Okay, so I have got to be up there on the list of worst bloggers ever. I think my last post was on the 27th of November .... anyways, since its 11 pm right now, I wont be doing a full entry, but this is a public promise that I will put up something tomorrow, and ill do my best to accompany it with pictures, like I said I wanted to do, but havnt been doing...
I did however put up some new youtube videos, which i will also add links for in tomorrow blog.
For now, goodnight, (or good morning if youre in Canada), and talk to you soon!
Much Love,
William Cole
Monday, December 17, 2012
Tuesday, November 27, 2012
Can't Relate
So back home in Canada, I live with my mom and younger sister, and my older sister lives in the same city. 3 girls and myself. I then come to Thailand, and find that I am in the exact same situation. The other Rotary exchange students from my city, are Hannah, Carol and Jenni. 3 girls... and me.
I love my friends to death. They're amazing people, and I couldnt imagine going through this exchange without them. Now, don't get me wrong, I'm not asking it for any other way, but from time to time, and during certain situations, it would just be reeeeally great to have a guy around. Just another dude to be able to relate to in a slightly different way than is what I'm able to do with the girls.
For instance, tonight at a festival going on in our city, a group of guys brought their modded trucks to show 'em off. I was pretty excited, seeing as how I love cars and driving and all that good stuff, but since coming here, haven't been able to really do much about that. So tonight I walked over and took some pictures, and looked around for a bit. Not surprising, my friends weren't terribly interested... as in they just started walking away after about 10 seconds, while I still had my head in one of the trucks, gawking over the work the owners had done to their vehicles. As for talking about it to someone else afterwards... not happening. That kinda thing isn't exact up their alley.
And any Thai guy friends I have, well... Thai personalities are quite different from my own, and it isn't quite the same just chatting about guys things with them.
Just another interesting circumstance that you come across while on exchange. Who woulda' thought that being surrounded by foreign girls would bum ya out sometimes. Live and learn, I guess!
Hannah, Carol, Jenni, if you are reading this, I still love you guys, and like I said, I wouldnt want it any other way, and you do understand me better than I could have ever hoped for. But just imagine it the other way around, if you were the only girl amongst 3 guys. You would really appreciate some girl time from time to time eh?
Much Love,
William Cole
Sunday, November 11, 2012
Northern Trip (con't)
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| Ready to give'er! |
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| Potentially the most beautiful place I've ever been... |
On our second day on trip, we all loaded up into a few tranporter vans, and headed into the hills for a day of white water rafting on the Nam Wa River! We were split into 4 boats, given our paddles, PFDs and helmets, and were on the river without further ado. As soon as we hit the main current of the river, we encountered our first set of rapids, and were off, cruising down the river. ( I found out later that one of the girls from a boat behind us, fell in on one of the very first few sets of rapids, but was quickly pulled back in by the guy sitting next to her. 5555 So mai pen rai!) We went between sets of rapids ranging from class 1 to class 3, and intermittently some nice calm sections of river to gather ourselves and line up for the next set. We rafted until about noon, at which point we held up at a big, slow moving eddie and parked the boats for an hour or so. We had Khao men gai (rice with chicken) for lunch which was pretty dang good, but the best part, was that they let us go swimming in the river for a while. Nearly everyone went in, and we had a friggen BLAST! The ground dropped off quite quickly after getting a few feet from shore, so we were able to use one of the boats as a diving board. We tied one end to shore, and stuck the other end out into the river. We ran along the seats, and then flung ourselves into the water on the far end. Mud fights broke out, people were getting pushed in all over, and splashing wars were abundant. It was a damn good time.
The afternoon was a lot more chill than the morning. I think we only encountered one set of rapids, and the rest was calm river floating. Lacking the rapids though, gave you a chance to stop and look around, and realize where we really were. We were down at the bottom of a deep valley, with forested hills rising up on either side of us, and the river winding it way along ahead and behind us. For a while is rained on us lightly, with loud, thunder claps rolling off in the distance. The light drizzle was just enough to cool you down, and made you feel totally immersed into the natural beauty we were in. With the rain, came an almost total silence, it muted our surroundings, almost to let us just appreciate what we had around us. You could almost hear the sound of the earth itself gently creaking and revolving as we sat in awe at its splendour... It was completely surreal.
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| Our tugboat |
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| The Crew! |
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| In Laos! |
That afternoon however, we went to the Golden Triangle. A famous location in Thailand, where it borders Burma (Myanmar) to the north and west, and Laos to the east. We took a longboat ride up the Me Kong river a little ways to see slightly further into Burma, and then back down river to visit a small village in Laos for which you don't need a passport, or any paperwork at all, to visit. It was kinda neat, I can now say I visited Laos, but the "village" was just a market, with each neighbouring shop selling damn near the same thing as the shop adjacent to it. I ended up getting a badge of the Laos flag to put on my blazer and that was it.
Back to the hotel we went, to hit up the walking street for a few hours, and then hit the hay.
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| Just clearing some roads. I'm in the pink shirt. |
On the 20th, we spent a lot of the day driving to our next location. We took vans up and through the mountains to Pai. The journey there though was a pretty treacherous one. Actually... I was pretty certain I was going to die most at some point on that road. The first problem, was that they were Thai roads, so essentially there were more potholes then there was actually pavement. The second problem, was that we were driving through the mountains, so blind hair pin turns all over, steep climbs and steep dips. 3rd problem was Thai drivers. I'll put it nicely, they're insane. the 4th problem, our van was an automatic, so it would always shift gear part way round a turn or up a hill, and very nearly stall out. 5th problem, was that is started to pour. But not Canada pour, Thailand pour. That's a helluva lot more rain.
Those 5 major issues culminated into a dastardly set of circumstances that were absolutely terrifying. At one point on the way, we pulled up behind a bunch of stopped cars, only to realize that moments earlier, a patch of trees had fallen on the road, and were now blocking traffic. Being the gentlemen that we were, the few other guys in my car and I hopped out into the pouring rain, and helped hack up the trees with machetes (apparently everybody carries machetes around...) and then heave them down the mountain. It was actually a lot of fun :D
Eventually we all made it alive, maybe with a few years knocked off our life expectancy from all the stress, but alive none-the-less. We stopped at a beautiful lookout point along the way that oversees the entire mountain range below, and again at a pretty popular coffee shop, "Coffee In Love". Another gorgeous view, and one of the best fruit shakes I've had in a very long time.
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| GAH! THE VIEW IS AMAZING |
That is all for today, another update will becoming your way in the near future!
Much Love,
Cole
P.S. I was totally kidding about the people falling out of the truck on the rafting day btw... Don't worry!
Monday, November 5, 2012
Still Not Done!
What's up world?!
So here's the next chapter in my journey over here on this side of the world. As I said, in my earlier post, this one is gunna be all about my Northern Trip.
So after a fun and stupidity filled day with the guys, we packed up our stuff and headed off to the bus to meet some of the other exchange students. About half of us met in Lampang and then took the bus about an hour and a half to Phrae where we met the other half of the students.
We met, surprise surprise, at a temple, where we spent the next hour or so looking around and admiring the handy work and architecture and soaking up some culture. Our next stop had us going to the "Mini Grand Canyon". The supposed story behind it was that some lady said she found some gold in the area, and then told the town about it. Over the next little while, the members of her town frantically dug up the area looking for riches of their own. The result; no gold but a neat looking man-made canyon thingy that turned into a national park and a tourist attraction.
So here's the next chapter in my journey over here on this side of the world. As I said, in my earlier post, this one is gunna be all about my Northern Trip.
So after a fun and stupidity filled day with the guys, we packed up our stuff and headed off to the bus to meet some of the other exchange students. About half of us met in Lampang and then took the bus about an hour and a half to Phrae where we met the other half of the students.
We met, surprise surprise, at a temple, where we spent the next hour or so looking around and admiring the handy work and architecture and soaking up some culture. Our next stop had us going to the "Mini Grand Canyon". The supposed story behind it was that some lady said she found some gold in the area, and then told the town about it. Over the next little while, the members of her town frantically dug up the area looking for riches of their own. The result; no gold but a neat looking man-made canyon thingy that turned into a national park and a tourist attraction.
We ended up in Chiang Rai province at Mae Sot, the northernmost city in Thailand. we were able to walk within 5 m of Myanmar and could see it from across just a narrow river separating the countries. Best part about the place we stayed at though, was that they had a pool!!!! I friggen love swimming, but the river and pools around my city are pretty nasty, so I haven't gone swimming since I've been here. Almost all of the students went swimming together and we had an absolute blast together.
(Day 2 yet to come...)
Day 3 consisted of heading to Doi Tung, the same place I had gone with my host mom a couple weeks earlier. It was just as gorgeous as Hannah slattery is the best thing in the world the second time though and we had more time there, so I was able to explore a bit more and see some stuff that I hadn't seen the previous time. Like an entire Royal Villa on the very peak I the mountain... Not sure how I missed that the first time. After that, we headed back down the mountain and went to see the White Temple. Again, I had been there already but didn't get a chance to actually go in the temple the time before so it was great to get the opportunity to go again. If you people ever hit up Thailand on your world travels, you gotta check this place out. It was designed by this really famous Thai artist, and is a total masterpiece. It is so intricate that it has to be completely hand built (other then the actual supporting structure) and will take about 80 years to complete...
Friday, November 2, 2012
2 Videos to Share Today
Hey all,
here is a quick link to a video I made while at RYLA.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Han6v1eKXLY
This is also a link to a kind of sum up video of the camp put together by some of the staff. I got interviewed and they used a part of it in the video, its starts at about 5:40
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hpLxMkh8rM8
As always, Much Love
Cole
here is a quick link to a video I made while at RYLA.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Han6v1eKXLY
This is also a link to a kind of sum up video of the camp put together by some of the staff. I got interviewed and they used a part of it in the video, its starts at about 5:40
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hpLxMkh8rM8
As always, Much Love
Cole
Tuesday, October 30, 2012
Sunday, October 28, 2012
Back to the "Normal World"
Sorry for the big gap between posts, but I've been away for 2 weeks at my RYLA camp and my Northern Trip, and haven't had a chance to blog. But now I've got a lot of stuff to talk about!
So on the 11th of October, I left with Jenni, Hannah, Carol and 3 other Thai students from my city for the 8 hour drive to Chiang Rai. We arrived at some Institute for International Development, and were immediately greeted by music and dancing and smiles. The leader for the camp were set up outside a big open hall filled with abuot 200 Thai and exchange students. Before we were admitted, we were given some war paint looking stuff on our faces and had to give a little dance. Thats one way to break the ice I guess... :)
The camp went on with lots of games and activities to get to know everyone, but also to give students the opportunity to lead, possibly a new experience for many students, considering how shy the majority of them are. That day and the next went by much the same. We had a few speakers talk about leadership (in Thai...) and we watched a movie about the education system here, and how many rural communities lack the funds to give their children a good education, which just further worsens their situation, as the rest of the world progresses, yet they're stuck in a perpetual cycle or farm work and labour intensive jobs throughout the generations. It was interesting to see such an in-depth look at this problem, and although many of us were already aware of these issues, it was really good to see it from a solely Thai perspective, and not an "international aid" point of view.
The following day, (the 13th) we all headed a couple dozen miles down the road to the Hall of Opium; a museum dedicated to the history of the illegal drug trade and its impact on the Thai people, especially in the regions surrounding the Golden Triangle. It was actually a really cool place, and I learnt way more about drugs than I ever thought I would at a Rotary sanctioned event.
After that we split up into 3 groups who all went their separate ways for the day to each do different volunteer activities. 1 of the groups went to a temple to help clean it up a bit, the second I'm not entirely sure about, they too might have cleaned a temple, and my group went to a nearby primary school to repaint their playground. We spent the afternoon doing our good deeds and painting each other almost as much as we painted the park. You gotta remember to have fun too! However the Thai way to get paint off your skin is... well... paint thinner. So I had to scrub down my hands, arms and bits of my face with paint thinner. That wasn't much fun. That night we had a big talent show for all the attendees. The Canadians, Americans, French, and Taiwanese put together a dance to "Journey-Dont Stop Believing". Im not going to lie. It was fantastic, especially considering we only had about 2 hours to create the dance from scratch and practice it. That was a heck of a blast!
The final day of RYLA we were presented with certificates, had a big hug circle things where every person hugged or shook hands with every other student. That took over an hour, but I guess it was a good way to make sure you got to say goodbye to everyone. As of like 10am that day, us Kamphaeng Phet-ers still had no idea how we were getting home. We we're able to check our email, where our Committee chairman had sorted things out for us. The 3 girls were to go together to Phrae with another inbound student, and I was heading back to Lampang with 2 of the guys to stay at one of their houses for the 1 day we had between RYLA and the Northern Trip.
It was kinda strange to leave the girls from my city, because I had spent so much of my time in Thailand with them, and had never really been away from them, but I figured it was due time for me to get out and have some good 'ol guy time. You know, do stupid, immature things that girls don't really condone. :)
That will have to be all I recount for now, as it's back to the books tomorrow, and it's getting late. Stories from my Northern Trip should follow in the next couple of days, as well as a video and some more pictures!
Much love,
Cole
So on the 11th of October, I left with Jenni, Hannah, Carol and 3 other Thai students from my city for the 8 hour drive to Chiang Rai. We arrived at some Institute for International Development, and were immediately greeted by music and dancing and smiles. The leader for the camp were set up outside a big open hall filled with abuot 200 Thai and exchange students. Before we were admitted, we were given some war paint looking stuff on our faces and had to give a little dance. Thats one way to break the ice I guess... :)
The camp went on with lots of games and activities to get to know everyone, but also to give students the opportunity to lead, possibly a new experience for many students, considering how shy the majority of them are. That day and the next went by much the same. We had a few speakers talk about leadership (in Thai...) and we watched a movie about the education system here, and how many rural communities lack the funds to give their children a good education, which just further worsens their situation, as the rest of the world progresses, yet they're stuck in a perpetual cycle or farm work and labour intensive jobs throughout the generations. It was interesting to see such an in-depth look at this problem, and although many of us were already aware of these issues, it was really good to see it from a solely Thai perspective, and not an "international aid" point of view.
The following day, (the 13th) we all headed a couple dozen miles down the road to the Hall of Opium; a museum dedicated to the history of the illegal drug trade and its impact on the Thai people, especially in the regions surrounding the Golden Triangle. It was actually a really cool place, and I learnt way more about drugs than I ever thought I would at a Rotary sanctioned event.
After that we split up into 3 groups who all went their separate ways for the day to each do different volunteer activities. 1 of the groups went to a temple to help clean it up a bit, the second I'm not entirely sure about, they too might have cleaned a temple, and my group went to a nearby primary school to repaint their playground. We spent the afternoon doing our good deeds and painting each other almost as much as we painted the park. You gotta remember to have fun too! However the Thai way to get paint off your skin is... well... paint thinner. So I had to scrub down my hands, arms and bits of my face with paint thinner. That wasn't much fun. That night we had a big talent show for all the attendees. The Canadians, Americans, French, and Taiwanese put together a dance to "Journey-Dont Stop Believing". Im not going to lie. It was fantastic, especially considering we only had about 2 hours to create the dance from scratch and practice it. That was a heck of a blast!
The final day of RYLA we were presented with certificates, had a big hug circle things where every person hugged or shook hands with every other student. That took over an hour, but I guess it was a good way to make sure you got to say goodbye to everyone. As of like 10am that day, us Kamphaeng Phet-ers still had no idea how we were getting home. We we're able to check our email, where our Committee chairman had sorted things out for us. The 3 girls were to go together to Phrae with another inbound student, and I was heading back to Lampang with 2 of the guys to stay at one of their houses for the 1 day we had between RYLA and the Northern Trip.
It was kinda strange to leave the girls from my city, because I had spent so much of my time in Thailand with them, and had never really been away from them, but I figured it was due time for me to get out and have some good 'ol guy time. You know, do stupid, immature things that girls don't really condone. :)
That will have to be all I recount for now, as it's back to the books tomorrow, and it's getting late. Stories from my Northern Trip should follow in the next couple of days, as well as a video and some more pictures!
Much love,
Cole
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| View from my room... Jealous?? |
Tuesday, October 9, 2012
Makes ya Stop and Think...
So just another day in the life of an exchanger. Wake up, eat breakfast with the fam, head to the National Park for a "run", hang out with friends; the norm. However, tonight something rather out of the norm happened.
We had our weekly Rotary meeting, and everything prceeded as usual. The main topics that we covered were about the 4 students from my city going to RYLA (Rotary Youth Leadership Awards), a 4 day leadership camp in Chiang Rai, and our Northern trip, an 8 day trip with all the inbounds touring Northern Thailand. All 4 of us were going to RYLA, but 1 of my friends couldn't afford the Northern Trip, so she wasn't able to go. We were all really bummed, because she would miss out on a week of crazy cool adventures, like cave exploring, seeing the Long-Neck Hill-tribesman, and visiting a royal mountain top garden; Doi Tung. It was kinda tough to be talking about it for the majority of the meeting, even though we had mostly come to terms with knowing that she wasn't coming.
As the meeting was wrapping up, our club president (the host mother of the girls who couldn't go) said her final comments and then started walking around to many of the people present who had started to pull money out of their wallets, 100, 500 and 1,000 B bills were being taken out and handed to our president. We didn't understand what our president had said at the end of the meeting, but we guessed that she was collecting gas money for someone to drive us up to the meeting location for our trips. It's about an 8 hour drive, and LPG burns pretty quickly, so we would have to fill up quite a bit.
After all the money was collected, our president counted it up, gave a bit of a nod, and everybody smiled. Most people then proceeded to turn to us, still smiling, as we sat there kind of awestruck. I mean, we get stared at a lot when new people see us, but we had attended these meetings before, so it was rather peculiar. A few of them started to point over at us, and particularly the friend of mine who couldn't go on the second trip. Her host mom then walked over to her, and through broken english and hand gestures, let us know that the people who barely knew us, many of whom have no direct implications in our lives, had just pooled together enough money to pay for my friends entire trip... We don't have a very big club, so there aren't a lot of members, and the trip costs around 15,000B. That means that each contributor put forward a substantial amount of money for her and the trip.
Many Thai people don't necessarily have a lot to give, so this gesture towards this girl means that much more. From what they have to begin with, they can still find it within themselves to give that kind of money to someone who is almost a complete stranger to them. Their actions brought a tear to my friends eyes, who graciously and very humbly took their gift. She was very considerate and appreciative of it, and while she was individually thanking people, not a single person who contributed seemed to have even the slightest inkling of regret or a sensation of being forced into it. They all just seemed happy to be able to give her the opportunity to go on the trip...
What these people did tonight will undoubtedly have a profound affect on my friend. I hope that she can see the good in these people and remember what they had done for her, and learn form it moving forward, but even if that isn't the case, she will now be able to participate on a trip where she will see and experience things the she otherwise may never have had the chance to do. Things that she can take back to her home country with her, and share with all her friends and family, and that she can cherish forever.
Whether or not I believe in the whole Buddhist vision of Merit and Karma, I damn well hope that these people get all the good luck they can, and have their prayers answered. Their completely unselfish and communal actions will go towards sending a young girl on a trip of a lifetime, and for that, they deserve some good coming back around to them.
I wish more people could see things the way these Thai people did tonight, and I truly hope that I can learn from this, and maybe start to see things in a slightly different light, a less selfish and more open-minded light.
Just something to think about...
Much Love,
Cole
We had our weekly Rotary meeting, and everything prceeded as usual. The main topics that we covered were about the 4 students from my city going to RYLA (Rotary Youth Leadership Awards), a 4 day leadership camp in Chiang Rai, and our Northern trip, an 8 day trip with all the inbounds touring Northern Thailand. All 4 of us were going to RYLA, but 1 of my friends couldn't afford the Northern Trip, so she wasn't able to go. We were all really bummed, because she would miss out on a week of crazy cool adventures, like cave exploring, seeing the Long-Neck Hill-tribesman, and visiting a royal mountain top garden; Doi Tung. It was kinda tough to be talking about it for the majority of the meeting, even though we had mostly come to terms with knowing that she wasn't coming.
As the meeting was wrapping up, our club president (the host mother of the girls who couldn't go) said her final comments and then started walking around to many of the people present who had started to pull money out of their wallets, 100, 500 and 1,000 B bills were being taken out and handed to our president. We didn't understand what our president had said at the end of the meeting, but we guessed that she was collecting gas money for someone to drive us up to the meeting location for our trips. It's about an 8 hour drive, and LPG burns pretty quickly, so we would have to fill up quite a bit.
After all the money was collected, our president counted it up, gave a bit of a nod, and everybody smiled. Most people then proceeded to turn to us, still smiling, as we sat there kind of awestruck. I mean, we get stared at a lot when new people see us, but we had attended these meetings before, so it was rather peculiar. A few of them started to point over at us, and particularly the friend of mine who couldn't go on the second trip. Her host mom then walked over to her, and through broken english and hand gestures, let us know that the people who barely knew us, many of whom have no direct implications in our lives, had just pooled together enough money to pay for my friends entire trip... We don't have a very big club, so there aren't a lot of members, and the trip costs around 15,000B. That means that each contributor put forward a substantial amount of money for her and the trip.
Many Thai people don't necessarily have a lot to give, so this gesture towards this girl means that much more. From what they have to begin with, they can still find it within themselves to give that kind of money to someone who is almost a complete stranger to them. Their actions brought a tear to my friends eyes, who graciously and very humbly took their gift. She was very considerate and appreciative of it, and while she was individually thanking people, not a single person who contributed seemed to have even the slightest inkling of regret or a sensation of being forced into it. They all just seemed happy to be able to give her the opportunity to go on the trip...
What these people did tonight will undoubtedly have a profound affect on my friend. I hope that she can see the good in these people and remember what they had done for her, and learn form it moving forward, but even if that isn't the case, she will now be able to participate on a trip where she will see and experience things the she otherwise may never have had the chance to do. Things that she can take back to her home country with her, and share with all her friends and family, and that she can cherish forever.
Whether or not I believe in the whole Buddhist vision of Merit and Karma, I damn well hope that these people get all the good luck they can, and have their prayers answered. Their completely unselfish and communal actions will go towards sending a young girl on a trip of a lifetime, and for that, they deserve some good coming back around to them.
I wish more people could see things the way these Thai people did tonight, and I truly hope that I can learn from this, and maybe start to see things in a slightly different light, a less selfish and more open-minded light.
Just something to think about...
Much Love,
Cole
Monday, October 8, 2012
Life is Good
So you know those days where you feel like nothing in the world could ever go wrong again? The days that seem like the sun could never set on you, and darkness could never touch you? The kind of day where invincibility isn't part of some far off realm, but a real sensation coursing through you? When sheer elation overwhelms you and your thoughts during every minute moment of the day?
Yeah... that was today...
To all my friends and family and Rotary members and anyone else who helped put this experience together for me, I need you guys to know how much I appreciate what you have done for me. The people Im meeting, the experiences and adventures I am having, and that are yet to come, are inconceivably extraordinary, and without your support I would never have had this opportunity. I've been here less than 2 months, and the journey you have laid before has already begun to weave itself into the very fabric of my being, to create vivid memories, relationships to last a life-time and mind opening life-lessons.
This is one big helluva thank you to every body who has contributed to the person I am today. I'll never be able to appreciate you enough...
Much love,
Wanlop Watcharawichet
William Cole Demorest
Yeah... that was today...
To all my friends and family and Rotary members and anyone else who helped put this experience together for me, I need you guys to know how much I appreciate what you have done for me. The people Im meeting, the experiences and adventures I am having, and that are yet to come, are inconceivably extraordinary, and without your support I would never have had this opportunity. I've been here less than 2 months, and the journey you have laid before has already begun to weave itself into the very fabric of my being, to create vivid memories, relationships to last a life-time and mind opening life-lessons.
This is one big helluva thank you to every body who has contributed to the person I am today. I'll never be able to appreciate you enough...
Much love,
Wanlop Watcharawichet
William Cole Demorest
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| The people along the way, create the person I am, and will always be... An intricate part of my past, present and future. |
Friday, September 28, 2012
Wednesday, September 26, 2012
A Little Insight Into the Mind of an Exchanger
This trip has already shown me such a vastly different outlook on life. The culture and the lifestyle that the Thai people have here is poles apart from what I have grown up knowing in The Great White North. Their mannerisms and behaviours are different, their weather is different, their language and alphabet are different, their food is different, heck, even their toilets are different. It can be a struggle to find any similarities whatsoever between Canada and Thailand.
But this is exactly the reason I wanted to come to The Land of Smiles in the first place. I wanted somewhere so dissimilar from my comfort zone, so unalike in every conceivable way, that I would have no choice but to learn and grow and adapt to my new world. I got exactly what I wished for, and then some.
See, last summer, I spent 2 months canoeing over 1,700 kms through the Northwest Territories, sleeping in a tent every night, combatting ceaseless waves of gnawing insects, cooking over a fire, and often enduring relentless winds and rains. But that was easy. Adapting to that kind of lifestyle was a breeze for me, in a relativistic sense of things. I can deal with physical changes with ease.
I've found that not to be the case here though. Here I have to learn to have dealings with people I have never met before. I have to adapt, not so much physically, (excluding to the tormenting heat...), but more so psychologically. And that, for me, is much harder than what I have had to do up until now. It's hard for me to realize that not everyone has the same basic thought process, that we don't all see the world with the same light. Even simple day-to-day things are done differently here, things that I would have thought would be done universally across the globe. The adaptation to these little, insignificant differences is proving to be my biggest challenge. They eventually all culminate into a big mess of cultural discrepancies that seem at times completely unreasonable to me. And yet, their lives move on, just as before, and they will continue to do so, despite me not being able to thoroughly accept them for what they are yet. It is coming along though. I am working on broadening my perspectives, and although it is a slow process, it is progressing. Turns out I DONT know everything. Surprising eh? But moving forward, I will continue to do everything I can to take advantage of every opportunity and learn with every obstacle, and trudge ever closer to a better understanding of this strange, strange land we call Thailand, and this wide, wide world we call Earth.
Much Love from Thailand!
Sawatdee Krap
But this is exactly the reason I wanted to come to The Land of Smiles in the first place. I wanted somewhere so dissimilar from my comfort zone, so unalike in every conceivable way, that I would have no choice but to learn and grow and adapt to my new world. I got exactly what I wished for, and then some.
See, last summer, I spent 2 months canoeing over 1,700 kms through the Northwest Territories, sleeping in a tent every night, combatting ceaseless waves of gnawing insects, cooking over a fire, and often enduring relentless winds and rains. But that was easy. Adapting to that kind of lifestyle was a breeze for me, in a relativistic sense of things. I can deal with physical changes with ease.
I've found that not to be the case here though. Here I have to learn to have dealings with people I have never met before. I have to adapt, not so much physically, (excluding to the tormenting heat...), but more so psychologically. And that, for me, is much harder than what I have had to do up until now. It's hard for me to realize that not everyone has the same basic thought process, that we don't all see the world with the same light. Even simple day-to-day things are done differently here, things that I would have thought would be done universally across the globe. The adaptation to these little, insignificant differences is proving to be my biggest challenge. They eventually all culminate into a big mess of cultural discrepancies that seem at times completely unreasonable to me. And yet, their lives move on, just as before, and they will continue to do so, despite me not being able to thoroughly accept them for what they are yet. It is coming along though. I am working on broadening my perspectives, and although it is a slow process, it is progressing. Turns out I DONT know everything. Surprising eh? But moving forward, I will continue to do everything I can to take advantage of every opportunity and learn with every obstacle, and trudge ever closer to a better understanding of this strange, strange land we call Thailand, and this wide, wide world we call Earth.
Much Love from Thailand!
Sawatdee Krap
Friday, September 21, 2012
Doing a B. and E. like a pro.
So a couple days ago, I left to bike to school and drop some papers off for one of my teachers (I don't have classes this month, we have our mid-year break), and when I got back, I realized my host mom had left, and my host dad was at work. This normally wouldn't be a problem, but because I was planning on only being out of the house for a short time, I didn't bring my backpack, which has my house keys in it... I think you can see where this is going.
So I give my mom a call, and she tells me that she is already way outta town, and won't be back for another 5 hours, and my dad wont be back for maybe another 6 or 7. Damn. I was just about to hop on my bike and head back out to sit at the river and maybe nap until I could be let in, but I figured I would see if there was any way I could make it into the house. All the windows in the house were open, but they all have metal bars across them, and both the front and back doors were locked tight. I was hooped. 5 hours of waiting, here I come. But as I getting ready to leave, a wild idea came over me. I got back off my bike, and headed around back to where my room was. I peered through the window, and I saw it... my backpack was sitting right there, about 2 meters from the window, taunting me. I started looking around the yard for supplies to make some sort of a hook and line system, to pull my back to the window so i could grab my keys out of it.
There's a fair amount of junk laying around in my yard, but of course, nothing very suitable for the job. Eventually I found some really old beat up ribbon and an umbrella. I fashioned a make-shift fishing line out of them, and cast away at my bag, through the barred window. Unfortunately for me though, the old ribbon broke as soon as the line when taught, and now I was down a set of keys, and my hooking device, which now laid right next to my bag...
I wasn't about to give up yet though. I looked around a bit more, and found a clothes hangar for a hook, but still couldnt find any sort of decent rope. Then, sitting right across from my window, I found my solution. Vines.
I picked a vine from the plant, and pulled on either end to test how strong it was. Disappointingly, not very strong. But I think of little bit of my dad's side of me shone through for a bit, and I got the idea to pull out some more vines, so I could weave and braid them into a stronger 3 strand rope. I ended up with about 2 1/2 meters of this 'rope' and when I tested it again, it held up very well. I fashioned a loop out of some of the more supple vines, and spliced either end into my rope to attach the hangar to it, and I was left with my new and improved B and E tool.
I tossed it through my window and at my bag several times before it finally caught my strap, and then I slowly hauled my bag across my room and up to the window, where I was able to reach in and grab my keys and let myself into the house, averting a 5 hours nap with the ants and roaches at the riverside.
Im not gunna lie, I felt like a total badass... So I felt the need to share it with you all. Hope you could at least get a chuckle out of it :)
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| So close... yet so far... |
There's a fair amount of junk laying around in my yard, but of course, nothing very suitable for the job. Eventually I found some really old beat up ribbon and an umbrella. I fashioned a make-shift fishing line out of them, and cast away at my bag, through the barred window. Unfortunately for me though, the old ribbon broke as soon as the line when taught, and now I was down a set of keys, and my hooking device, which now laid right next to my bag...
I wasn't about to give up yet though. I looked around a bit more, and found a clothes hangar for a hook, but still couldnt find any sort of decent rope. Then, sitting right across from my window, I found my solution. Vines.
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| My selected materials |
I picked a vine from the plant, and pulled on either end to test how strong it was. Disappointingly, not very strong. But I think of little bit of my dad's side of me shone through for a bit, and I got the idea to pull out some more vines, so I could weave and braid them into a stronger 3 strand rope. I ended up with about 2 1/2 meters of this 'rope' and when I tested it again, it held up very well. I fashioned a loop out of some of the more supple vines, and spliced either end into my rope to attach the hangar to it, and I was left with my new and improved B and E tool.I tossed it through my window and at my bag several times before it finally caught my strap, and then I slowly hauled my bag across my room and up to the window, where I was able to reach in and grab my keys and let myself into the house, averting a 5 hours nap with the ants and roaches at the riverside.
Im not gunna lie, I felt like a total badass... So I felt the need to share it with you all. Hope you could at least get a chuckle out of it :)
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| SUCCESS! |
Thursday, September 20, 2012
Back up to speed!
Okay, I'm kinda losing interest in always writing about what happened almost a month ago, so I'm going to very briefly give a run-down of my experiences to get you all up to speed.
School so far has been pretty good. I still dont understand a thing that is going on, so it can make for a long day sitting there listening to meaningless blabbering for 8 hours. But I'm getting to know the local kids pretty well, and they been a huge help in teaching me Thai. I find myself being quite the celebrity while I'm there as well. I've got light brown hair, blue eyes, white skin and am (in a relative sense) rather tall. Thailand really doesn't have a heck of a lot of inhabitants that aren't Thai, so when a white kid walks by in their school uniform, it's quite the ordeal for them.
As for some of my adventures so far, I must say, they are slightly more involving and exciting than school... Take riding an elephant for example. In my opinion, it was a bit more fun than physics class. So my Rotary District, which comprises the northwest quadrant of Thailand, all got together for our first orientation in Lampang, about 4 hours from my city. I met loads of new people, there were about 30 students I believe, and I got to meet some of the Youth Exchange committee. Over the 5 days we spent in Lampang, we went to the Thai Elephant Conservatory, visited the Mae Moh Coal Mine, and a ceramic factory. We had some basic Thai language lessons, and even a dance party in the Hotel!
I've also visited Chiang Mai for a Rotary function. It is the second biggest city in Thailand, and one of the more touristy parts of the country. We drove up on a friday, and spent the night walking around a University Market, not really a heck of a lot of fun, but still very neat. It was mostly clothing shops and little restaurants, so not exactly my cup of tea. We stayed with a bunch of university students that night, not really knowing who they were, but Rotary told us to go with them, so we did. I think 1 or 2 of them might have been ex-exchangers, and that how they were implicated, but I honestly cant be sure. The next day we had meeting and such for the majority of the day, but it was good to see many of the other students again. That night, Hannah, Carol, Jenni and I went to this massive mall where we ate dinner and where I met up with Vow, a Thai student who I got to know while he lived in my district in Canada. After dinner, we headed over to the real night market, and the 4 of us, who had never been to this city before and who spoke very little Thai, were dropped off to fend for ourselves. We had a small piece of paper that had our address on it, and that was it. We walked around for hours, buying things we really didnt need, and seeing things we maybe didnt want to see... We ran into another group of students who also went to the market that night and so we all headed off together to enjoy the night.
I've taught at a few different schools and at a couple english camps as well, which were pretty fun. Its very hard to get used to the teaching methods here though which seem very ineffective, and quite frustrating to follow. But it's all good, I had some good times, and the little kids were ecstatic to have an actual english person teaching them the language.
One really cool thing that I got to do, was spend 4 days living at a temple with my host mom. She took me there for a prayer and meditation week, and I got to learn so much about Buddhism and the Thai culture. It was great! Sitting on the hard floor from 4am-9pm and not being able to eat after 12:00pm was kinda tough at times, but definitely worth it for the experience I got out of it.
That kinda sums up the big stuff that has gone on so far. Once again, if you want to know more about anything in particular, just drop me a comment and I'll be glad to fill you in!
Here's a link to a video I made while at the Outbound conference in Chiang Mai. Check it out, Chiang Mai Market
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| "Reunited, and it feels so good!" |
School so far has been pretty good. I still dont understand a thing that is going on, so it can make for a long day sitting there listening to meaningless blabbering for 8 hours. But I'm getting to know the local kids pretty well, and they been a huge help in teaching me Thai. I find myself being quite the celebrity while I'm there as well. I've got light brown hair, blue eyes, white skin and am (in a relative sense) rather tall. Thailand really doesn't have a heck of a lot of inhabitants that aren't Thai, so when a white kid walks by in their school uniform, it's quite the ordeal for them.
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| Sorry, I dont have any pictures of me with the elephants. This is my friend Hannah instead! |
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| Ceramic Factory |
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| In the tuk-tuk on the way home... at 12:30am |
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| Loving Life! |
I've also visited Chiang Mai for a Rotary function. It is the second biggest city in Thailand, and one of the more touristy parts of the country. We drove up on a friday, and spent the night walking around a University Market, not really a heck of a lot of fun, but still very neat. It was mostly clothing shops and little restaurants, so not exactly my cup of tea. We stayed with a bunch of university students that night, not really knowing who they were, but Rotary told us to go with them, so we did. I think 1 or 2 of them might have been ex-exchangers, and that how they were implicated, but I honestly cant be sure. The next day we had meeting and such for the majority of the day, but it was good to see many of the other students again. That night, Hannah, Carol, Jenni and I went to this massive mall where we ate dinner and where I met up with Vow, a Thai student who I got to know while he lived in my district in Canada. After dinner, we headed over to the real night market, and the 4 of us, who had never been to this city before and who spoke very little Thai, were dropped off to fend for ourselves. We had a small piece of paper that had our address on it, and that was it. We walked around for hours, buying things we really didnt need, and seeing things we maybe didnt want to see... We ran into another group of students who also went to the market that night and so we all headed off together to enjoy the night.
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| Teaching at Nongping Primary School |
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| Damn big Buddha... |
That kinda sums up the big stuff that has gone on so far. Once again, if you want to know more about anything in particular, just drop me a comment and I'll be glad to fill you in!
Here's a link to a video I made while at the Outbound conference in Chiang Mai. Check it out, Chiang Mai Market
Saturday, September 15, 2012
Monday, September 10, 2012
Alrighty, still bringing you up to speed with my new life. Here we go.
So I'm going to shorten up the re-cap a little bit, because I really want to get to posting about recent events, rather than stuff from the beginning of the trip.
I soon found out that my host brother and sister, Shine and Nuch respectively, would be heading off to Mexico on exchange within the week. Over the next few days, we spent much of our time visiting friends and family all over the city, and getting the final things packed for their journey. Their departure date came around, and we all loaded into a snub-nose van, along with a couple extended family members, to make the trip back to Bangkok. we left at about noon, as their flight wasn't until 11:50 that night. On the way there, I was gazing out the window the entire time. Everything here is still brand new to me, and I didnt want to wasted a second of it.
The road we drove along was quite strange. Along the entire road, their were small houses and shops and little vendors. Right on the edge of the highway, miles away from the nearest city, you could see an old Thai woman sitting on a rickety lawn chair in front of a table laden with brightly coloured fresh fruit. Then you look to the other side of the road, and a 9 year old boy would be pulling out of his dirt driveway on a motorcycle, and onto the highway... This country is amazing.
We got to Bangkok right around 5:30, so we found a restaurant for dinner. It was my first meal out, and was quite a cool experience. The restaurant sat overhanging a pond, and had a live band playing in the background. It was a gorgeous place! As for the food, I was still learning how to eat properly, and the Thai people can be rather particular about the right way to do it. You fill your plate with rice, and, with your spoon in your right hand and fork in your right, you start to serve yourself the many different dishes on the table. You only take one at a time though, and only usually enough for about 2-3 bites worth. Then you combine a little bit of rice, and whatever you just dished yourself on the spoon, and chow down. Most of it was quite good, and yes... almost all of it was spicy.
We got to the airport about 2 hours later, only to find out that the travel agency had goofed on the bookings, and the airport had no record of Nuch and Shine's tickets. Great start to an exchange eh? So we spent the next 6-ish hours moving from one location to the next, consulting with people on the phone and then confirming with airport employees, all in Thai. Every once and a while i would get an update, but in the meantime, all I could really do was sit and read. Thank goodness I brought a book. At about 1am, I was finally told that we would head back into the city to spend the night, and hopefully sort things out the next day. Boy oh boy did I love hearing those words.
The hotel we stayed at was meh from the outside, but our rooms were amazing. Not at all what I was expecting. Neither were the exceptionally hard beds. I was beginning to think that that was a thing in this country. My sleep started as soon as I laid down, and came to an unwanted end at 8 the next morning. We all went and ate breakfast together while the travel agency was sorting things out, but when we had finished, nothing more had been solved, so we waited around at the hotel until 12pm, when we had to check out, and then back to the aiport we went.
Eventually, we got everything fixed, and my brother and sister were to leave at 10pm that night. We spent the next 6 hours touring the airport, which really isnt that exciting, and I took another big chunk out of my book. Finally, the time came. They were ready to go through security and officially start their trip. After many more hugs and consoling words from their biological family, I gave them each a hug and realized then how quickly people can bond. I had only known them for about a week, but knew I would miss them while they were gone. They said their last goodbye, and off they went, tears streaming out all over the place. It was kind of cool to be able to experience that kind of thing from both side, once when i left Calgary, and then saying goodbye to someone else as they left.
We drove back to Kamphaeng Phet that night, and much to my surprise, I was informed that I would still be going to school the next day, even though I only got to bed around 4a.m.
My first day of school is soon to come!!
In the meantime, if you have any questions or want me to talk about something specific, feel free to leave a comment and I'll do my best to answer you
Sawatdee Krap
So I'm going to shorten up the re-cap a little bit, because I really want to get to posting about recent events, rather than stuff from the beginning of the trip.
I soon found out that my host brother and sister, Shine and Nuch respectively, would be heading off to Mexico on exchange within the week. Over the next few days, we spent much of our time visiting friends and family all over the city, and getting the final things packed for their journey. Their departure date came around, and we all loaded into a snub-nose van, along with a couple extended family members, to make the trip back to Bangkok. we left at about noon, as their flight wasn't until 11:50 that night. On the way there, I was gazing out the window the entire time. Everything here is still brand new to me, and I didnt want to wasted a second of it.
The road we drove along was quite strange. Along the entire road, their were small houses and shops and little vendors. Right on the edge of the highway, miles away from the nearest city, you could see an old Thai woman sitting on a rickety lawn chair in front of a table laden with brightly coloured fresh fruit. Then you look to the other side of the road, and a 9 year old boy would be pulling out of his dirt driveway on a motorcycle, and onto the highway... This country is amazing.
We got to the airport about 2 hours later, only to find out that the travel agency had goofed on the bookings, and the airport had no record of Nuch and Shine's tickets. Great start to an exchange eh? So we spent the next 6-ish hours moving from one location to the next, consulting with people on the phone and then confirming with airport employees, all in Thai. Every once and a while i would get an update, but in the meantime, all I could really do was sit and read. Thank goodness I brought a book. At about 1am, I was finally told that we would head back into the city to spend the night, and hopefully sort things out the next day. Boy oh boy did I love hearing those words.
The hotel we stayed at was meh from the outside, but our rooms were amazing. Not at all what I was expecting. Neither were the exceptionally hard beds. I was beginning to think that that was a thing in this country. My sleep started as soon as I laid down, and came to an unwanted end at 8 the next morning. We all went and ate breakfast together while the travel agency was sorting things out, but when we had finished, nothing more had been solved, so we waited around at the hotel until 12pm, when we had to check out, and then back to the aiport we went.
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| Goodbye Nuch and Shine!! |
My first day of school is soon to come!!
In the meantime, if you have any questions or want me to talk about something specific, feel free to leave a comment and I'll do my best to answer you
Sawatdee Krap
Tuesday, September 4, 2012
Surprise Motorcycle Ride
I'm straying off track slightly of my intended path, as this happened just last night, but I also wanted to get a video up to keep people entertained a bit more. The video turned out way worse than I hoped, but you get the basic idea of whats going on. Anyways, I was on my way home from the night market, which is about a 35 minute walk from my house, when these 2 girls showed up and asked me if i wanted a ride. Of course I did! So I hoped on the back of their scooter and this is what ensued. Sorry that its so dark you cant even see my face...
Saturday, September 1, 2012
Blog Numero uno!
Howdy everyone!!!
So after reading some of the blogs from the other exchangers, I figured it would be a good idea to start my own. Im going to try and add lots of pictures and videos, cause I know some people aren't the biggest fans of reading, and they're just more exciting anyways. I also apologize up front for starting this 3 weeks into my trip, instead of at the beginning, or even before I left, but I'll make sure to recap everything that has happened.
So my journey in Thailand started on August 11th, 2012. From Calgary (my home city), I flew to Vancouver, and from there to Hong Kong, and the to Bangkok. It took me about 18 hours-ish of flight time to get here, and my layovers were very nice and short, which reeeally helped quicken the trip. I arrived in Thailand and was just beaming the whole way through the airport. It was about 900m from my gate to baggage, and I took my time the whole way, just enjoying things and taking it all in. (btw, it was about 9pm local time when I arrived). I got my bag, and then walked over to arrivals, where I found my new family waiting for me. Hahaha, it's not very often you get to say that, but I'm glad I got to. It was such a cool experience. They made a sign for me and everything, and they seemed very excited to see me. On the 4 1/2 hour drive from Bangkok to my new city, Kamphaeng Phet, we made small talk for a while, before I started drifting into semi-conciousness from being awake for nearly 30 hours straight. As soon as we got home, I went straight to bed... my very, very hard bed... fantastic.
The next couple of days, I spent most of my time recovering from jet lag, eating and getting to know my family. So many things here would be completely absurd in Canada, especially things to do with driving and the roads. They are absolute madness here. Whether there are rules or not, not a single person follows them. The food was also very different. I knew they ate lots of rice, but i didn't think it was ACTUALLY for every meal of the day. Oh well, good thing I like rice!
I'm going to cap it here for the time being, as it it getting late here, and I still have a bunch of work to do.
Sawatdee Kap!
Wallop Watcharawichet (Cole)
So after reading some of the blogs from the other exchangers, I figured it would be a good idea to start my own. Im going to try and add lots of pictures and videos, cause I know some people aren't the biggest fans of reading, and they're just more exciting anyways. I also apologize up front for starting this 3 weeks into my trip, instead of at the beginning, or even before I left, but I'll make sure to recap everything that has happened.
So my journey in Thailand started on August 11th, 2012. From Calgary (my home city), I flew to Vancouver, and from there to Hong Kong, and the to Bangkok. It took me about 18 hours-ish of flight time to get here, and my layovers were very nice and short, which reeeally helped quicken the trip. I arrived in Thailand and was just beaming the whole way through the airport. It was about 900m from my gate to baggage, and I took my time the whole way, just enjoying things and taking it all in. (btw, it was about 9pm local time when I arrived). I got my bag, and then walked over to arrivals, where I found my new family waiting for me. Hahaha, it's not very often you get to say that, but I'm glad I got to. It was such a cool experience. They made a sign for me and everything, and they seemed very excited to see me. On the 4 1/2 hour drive from Bangkok to my new city, Kamphaeng Phet, we made small talk for a while, before I started drifting into semi-conciousness from being awake for nearly 30 hours straight. As soon as we got home, I went straight to bed... my very, very hard bed... fantastic.
The next couple of days, I spent most of my time recovering from jet lag, eating and getting to know my family. So many things here would be completely absurd in Canada, especially things to do with driving and the roads. They are absolute madness here. Whether there are rules or not, not a single person follows them. The food was also very different. I knew they ate lots of rice, but i didn't think it was ACTUALLY for every meal of the day. Oh well, good thing I like rice!
I'm going to cap it here for the time being, as it it getting late here, and I still have a bunch of work to do.
Sawatdee Kap!
Wallop Watcharawichet (Cole)
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