Request Post~

Ah hah~ It's been nearly a month since I've been here in Thailand living with my host family. I must say I'm starting to get used to the life here. I don't feel like I'm studying abroad at all. It's just as if I was living here with my host family my whole life~ With that being said though, I can see where this might lead to problems.

Since I am so used to some area of Thai culture and such, I haven't really thought of some things as important to write about on my blog. So that is why I made this post here! For anyone who has a suggestion on topics they would like me to write about, please submit it in the comment section below. I can almost guarantee I'll write about it sooner or later. The topic can be anything too! From Thai wildlife, cooking, or even household chores. Bring it all forward~

Now of course I'll write posts on my own, but I figure my readers should have someplace to voice what they want to know about my life here. So request away~

*~*Miki of Feathers*~*

Busy Weekend - Advisor's House

Back again~ This time to wrap up the "Busy Weekend" posts. Like I mentioned last post, since we couldn't get a ride home we ended up spending the night at our adviser's house. At first, I thought this was going to be horrible since I had not been at my host house for one night(and believe me, I love my house). However, it turned out to be a good decision to go.

P'Kii and her daughter P'Plaao drove both Jill and I to their home by motorcycle. Here I learned basic motorcycle etiquette that I had not been taught due to obvious communication difficulties in the family. Once we got to her home, I became all nervous again like I was when I arrived the first day at my host family. However, this quickly went away when P'Kii informed us that she always had exchange students over at her house and therefore did not adhere to Thai rules.

This was a great opportunity to relax and go back to my home culture where I could step on pillows and tap things with my feet as well as talk in English. I know I mentioned the feet thing twice, but it's just about the only thing I still have problems remembering. I'll make another blog post later detailed about the Thai feet etiquette once I know more about it.

Anyway, not only was the visit a good way to take a break from Thai culture, it was also a good way for me to see where I needed to improve in my experience here. The main one was how my Thai family wanted me to help out more around the house. However, they never would ask me to do much, so I assumed I wouldn't have a lot to do. In America, I would always wait for someone to tell me what needed to be done, where as here I have to find it and ask. As well, I found out my family is very energy conservative and prefers not to waste electricity when they can. My advisor suggested that instead of leaving my laptop plugged in all day, just to have it run on battery power for the day and charge it at night.

I am happy to report both of these changes have been easy to adjust to and I am living more closely with my host family. We all love each other so much!~

After we settled all that, I found myself getting a horrible headache and decided to call it a night early. When I woke up the next day, I expected to be going home, but unfortunately poor P'Kii was really busy that day. She suggested we go to a big mall in Ratchaburi called Robinson to shop for things we needed(my main priority being a wristwatch...) until she figured out a way for us to get home. Robinson was so cool! But there were a lot of people, so I thought it best not to take pictures, especially since my camera flash is practically blinding, heh.

Jill and I discovered a lot of cool things at the Robinson. Our favorite area was the food court though because it had shops that sold ice-cream, cake, coffee, donuts, and even pizza. All stuff I had grown to miss in the states! Yay! We first stopped to get coffee and some donuts, which were perfect I must say. Afterward we walked around the mall, trying to find stuff we needed at a decent price. I ended up buying a new pair of headphone(original ones broke) and a lime green wristwatch that I love so much~

Around dinner time, P'Kii picked us up from the mall and took us out to the local markets to buy dinner. I always find it funny how everyone asks me what I want to eat, but then forget that I probably don't know what I like. I mean, I do know what I like to eat here in Thailand, that's not quite the problem. The problem is that I don't know the names of what I want. LOL Thankfully P'Kii understood this and got me some food without asking me much other than what kind of vegetable I wanted.

When we got home, P'Kii said that she wouldn't be able to take us back home so we'd have to stay another night. Thankfully we had done the laundry during the day, so we had clothes use for the next day and that night. Once it was morning again, P'Kii and P'Plaao drove us to where my mom was at work and had my dad then take us home.

Everyone in my family greeted me happily and said how much they missed me. Having been away from my home for a total of three nights now, I was certainly glad to be back too. I was also eager to show them what I learned from P'Kii and started to help out a lot more, even if they didn't ask. Now I also only use the computer at night, and if I have to during the day for some reason, I make sure it's on battery. In learning so much about my Thai home, I am learning a lot about life itself. I can tell this year will make me a stronger person. I am so staying here the full year!~

*~*Miki of Feathers*~*

Busy Weekend - AFS Friend's House

When I happened to get home, I was informed my friend and fellow AFS participant, Atsushi, invited Jill and I to his house for dinner. Apparently, he had decided that day to cook food from his home country, Japan, so he figured he'd invite us too since we lived near him. The down side to going though, was that no one would be able to take my cousin and I back home once we go there. Our solution? Stay overnight at our advisor's house! Ay, by now I'm starting to miss my bed, hehe.

Anyway, you all are probably wondering who is my advisor and what she does. Her name is P'Kii and she is who Jill and I go to if we should ever have a problem in our families or adjusting to Thai culture in general. I hadn't really ever visited her before, so it was certainly a new experience for me. Anyway though, we first had to get to Atsushi's house, which was about a half-hour away by bus.

We had my aunt Nadii drive us by motorcycle to the stop and then took a bus to Atsushi's town. When we got off, his family came to pick us up and then drive to their house where we would have dinner. His house is really cool I must say! I find most Thai homes are very large, even though they may look small to most people. This is because in Thailand, not all the parts of a house are on the inside. For example, in my home our kitchen is actually outside. This makes the actual physical building appear small in comparison. In Atsushi's house, he has an upstairs area with a deck where the bedrooms are and the the first floor essentially works as a family room with a television and such. However, the rest, including the kitchen, bathroom, and dining room are all on the outside.

He had decided to make some okonomiyaki, which is a type of Japanese pancake that happened to be his favorite dish in Japan. It kind of looks like this:

Unlike most guys I know, Atsushi can cook well! :D It was so yummy! I was so full after eating so much of the pancake that I could barely walk. LOL I tried to get pictures of the chef himself, but he kept making funny faces or turning around whenever I brought the camera anywhere near him. Heh.

So I instead got pictures of his family~ Here's Jill with Atsushi's grandmother.

Here's some more of his family and a friend of one of his sisters who can speak Japanese like me too~

And I tried to sneak another picture of him, but he caught me at the last second! Gah! You're too good Atsushi! XD

Once we were done eating, our advisor came to pick us up and take to us home for the night. Since having last seen Atsushi, I find we both have really good Thai and can actually talk to each other. This made me think how at the beginning of the exchange journey, at orientation, there were some students who didn't speak English and so I couldn't communicate with them. However, since we're all learning Thai we should all soon have a common language to communicate on. It's an interesting concept once you think about it, eh?

Today's post was pretty short, but tomorrows will be a bit longer, I promise~ And I assure you my busy weekend is far from over. :3

*~*Miki of Feathers*~*



Busy Weekend - Monk Ceremony

The past few days have been so busy for me, but a whole lot of fun~ Since there's been so much going on, I've decided to make a series of posts about it. Starting with what happened on Saturday to Sunday.

Now for those who are not aware, the primary religion of Thailand is Buddhism. It's a fairly peaceful religion that believes in training of the mind and body spiritually. While there are Buddhist temples everywhere in Thailand, the most common sign of Buddhist majority are the monks and nuns who are practicing their faith to the deepest extent. Contrary to what I thought, once you become a monk, it doesn't really mean that you are set in the position for life. According to Fook, most only remain a monk until they feel they have acquired enough Buddhist teachings to obtain happiness in their lives.

It was this weekend where one of my cousins, Golf, would become a monk. This all started out around 6 in the morning when we took the long drive to Kanchanaburi, where the rest of the family would be. We first met at the temple where Golf would have his hair shaved in preparation for becoming a monk the day. First all the family members took turns cutting off pieces of his hair and placing them in a giant leaf that I believe is sacred to Buddhism in some way.

Once we were done cutting off parts of his hair, the monks took him over to a hose to wash off his scalp and hair because they would shave the rest off quite soon.

Three monks took the task of shaving his head. One did the actual shaving with the razor while the other two held water to wash off the razor after each cut.

And I know this is kind of random, but I thought it was so funny when the monk's cell phone rang and then he started talking on it all while shaving off Golf's hair. LOL

When it was finally all done, several of my aunts picked up the pieces of hair that had dropped to the ground and put it in the leaf from before.

After all this Golf went to change into ceremonial clothing for the upcoming festivities. During this time, several of my family members decided to play "drag-around-the-exchange-student" with me, taking me to all different places to pose for pictures. At first, I thought it was cute, but it quickly got annoying when they would drag me and push me around until it hurt just to get me to pose a certain way. I can't really blame them though for they can't exactly tell me what they want, so they just tell me what to do with their actions. Ay, I really need to learn more Thai. XD

Once Golf had finished changing, a band arrived to start the parade to grandma's house where we would stay until the next day when the ceremony would be complete. The parade was really cool actually! Family members lifted Golf onto a horse and had him ride through the parade, holding a fancy sun umbrella over his newly shaved head. The rest of us followed along with the parade, dancing to the music played by the band. Each time we passed a sacred place or temple, the new monk would be carried off the horse and taken into the sacred room to give a blessing. It was all really fun, and I am glad I got some really exciting pictures of it!

When we arrived at grandmother's house, we all ate a big lunch. We would all be staying at her house that night because, well, her house is huge. And with the amount of family members we have, it's really the only place we can all meet without feeling over crowded. Did I ever mention how cool my grandmother's house is? It almost looks like a mansion! I seriously get lost there everytime I go. I've also lost count as to how many bathrooms are in the house. So far, I've only ever been in three, but there could easily be more. Her house is the perfect place to invite a lot of people over for a party. There's plenty of space and a big kitchen to prepare food in. I can totally see why we all chose to meet up here and stay!~

After we ate, Fook, Parn, dad, Film, and I all were dead tired and took a nap in the living room while watching television. I happened to wake up while everyone was asleep and decided to take pictures of them all! They all looked so peaceful sleeping, I couldn't resist. LOL

In the evening, we all went out to a party where there was live music and a dinner in celebration of Golf becoming a monk. I had been to one of these parties in the past, and so I find it essentially works like this. You order "tables" and sit down everyone you can fit so you don't have to pay too much money. Since we had a lot of people though, we ended up having to take about three tables to fit us all.

I got to sit next to a bunch of my aunts and three of my cousins:

From left, Art, Nai, and Name.

Basically, once you got a table, people would bring out these huge dishes of food for the whole table to share. In Thailand, this is main way to eat. You all have small bowls or plates and you pick at one giant dish that you all can share. However, don't think you'll walk away hungry for when eating in Thailand, ALWAYS expect there to be more. They didn't just bring out one big dish, they brought out at least 7 at different times throughout the evening. Needless to say I was completely filled by the end. XD

At parties like this, there is a concert going on while you enjoy your meal with live performers who have different sorts of music styles. We had a girl singer who sang soft songs, another girl singer who sang wild songs, a few guys that sang slow songs, and a duet who sang a bunch of crazy song. Unfortunately, my stupid camera didn't flash right when I took pictures of the performances, so they're all dark looking and you can hardly see anything. So while I don't have pictures, I'll just say it was a fun time. Especially when the two guys came on and sang to get us all to dance. I find Thai dancing to be incredibly easy, not pressure at all. It's not really about who can pull the best dance moves, just about moving your body any way you can!

Around 10 at night, we decided to head back to grandmother's house and go to bed. I got back, only to realize I forgot to bring contact cleaning solution with me in my bag. So I had to spend the night worrying about whether my lenses would get stuck to my eyes...great. On top of this, no one told me when we would be waking up the next morning. I asked around and someone told me around 11 in the morning, which would have been great if they had been correct. No, instead of 11, we had to actually wake up at 6 in the morning, again. Needless to say that morning I was incredibly cranky and angry at just about everyone. I wanted to snap at every person who talked to me, but I held it in for it was Thai culture to remain peaceful at all times. I don't think I did too good of a job though... One the bright side however, my contact lenses didn't stick to my eyes!~

Anyway, after we ate breakfast, the parade from the day before started up again to go to the temple and have Golf become a monk officially. This time, I got a lot more pictures~

At the temple, Golf was carried up the stairs and began to throw fruit as well as plastic flowers that contained little bits of money inside them. Had I know this beforehand, I would've made a bit more of an effort to catch some! LOL But that's what happens when you walk into these things blind at times, heh.

He then proceeded to the temple while a few of my friends and I decided to go buy ice-cream, haha. We're so supportive, eh? It's all with love though! Finally, he was a monk and would be living at the temple to study about Buddhism to obtain happiness and enlightenment. We all sort of went back to grandmother's house at different times; going our separate ways if you will. Eventually though, I made it back home where I humbly welcomed my bed.

...

Or not!

Where'd I go next? Well I'll write about that tomorrow, or whenever I get the time otherwise! Hope you enjoyed and thanks for reading!

*~*Miki of Feathers*~*



Beach Time!

Today my family took me and my German cousin, Jill, to the beach! It was about an hours drive away from where we lived, which is quite a luxury for me. Back in the states, it would take at least a 4 to 6 hours to get to the closest beach. Because of this, it has been quite awhile since I have experienced the thrills of the ocean and sand. It was certainly a nice bonus to experience another country's beach too!

And of course, I took pictures~

Most of the family went along for the trip. Fook, Parn, Just, Tor, Flim, Nadee, Name, Jill(German cousin), and a bunch of my aunts, uncles, and cousins who I don't know the names of yet. LOL We all had a blast too. Fook, Jill, and I always went into the ocean as far we could manage to stand in. Then we'd all come back to the shore to take a nap before going back and swimming further out. I'm surprised we didn't get hit by a boat. Tor, my nephew, was all over the place. One moment he was swimming in the ocean with us and the next he was helping some random girls build a sand castle. We all kept loosing track of him. LOL As far as where everyone else was, I am not sure. Spent too much time out in the ocean. Oops.

Both Jill and I got sunburn though. Thankfully I only got it on my face, but poor Jill ended up getting it all over her back, face, front, and even legs. Ouch! Hope you feel better Jill!~ <3

Overall, good times. Only downside is that Fook is going back to work until the 20th. Agh! I like it when he comes over to stay for a bit. Actually I like my family in general. They are all so nice and understanding of my limited common sense level. Well to explain, since I'm not used to the culture, my brain goes on panic mode and I become like a five-year-old child all over again. Simple tasks, such as getting food from the fridge, require a bit of explanation. I'm SO glad I have such a patient family. Love you all!~ <3

*~*Miki of Feathers*~*

Songkran!

I know I already made a post for today, but I just HAVE to talk about the traditional Thai(Random Note: When I went back and edited this, I realized I put Chinese instead of Thai. LOL) water festival known to many as Songkran!~ Unfortunately, I don't have many pictures because I figured my camera would get soaked along with me in the chaos of water fights, hehe. But what I do have is a pretty good idea of what the festival is about.

I probably should have mentioned earlier, I am not going to make this an information blog, rather an experience one. So I'm not going to go into too much detail about why the holiday was created and such. The basic understanding I have is that it has been a Thai tradition for youth to pour water onto the hands of elders in a way to give blessing to each other. This was how the day started out for the family.

We first went to the nearby Buddhist temple to give offerings to the monks and pray. Afterward, we went to our relatives' houses to pour water and flower petals onto their hands. Here is me pouring the water on my khun yaai (grandma on mom's side).

A bit later in the afternoon, we went out to participate in the Songkran. I sort of like to describe it like Halloween's Trick or Treat night in America...except with water. Basically, you sit in the back of a pick-up truck and drive, throwing water at anyone participating in the festivities...and even some who are not. LOL Below is a picture of my aunt filling up barrels of water we would use as ammunition. She happened to be the driver of the pick-up truck too.

When we first started out, we all climbed into the bed of the truck. It was me, Fook, Flim, Tor(little kid that is staying at our neighbor aunt's house), Parn, Just(cousin, and I love her nickname LOL), Nathalie(French friend of Fook who came to Thailand), and two other boys no one has told me who their names were or even how they are related to us. LOL Oh well, they were fun. :3

Being the new person I was, I thought we would be driving at "parade-float" speed. But I was totally wrong. No, participating in Songkran means you are going 60+ km and hour down all kinds of roads, hanging on for dear life at you're pelted with water. LOL As terrifying as that sounds, it was actually a lot of fun. Except when this one group threw this huge amount of water at me and Fook. It literally felt like they threw a pile of bricks on us. Ouch...

But other than that, it was exactly as I mentioned before with being like Trick or Treat. Not only would other people in trucks throw water at us, but also the people on the ground at their houses and businesses. Some smart participators put ice blocks in their water containers that would make the water ice cold once in landed on you. That was always an interesting surprise, hehe.

We stopped in the city to watch the Songkran parade before getting back into the truck to fight again. At which point somehow a small gecko got into the bed of the truck and was squirming around. I, along with every girl there, hate those geckos. The boys of course knew this and would catch the gecko to throw at us, making the situation much worse. Thankfully, Flim finally caught the bugger and threw it at one of the nearby Songkran participators. LOL

By the end of it all, I was happily tired and slept well that night~

Oh! And before I close this post, I have a picture from the night before the Songkran. There was a fair for the holiday and one of the activities there was a goat pen where you could buy milk to feed the baby goats. In the middle of all the goats, there was a tiny monkey that was climbing all over everything, even the goats. They did not seem like they appreciated the sudden impact of a monkey jumping on their backs for a ride. LOL Here's a picture I got of him. He was so cute~



 Two posts today~ Yay~ Enjoy, enjoy~

*~*Miki of Feathers*~*

Location, Location, Location~

Ay! Sorry about not updating for a bit. Funny how as soon as I decide to take pictures of my surroundings, my family decides not to go anywhere. LOL But yesterday we went to plenty of places, so I figure I'll talk about where I am now.

Thailand Surroundings



For those of you who haven't read yet, I am currently residing in the mid-southern province of Thailand called Ratchaburi. The name roughly translates to "Land of the King", and this is advertised everywhere around the area with statues and signs praising the king of Thailand, King Bhumibol Adulyadej. If you look on a map, you will notice Ratchaburi is surrounded by water. This results in unique cultures apart from the usual Thai culture. For one, the diet of the residents here is mostly fish as well as other aquatic animals like frogs and squid.

Dogs can be found everywhere around the country. Most of them are strays however. Before coming to Thailand, I had seen a documentary about how the dogs were being mistreated and sold for food in markets. At first, I thought this was horrible, but with the amount of dogs in the country, I figure the people have to do something with the animals before they overpopulate. Certainly a lesson learned for me~ When you are in a residential area though. It becomes quite difficult to tell what dogs are pets and what dogs are pests. Our own dog, Boom, is not the only one who hangs around our yard after all. We have this other female mutt of sort that goes into our neighbor's yard when we go to have dinner with them. I think she belongs to the neighbor across from us. There is also this dark colored male dog that follows her sometimes. I don't think anyone owns him though because we always yell at him to go away more so than the female mutt.

Overall, the area's is more country life than anything. A big change from the busy city of Bangkok I had been staying at a week before I arrived with my family. There are random stores on the side of the road where cars will stop and pick up stuff. Makes a good road trip snack! LOL There are also many farms of plants I cannot seem to identify, unless it's a rice plant. I see them everywhere, so I have gotten good at picking out the rice fields. There are a lot more plants growing than rice however. In speaking of plants, the variety of food in my diet has gotten higher in the fruit and vegetable category. My favorite fruits are the gooseberries and this prickly skinned fruit that on the inside has sweet, white grape-like flesh that is edible. I forget what it's called unfortunately. LOL

Ratchaburi does have its areas of city,but they are quite small. We go to these areas to shop and also to to Chinese music practice. There's also little stands that sell different Thai foods and desserts. My favorite sells ice-cream made from coconut milk~

Okay, I think that's enough of my typing. You probably want to see some pictures. So here you go~ I will just leave the viewing up to you. I'll only put captions if I feel it's needed.

Buddhist Temple by our House

Highway by Home

Neighborhood

Visiting Kanchanaburi

At Grandma's House

Flim, my cousin, Washing Dishes at Grandma's House

From left, older brother, Fook, French traveler to Thailand, Nathalie, and Flim

Apologize for lack of update! I'll try to be better. LOL

*~*Miki of Feathers*~*