Inside this class-on-the-roof, I learned very quickly that bowing was different after the incantation at the beginning or the class when one sits on the floor. (I also re-learned something I had read in a Thai travel guide that says you must never step over a person or their food. Not even their extremities. I realized this because the kids in my Thai instrument class kept wanting to go past where I was sitting with some of the children [who were all in nice rows save me because I had thought we’d be sitting all jumbled together] but wouldn’t go even after I shifted in order that they could just step over my feet a little bit. They refused to go until after I realized this and tucked my feet in and scooched over.) Anyways I put my hands together to prepare to Wai the teacher and everyone else had their hands clasped one over the other resting on their thigh opposite to the side their legs were tucked under. I decided to copy them and see this through, so when they put their hands palms together on the floor diagonally away from them I hurriedly followed suit, only to have everyone fling their heads at their hands on the floor! I bowed my forehead to my hands which is what I figured they were probably actually doing. I think I was right but I am not sure yet. This was repeated in my Thai dance class (I’ll tell you more about how that went later XD) and nobody corrected me either time so I’ve about a 50/50 chance I was doing it right.
Author: ariagoesabroad_hcy2ve
Little things 2
Little thingsI found out there is a classroom (and a miscellaneous sweet-crunchy-flatbready-thing maker, who was a different person after I came out of the classroom than it had been when I went in) pretty much on the roof of the school, beneath a large awning. The floor was painted green with white lines in an extra space for gym classes, I would presume.
Little things
Little thingsYesterday I was told “The French teacher is very high.”, not in referral to her height. They mean she is very loud, though I don’t find that she is, certainly not compared to the students. Last night one of my friends from school told me something I am finding to be more and more accurate as the days progress:
“True about Thai students
1. Speak too much and loud”, (< yup yup yup as Ducky would say*)
” 2. Eat everything that we can eat in classroom
3. Sleep in classroom”
My first day of school at St Joseph
'Acheivement Get' posts, Major postsWow. Today has been both a very short and very long day. I woke up at 3:30 because of jet lag and couldn’t really get back to sleep after that, then went to school at 6:30 and got there at about 7:30. Walking through to courtyard was NERVEWRACKING, let me tell you. My host mom, Jah, led me around to the administrative office (I think?) but on the way I just felt so out of place. Everyone else seemed professional and business-like in their uniforms, and I felt like a trick-or-treater. In the morning at my school we have an assembly, wherein I think prayers are said and sung, and the national anthem is sung. Before all that though, a nun (who’s name I don’t remember but want to learn because she is so very sweet) made an announcement and then I had to go up to the mike in front of 5000 STUDENTS and who knows how many teachers, and introduce myself in Thai. I knew how to say “hello” and “my name is Aria” but the teacher explaining things to me wanted me to say “I come from Canada” as well, and I didn’t know that. This meant I spent an eternity that was way, way too short trying to memorize two syllables and not pee myself or fall over. It was the most terrified I think I have ever been in my life. I succeeded, kind of, at saying what I needed to and then waited in the office while prayers and everything happened because I could not stand in front of those students any longer. After that I was lead around to the front of the school for a couple photos, which can apparently be found here, and then followed the teacher (I still don’t know her name) to my class. It turns out that you are not allowed to wear your shoes inside the building and it also turns out that I am not very good at taking off and putting on my school shoes. Which is awkward. Especially since I realized I was the only one wearing shoes while standing in the middle of a crowded and small stairwell. When I got into my class there were only a few people, but soon all 50 students including myself were there. First period was science and they were working, well, they were supposed to be working on pullies. I think the teacher might have gotten them to do 10 minutes work all class. Maybe. For pretty much the entirety of the class I was just surrounded and being asked so many questions, a lot of which I understood for they were speaking the best English they had, but most of which were the same questions everyone else had asked. The most popular questions were: What’s your name? Why did you choose Thailand? Where do you come from? Will you eat lunch with me? That last one was a favorite apparently. I was asked by the person I agreed to eat lunch with if I would eat lunch with them first every day, then every Monday and Wednesday, then just every Monday. Super overwhelming, let me tell you. At one point I was asked if I had a boyfriend, and then I believe the same person asked their friend to ask me if I liked girls or boys. I think my least favorite question though, was “Do you remember my name?” or “What is my name?”. I really want to be able to remember their names! They are so pretty and interesting, but I am very, very bad with names. I can usually just wait for someone else to use whoever’s name in a conversation and pick it up. Instead I had probably 150 students throughout the day quizzing me on what their name was. I now can remember 7. Because they quizzed me repeatedly for about an hour during class and I wrote them down. This isn’t to say I know who’s face matches which name however. 😛 Tomorrow will probably be harder still. Anyways, for all that it was fun. I have finally in the last hour of school managed to unclench my feet and calves and I’ve met some really neat people. I’ve also learned a ton. Mostly little things, like how to buy food and where to put my dishes away. That I need to remember to wear an undershirt tomorrow (Wups!). How to tie the scarf thing on my school uniform and to bow to the teacher at the beginning and end of class after a particular incantation is said. o.0 Everyone in this school is nigh unto constantly smiling, and I was told how beautiful I was probably 40 times. My day is almost done, and tomorrow I start following my schedule, which ROCKS let me tell you. I have French, Thai, and Chinese language classes, Sewing, Origami, Thai culture, Thai dance, Cooking, Thai music instrument,Carving, Math, P.E., and Science. This is has been my dream for course selection at school for years. I actually didn’t chose the subjects, either. I was just handed a schedule. Anyways, I am looking forward to tomorrow. I have Chinese first thing! 😀 I’m writing this in my free time towards the end of the day, and I can’t wait to get back home to the 8 dogs. 8. 4 shih tzu, one chihuahua, and 3 Thai dogs. It’s pretty great. Thanks for reading, and I’ll try to keep you posted on my time in Thailand!
Up, up and away!
'Acheivement Get' postsI woke up at 4, groggy and anxious and sure I was forgetting to bring everything important with me. I kept trying to convince myself that this was actually happening, that I actually was leaving and wouldn’t see my family for a year. I wasn’t particularly successful, save for bits in flashes while I was hugging my sister or dad goodbye. I’d said goodbye to my brother the night before, and while he didn’t cry (though I did) his stuffed duck Fuzzy had told me not to go repeatedly. I asked Jamie what he would like me to bring back, and listed some things like Buddha figurines or elephant figurines or Thai pants. He asked if I could bring back a baby elephant for Fuzzy and I thought Oh. A stuffed elephant for a stuffed duck. okay. And was picturing a little stuffed elephant toy. As I said sure his eyes LIT up and he exclaimed “Really? A real elephant?” I told him no, but then we make believed what would happen if we did get a baby elephant and kept it in the horse pasture. Our horses mostly spook when they see the llama across the road, let alone an elephant. They would be stampeding all around and then the elephant would stampede too and it would basically never end. And it would be very loud and dangerous. As well our horse Olie would never stop nibbling it’s ears! When I said goodbye to Sana it was shorter, she was quite sleepy. She murmured plans to get up and pack now so she could come with me to Thailand for the year and was just very cute. After that I slept and mom slept in my room with me. When we got up in the morning at around 4:30 dad had made breakfast and then I said goodbye to Daddy Eric and we left. In the car I juggled things in my carry on bags and finally decided they would not fit and that I would just check my large carry on and take some things in a cloth bag as my second carry on. We got to the airport and I was kind of panicking. I didn’t want to not see them after this moment for a year. It was an eternity and I could not conceptualize to time, try as I might. My siblings would be so grown up when I came back! I needed to be there as that happened! My mom and me would not always be around each other! My friends would have a full school years worth of dram I would not be party to and I would not be there to watch two of my ships finally happen (Literally they hooked up days before I left). So I went to the security line with not a single muscle not clenched and walked through the line and waved to dad when he kept sneaking back to try to wave to me. I’m not sure that he saw me though.
Going through security is always suuuper anxiety filled for me. This time was a little better, since last time I flew I had a tub of yogurt and nuts in my bag and security was super chill about it. They said I could go eat it on the other side of security or chuck it, but there were no big alarms, no one was mad or aggressive, it was all good. So this time I wasn’t as worried about accidentally crossing one of the security rules, but I had several minutes of fear when I saw how small a one liter bag is, and the little sign that said one bag only per flyer. Once I finally got a bag however, it was all good. Everything fit (just barely) and I was off to the races. At about a foot a minute. Maybe that was just my nervousness reflecting onto it though.
After I got through security I went straight to my gate, in case my flight was early or my gate was at the very, very end of the airport. It wasn’t. My flight was on time, all was good. I filled my water bottle, bought some gum, used the restroom, and came back to find that my flight was loading. I think it did end up being early because I probably only spent a half hour in the airport. That being said, I did play on my phone and read some, which can eat a lot of time. I had tried to connect to the airport wifi as well, which my phone was having none of. This meant I couldn’t tell my mom and dad that everything had gone alright until I reached Vancouver, but I wasn’t worried about it. The flight was mostly unremarkable. It didn’t take very long, barely enough to have warranted opening my bag and getting things out really. From there I wandered the airport, trying to find my gate number since it wasn’t printed on my boarding pass. None of the boards however, listed my flight. Uh oh. Then I checked the flight departure times and realised that mine was about 45 minutes off the board. I had approximately 7 hours of layover, you see. So, I hung out in one lounge for a while, feeling quite antsy, then went to the help desk to see if they could tell me what my gate number was before it showed up on the board. There wasn’t anyone at the desk, however, so I sat on the stone lip of a ring around a big fancy metal wall in the middle of the airport. There was what appeared to be a guitarist setting up on the lip/maybe bench thing a little ways away from me, but I waited there a while and he never started playing so I don’t know what was up with that. Eventually someone went behind the help desk and I jumped up- only to see them file some paperwork and start to leave again. I grabbed my things and scampered over to ask them, but all they did was look up at the board and tell me what I already knew: that it was too early to see my flight on the board. From there I decided to wander instead of sitting awkwardly with airport staff chatting and complaining nearby. I found this really cool candy shop not too far away, and went inside. I had been very lowkey looking for food because I stress eat crappy food when I’m at airports, and this was perfect. It had bulk candy dispensers at the back, with everything priced the same so that you could mix and match all in one bag. I got an assortment of jelly beans, some marshmallow bananas, some little stars-with-eyes-aliens gummies, two gummy crocodiles, some gummy grass snakes, and various other things. I also got a box of nerds. This would be what I used to sooth my nerves and sustain me through my trip.
v (This happens later. Wups.)
Mom included in an email instructions to eat some real food though so I got a chicken pot pie that turned out to only have defrosted halfway when they microwaved it so there was ice in some parts. It wasn’t very good.
This is where I am going to end for now, I will update this post more later. 🙂