One thing that I forgot to mention last time was that a former exchange student came in to visit. I didn’t mention her because I thought she was only staying for a night and just stopping by, but it turns out she stayed with this family two or three years ago. (She left a note saying so but I didn’t see it I’m soRRY) Her name is Christine, she’s from Germany and she was visiting us for several days before leaving with my host brother, Stim, for his year abroad. She was incredibly sweet and funny, just really enthusiastic over all and made things more fun (we played so many card games and it was great). She was happy to explain things to me and give pointers based on her experience. She also speaks several languages fluently (including English) and helped me out quite a bit, especially when I went to give a speech for Rotary on Friday night.
On Saturday, we went and visited the grandparents about an hour away from the house in Chanthaburi. We went there so that Stim could visit his grandparents before departing, and afterward we took a trip into the plantation they owned. We got to ride in the back of the pickup truck (we were going maybe 20 miles an hour max but it was still really cool) and then took a walk on this elevated irrigation pipe. Afterwards we headed back, got dinner, and then got some ice cream and watched a movie before going to bed.
Sunday was Christine and Stim’s last day, and I decided to make it the best possible last day in Thailand for them.
Just kidding, I didn’t, I dragged the entire family to the hospital because I had to get my Japanese Encephalitis shots because the vaccine was ridiculously expensive in the United States. The wait took way longer than it should’ve, and we were just kind of hanging out there waiting for the doctor who didn’t speak English and so I had to make a ton of gestures to explain why I didn’t get the vaccine earlier. She was really sweet, but I think she was also really confused until I whipped out my old buddy Google Translate.
Once that was done, we spent a few hours at the house before driving Christine and Stim to the airport. I know I gave my blog link to Christine, so… if you’re reading this, please don’t get mad at me if I forgot any important details from the last few days. I’m tired.
Mother’s day was yesterday, and the stuff that happened here is pretty different from what happens in the U.S. and in all honesty I’m still not entirely sure what happened. We went to some rotary sponsored gathering, where a bunch of monks were chanting something (I still don’t know what) and then we went and hiked to a waterfall before getting my school uniform. I wore it for my first day of school today, and honestly the thing is stiff enough to kind of feel like cardboard but over all it’s not that bad. My host brother (Stamp) and I went in to visit the school’s director, who welcomed me very nicely (and told me that I had two days to prepare a speech) before sending us off to class. They just gave me the same schedule as Stamp (for now) to avoid confusion. There was biology, followed by something concerning college in the U.S., then math, lunch, English, and a free period. A lot of the people I met were actually pretty fluent in English, and every single one of them was insanely nice to me.
Most of the classes went by in a storm of gibberish, and I could hardly make out any words that were being said. But the biology class made sense because apparently, scientific terms are mostly universal, and also because there were pictures and some English words. The math class was the same as the Calculus class that I just finished taking, and while I’m grateful to know the material a bit already, I was also hoping to not endure Calculus a second time. Oh well. And as for the English class, I figure I should just mention that other countries are really nailing it with their foreign language classes and America kind of sucks in comparison.
And before I talk about the free period, I’d like to talk about the school lunch first. Because it was insane. There was this huge cafeteria (in Thai it’s called the canteen) and it was basically a food court. You could go to a bunch of different stations and choose what dish you wanted, and they would make it for you on the spot. And it wasn’t some greasy ham sandwich or a pre-packaged PB&J, it was an actual lunch. I got some noodle dish, I don’t know what it was because I was panicking but it was really good. Some other kids got rice bowls, and others got other dishes and I have no idea what they’re called. But either way, everything was well prepared and put together, and it puts the American school lunch program to shame.
After lunch and English was the free period, and it was honestly a little bit insane. About half the kids were studious and doing their work, and the other half was playing soccer and volleyball in the classroom. I am not exaggerating, we were keeping score. And anyone reading this might think, ‘hey! That seems a little dangerous, playing volleyball and soccer in the classroom! Some kid could get hit in the head!’
And if you’re thinking that, you’re right. Because it happened, and we just kept playing.
I think I like it here.
Alison S. Thailand Blog 