkok or visiting her one last time. She told me she had planned to tell me the last time we saw each other, but I wasn't able to meet her and instead had to return to Nakhon Phanom. I cried on the phone with her, laughed and sobbed while trying to realise that I don't know when I will see her next. I cried on the busride the rest of the way to our destination. I cried all that night, and felt like something was missing from my exchange, from me. I lay in bed, not crying, not knowing what to think, surprised, shocked and unable to think of what to do next.

We're planning to go to the Olympics together since she lives in BC. But who knows if that will work out; who knows when I will see her again. It's weird being in Thailand without a best friend to share it with. I don't have a best friend with me, and though sometimes that gives me free reign to hang out with whomever I want, sometimes I feel alone; like there is no one I could turn to without calling Canada and waking them all up.

My best friend, for only 16 days, and now she's gone.

"Hope guides me and is what gets me through the day and the night. The hope that once you are gone from my sight, it will not be the last time I look upon you"

EEKKK

A few notes of interest

1. TODAY IS THE FIRST DAY IN A LONG TIME I WENT TO SCHOOL FOR A WHOLE DAY!!
I'm such a good exchange student :)

2. I found my memory card - it was MIA in my wallet change purse for quite a while

3. I'm getting better at guitar everyday

That is all

"What is so amazing that keeps us star gazing?"
-The Rainbow Connection

Greater Northeastern and Northern Tour [Part 2]

I figured it was about time I write the second half. But I have yet to upload pictures.. so you will all have to wait a little bit longer.

Day 8 - We woke up and drove to the Princess Mother's Palace/Home which had the most GORGEOUS gardens in the history of the world. Everyone who was wearing shorts had to put on sabai pants they provided you with that looked like they were made out of jean material. They were so funny. I was tempted to swipe a pair and put them on my jacket but thought better of it. We climbed up a hill to a lookout over the valleys and there were flowers growing everywhere. We walked around the building and Peter made me read out the alphabet to him which was carved onto the wall. Then we walked back down the hill to see the most AMAZING gardens. There were topiaries everywhere, thousands and THOUSANDS of flowers, waterfalls that you could stand behind, big wooden waterwheels, archways, cacti, ponds and big flower covered jungle gyms you could climb on. It was the most beautiful place I've ever been and probably will ever be. I've decided that if I ever get a house with a nice property - I will cover it with flowers just like that. We got back to the hotel really early in the afternoon so I ran a yoga session on the roof. The boys were shooting off fire crackers out of their windows and it sounded like guns were going off - we all freaked out when they started going off. After dinner that night we all gathered on the roof and played a bunch of games - Samurai Intergellactica, Chicken Chicken Fighting Cock, Skin the Snake and the boys lit off more firecrackers. We also found a way onto the VERY top off the roof and Kalie climbed up there. She's crazy, but I love her. After Papa P kicked us off the roof me and a bunch of my girlfriends went to one of their rooms and played Ouiji. We contacted the devil.. apparently. Or some spirit that was PRETENDING to be the devil. I still don't think I believe in all that stuff but it was pretty cool. We all freaked out, Tati lit her bracelet on fire and our friends told us to burn all the pieces of the game. It was intense - but really rediculous

Day 9 - We left for Chiang Mai and on the way we stopped to see the hill tribes. I can't express in words the exact feelings that were running through my heart during the whole experience, but I can say I wouldn't want to go back again. It felt like we were at a zoo, and the people were the exhibits - it just felt wrong to be walking through the little twists and turns with the Longneck Women sitting on either side making scarves and playing guitar. There were even children with rings around their necks. It was definetely an experience I will always remember and a place I am glad I went to, but it felt very "icky" being there and I couldn't wait to get out. It felt wrong to be taking pictures of them. There were groups of children who would run ahead of you and sing for you as you walked by in the hopes of getting money, even still there were men sitting on the ground with their daughters while they smoked opium and the children sang Happy Birthday when you passed. There were women with stretched ears, black teeth and bright red gums. There were pregnant women, teenage girls and little children dressed up in makeup and headpieces - all with rings stretching their necks and legs. When we arrived in Chiang Mai we realised what a MASSIVE hotel we were staying in. It was about 16 stories high [we were on the 10th] and they had beeautiful glass elevators. The rooms were very nice; plus, they had ACTUAL BATHTUBS! We piled 26 of us into a song taew [quite the squish] and set off for the Night Bazaar. We went to Starbucks first and I bought a really cool travel mug; the celebration of the 100th store in Thailand mug. The Night Bazaar was AMAZING! I bought so much stuff, for so cheap and we spent hours wandering all the little stalls. There were people playing violin in the centre, and along the walls of a building there was a line of about 20 people giving foot massages. After the Night Bazaar we went to get Mexican food - Adrian really wanted some. It was SO delicious. Kalie and I took the stairs back up to our rooms once we got back - it was a mission.

Day 10 - Monday we went to the Chiang Mai Zoo. It was a bit of a disapointment - we had to walk a billion km between most of the exhibits - but the animals were really cool. We first went to an aquarium [I was sad there were no Hammerhead sharks - I was hoping there would be] where there was a diver dressed up as Santa and there were Christmas trees in almost every tank. Then we went to see the pandas. THEY WERE SO CUTE! One of the pandas had a little chair he sat in while he munched on bamboo. Then a bunch of the girls and I went to look for more animals. We saw crocodiles, turtles, snakes, zebras, giraffes, lions, tigers, panthers, jaguars, leopards, elephants, ostriches, koalas, monkeys and lots more. We went on an "adventure" and sat in this little cart while it drove around an area where they had mechanical figurines. There were dinosaurs, hilltribe people and snakes. There was even a King Kong! There were about a hundred real life deer hanging out, as well as goats. We got to feed the jaguars big hunks of meat by sticking it through the cage on the end of a big stick - they are STRONG! Once we got back from the Zoo we got dressed to go to Kantoke dinner [traditional Northern Thailand way of eating]. We sat on the floor with little cushions behind us and ate the food on the floor - it came to us on a little wooden table. While we were eating they had performers come out; Thai dancers with really long fingers, little children jumping around over bamboo and men holding swords in their mouths and throwing them around. Kalie and I made animal figurines [mine an elephant, hers a giraffe] our of sticky rice and gave them to Clayton as a present. When the dinner was over we all went to the second part of the show where they had a guy holding FLAMING swords in his mouth, between his legs and throwing them around. When we got back to the hotel we played hacky sack in the hallway, I ordered a club sandwich from room service [soooooo delicious!] and then we went up and hung out on the roof before going to bed.

Day 11 - Elephant Camp day - one of the most fun days of the trip. Kalie and I hopped on a 26 year old elephant names Mae Sun and bought some bananas and sugar cane to give to him on our trip. However, the elephant guide just took the ENTIRE bunch of bananas and tossed them to him - so we hid the sugar cane behind our backs so he wouldn't do the same with those. At one point I dropped my camera off the top of the elephant while we were walking through the jungle and our guide had to hop off of the elephant's head to go down and get it. At least the elephant didn't step on it, or it didn't land in poo or something. Our elephant was a rocker! He was lumbering ALL over the place and we almost fell off quite a few times, it was so much fun. While we were preoccupied taking pictures the elephant behind us [Ashley and Kaitlin's elephant] reached into our seat and pulled the sugar cane out from behind our backs. WHAT A THIEF! When they came around the bend near the end of the ride they gave the elephants giant lumps of sticky rice and a big bale of leaves that the elephants stuck between their tusks and their trunks like a little hand. Then they just reached up and took a piece occasionally. When we dismounted the elephants we went over and got seated for the elephant show. They danced, played the harmonica, swung around hula hoops, threw darts, painted pictures, played soccer and lifted people's hats off their heads. It was so cool - I really wanted to buy a tshirt with an elephant painting on it but they were too expensive. We went to another Orchid Farm for lunch [this one was much better] and then we went to a historical park and drove around between temples. Next we went to see the umbrellas - I bought SO much stuff, and you could pay to get things painted. I got them to paint my camera and my mug with cool birds and stuff. After dinner the bus dropped everyone off at the night market where I bought even MORE stuff [this trip was the death of my bank account]. When we got back to the hotel, Kalie and I sat downstairs and had a good chat while we waited for the Movie woman from the night market to drop off our copies of Twilight. We lurked some stuff on the internet for a while before going to bed.

Day 12 - Christmas Eve. It didn't feel like Christmas Eve, and I would have completely blown through the day without thinking about it if someone hadn't pointed out the date. We went to the highest peak in Thailand which was supposed to be super cold - and wasn't - though Papa P was decked out in a fargo hat and a parka. Such a funny, funny man. We went to a waterfall [the biggest waterfall in Thailand] and then to the King and Queen's pagodas where Clayton, Kalie and I napped on top of each other. Our new hotel was beautiful. It was a giant garden with a park, peacocks, streams, waterfalls and all of the bungalows were at least 500 m from the other. It was really nice, but it took too long to get everywhere... so we borrowed bikes. Kat and I biked around the grounds for a really long time - racing, going off jumps and chasing down other exchange students who were on the walkways. Until I came to Thailand, I did not realise just how much I missed riding a bike - it's such a great feeling. After dinner everyone gathered in a small clearing in the middle of the resort where the boys set off fireworks and fire crackers. It turned out into a Roman Candle battle between the boys, and the girls stood around the edge trying not to get hit by the lights flying everywhere. Michael and Manon brought out flaming chains that we took turns swinging around - I burnt my arm and Adrian burnt his back - but it was SO much fun. Kate brought out her guitar and we sat on the lawn singing for a while.

Day 13 - Christmas!! It wasn't a very exciting Christmas. I woke up really early to hand out stockings I had made to all the exchange students and we set off to Sukothai Historical Park. It was really cool [kind of like the temples in Ayutthaya] but after a while it got kind of boring. The boys' bus broke down [CHRISTMAS MIRACLE] so they got to come and sit on our bus for the day - there was a lot of driving, so we watched a few movies. When we arrived at the hotel we had a "Christmas party" [ie. Falang food for dinner] and we did our Secret Sant gift exchange. Nicole was my Secret Santa and she got me a really cute elephant charm, a beautiful wooden necklace and one of those star shaped lamp things with dolphins all over it. I got Tati an umbrella that I had "Thailand Rotary Youth Exchange" written on for her. I called my family when it was Christmas morning for them, and Ashley shrieked when she picked up the phone. It didn't upset me talking to them - just another day, but when I said goodbye to Dad I started to cry. It's crazy how much you realise you really care and love for everyone when you are so far away - I feel the closest with my family [Dad especially] now that I'm on the other side of the world. I love talking to them, and I can't wait for Mom and the girls to come visit me. The rest of the night was very relaxing - we hung out in each others' hotel rooms, Kalie and I gave each other massages and then we went to sleep.

Day 14 - We returned at the hotel in Korat and Suzanne and I [as well as many others] had to spend the night before returning to Nakhon Phanom. We went to the Mall for Starbucks etc. and then we went out for Mexican food - Mexican food is GOOD! Most people went out looking for something else to do but a few of us went back to the hotel. Kalie and I looked for a Thai massage place but the woman said we would have to wait 2 hours before we could get them. We just hung out at the hotel and fell asleep very late at night.

Day 15 - The drive back to Nakhon Phanom was horrible, but when we finally got back we walked to my first host parents' house from the bus station [our cellphone batteries had died so we couldn't call for a ride] and they had my parcel from CANADA!! It was really exciting to open up my Christmas presents - my family even sent me a stocking full of goodies. My host parents had also bought me a specially made rice basket full of my favourite Thai candies - they are so cute. When my host family picked me up, they ALSO gave me a Christmas gift - a beautiful scarf and a picture frame - and I was suprised to see Nong Nurse was back for the holidays from Bangkok.

"I never forget how strange it is just to be alive at all" - Patrick Park

Suk San Wan Gud

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ME!!

I am now 18
I can buy lottery tickets and go play bingo
I can vote
I can drink in MANY COUNTRIES, Alberta, Manitoba and Quebec
I am an "adult" WHOO HOOOOO
I can buy porn and buy adult rated anything
I can get into 18A movies

There are probably many more things I can do - but I just haven't thought of them yet
It's an exciting age - and I celebrated my Champagne birthday [18 on the 18th] in THAILAND!!

What, my friends is more amazing than that?

"Emma, your name poses a dilemma, cause there's not much else that rhymes with Emma (maybe Richard Cranna, he played the commanding officer in Rambo) Happy Birthday Emma!"
-Phoebe Buffay

Lately

So I haven't written much lately, because life has been fairly slow in the past week or so. I will just write about a few random things as of late:

1. On Saturday Suzanne and I took a bus from HELL to Khon Kaen to visit our friend Kate for her birthday. The bus was infested with hundreds and hundreds of misquitoes; we were also sitting next to the fire escape so they were the worst right beside our seat. Then, a cockroach appeared on the window sill beside my seat and I flipped out and spent about a half hour clambouring and whimpering on top of Suzanne until I asked the steward to kill it. He smacked it and brushed it onto the floor, but then 5 minutes later it was up on the window sill again. I tried to kill it by squishing it with the curtain but those things just DON'T DIE! I ended up changing seats until I was kicked out when more people came on. Then, there was a wailing baby for most of the busride, so by the time we got to Khon Kaen I was exhausted, frusterated and in need of friendship. We spent a lot of time that day at the mall; I saw "Bedtime Stories" in Thai with Kalie and Veronica, and then Kalie and I played Guitar Hero [whack-a-mole style included] for about an hour before meeting everyone for dinner [aka Swensens]. Then we went to meet Kate for Karaoke at a really fancy hotel. We sang karaoke from about 8 until 1; needless to say by the end [after my frequent screamo impersonations] my voice was shot and we returned to Kate's house to sleep with four of us in one bed. The next day Suzanne and I had to come home.

2. The English teachers at my school are driving me crazy, they gossip about me to students; it's extremely childish. But that's all I am going to say on the matter - the rest is saved for my rants with Suzanne and my diary.

3. I bought a guitar book "300 Acoustic Favourites" while we were in Khon Kaen and I have been practicing every night to get better. I also bought a book of chords :)

4. School is boring - the school is having people come and judge it tomorrow for a King's award, so most of the classes are cancelled so the students can help clean the school and make it look amazing. I think it's rediculous that the school doesn't put much money into anything until they are going to be in a competition and then they go ALL out - they redid the cooking rooms with white tile floors, put up overhangs, redid the roads, painted all the bathrooms etc. etc. So, most of my classes are cancelled - quite annoying.

5. It's gotten "cold" here. I wake up in the morning and I don't want to get out of bed, and at night time I sleep with two thick blankets on top of me. I also have started wearing sweaters overtop of my uniform to school - I know it's no Canada, but for Thailand it is cold.

6. My birthday is on Sunday and I am trying to get to go see my friends in Chanthaburi where my friend Clayton is also having his birthday [on the Saturday]. Will the parents cave?

Stay tuned for our next episode!

Appreciation

Here's a task for you, the next time you go travelling: WALK

I don't mean walk around the mall, the market, the grocery store. I don't mean walking a couple blocks to the bus station. When I say walk - I mean walk. You have no idea how much walking can really increase your appreciation for a country, for a city. I used to complain about Nakhon Phanom; it's small, there's literally nothing to do except eat, everyone stares and there are NO other falangs. Now I love it, I'm proud of Nakhon Phanom, I can't imagine living in a city that's different.

Yesterday I went on an adventure - I walked to the market from my house, and if you knew the distance, you would understand what a mission that was. I went by myself, with my new ipod [thanks to my wonderful family back home] in my ear, walking shoes on my feet, and nothing on my person except my camera memory chip and a couple of bills in my pocket.

It was wonderful.

Thailand always smells like something - it isn't always the best of smells, but it always HAS a smell, it always HAS a noise - there is always something going on; whether it be motorbikes driving past or dogs running across the street. There is always something moving; whether it's the trees blowing in the soft wind or birds flying across the clear blue sky. I never noticed half of this... until I took the time to walk.

"Where the sky is deep and blue, won't you take me there with you"

New Years Hooblah [Wan Bii Mai]

I have yet to upload part 2 of my pictures from the trip, so I have yet to write about part 2 of my trip. It will come soon, I promise.

In the meantime, we celebrated New Years Eve and New Years Day in the traditional western way. New Years Eve Tony picked up Suzanne and I from shopping for a gift exchange and took us to his and Kaew's house. We sat around, had some tea, talked for a bit, used the computer and then came down for a traditional Christmas dinner with all the fixins'. Turkey, stuffing, cranberry sauce ... the works. There was even garlic bread, spaghetti, ribs and potato salad. It was delicious!! When more people arrived we did the gift exchange. My hammock got picked by a younger couple who were VERY excited to hang it outside of their shop. I recieved a little ceramic lamp - it's very cute, but another thing for me to bring back in my already overflowing suitcase. Ah well, I guess mom and the sisters are coming to visit at a good time - they can take all my crap back with them :)

After the gift exchange we all sat around outside chatting. Half of the people there were gay boys, and we were even graced with the prescence of a certain "Kateui" who has been a woman for 20 years now [though she insists she has been a woman since birth]. They all left early to go to Banana, the Nakhon Phanom discotech [I didn't even know we HAD a discotech until they mentioned it... apparently we have two] and so the last two hours we spent socializing over wine and candy before the big "NEW YEARS EVE HOOBLAH". Not anything big and exciting - no kissing at midnight, no pots and pans [which has been my tradition as long as I can remember], but there were hugs, and phone calls to my exchange student friends.

New Years Day, Suzanne and I woke up at Tony's house to a phone call from Peter - it was 2 pm, we had slept through the whole morning. We made turkey sandwiches with gravy soaked bread [yummmmm] and then we were dropped off at home. I came home to an empty house [my host parents were in a village visiting my host grandparents] and it stayed that way all night. I took a break from Sex and the City to go and buy yogurt for dinner from 7 Eleven and then nestled myself back into the couch with tea and tissues for my cold [THANKS A LOT MASON!] and the remote. It was a relaxing, but sickly New Years Day.

"I'll find you in the morning sun, and when the night is new, I'll be looking at the moon but I'll be seeing you"
-Billie Holiday