Pai

Had some pad Thai as usual and then cultures class and then dance where we learned a finger nail dance and I learned a sword dance. The former involves long fake finger nails and much wrist movement with the latter using real unsharpened swords. It was all very awesome :) then language where we took an auditory quiz. Got two wrong but it wasn't graded. I didn't feel to bad because I knew all the letters and what characters they related to but all the sounds sound remarkably similar. Then a quick packing job and off to pai on the bus. It was a four hour drive but it was beautiful :) about 60% of he driving was on a winding mountain rode. Got some amazing views as I listened to my audio book. It was a nice van and it was just the ten of us so there was a little extra room. Got to pai around 8 and checked into the hostel. Great place with raised rooms over rice paddies :) walked to town and did some walking market where I got pad Thai, corn, spring roll, and soy milk for about $2 :) then walked home without the rest of the group and found all the Europeans still up making quite a racket. Hope I can sleep soon!

Thursday

Today was nice. No class so after breakfast of noodles and veggies I headed to the Payap chapel where the was a spiritual play going on. Thais are notoriously late so the performance started 20 minutes late. I misunderstood the word spiritual for meaning something other than religious but this was just that: a Christian play. I was fine with it. I knew it would be interesting either way. It was all in Thai but I had a translator which kind of worked. I could hear her periodically over the sound of the Thai voices on the speaker system. These were professionals and it was a good dance/play/musical performance. It was a love story but I couldn't quite follow. I know there was relationship violence and a rape scene. There was also a watch doctor and spirits. The main character was healed through prayer and god. It was pretty intense at times but they did a good job of depicting the horrors of violence and rape while keeping it non-graphic and artfully expressive. There was then what seemed to be a sermon after wards where I'm pretty sure he asked people moved by god to come up because people were crying and coming to the stage. It was something I had never experienced before and very touching. The crowd was mostly students and it was all female students who came up. It was all quite a lot but I had a good enough understanding to comprehend the impact of the play and the words on the audience. Really powerful stuff. Really glad I went. 

The rest of the day was a little different. Got the bus to two and then climbed and read for four hours. Loved it! Then home and pad Thai and friends and reading. I like the routine I have here. Sleep, eat, class, climb, study. It's the same things I do at Smcm. Makes me feel at home :) almost our whole group is going to the town of pai tomorrow. It's two hours west of here and it's suppose to be a really relaxed but fun and beautiful town. Hope they have wifi! Staying in a hostel. Should be fun. I'm trying to keep the total cost of the trip under 1000 B but we'll se how that goes. Leaving tomorrow after class. Can't wait!

Busy day

Wednesday is when I have three classes so its pretty busy. I ate what seemed like Thai angle hair spaghetti for breakfast and then headed to SEA cultures. This is a pretty boring class mainly because of the professor but it is taught by two professors so there's hope that it will become more interesting when the Econ professor takes over. Then Thai dance where we practiced our dance and then performed in front of the class. It was fun :) then lunch of leftovers from breakfast and dinner and Thai language. I then read for class and ate dinner and talked with friends for two hours. Then some ping pong! I lost almost all the games to Katie but it was close! Now sleep. Probably climbing tomorrow and city stuff. A group is going to pi the city this weekend and I have to see if I want to go. Need to research the city.I'll do it tomorrow :) I think this is funny. 

 

Out and about

Fun day :) class at 915 to explore service opportunities. I think I will probably end up teaching English to young children or older children or adults :) we were all really tired after our excursion so we headed out separate ways and I ate lunch and took a shower and read about Ecofeminism in air conditioning. So nice :) then got the bus to promenada and then to the city where I found Amy :) we went climbing! I'm getting better! It's so nice to have the old me coming back. Hopefully I'll be ready for crazy horse (outdoor climbing) by October. Can't wait! Almost missed the ride home but I go it :) ate noodles, rice and veggies for dinner then watched rugby and soccer then reading and sleep. Saw this at promenada lol also this. Crazy. 

Monday

Today I woke up and had pad Thai for breakfast and put rice and veggies in my Tupperware for lunch. Then it was time for Thai dance where we learned the final part of the dance we've been learning. Then lunch and studying for the oral quiz in Thai language on how to introduce yourself and have a short conversation. Passed with flying colors :) and learned how to count and a lot about the written language. It was a beautiful day today so I played soccer after class in the futsal court. Lots of fun. Then ate rice and Chinese broccoli and tofu with the constancy and shape of sausage. Really good! Saved some for tomorrow's lunch in my Tupperware :) then I settled down for a four hour nap lol now back to sleep. Tomorrow we go on an excursion into the surrounding area to see where we want to do volunteer work for the rest of the semester. So excited! Then climbing. Should be great :)

Zoo

Today was fun but also hard. Woke up and ate some food and read and then left for the zoo with everyone. When we got to the zoo I remembered why I didn't usually go to the zoo. It's basically jail for the animals. But animals also live longer in zoos and they are protected there. But a long life doesn't mean a happy one. Zoos also can foster love for the environment and help endangered creatures and engage the public with environmental issues. But many zoos fail to live up to this fully and it's just hard to watch at times. But overall I did have a good time. The aquarium was great! I saw cownose rays!!! love it!

Longest walking tunnel in Asia! Very cool. I'll let the pictures speak for themselves :) then headed home to eat food and head to promenada for desert and then back to Payap where I made "my" computer in the study lab run faster and watched soccer. School tomorrow!

 

#ChiangMaiClimbing

Big climbing day. Woke up and got some food for now and some to go in my new Tupperware :) played some soccer and then headed to promenada on the free songtow and then into town to climb. Got there just in time as it started to rain. Ate my lunch, drank some water and started to climb. It was great :) four hours of climbing and working out. And when I got tired in would study the Thai language. Great international people at the gym too. I can feel my calluses coming back and I love it. At 5 I headed back to catch the ride and met up with everyone else. Got back to school and ate some more food and watched Thai soccer and English rugby. Then settled in for a movie with my friends in the computer lab. Great day once again. Zoo tomorrow :)

Lanterns

Yesterday was a blast. We caught a free pink songtow to the mall promenada. It's a new mall and they want customers so they have a free songtow that picks people up at different locations so we grabbed one after classes. The mall is awesome! I usually hate malls but this was so great. Triple level and multiple buildings. Very western but much classier. We found great stores and I bought an awesome futsal ball for a good price. Then found an American grocery store and bought a nice Tupperware for cheap. We saw a fashion show in progress at a hair design place. There was also a huge indoor playground for kids! wish i was young again! Found some funny coffee and some food from home :) also alligator frog and ostrich meat... 

It was all so cool. Then we caught another free ride to town where we witnessed the international lantern festival. Very cool stuff. There was an amazing dance and martial arts performance along with music which was so cool because I recognized the instruments from my studies!! Checked out the market and bought some stuff and food this cool floating tap pouring orange juice mid air! Very cool :)

Then we headed to a rooftop bar called THC. It was pretty cool and a nice view but as you might have guessed, bars are not my thing so I left to wonder soon. Found a triple level Starbucks where I saw Ozzie and talked with him for a bit and then headed home with half the group. Good day :)

 

 

Day in the city

No class today :) got up and ate some breakfast around 9. Then headed to the city to climb. Bought a membership :) and with it came a sweet t-shirt and stickers. Then started to climb. Already making progress to the old level so that's nice. Can't wait till I have rough hands again! Got some climbs I had been trying and some new ones too. Then headed to a veggie place to eat lunch with the group. Half of us went to a lake and hung out but I wanted to climb so it was just me and four others in town. Food was so good and we sat on the second level on the ground. So cool! Then went back to the gym to climb but there was class going on so I read and watched. Then we headed home with a different driver than usual because p Jew was busy. We wanted him to stop by a bike shop on the way home but apparently he didn't understand and just took us all the way :/ another time with P Jew I guess. Then food and reading and pingpong and fb on slow computers and then reading and sleep :) good day. 

Ping pong!

Yesterday was fun. We all had SEA cultures which will be an ok class. Then Thai dance which is going to be very hard. I'm in my challenge zone almost the entire class but I like it. It's a work out! Then some lunch and Thai language. We learn so fast in that class! It's fun and very useful but I hope I can keep up lol I just have to practice! Then I finished my book! So good :) it made me very happy :) then a crazy birthday dinner in the dining area where they celebrated new students, birthdays of the month and honor students by give us presents :) we got cool Payap bags. There was also a cool presentation on a country in Asia and a birthday prayer. Good stuff. Food was good too. It started raining hard so ppl didn't go out but instead stayed in with me :) we got a great group together and just talked for like two hours in the men's dorm common room while it poured outside. It was just what I needed. Then we headed back to PIH and played pingpong!! So great!! We had such a good time :) really a great night. I was just planning on reading and going to sleep. Thank you rain! Today is climbing! I hope. Now for some food :)  

Tuesday

Today we went to big c (Walmart) after breakfast. I got a fan, some paper, a soccer ball and some other stuff. Then a quick lunch followed by our practicum class. Awesome class. We travel around villages near Chiang Mai and do service projects and then write about them and get credit. So cool :) kinda reminds me of the peace corps. Same professor as language. Like her. Then I played soccer in the parking garage and my ball lasted about 15 minutes before popping. So sad! It was only five bucks but still. Ill try and get a refund and buy a better ball. Love the fan. It all cost 716 and I brought 720 :) worked out great. After ball popped I worked out in the gym which was fun and then some food. Pad Thai and rice and veggies and fruit. Yum. Then reading. Almost done with my book! So excited! Then checked the bus schedule. Can't wait to get into town for free!! Hopefully going climbing on Thursday! Sweet! Went to seven eleven and got a red bean bun. Good stuff. This is funny :)

First day of classes

Today was fun. Ate breakfast and then headed to Thai dance. Our professor doesn't speak English so she has a student translator. We learned a Thai song and dance to go with it. All in an hour and a half! Then son rice and veggies and some bubble tea all for fifty baht and then off to Thai. I love Thai. So much simpler than English. We learned how to ask each others names and how to respond. Can't wait for more and to use it in real life! Ate dinner for a long time and read for most of dinner. Then went to a SEA (South East Asian) language lecture which was really interesting. Then fb to look at bus schedule. Learned that I might not be able to climb as much as I thought :/ we'll see. Managed to also read my hw for Wednesday and a short story Eli wrote about me a while back. Both quality reads. Tomorrow I have practicum at one so we might go into town in the morning :)

Thai beauty pageant

So yesterday was fun :) chilled out and decorated my room, did some fb, read, ate, and talked and then got ready for my big performance :) there was this beauty pageant for all the freshman class where one woman and one man were voted by their field of study to represent them in the pageant. I am one of two men in Thai studies so I volunteered. It was the first year Thai studies was doing this so we didn't really know what was going on exactly lol the rehearsal took three hours. We learned how to walk on stage and pose. For the real thing we dressed in traditional Thai dress and walked in front of about a thousand people as we were being judged. Before us there were bands playing and advertisement for Honda in the huge stadium we were in. It was crazy!! After the walk we changed into school uniforms and walked again with cooler posses and an introduction using some Thai. It was all so awesome! They tried to put make up on me but I refused. Also still managed to eat vegan behind stage :) this is apparently huge in Thailand. Every university in the county does it and they have been doing it for a very long time. There were camera crews and a huge amount of photographers and my face was on a big screen tv for everyone to see :) I felt like a celebrity or a king :) lol we left at 1030 but the thing went on till 1ish. But apparently they loved us because they all screamed so much when we went up and the judges have us third out of 21 going into he second round but we had already left. Dang! But it was so cool and great to feel part of it and loved :) one in a lifetime experience. Now I can say I was in a Thai beauty pageant. How many people can say that? :)

 

Good Day

Good day. Read, ate, talked, got my classes organized for my major. I think I'll be able to finish my Asian studies major here which is great. Then headed to town with everyone for the street market. It was almost a mike long with side markets as well!! Got so many presents!! Loved it :) got great food and ate in a temple grounds where they have recycling, unlike the rest of Thailand to my knowledge, which I loved. Also met a woman from Massachusetts who's here with a group working in the res light district teaching people about jesus. Pretty interesting. Everything is so cheap! And bartering is cooool. Loving it here :)

Orientation

Long day. Uniform! fun stuff :) Orientation went well. Learned a lot. Very nice people. Good resources. Maybe found a place to buy a good bike and then sell it back when I leave. Am taking all the classes I signed up for except intercultural communications but its ok it was dropped. Ill have to see what the practicum is like because it takes a lot of time up and I probly won't be able to climb as much the second half of the semester. We'll see. Got more bubble tea today. Amazing stuff. 20 baht. I'm in this pageant thing tomorrow where I have to walk on stage, pose, introduce myself and answer questions to try and win. Lol going to be in front of like 1000 ppl and ill be wearing traditional Thai dress and representing my program. Should be fun :) rehearsal took three hours and was very unneeded. But whatever. Tomorrow I might go hiking or check out this new high rope gym with Amy. We'll see :) also saw this cool snail. Really big. 

Massage!

Slept regularly tonight! Went to get uniform stuff today and saw some Smcm friends in pictures :) went to town and ate great food at a very secluded place (after some searching.) then headed to the prison massage and got a two hour, full body massage for 12 dollars! It was phenomenal :D so relaxing. All the inmates liked my locks a lot :) now for dinner and maybe big c. We'll see :)

Climbing!

Went climbing today! It was great. Amy and I went to the gym for three hours. I completed six climbs before my arms have out. So tired! I ripped my pinky finger but I'll be fine. Really good stuff for 200 baht. Met great people there. Guy names Harry from whales. Good climber. Also a biker. I might get a membership which would be 3500 baht for four months. Good price. I also looked at bicycles which I might get.  We'll see. Got bubble tea for 20 baht! So good! Going to get a massage tomorrow from female prisoners for 180 baht. Good price and teaches skills to inmates so they can get a job when they get out. Our friends went to a art museum while we climbed. Saw a lot of huge trees. Went to the north west side of the city. Then cut through to south east. Ate awesome food at a real nice place. Bought bed sheets! Lol the exhaust of the city is gross. Need to get a mask for driving around. Love the food a Payap. They cook vegan for me when they don't have it! So nice :) more later!

Chiang Mai

Yesterday was amazing! Went into the city with three other exchange students and loved it! We saw so many beautiful temples and ate wonderful food :) I bought a blessed bracelet and a handmade gift. We found a rock climbing gym that we are going to check out today. Spent like 7 hours in the city and we're going back today :) can't wait!

Football

I was introduced to four Americans today. One from Ohio, one from Texas, one from New England, and one from the Midwest. We drove over to the basketball stadium and played American football. It was really fun and nice to feel at home. My roommate Harry joined us and played the sport for the first time. He did well considering. Still trying to find meatless food. A lot harder than I thought it would be. But I'll get it. Just eating around the meat for now. Don't feel sick any more so that's great. I'm reading a lot. The book, snow falling on cedars, is really captivating. My ankle is hurting because of all the running around. I hope that will heal all the way while I'm here. Might go into the city tonight. Honestly, I'll probably be to tired and just want to read. I can always go into the city later. But overall I'm feeling good and enjoying myself :)

I made it!

I'm here! Long flight and tired body but I'm here. A little homesick right now but also excited and I know things will work out :)

Korea

Made it to Korea. I'm tired but still holding in there. The airport is really nice and everything is going smoothly :)

The big day

Went to Washington instead of Dulles lolz but it worked out and I'm on my way to Dallas. Slept the first two hours :)