From the Land of Smiles...: October 2005

First and last day at school...

Hey everybody,

Today is my first day back at school after having a month off. It is also my last day at Bankhai School. I found out on Thursday that Rotary and my host families want me to change schools because my second and third host families live too far away from the school that i'm at now. My new school is called Rayong Witt and i'll be going to school with my host sister Nook, which will be really nice.

Anyways, today, I thought was going to be boring as usual...I was very wrong. At first my host mother came in and we talked to the teachers and the headmaster and explained. They were all very nice, but seemed a bit sad. And the headmaster gave me this really nice thai keychain with, you guessed it, elephants on it! I was pretty excited... After that my host mother left and I went on the computer in the library, because on mondays I have a first period spare...Then I went up to my thai language class. The teacher came out into the hall and explained that the classes had changed (nobody told me that), so she took me down to the office and found out what class 6/1 (my class) had. I went to the classroom (I have no idea what class it was, lol) and sat in on the class, having no idea what was going on. Next we went to math...I could actually understand some of it, except using thai letters instead of a, b, c, x, etc... makes things quite confusing...After that we went to thai language. The teacher told me she was giving me he first 5 minutes of class so I could stand up and talk to the class. So I got up there and said (in half thai half english) thank you very much for everything you've done for me...and that i've had a great time at bankhai school and that i'll miss them...etc... Stuff like that. After that They gave me a blown up and framed photograph of all of us after sport day...Its sooo nice...I had no idea they were going to do that for me. I feel soo bad too, because I meant to bring my pins to give to everyone, but in the rush this morning I completely forgot.. I feel so bad. But i'll be coming back to visit, maybe in a few weeks, so I'll bring them then, but still... Oh, and on the back of the frame they stuck a little peice of paper on the back where they wrote:

Brain: To think of you

Eyes: To look at you

Heart: To love you

Hand: To touch you

Leg: To walk with you

Mouth: To say I miss you

Foot: To kick you if you don't miss me

Good Luck,

From: Friends 6/1 at Bankhai school

And then they all sang me Happy Birthday, because my birthday is next week..and then a bunch of them stood up and just said some really nice things. I was so sad, I really don't want to change schools now. Then we all had lunch and then took a bunch of photos...now we're in computer class, and the teacher just told me that I look like a Barbie doll and that I'm breaking the boys' hearts by leaving, lol...

I hope that the rest of the day continues to go well...I'm sure it will though, theres only one more period and it's also computer class...Then I go home and eat some chocolate that my host father brought me back from his trip to Hong Kong this weekend...mmmmm.....I guess that's the closest to having Halloween that i'm going to get...

Then tomorrow I start at Rayong Witt...I'm a little nervous...the school has 4000 students...thats twice as big as Bankhai school...and 10 times as big as District...ahhh...oh, speaking of District, could somebody email me (or post) and let me know the time and date of Graduation? Thanks!

I'll post again soon...I still have to post about my camping weekend...It's coming, I promise...

-Lauren

camping weekend

Hey Everybody…sorry about all these being posted so late…but I’m finally getting caught up…and I warn you now…this is going to be long…

The weekend of the 21st I went camping in the mountains with my neighbours (who are also extended host family) and a lot of their extended family and friends…there were 3 trucks and an SUV packed with people and camping stuff…

We left on Friday, just after lunch, and drove for a few hours to Khao Yai (which translated means big mountain) national park (and world historic site). Apparently there were deer there, tigers, and 300 wild elephants…Unfortunately we didn’t see any tigers or elephants, but we did see some deer and monkey’s which was pretty cool…we also saw giant porcupines…they honestly looked like they could have eaten a cat, lol…I couldn’t believe it! We couldn’t get close enough to get a picture though. I was so surprised at what the campsite looked like. I thought it would be just as rugged as Canadian camping, but it turned out to be just one big field where everyone put their tents right near each other…Some people even put their tents inside the gazebo things…that was just ridiculous…It was fun though…especially when we all piled into the back of the van’s with big spotlights and went animal spotting…I wish we had seen a tiger or an elephant though…oh well….

In the morning we woke up really early, because there were a lot of people up and walking around and packing up. Michael and Nueng and I decided to go for a walk. Unfortunately we didn’t see any animals on our walk, but it was fun anyway. And Nueng showed us this really cool plant (I’ll post a picture of it)…you touch its leaves and they all retract…it’s really amusing…Oh, just so you know who I’m talking about…Nueng is the daughter of the woman who I play tennis with…and Michael is from Pittsburg and he’s friends with the family(s) who we went camping with (he’s been in Thailand teaching English for 7 months). He made the trip a lot more fun…and you have no idea how nice it was to be able to speak real English to someone…

After our walk we all had breakfast, showered, packed up the campsite and headed out…we were going to be staying at a different site every night. That day we drove to Khao Koh, stopping a few times to check out some sites…one place that we stopped, which was the site of a palace (although it didn’t look like a palace to me) and we realized just how much this country could look like home…they even have pine trees up in the mountains…although the pine trees are tall and thin with all the branches at the top (just like most thai trees). They even have pointsettas…I was so surprised to see those. That night we had to try a few different places before finding somewhere to camp for the night, so we ended up having to set up camp and cook dinner at night, which made things a bit more difficult.

On Sunday morning we got up and walked across the road and looked at the old vehicles that were used by the Thai army...mostly the usual stuff, planes, tanks etc…but there was one thing that I really couldn’t wrap my head around…a caterpillar (a little bulldozer) with a wooden box on the top of it. I have no idea how that could have done anything in fighting, but that’s just me…That day we did a lot of driving around, but we got to see some beautiful things…like 2 waterfalls…the first one kind of looked like Balls Falls…and while we were there almost everyone took baths in the river (we didn’t shower that morning…you should be happy you didn’t see the water that we would have had to use…*shudder*)…then we went to the second waterfall… this one was bigger and had a few tiers…We took photos from the top, and then went down to the bottom (having to walk down some extremely unstable stairs…when we got down there many of the group went swimming, once again, so Michael and I decided to climb up to the middle level to take some more pictures. We couldn’t have been more than 10 minutes or so, but when we went back down everyone was gone. We got back up to the top and found everyone waiting for us…apparently some of them had been going up and down looking for us too. We felt so bad! I couldn’t believe it though…they must have gotten out of the water right after we left for them to be able to get ready so fast…Then we headed off to the place where we would stay the night…

When we stopped we saw a bunch of cabin-type things on the edge of a hill, and I assumed that was where we’d be staying. Then we went for a little walk. We walked for a bit and then I saw where we were going. The ground that we were walking on looked like it had bubbles coming up from it…almost like there was air trapped under the surface. And then all over the place there were deep cracks in the rocks. It was really really cool. I had no idea how that could have possibly occurred. Nueng told us the next day that it was from earthquakes and from water. I understand the earthquakes part, but it must have taken forever for the water to create the bumps…I’ll post pictures. The we headed back and found out that only a few people were going to be staying in the cabins. I was a little disappointed at first, but when we went up to take a “bath” (thai people call taking a bath dumping small buckets of water over yourself) I saw that the cabins were dirtier and had more bugs than our tents did (and personally, I didn’t want to sleep with bugs in my bed).

After we went back we all got into the trucks and drove up the road to see a show. It turned out to be little Chinese girls singing and dancing…or little thai girls that were singing some Chinese ( I think that might have been it). We watched a bit of the show, we met a few guys that go to university in Bangkok (they were there on a camping trip). The one guy had done his grade 12 year in a school in Florida, near Miami, so his English was really good. We also talked to his friend, whose English was just as good as his. They told us that every year there’s a show at this time. It’s because about 30 or so years ago there was a war in Thailand. There were a bunch of communists up in one of the mountains and the thai army fought them. So apparently this was to commemorate the war ending. I was surprised because I thought that I had read that Thailand never had a civil war (or anything like that), but apparently they don’t like to talk about this one very much…

Then it started to rain a bit, so someone came on and announced that everyone was going to dance to try and make the rain go away. So many of the people in the audience got up and started dancing (thai dancing). Well, the guys decided to make me come up and dance with them. I could do the hand movements already from when my friend taught me, so I just had to co-ordinate the feet with the hands…and once I got it it was really easy. Nueng took a picture of me, and then came out and joined us. It was so much fun. And it was so funny because all these random thai people kept coming up and taking my picture…and there was a woman with a really big camera videotaping me (I had caught her taping me earlier too). After that we sat back down for a few minutes and then had to go back to our site because the kids were tired.

The next morning we got up and packed up the site. Then we drove for a bit and stopped at another place. This was the mountain where the war had been. We ended up walking about 5 km total that day…We walked up the mountain to the top, where there was another one of those cool rock fields. Apparently it had been used as a makeshift hospital site before people could be taken to a real hospital. I don’t see how that could have worked with all the bumps, but that’s just me… Then we walked back down and we saw some of the gravesites of the communists. It was really weird, there were cigarette buts all over the graves. I was so surprised, because I thought immediately that it was a bad thing (it certainly would be in Canada), but apparently it was paying respect somehow (since, although they were communist, they were still thai). There were also open water bottles placed around them. It had to have been one of the weirdest things I’ve ever seen here. Then we walked down and saw the communist village. It was all made of wood and would have fit perfectly into a horror movie, it was really creepy… Then we had to walk all the way back down.

On our drive back down the mountains we stopped at the coolest place. It was another cliff…but the thing that made it cool was all the fog. There was so much fog that you literally could not see past the edge. When you looked down, straight ahead, up (it was cloudy)…all you saw was white. It felt like we were at the edge of the world or something. Don’t worry…I do realize that the world is round, but that’s what it felt like. Like in the Truman show where he reaches the edge of the dome that he lives in…and its all just white as he looks up… It really was unreal.

After that we headed home, stoping periodically for lunch, coffee, snacks, and dinner…It was a more than 7 hour drive…and boy was I tired when I got back…it took me a few days to really recover…It was a really fun trip…

Sorry...there's lots of pictures coming after this...so it may take a while to load...

-Lauren

trees around the drop off...sorry...this is alot of pictures

the drop off...hahaha...like in finding nemo

group picture at kao yai

the prison at the communist villiage (notice how its off the ground so they can't tunnel out...at least thats what i think)

me on the mountain

Nueng, Michael and I on top of the mountain (the one with the communists...i don't know the name)

me dancing...wow this is a terrible picture, but you get the idea (thats one of the guys on the right,,,and in the green hat behind me)

the cool rocks at Lan hin taek

me and the waterfall

second waterfall at kao kho

first waterfall (at Kao kho)

the cat used in the war...i have no idea how...can you figure it out?

me eating dinner...look at all that food...and yes, it was cold enough to need a sweatshirt...i'd say maybe 15-17 degrees

some of our dinner at Kao Kho...mushrooms and pumpkin (which is fuck in thai...i thought some of you would enjoy that...the thai people did, lol) and shell sauce (i think)...it tasted really good

mike and I at Kao Kho

thailand's pine trees (complete with pine cones

Michael, Nueng and I at Kao Yai

pointsettas on kao kho

kao yai

our camping "area" at cow yai

the cool plant that you touch and it closes up...it's really amusing...

some of the tents our first night at Kao Yai...I think that's cheating, don't you?

monks at the wat in Bankhai...i'm not really sure what this is called in english...my host family keeps talking about "making merit"...so, its something along those lines

me swinging down the ropes at the military academy

military academy and pattaya weekend

Hey Everybody,

This weekend I went away with a family that is friends with my host family…It was…interesting, that’s for sure, we did some really cool things…but I’m definitely not traveling with them again…I ended up having to pay alot for the trip...more than I think I should have paid...anyways, I can't afford the way they travel...

But i'll tell you about the weekend...

The first day we all crammed into a car…4 ppl In the back seat (not comfortable) and drove for a few hours to get to the Military Academy. It was a huge property with lots of buildings…then we drove up to the lake…there were lots of people and cars around and these tower things…

It was really cool…first we put a harness on, climbed up a small tower, and then were clipped onto a rope…then we slid down the rope (over the water)…it was really fun. At the other side there was another tower and we did the same thing to get back to the other side…Then Ney and I went kayaking…but only for a few minutes, because it started to rain…after we got off the water the rain stopped, so we all went and played paintball…It was fun, but 3 of the kids were under 10, so I didn’t really want to shoot at them in case I hurt them. After that we all piled back into the cars for a few minutes and then stopped at a big tower…We did the rope sliding thing again…but this time it was from a much higher tower…and this time we didn’t just slide the whole time, there was an initial drop…I admit it, I was a bit nervous…but it was fun. After that we went into the building next to the tower and did a virtual target shooting thing…it was cool too, but it wasn’t that great…

That was the end of our activities for the day and now we all got into the cars (this time we were in a van with a dvd player) and made the many hour drive up to Pa Ngam mountain lodge where we would be staying the night…The lodge was beautiful...but we were a little cramped sleeping wise…5 girls in one room and 4 boys in the other…

In the morning I thought that we were leaving but after packing up and everything we drove less than 5 minutes down the drive and I was told that we were going to rent motorcycles and drive around…but then we ended up buying tickets for the “water adventure” instead. So we changed into out swimsuits with clothes on top (they’re so modest here…I wanted to get a tan, lol) and walked down the hill to the lake (I’m almost positive it was man made)…It was actually pretty fun…we had to walk across these rope things, and run across these mats, and hold onto handlebars and slide down a rope, and jumping off a tower…and swimming of course…

After that we got into the cars and made the long drive to Pattaya. We got to Pattaya that night, just in time to go for dinner at a seafood restaurant over the water…They had the biggest lobsters I’ve ever seen! I don’t really like Pattaya all that much though…it was incredibly touristy and everywhere you looked there were dirty old men (i.e. Old white men with young thai girls…I’m sure you get the idea)…and it doesn’t seem to bother people that they’re everywhere…I’m sure that it would be a fun town…lots of bars and restaurants and clubs…plus the beach…but it doesn’t seem like my type of place…

Then we checked into our hotel…it was huge, and apparently had a really big swimming pool, and was near the beach, but I couldn’t see anything from our balcony because it was too dark… Then we all went out and went to a mall and drove around Pattaya before going back to the hotel and going to bed.
I woke up really early in the morning because Ney’s mother was up and walking around…Then Ney and I got up and found out that all the kids wanted to go swimming, so I put on my swimsuit and got ready to go down to the pool…I was the only one in a bikini…but I didn’t bring my 1 piece with me…and I wanted a chance to (finally) get a tan…Anyways, so this place is crazy…as you’ll see in the pictures…unfortunately, the big pool wasn’t open yet, so we swam in the little one…then we went up for breakfast. Yay! They had a buffet and it had western food! I got to have French Toast and pancakes, I was so excited! Unfortunately the French toast was disappointing, but the pancakes were good…Then we went swimming in the big pool (I didn’t go swimming though, I was too full to move, lol) so I layed around in the sun…

After that we went up, showered , changed and packed up to leave…and then after we loaded the cars up we went back downstairs and the kids all went on the rides. I didn’t though because my stomach wasn’t feeling the greatest (probably because of the insane amounts of breakfast that I ate…I couldn’t resist). I also missed out on going on the crazy rope things again (this time from the top of the huge hotel tower)…Oh well…

Finally we left, stopping on the way for lunch and to get a new tire on the van (it got a flat)…and then I finally got home around dinner time that night…it was an extremely busy weekend…

I hope you enjoy the pictures

-Lauren

before playing paintball (you have no idea how hot it was in those jackets)

after the rope swing...

jumping from the second (higher) tower on a rope swinging thing

jumping from the tower in the water adventure

us in the water adventure at pa ngam

me at Pa Ngam mountain lodge

Pa Ngam mountain lodge (from our balcony)

Pattaya Park Hotel...

Pattaya Park hotel

Mannai Island

Hey Everybody,

I completely forgot to tell you about my first trip to an last week….

My host mother and I went to Mannai Island with our Rotary Club President. We took a speedboat over (it only took about 5 minutes to get there). It’s a very small Island where the Department of Marine Resources (or something like that) have a building…That’s who we went over with.

It was really really cool though…on the island they raise baby sea turtles! They raise them there for about a year and then let them free into the wild (with computer trackers on them). They do this because apparently in the wild, the majority of sea turtles normally die within their first year of life…It was sooo neat to see all the different sea turtles at the different stages of life. They’re beautiful…and they were so close that I could have touched them…but I didn’t because there were signs telling me not to, and other people were around…

After looking at the sea turtles we walked around the island….It was certainly very small, but still beautiful…and brutally hot…I was dying (and I was in shorts and a t-shirt…the other women were in pants and some long sleeves)…but It was really nice…I would have been fine if I could have gone swimming though…that would have been nice…

Then, on the way home, We went to the Rayong Aquarium. It was kind of small, but still neat…I liked seeing all of the tropical fish…They didn’t have any dolphins or whales or sharks or anything like that there, which I was happy about (that they don’t have them in captivity)…

All and all, it was a really good day…I can’t wait until I get to go to more islands!
-Lauren

mannai island from the mountain/ hill that we climbed

me on the beach

mannai island

babies

a few month old sea turtles

1 year old sea turtles

Mannai Island from the boat

temple day

Hey Everybody,

I have tons to tell you about…sorry, I haven’t had time to post in a while…so I’ll start with the weekend before last…

On Saturday, I went with friends of my host family to Jatujak market in Bangkok….Its this huge weekend market that seems to go on forever…thousands of little shops, and you’re almost guaranteed to get lost...It was awsome though, I loved it...I bought some cool stuff...and a few girfts for people at home, so I can't tell you what they are... We spent a long time there though...I didn't get home untill after 11:00 pm...Then my host mother told me that we have to leave the house at 4 am the next morning to go to see temples...

So, after about 3 hours of sleep I got up and got ready...then after waiting outside for about 15 minutes the vans pulled up...my host family was in one, and there were 2 more of other people...Then we made the 4 hour drive to Wat Amperwan in Sing Buri...It was nice, but a bit dissapointing as far as temples go...Apparently it's really important in Thai history though...while we were there a monk came up to talk to us (me)...he spoke pretty good english...his name was Prat Prasit (Prat means monk)...then he gave Nook,Cheer and I each this really cool looking fruit (I've never seen anything like it..it looks like something in a fairy talk, seriously)...which was really nice of him (apparently its a very big honour to be given something from a monk)...Then, when we were leaving he gave me his whole bag of fruit and noodles and stuff...everyone kept telling me how lucky I was...

Then we got back into the van's and drove to Wat Tasung in Uthai Tanee. This was the amazing place. I'm not sure I've ever seen anything this beautiful...The entire buildings completely covered in tiny peices of mirrors...It was incredible...The light reflected off everything, the walls, ceilings, pillars, and then the golden buddha's seemed to just glow!...I'll post the pictures, but they really don't do it justice...I could have stayed in there forever...

Then we headed into the vans and started the incredibly long drive home...it ended up taking about 7 hours...it was brutal...

We stopped at another temple on the way home...Wat Chaiyo in Angtong...the outside wasn't really anything special, but on the inside there was a giant gold buddha...seriously, it was huge....

It was a really interesting day...mind you, I was quite sore from sitting in the van the whole day, so I got a thai massage a few days later...they actually really hurt...I definetly like massages in Canada better...

Anyways, I'm going to post the pictures now, and I'll post my stories from this past weekend in a few days...

-Lauren

statue outside the first temple

elephants at the first temple

at the first temple

the inside of one of the buildings at the second temple...i know its blurry, but its the only way to get the brightness...i hope you get the glowing idea though...