I'm in some of the Northern-most parts of Thailand, so we also have a LOT of Chinese people and ancestry here. Therefor, we have a lot of Chinese-themed stuff, as well as the second language here (first being Thai) is a half-half tie of Chinese and English.
So there was a big Chinese festival/holiday thing the other day/this week... guess what's happening.
That's right.
A HUGE parade [with dragons]!
There's even a festival, too.
P.S. - The King's birthday was on the 5th of December, same-same Father's Day. Father's Day will always be the birthday of the current King, and Mother's Day is always the same day as the Birthday of the Queen. Cool, eh?
Anyway, we have rides, games, LOTS of eating areas (what fair doesn't?), and even those old-fashioned freak shows where you give 'em a buck and go look at the miniature set-up booth. There are a couple people-ones, but the others are just like, giant snakes or something. I haven't gone into one... yet.
Then tomorrow at 10 PM at the fair, I'm in the catwalk with one change of clothes [two outfits]. One was a previously-made one, the other is one that I designed and had help getting it made. I can not truly say that I was the one who sewed it. No, my friend has done the majority of the work. Teacher says she's a lot faster, and we actually got the dress done in time for the show because of her help. She's proud of her work, and I definitely am as well. I mainly just did some cutting, pattern-making and a few stitches. The rest was all Mohny and teacher.
*I call her "teacher" because in Thailand we just call the teachers "Aijan," the equivalent to "Sensei" in Japanese, which also translates to "master." At first we will say "Aijan" then their name or their nickname, but then it's just shortened down for class.
Anyway, I have several pictures of the festival and parade on my Picasa, which can be viewed here:
http://picasaweb.google.co.th/gecko.on.the.wall/KingSBirthday
Then there was the huge mountain-plateau thing we climbed the other day in November as a large group of exchange students from all over.
That was really fun.
Not to mention excessively draining and freezing cold.
Pictures...
here. http://picasaweb.google.co.th/gecko.on.the.wall/PhuKradung
The name of the "plateau" was Phu Kradung, largely misspelled English-wise EVERYWHERE on every souvenir. I mean, it's not in the English language, so it doesn't have an actual name in English, you know?
What do you know about plateaus? Yeah, yeah, flat on top. NOT TRUE. SO NOT TRUE. Plateaus are not perfectly flat like savanna land, okay? They are still hike-able (not just walk-able), and it gets very tiring. It's been giving the name: "Phu Kradung," because "phu" in Thai means "mountain" in English, but then the scientists, who think they're all so smart and such, call it a plateau. Ugh. I refuse to agree that it is flat on the top.
Oh yeah, we didn't have hot water at all. Not even warm water. Heh.
Anyway, it was an awesome trip. I hiked up with my friend Michelle. We would have gotten the Red Lantern award if we were in the Alaskan Sled Dog race. Or as she called it, "The Wooden Spoon Award." We took our time climbing up, as it WAS a 6 kilometer walk/hike up. The mountain/plateau/thing is vertically 1,288 meters tall. It took us 6 hours to get up, mainly because we were taking so many pictures. We had a lot of fun going up, though, too, unlike a lot of other people who rushed it. Then there was the 3 km walk to camp after the 6 km up.
We did the same coming down, but it only took us about 3 hours. A lot of the trip down contained rock sliding and jumping off of things [hoping you won't fall off the mountain in the process]. Then there was running... If you ran too fast at first going down, you wouldn't be able to stop for awhile. Which got rather dangerous if you ask me. So we stayed away from that. Michelle and I hiked down with our friend Diana from Taiwan.
Which now gives me an excuse to tell my grandparents that: "No, I'm not in Taiwan. I'm in Thailand." They tend to replace the countries every now and then... Anyway, Diana is from Taiwan, speaks a ton of mandarin, but barely speaks English at all. So Michelle and I talk to her with Thai, which Diana speaks amazingly, also. Diana and I share a few similarities together. She's a really cool person.
I have a cat on my lap cutting off my leg circulation while I'm writing this as mosquitoes feast on my feet and legs. I'm hoping I won't look like an asteroid tomorrow for the fashion show.
Monica
P.S. I would like to mention one of my other Thai friends at this point. His nickname is Boom, he's younger than me, about 15. He speaks English and a few other languages VERY fluently, and it's really crazy because I have to speak proper English with him or he has no idea what I'm saying. Lol.
