Morgan Hoehn 2013 Letters from Thailand

June 19, 2013

Sahwatdeeka from the land of smiles!
As if I wasn't stuffed full of fruit from the last fruit festival, this past weekend I went to an Eastern province to sleep in a temple surrounded by hundreds and hundreds of only the best Thai fruit trees. Two days sleeping in a wonderland of deliciousness while experiencing new bits of Thai culture could not have made my weekend better. I even became Facebook friends with a monk!
Every week I am taken by surprise of how simply awesome the things I do really are. 
I got back into Muay Thai yesterday and reunited with my boxing teacher and his 8 year-old boxing prodigy daughter. My arms are killing me but I am so glad to be back in Muay-mode. I love it!
This afternoon I folded about +200 tiny pieces of banana leaves and rose pedals to create a masterpiece Thai craft with my class because tomorrow is Wai-Kru Day, which is the day the students all respect their teachers and give them incredible banana leaf creations. Each class is to make 2 "kratongs", and with about 4000 students in the school, there's a lot of banana leaves everywhere. I am definitely looking forward to tomorrow!
This week I will also be learning a Thai dance to preform at a Rotary district meeting. Myself and one other exchange student will be dancing with about 10 other professional Thai dancers. Pressure! On Saturday I will be going to the university for some dance lessons and possibly to choreograph a little exchange student spunk to add into the performance.
It is always an exciting week in Thailand for me and the days just keep getting better and better. I will let you know how Muay Thai is treating me next week and how my dance lessons end up.
T'was the night before the best day, as every day is
Excitement was stirring with banana leaf biz
Muay Thai shorts were ready, folded with care
In hopes that my arm pain would soon not be there.
Tubtim is in Thailand all full of smiles
Happy with fruit and air conditioner dials.
 
I hope you all have a wonderful week!
Take care!

-Tubtim 

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June 12, 2013

Sahwatdeeka!
As the "OMG It's June!?" sets in, my Thai families and friends are constantly reminding me of how many days I have left before I return to Canada. Quite honestly, I find it rather annoying as I am still trying to come to terms with the idea of someday actually having to get on another airplane leaving a country I adore to enter a country I adore. More than ever before people are asking me when I am going home and my first thought is to reply "NEVERRRRR!!!" as loudly as I can while clinging to my host family like a monkey. Don't worry, I don't actually do that. However constantly being reminded of the date by the people I have grown to love has had a positive effect on me. If it were even possible to do so, I now enjoy things even more. I have also created another list of things I would still like to do realizing that I am not going home tomorrow and even though time will go by quickly, I still have some.
 
This week I went on my very first banana boat in the East of Thailand. I also ate many different kinds of prepared frogs. Just like chicken! I got to meet the most beautiful girl, who was also a boy. I learned more about Thailand's history and my jaw continuously dropped as I stood in the middle of Thailand's very first capital city.
Interesting bit: Thailand, first named Siam (like the cat), has never been taken over by any other country. Though many countries came to Thailand with the intentions of claiming the wonderful land, they all left with only a new friendship as the king was just too nice. So came the name the Land of Smiles! Thailand became "Thailand" because "thai" in Thai means free.
Continuing on with Thailand's amazing history- just this past week history was made that will change Thailand forever! School girls are now allowed to have long hair!!! This is such a huge change for Thailand and school girls everywhere have never been so pleased with the Thai government. Just almost 3 weeks ago teachers would carry around scissors in their pockets and cut student's hair that wasn't of the standard just below the ears.
Thai girls are constantly in celebration mode and I have never seen so many advertisements for faster growing hair.
 
Until next week!
 
-Tubtim 

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May 29, 2013

Sahwatdeeka from the land of smiles- and the land of smiles it is!
This week I was picked up and stepped on by an elephant, visited a temple designed exactly like a gigantic UFO, drank tea and played with many cats at Bangkok's famous Cat Café, enjoyed a ride on a ferris wheel, became a hair model for a ladyboy's hair salon, convinced numerous people that I am actually Thai and NOT a foreigner in order to get the Thai discounts and succeeded, and I also made many new friends along the way. 
Tomorrow I have a Rotary party and then I am off for even more travelling to Thailand's most historic city to eat frogs and be blown away by the incredible Thai ruins. Sounds alright to me!
This week I have noticed my Thai more than I normally do. Mind you, I don't ever really notice if I'm speaking Thai as I speak it all the time, but this week was different. This week I had an incredible dream. I had a dream that I was in Canada and I hadn't even left for Thailand yet. I was with my family eating dinner. Nothing crazy. Except ALL of us were speaking Thai. Everybody was speaking Thai! When I woke up I was just so confused. Trying to imagine myself speaking Thai with my Canadian mom at the dinner table back in Canada was just a weird thought. It IS just a weird thought! I was so confused when I woke up that I tilted my head and honestly questioned if that was English or Thai, and then I spoke out loud meaning to say "What was that?" and I said it in Thai. Out loud. And then I realized that- yup! It was Thai. Which led me to happy dance and laugh at picturing my family and I speaking Thai together. I have had dreams that included Thai before but this dream was the first one that everything was just completely Thai. It was so COOL! 

I feel more Thai than ever before. I am so happy.
 
Enjoy this week with smiles!
Take care

Tubtim

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May 22, 2013

MSahwatdeeka!
Where to begin on these last couple weeks! I have been quite busy in a relaxing Thai-style kind of way.
To start things off, FRUIT FESTIVAL! All you can eat Thai fruits all day long in the hot sun swimming in the humid air. I got on a tuk-tuk early in the morning to begin the fruitful festivities and continued to stuff as much fruit as fast as I could into my mouth for 2 hours straight trying to get all the best fruits just like the other 100 people around me. With all of the sweat and fruit juices that ended up all over me, I had to change out of a newly tie-dye style tshirt at noon. Not only was I completely full of fruit, but when I got back on the tuk-tuk (mostly rolled and flopped back on the tuk-tuk) with my host family after we had finished getting fruity, they informed me that this was only the first station and we were off to the salad and dessert part. It then clicked in that maybe that's why they were all laughing as I was basically throwing fruit up in the air and rolling in it with joy while they were just sampling each fruit stand.
Not only did I fill up on fruit during these past couple of weeks, but I started school and Thai massage again and have been keeping quite busy visiting temples in preparation for the upcoming festival of Buddha.
I officially graduate from Thai massage school in just over a week and then I will go back to learning my Muay Thai.
It is also turning into rainy season again which means the humidity is causing me to turn into a fish. Currently it is the summer season mixed with the rainy season and last week the thermometer at school was literally off the scale. It's hot!
The snakes are also coming back out in the early mornings when I go to school. This morning as I walked out the front door I was greeted by a 5 foot snake slithering along the front steps just enjoying itself. And it is all of these things make me love Thailand even more.
 
Enjoy your week!
Sahwatdeeka for now!
 
Tubtim

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 May 8,2013
Sahwatdeeka everyone! 
If I could describe these past couple of weeks with one word it would be dreamy. My southern trip abounds with smiles and sunshine, sunburns and sea lice, beaches and blue water as blue as blue can be, monkeys and tropical fish, sunsets and sunrises so beautiful, and my ever growing love for Thailand. I climbed up the side of a cliff for a rock climbing adventure, I snorkeled with a lionfish, got kissed on the cheek by a baby monkey, slept on incredible islands, kayaked through caves, and learned more about Thai culture: southern style. Such an incredible trip that I will never forget! I saw places and things that I thought only existed in fancy magazine articles or those trips that we all win for being the lucky 100th person today to answer our phones. The south of Thailand is absolutely without a doubt a very beautiful paradise. Like I said- dreamy. 
Though the south made me want to stay sunburnt forever, I am glad to be home in the north. However just 2 days after getting back from Phuket, Krabi, and other wonderful islands, the opportunity to go to Bangkok for 5 days was sprung upon me and off I went to go shopping with my fourth host mom in the wild downtown jungle of Bangkok. Trudging through Dolce and Gabbana we went, occasionally stopping to laugh, wipe the sweat off our foreheads and eat overly priced ice cream. It was nice! We even ate Mexican food for dinner one evening. Now I am back in my beloved city of Phitsanulok eating pad-thai and rice at my beloved little outdoor food court with all my cockroach friends and life is still dreamy. Tomorrow I will be off again for more travelling, but this time to the east of Thailand where I will enjoy a fruit festival and stuff my face with as many strange fruits as I can get. I am so excited! I will be back after the weekend and from there I will enjoy the company of my fourth host family, go back to school, and continue being happy. 
From now until next Wednesday, take care! Maybe you’ll get a little sunburnt too.

Happy May!

Tubtim
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April 17, 2013  

Sahwatdeeka! 
I was planning this week’s letter in my head and I just don’t know what to say first. To start things off, Songkran festival was AWESOME. I wish you could all go to Chiang Mai and experience it for yourselves because I am having a difficult time trying to describe how absolutely amazing it was. I loved it! I am definitely going to save my pennies in hopes to go next year. Without a doubt, Songkran is now my favorite festival/holiday/event ever. Not only was the national water fight amazing and so much fun, the cultural aspect of the festival was just so incredible as well. From thanking our elders, visiting the family temples, giving thanks to Buddha, offering food and traditional gifts like a pig’s head to the monks, and participating in a water fight where billions of people are throwing buckets of water on each other in one little area was just outstanding and such a wonderful experience. 
I even got to meet up with Connor Malone who was an exchange student 5 years ago in Thailand from District 5370. We enjoyed the festival together for 2 full days riding on the back of a pick-up truck dumping buckets of water on everyone we could see and ambushing unsuspecting pedestrians with our water guns. It was a blast! 
The excitement is sure to continue as in about 31 and a half hours I will be on my way to Phuket, Krabi, and all of the other incredibly scenic islands the south of Thailand has to offer. It will be 10 days packed with rock climbing, snorkeling, waterfalls, kayaking, backpacking, boat rides, beaches, and exchange students. I can’t wait!

Not only is it in moments like this that I am jittering with excitement do I feel thankful that I have this amazing experience and cultural exchange. Every day I learn something new and every day I feel more and more blessed to be in Thailand. My exchange so far has been so marvelous and I really do think everyone should be an exchange student. It’s just awesome. Plain and simple.
Today I had a Thai friend ask me which country I like more- Thailand or Canada. I couldn’t answer. In both countries I have family, friends, school, and a life, and to me that’s so amazing. Before I went on exchange my eyes were so wide and I was so excited and I completely looked up to all of the exchange students who went on exchange before me with the biggest admiration ever and I only dreamed that I could experience something as amazing as what they were describing. I still have wide eyes and I’m always so excited and I do look up to all exchange students. Except now I really understand what all those other students meant when they talked about their homes and their families and how now wherever they are in the world they will always have a little part of themselves in a different side of the world. A little while ago I was packing for my southern trip (about 30 hours now!!!) and I came across my journal which I haven’t written in for.. for about 5 months. I found my Thai check list of things that I wanted to do and I have now completed all of them. Though I’ve added about 50 more, it was pretty cool to see that my little outbound dreams 1 year ago have come true. So, thank you Rotary! 

I am going to go continue to pack now for the south and continue to get more and more excited with every second that passes.
Have a great week and take care!

Tubtim

 
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April 10, 2013

Sahwatdeeka from the land of smiles!
I passed my Thai massage test! Woo-hoo! I am continuing to learn Thai massage and every day I feel more and more professional. My Thai massage teacher is so kind. Yesterday after class she took me to her house and taught me how to make traditional sticky rice. Not only will I come home a Thai masseuse, but I’ll have some incredible cooking talents as well! 
Last week I went to the temple to watch one of my friends become a monk. I have been to these celebrations before, however this time I went with his family and I was able to see and experience more of the process. When becoming a monk the boy must shave his head and eyebrows and take a bath in jasmine water. I got to cut some of his hair off! Then I got to dump freezing cold water on him! It was really interesting, for sure! Most Thai boys will become a monk at some point in their lives because when they become a monk and when they get accepted into the temple, it means that their parents can go to heaven and good fortune will come to their family members. It’s quite the honor to know someone who is becoming a monk! I am going to another celebration tomorrow morning.
This week was full of preparation for the upcoming Songkran festival, which is the Thai New Year! On the 12^th I will be going to Chiang Mai to play in this water festival. I have been looking forward to this festival for such a long time! Songkran festival is basically a week long water fight throughout the entire country. People drive around in trucks throwing massive buckets of water on whoever is close enough, everyone is armed with at least 2 water guns, there are water stations set up on every block, water water everywhere! For at least 3 entire days the water fight will continue. I am so excited! The idea of the Songkran festival is to give thanks to the Water God, to celebrate the Thai New Year with a fresh start, and to pay respects to your elders. I can’t wait to learn more about the traditional Songkran festival and also to get out of the heat and into some nice water fun. It will be a blast!
When the Songkran festival ends I will have one day of rest until I am off travelling again to Phuket and many other islands for my southern trip! The rest of my month is sure to be crazy, fun, hot, and exciting. I’ll be sure to update you all on my newest adventures with water fights and the beautiful islands in the south. I’m definitely keeping busy! 

Have a wonderful day and Happy Songkran!

Tubtim

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  March 27, 2013

Hello hello!

Oh my goodness… Where to begin! My 10 day meditation was just… certainly one of the most interesting things I have ever done. I went to a religious meditation so every morning I woke up at 3am, meditated for a while, and went to the temple at 4 to sit with the monks and nuns for the morning “suat-mone”.  This involved meditating for 1 hour, and then at 5:00am the head monk began the Buddhist chants that went on until about 6:30am. After that I walked with the monks to collect food from the villagers. This was definitely my favorite part. It was amazing to go walk behind the monks as they gave out blessings to the villagers who gave rice and curries. It was always the same people every morning at about 6:30 giving out food as well. I learned some familiar faces of the villagers and one elderly woman was kind enough to share her blessing with me after she gave the monks rice. Walking in the sunrise barefoot behind the monks through an amazing little village was really amazing. 
When we returned to the temple I prepared the food we had collected for the monks and the nuns and sat through another prayer led by the head monk. After everyone was done eating, I was allowed to take my food. I was only allowed to eat little bits between 8 am and 12. After eating, I went to meditate at a nice sitting area I found in a mini jungle. When I took a break from meditation I would do chores around the temple like sweeping and returning all the fallen leaves to their trees. I meditated until 5:30pm each day because at 5:30 we went to pray again. The Buddhist chant prayers finished at 7:30 and then I headed off to sleep after a short update to the head monk about how my meditation was going. This was the only talking I ever did. The rest of the time I was in complete silence.
If you have ever done a meditation of any sort, you will know that it is NOT easy by any means. My first day I had no idea how to meditate and what I was supposed to do. The only thing I was told was “Don’t think, just know.”   WELL! Whatever that meant. 
Sitting in the temple my first day with my legs crossed, feet turning blue from sitting in one position so long and the silence coming from everywhere around me for hours and hours and hours was almost unbearable. I was constantly looking around me at all the nuns and all the monks sitting SO peacefully and still and perfect and wondering how on earth they could possibly do that. I experienced every range of every emotion that a human being is capable of feeling and more. Sitting in one spot trying not to think and then thinking about not thinking and then getting angry with myself for thinking about not thinking and how I’m thinking was a sure test of how patient I am. There were moments that I just smiled and couldn’t stop smiling with no reason as to why. There were moments I wanted to pick up one of those sitting cushions and throw it. There were moments I thought about my second grade teacher and “oh, I wonder how she’s doing.” There were moments I thought about how big the universe is and maybe I should become an astronaut. There were probably 23 moments when I could have just sat there and cried cries ranging from hissy-fit screams to soft whimpers. There were moments I thought about hairless cats. I even thought about the giant Pooh Bear pillow I had when I was 4. The things that went through my head were just so strange. Finally on about my 4^th day I started getting the hang of meditation and understanding it and being able to do it for about 1 hour at a time. 
On my 5^th day I had one of the Rotarians come and visit me with his wife. It was really funny because by that point, I was very comfortable in silence and just at a very peaceful state of mind. I probably seemed like I just wasn’t social at all and super awkward because I didn’t really talk to them. They would ask “So how is meditation!?” and I would just reply “Oh it’s good.” and stop talking completely when before meditation I would have been smiling and laughing and a total chatterbox. They only stayed about 10 minutes. 
Honestly, if I knew what my first couple days of meditation would be like before I had gone, I can't say for sure if I would have done it. However, now that I have completed the 10 days, the reward is so amazing and completely worth everything I went through. I'm even considering going back to meditate sometime in June. I do have to say though; I think everyone should try meditation at some point. Definitely! It was such an amazing experience and I learned so much! Not only about Buddhism, but about myself. Even after being back from meditation for a week I am still doing it for about half an hour every night before bed. I certainly hope to keep doing it and keep learning. Now I even understand the “Don’t think, just know.” and I would probably say it to anyone who asks me how to meditate. Oh the amazing things 10 days can do!

So for the week that I have been home from meditation I have signed up for a Thai massage class. Yes! I will be learning how to do a Thai massage!  I will study in a massage school and when the course is completed I will be an official certified Thai masseuse! My first class will be the 1^st of April. I’ll let you know how it goes! As for now, I'm just enjoying getting the Thai massage.

Have a great week!!

Sahwatdeeka!

-Tubtim

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February 20, 2013

Sahwatdeeka!

I hope you all had a wonderful week! 
This week went by so fast it seems! I changed families to my third host family, but it doesn’t feel like my third family. Now I have friends here, family here, classmates, a school, a home, and an anthem that I sing everyday with all the other Thai people. I looked at the date today and was completely SHOCKED to see that it’s almost March. Every day just feels like… Well it feels like a normal day to me. And by “normal” I mean that this day is a normal day of my life that I have known forever and that I am used to. When I changed families, I just started calling another couple mom and dad, just started calling more people brother and sister, and I just started calling another new address my home. I feel so completely THAI that it’s like everywhere I go is my home. It wasn’t until today when I was trying to explain to my friends “No, no, no. Not that mom. The other one! No, not that house. The new one! No, not the second one, the third one! No, not those people. You met them! You didn’t? Right! That was the second family.” that time has actually continued to go on during my exchange. People are starting to ask me when I am going home and all I can say to them is “Home? Which one?” I have actually answered some people by telling them that I’ll go home at 4:00 when school ends, because I just forget that I’m really an exchange student and they really mean home to Canada. I also say “Oh I don’t know… Never?”   So for now I will just continue to ignore calendars and have fun, as usual.

Buuuut my third host family is amazing. My house is about 45minutes to an hour outside of the city. It’s about 3 rice fields and temples away from other buildings. It’s a village and I live in a cottage. I have my own guest house, which is pretty neat. The house has a room for meditation, and speaking of meditation, on March 11^th I will be going to the temple for 2 weeks to learn the art of meditation and learn about Buddhism. After this course is complete I will be heading up to a mountain in the North of Thailand for an advanced class. This will be the class that includes no talking, meditation for 10+ hours daily, and 1 rice meal/day.  For the time between now and March 11^th I will have my Central Trip to Bangkok with the other Rotary exchange students.

I mean, I have even gotten used to all the wonderful Thai cuisine. Yesterday morning for breakfast I indulged in a wonderful homemade Red Ant Egg Soup, which is also known as Wasp Salad. Good healthy start to the day filled with protein brought to me by the hill tribe women!
Tonight I will go to a festival at the temple and my friends want to eat the bugs there because apparently it’s the best in the North!

Enjoy your week!

-Tubtim

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February 14, 2013

It has officially happened. I have officially lost my English. A group of people from numerous other non-English speaking countries have asked me where I studied English. I apparently have a Thai accent when I speak English now. I also have a hard time speaking only in English! I met some foreigners and honestly, I just didn’t even want to talk to them because it was too much thinking for me to do. I kept saying things in Thai and then “oh, sorry, sorry! I mean…” and it was just a headache. I guess that means my Thai is coming along quite nicely! 
This past week was the Chinese New Year, so “Happy New Year!!” to you all and I hope you have a wonderful year of the snake! I have now celebrated 3 new years in 2 months. For the Chinese New Year I visited a Chinese school and watched the dragons preform. Then we went to the Chinese temple and my eyes just wouldn’t stop watering from all the candles and incense that was burning. It was really cool, actually! Thai people are really in to celebrating, so almost every street had red fireworks going off and food offerings lined up for ancestors. I learned that the reason everyone wears red for the Chinese New Year is because ghosts and bad spirits are afraid of the color. I also accidentally ate some of the fruit before we offered it to the ancestors. That was pretty embarrassing! Good thing my host family just thought it was funny and no ancestors were angry.

While on the topic of festivals and celebrating- tomorrow is Valentine’s Day! Which I have a story to follow with and some advice for those of you who may be frantically trying to think of a nice and romantic gift for your loved one. When I first came to my school (about 6 months ago! Holy moly!!!), I was quite popular with the Thai students. I got many Facebook friend requests and many secret admirers. I noticed a lot of students at lunch time watching me and waiting to see what kind of food I would buy. One group of boys actually stood in the same spot every lunch for about 2 weeks and they would giggle and wave at me when I would buy my coconut water. Eventually, one boy from the group messaged me on Facebook asking if I like coconuts and then he offered to bring me a coconut from the tree in his backyard. I kindly told him that he didn’t have to bring me his coconuts, however he was very determined to do so. 
So today I was talking with my friends about Valentine’s Day and I told them this story of the boy and his coconuts and they were just so tickled pink in this coconut love story that they all awed and cooed saying how cute he is to want to bring me a coconut. I was really confused and thought maybe they misunderstood me, but apparently giving someone a coconut is a sign of love and is SUPER romantic in Thailand. It’s probably one of the cutest things you can do for your loved one! So, if you want to make this Valentine’s Day the most romantic day of all, buy a coconut! 
And one more charming story to follow this trend, last night in the shower I was joined by 3 massive toads and 2 frogs. But you know, those Rotary Rules of no dating…

I am now learning how to type on a Thai keyboard as well as learning the alphabet. There was more letters than I thought... However, I did succeed in writing my very first Thai sentence!

I am feeling more Thai each day and whenever people ask me when I am going back to Canada, I can’t help it but to say “never”.
I have definitely made Thailand my second home and Thailand has accepted me right back. Did you know there was a study to find the happiest country in the whole world, and Thailand is number 6? I just belong here!
 

Talk soon! Love and care for the snakes this year and have a happy Valentine’s Day!

-Tubtim

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January 23, 2013

Sahwatdeeka!
These past two weeks have been something special. Let’s start things out with a little story!

I am in a Facebook group with the other exchange students in my Thai district. We use the group to communicate, share our experiences, get support, and tell jokes. On January 10^th one of my Brazilian friends Carol posted in our group to let all of us exchange students know that she will not be joining us on either of the remaining two Rotary trips we have to the central and southern parts of Thailand. She didn’t go on the first trip to the North either due to financial issues.
I was one of the first to see the post as I happened to be online the same time she was and the feeling of extreme sadness I felt was incredible. Obviously I wanted to do something to help her out, but how? About 5 minutes after reading her post (or maybe 2) the first thing that came to my mind was “Mommy!” and I texted my mom asking if we could pay for her. My mom said no, as it is a lot of money, but she reminded me of the money that I saved up before going on exchange. She also gave me the idea of my fellow exchanger friends.
So I created a message to all the exchange students, except Carol, proposing that we all chip in some money to help Carol go on the trips with us. I first wrote that we try and get $500.00, which is what the Central Trip would cost (The Southern trip costs $900.00). Within 17 minutes there was $650.00 for Carol with many more people wanting to help and pitch in. By the next morning we easily gathered $900.00 for Carol, which means she could go on the Southern trip- the trip that everyone is most looking forward to. Also, since Carol did have $500.00 of her own that she had decided to save for personal (cheaper) travel after she realized the southern trip would not be possible for her, she can now go on BOTH of the trips.
Though this is super amazing, I just want to make it even MORE amazing by pointing out that POOR exchange students living off of a monthly allowance set aside for school lunches were able to gather $900.00 ($900.00!!!) for an exchange friend who we had ONLY met once during our Rotary Orientation the first month we arrived in Thailand.
But not only did we help Carol out, we then continued to raise $500.00 more so another girl from France in the same situation could go on the Central trip. Booyah. The reason I decided to put this in my letter to you was because this is what Rotary is about. The bond that exchange students make is magic. It’s something that is hard to describe and when you try to describe it you come up with a whole bunch of sparkling adjectives and even then you have not been able to accurately describe the instant friendship you gain, or what it feels like. From one weekend together 5 months ago I was able to become best friends and family with 30 other exchange students. I have only talked to Carol a few times and I hardly know her but I consider her my friend and I was able to do what Rotary is about. Service above Self. I am giving up getting the peas and carrots in my rice and instead I will just get plain rice at school for lunch. I am giving up coconut juice at lunchtime and replacing it with water. I am giving up a Thai foot massage and the delicious fruit smoothie I get on my way home from Muay Thai. I’m giving up these little things so I can help Carol get and achieve a few big things. Just helping and hoping for smiles. That’s all it is.
So, as I was able to raise $900.00 of poor, generous, kind, and thoughtful exchange student allowance money for Carol so she can share the incredible experiences with me and all the other exchange students, I am throwing out a challenge to all of you.
I think I have mentioned Shelter Box in one of my past letters, and I will mention it again. Shelter Box is a Rotary funded organization that helps people who have been affected by poverty or natural disasters. A Shelter Box is a container filled with things like tents, blankets, pots, pans, food supplies, water, and more that is delivered to the spot where people need help. A Shelter Box is shelter, safety, and dignity. It’s a home. It is an absolutely incredible thing and since I am a Rotary exchange student, I have been challenged to raise $500.00 myself. If I can do that, my $500.00 will be matched by Rotary and then with that $1000.00, one Shelter Box will be purchased and on its way into the world. There is no maximum as to how much I can raise.
So! My challenge to you is that you maybe skip that $5.00 grande Starbucks drink but use the money towards Shelter Box. Or maybe, at the end of this meeting when you are all getting fined due to some hockey uproar or cellphone ring or clever comment about the table orders, you double the amount you were fined for and give half of it to Shelter Box. Or maybe, you can just donate some money to Shelter Box keeping in mind my plain rice with no peas or carrots.  ;)

I hope you all have a wonderful day and thank you for being my amazing, incredible, wonderful, brilliant, entertaining, and just fantastic Rotary Club!

-Tubtim



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Jan 9, 2013
Sahwatdeeka!

This week I didn't have school as all my classmates were writing exams, but I did (finally!!!) start up Muay Thai boxing lessons!
I have been to 4 practices so far and I will continue every day for 1 month (to start). My first lesson I completely fell in love with the sport! It's actually a lot of fun! I have been thinking, and I don't think that whole "come back and go to school" thing is going to work out so well. I think I am just going to stay in Thailand forever and become a Muay Thai boxer for the rest of my life surrounded by banana trees. Oh, and of course all my pet elephants and monkeys.
But really, Muay Thai is a great sport. I practice every day with a retired Muay Thai boxer and his 2 little girls (ages 8 and 10). I have to say, at the first lesson my jaw dropped. Those little girls are SO strong! I wanted to video tape them and send the video to Ellen.
Now after a few days of lessons my kicking leg is quite bruised up. I'm focusing more on punches and elbows right now. It's actually quite funny because my teacher likes to show me off to all of the neighbors. When he notices the people across the street watching (which they do a lot), he makes me do a routine of punching and kicking that makes me look like a ninja honestly. I am enjoying myself.
This Sunday I will prepare a Canadian dinner for my family and some friends. I am planning to do a lot of little things, including poutines and s'mores. This also gives me a chance to eat something with cheese/ dairy products. Yay!
I go back to school Monday and until then I am relaxing, rocking at Muay Thai, and going to the night bazaars and day markets.



Enjoy your week!



-Tubtim



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January 2, 2013



    Hello all! I hope you had a fantastic Christmas and a wonderful end to 2012 and start to 2013! I had to fight off a couple zombies here in Thailand on December 21^st while walking to school, but I survived just fine.

I certainly have learned, experienced, and seen a lot in these past few weeks. December was a month to remember with Christmas and the New Year, along with making a trip up to the northernmost part of Thailand.

I will begin with the trip up north, and I just have to say that in my defence, even though Grande Prairie was the second coldest city in the world a few days ago, I have grown very used to 30+ degree weather.  In the mountains of Chiang Rai I froze my butt off in 20 degree Celsius weather, and I was even wearing a sweater.

On the trip I got to walk along the border of Myanmar and Thailand, which was actually just a rope and some thin pieces of barbed wire. However, a couple hundred meters away on Myanmar’s side were multiple military towers. In previous years, Myanmar and Thailand didn’t get along quite well, so they are now very strict about crossing the borders without permission. Quite deadly, you could say.   It was a very nice trip though! The sunsets and sunrises were amazing. I felt like with every step I took I was stepping onto a new page of a Discover Asia magazine. Incredible!

Then came December 21^st. Some classmates were really nervous for this day, as they believed the world would come to an end. Some even stayed home from school in order to be with their families on this day. It was pretty interesting! There were rumours going around that the end would hit Thailand at 12:21 pm, so all of my friends gathered together in one classroom at 12:00 and waited. Some prayed, some went on Facebook, and some just sat there making jokes. It was pretty different, but it was nice! We got out of class for a little while, so it was okay. ;)

Then Christmas! Thailand does not celebrate Christmas, so December was very different for me. Though Thailand doesn’t celebrate Christmas, they still say “Happy Christmas!” and take pictures in Santa hats for the sake of celebrating something. My teachers had me dress up in a Santa Claus costume and go walk around the school and take pictures with the students. I only wore the costume for 1 hour, but in that hour I stayed in one spot while a line-up was formed for students to take their picture with me. I had to take a few breaks to stretch my face. Hahaha

My family, knowing that it was Christmas time for me, took me out for dinner and allowed another exchange student spend the night. We watched the Grinch and exchanged some of our traditions. I have to say it was one of the best Christmases I have ever had.

One somewhat embarrassing thing did happen around Christmas time though. Most of Thailand is Buddhist, and my host family is especially very religious. What I did not know about Buddhism, however, is that it is against the religion to eat beef. Like I said, my family is very religious. So! As we were sitting around the table talking and enjoying ourselves, I go and get some beef jerky to share with my family so they can taste it! I tried my very best to explain what it was, but when I tried saying “No, no, no. It isn’t chocolate, it’s…” they must not have really cared about what it was, because they just ate it. I was happy, everyone was happy; we were all enjoying this beef jerky. THEN. My host mother, with the kindest face you could ever imagine asks me if the snack I just shared with them was beef. I said yes. I watched her face crumble from loving and kind to concerned and heartbroken in a matter of seconds. The only way she was able to explain to me that they can’t eat beef due to their religion was by pointing at the MASSIVE Buddha image looking down on the dinner table and telling me “Buddha says no.”



So now I know that that is the reason as to why nobody eats beef here in Thailand.

So then New Years rolled around and again, Thailand doesn’t really celebrate it as much as we do in North America. Reason being, they celebrate the Chinese and Thai new years that come right around April. They still celebrate it though! Thai people love celebrating anything they possibly can just to celebrate and “sabai sabai” (enjoy and relax). I spent New Years singing Karaoke on my host family’s deck. It was great!

My host family has their house, but they also have a second house for their grandparents and great-grandparents. My host mom’s mother is 84 years old and has Alzheimer’s. Every day since I have been living here I introduce myself to her for the first time. I always say the same thing and so does she. Some days she forgets how to speak Thai (she was born in Laos, so Thai is not her first language), so she isn’t able to respond to me. Like I said, her and I have met for the first time every day for about a month and a half now. Two days ago was the first time she remembered me. I can’t even begin to describe the way I felt when she said “Sahwatdeeka Morgan” after I bowed and said “Sahwatdeeka” to her. I almost thought I didn’t hear her right. I was so shocked! It was really, really amazing and now I really feel like part of the family.

Today I went back to school after having 2 days off for New Years. I didn’t have any classes though because all the Thai students were studying for their midterms. At the school there is a coffee shop where I usually go and sit when I have free time. I usually chat with the teachers but today they were all busy so I pulled out my iPod and started playing solitaire. After some time of playing, a couple students entered and sat on the sofa behind me. They looked over my shoulder to see what I was playing and they gasped in surprise. They then said something really fast in Thai which made all the teachers look at me surprised too. Honestly, I was super confused and just smiled.

They then told me “No good!” and pointed at my iPod. Then I remembered that card games are illegal in Thailand, and it probably looked like I was doing something illegal by playing a card game on my iPod. They thought I was gambling! That is also a story I will be remembering.
So! These past few weeks were full of learning, experiences, and happiness. I hope you all have a great year with many memories and great stories of your own to come!

Sahwatdeeka! Happy New Year!



-Tubtim