thai speech

Sorry, I realize that my last post was the worlds longest summary of a week...but it really was a good weekend. (the main reason for it's length was that I really didn't want to pay attention in class and I was using this as my distraction). Vietnam round two this weekend! I was planning on going to Cambodia, but things changed and the opportunity presented it to go to Ho Chi Minh, in the south, so I decided it sounded like a good option (I went to Hanoi in the north a couple weeks ago). I just need to leave the country somewhere so I can get another little 30 day stamp. I'm excited to see some of the history and hang out with the lovely Sarah and Lori. Now it's time to stop procrastinating my Thai language speech (which is kinda a joke really) and start memorizing it. Wish me luck, this is the paper I wrote my speech on...I accidentally used it for crafts. oooops. But really this just proves how seriously any of us take this class. Sa wat di kah!

disher and beep

We decided to take a quick weekend trip to Koh Chang. It was Me, Oona, Lori, Janelle, Stig, Noah & Carson. Woke up friday morning bright and early with the hopes of leaving at 6am, in actuality we left about 6:30 am. Consequently we missed the early morning bus, but luckily there was on an hour and a half later so we just got a long breakfast. It was Stig's birthday and we sang to him bright and early and had him unwrap his lovely present from Oona (the wrapping was fantastic if you ask me. It consisted of bubble wrap, computer coupons, massive amounts of tape, and the outside was decorated with scissors, his old phone, a watch, a yarn bow, chopsticks and some other nonsense) Finally on the bus we snacked on bread and nutella and then I fell asleep...one of my talents I'm really grateful for is my ability to fall asleep just about anywhere at anytime. Got to the dock, took a ferrry, then a taxi and arrived at the lovely Siam Hut Resort (I promise it wasn't as fancy at it sounds). We put our bags down and ran to the beach to enjoy the rest of the sun. The water felt amazing, it's been so hot in Thailand the last few weeks.

It took the boys a few tries to get their 3 man totem pole, but they were so proud once they got it. We attempted a 4 person one but failed miserably. There was the chicken fight which was arguably won because of garlic breath, that's an unfair advantage if you ask me. And don't the boys just look wonderful in their newly purchased speedos. As we were getting out the boys found a deal jellyfish and thought that it would be funny to put it on Oona's head, she didn't think it was that funny but we all laughed about it later. We then showered and got ready to go out and discovered that our bungalows came with a community pet. We walked outside and there were two cow/water buffalo/ bull (it's still in debate) animals just hanging out, laying in and munching on the grass. I pet one. It really wasn't that exciting, he ignored me. Then we got dinner at this really good little restaurant fully equipped with a monkey to play with while you were waiting for you food. Now this was much more exciting than the water buffalo. He stole Stig's orange party ribbon, and we definitely didn't get it back. The monkey was sweet as long as you weren't trying to take it away from him. He eventually fell asleep in mine and Lori's lap. I ordered a pumkpin curry that was SO GOOD. WE then wandered to a Reggae bar with live music. It was there that the real night began with buckets, ice fights, straw competitions, another wonderful happy birthday song to Stig and once again being the loudest and most obnoxious crowd in the place. We then wandered back to Siam Hut where the night continued with more buckets, loud music, gossip, some man love, boob pillows, Fins and much more ridiculousness. The night ended about 3am when we got back to the Bungalow and Lori, Janelle and I cuddled under our lovely mosquito net (that wasn't really effective).

Saturday we decided to rent motorbikes. Wonderful idea, with some later realized flaws. We began heading one direction, then Lori decided she wasn't up for driving so we headed back to return her bike. She hoped on the back with Noah and then we took off in the opposite direction. The road were crazy steep and winding, it was definitely interesting. One turn got the best of Oona, she kinda just tipped over, but she brushed herself off and got right back up and on our way. This cause a short delay so the others were waiting at a little store when we got there. What was supposed to be a quick stop turned into a 5 hour delay. Carson lost his key, but found another key that he thought was his, then the key hole got covered so we took it to a shop and they got it opened for us, but the key still didn't work. So long story short we drove back to the rental place, got a new key and were on the way again, but during our wait we had a lovely little lunch where we were fortunate enough to come across some disher and beep.

We ordered it for Carson and stole a little bite and it was wonderful, but the point is those two words then took over our trip. Oona and Noah being the main culprits, but it was entertaining. They've come to mean everything and nothing at the same time.

After much delay we were back on our way. We stopped and swam for a little at White Sand Beach where Oona found a "toenail" and her reaction was really funny and Janelle discovered the "world's smallest shell" and Carson refused to swim because apparently that requires you getting wet, who knew? We also stopped at a view point where we saw this fantastic tourist warning sign. The best rules to follow: Scribble in the range (if any of you can translate that to mean anything productive let me know), Shooting package, point cracker (again, point cracker? I haven't heard of those yet), Buzz scandal, and our personal favorite...you aren't allowed to bring your Destruction Button. I'm really curious as to one, what that is referring to, and what happened that they felt the need to include this on the list of forbidden items.

Another fun night, including the bat/balloon that Oona mistook for person and part of her roof that fell off in the middle of the night. Then Sunday Noah got a tatoo, the girls enjoyed the beach and some swimming and then we were headed back to the ferry. The ferry ride was really pretty, it had just gotten dark and the weather we perfect outside. We had some time to kill before the bus ride so we went to a market where I played rock paper scissors with two little thai boys for at least 20 minutes, they were adorable. Then the bus ride home, slept through the whole thing again. We got to Bangkok, got off the bus (it almost drove off with Carson) and then took a taxi home.

It was a wonderful weekend full of mango shakes, beep, disher, Bam Boo, lost keys, motor bikes, buckets, speedos, fun fun, loud lizards, and tattoos. and HAPPY BIRTHDAY WEEKEND STIG!

ps, question of the week: does anyone know what the particular name is for a duck's foot? This was brought up at least 3 times and none of us could remember, you're assistance would be greatly appreciated.

turkey and lights

I spent from Wednesday until Sunday at the Gailey's. Wednesday Laura and I went to Khaosan Road where I helped to culture her by eating more Thai food. It was successful, she liked what we ordered. Then we made some new friends, they were definitely entertaining and best part was they secretly paid for our dinner. We went to see HP 7, so good! The second part needs to come out asap. Then Thursday (or friday? i duno my days jumble together here) night we had an early Thanksgiving at the Gibbon's house with at least 30 people from church, it was so good. I ate myself into a food coma in record time.

Then Sunday I had church in the morning, then it was Loy Krathong that night. It's a huge light festival that Thailand has every year. A group of us went into Bangkok right on the river. We then lit these little flower boats, made a wish and then let them float down the river. We then watched fireworks and saw a ton of the floating lanterns light up the sky. It was a beautiful night, full moon and all.

true story in Vietnam

"When I get sad, I stop being sad and be awesome instead. True Story"

...yes they made a shirt that said that, and yes we bought them.

What began as a short series of unfortunate events mainly consisting of visa issues turned out to be a wonderful trip to Vietnam. We attempted to fly into Hanoi on Thursday but then ended up standing in the airport as we watched our plane fly away because apparently we didn't have the correct paperwork...so off to the Vietnam immigration office we went. Long story short, it sucked, but we got it figured out and we were on our way bright and early at 5 am Friday morning. We got to Hanoi and stayed at, well I forget the name of it hotel, and wandered around town. Oona and I witnesses a little accident, the fence in front of the cathedral will ever be the same again. Then Saturday we woke up and headed to Halong Bay. The van left even my with little leg room and the road was like and Indiana Jones ride at Disneyland...except it lasted for 3 hours. Not complaining though because we laughed about it and it was well worth it. Oh and our tour guide confirmed the rumors...they eat dog in Vietnam. We decided that the shocks on the car were made out of old bed springs. We got to the harbor and got on a boat and headed towards the islands. It was so amazing. Then we went on an adventure through a cave where we saw the "monkey/frog rock" and the wonderful speedo man.

Meet Speedo Man.

He though that a speedo and long shirt was and appropriate outfit, we did too. And Stig wore his matching shirt if full support.

Afterwards we were able to kayak through the Bay at sunset, it was perfect. That night was Carson's 21st birthday. That went from low expectations, to sneaking through windows, getting caught, and eventually led to major karaoke and a wonderful party with a 27 year old couple from London and two older couples from Australia and Ireland...it ended up being such a ridiculous and entertaining night. The next morning we woke up and jumped off the top of the boat and then headed back to Hanoi. Halong bay was absolutely breathtaking beautiful. The next couple days in Hanoi we went and saw the Museum of Literature, ate wonderful food and spent too much money. The city streets are crazy and packed with thousands of motor bikes, deciding to cross that street was a little gamble with your life. And the things they manage to carry on there motor bikes is seriously amazing. We saw one with a fridge AND microwave, another had a person carrying a coat rack, one with a ladder, and there were so many others. The last night we stayed at Central Backpackers Hostel and it was really nice, I would definitely go back and stay there. The last night we hung out with some of the others from the Hostel, signed their wall and then wandered the town until we came across a place that was open to feed us. We ordered way too much food, and ate it all. That was a fun meal with our topic of discussion ranging from men who wear pink, danish news, to an argument about whether garlic is a type of onion (an agreement on this still hasn't been reached). Wonderful trip!

Vietnam, we will meet again.

Happy Birthday, Mom!

Today is my mom's birthday. She is the most amazing woman I've ever met. I honestly could not have been given a better example in my life. She has taught me so many things: strength, service, honesty, hard work, the importance of laughter (often times the ability to laugh at myself), forgiveness, and this list could go on and on. Mom, thank you for all that you have done for me. All the tears you've helped to wipe away, the times you've made me laugh, and the lessons you've taught me. Thank you for the thousands of pictures and videos you've taken detailing my life, even when we gave you grief about actually taking the pictures. You're support for me is unmatched. I'm so grateful for the way our relationship has grown over the past few years, you will always first be my mom, but you've become one of my best friends as well. I hope you have an amazing birthday, I LOVE YOU TOO MUCH!!! <3

birthdays and picnics

First of all, I love letters, they just absolutely make my day. This week hasn't been too eventful but it's been absolutely lovely. Started off Sunday buying our tickets to Vietnam, LAST MINUTE. We needed to buy them before midnight, we hit submit at 11:59 pm, we decided to go out for a little success celebration after, the ice cream Oona and I shared was wonderful. Then, probably consequently, Monday began with me sleeping through my first class on Monday....oops, but I then found out that I'm not going to have to spend a lot of money renewing my visa so that's good news. Tuesday, learned how to make Pad Thai (i think? maybe that was the week before) but anyways I learned how to cook something Thai, Wednesday was a little field trip to a museum that was only in Thai...that was interesting. I finally got a new ring and these wonderful red thai pants the I love! Then we celebrated Minty's 20th birthday.

Most people left town but Jessica, Oona and I have had a lovely and relaxing weekend. We've run errands, had a movie night with Casa Blanca, and concluded it with a Saturday adventure to JJ Market, dinner picnic at the park and Vintage Market adventure. I then woke up a little late for church today, good news is I still made it there and not too late. I'm now at the Gailey's and dinner smells wonderful. Laura and I have talked about just about everything under the moon, we were just about to start up discussing our solutions for world peace but we had to set the table. to be continued....but we did make a little checklist. 20 (check), planning to graduate (check), not absolutely our of our minds (well, that's debatable). Anyways, it's dinner time!

Missionary update. Jake is still working in the mission home. He says he is loving it, learning a lot and is definitely keeping busy. He's getting to play more soccer which he is enjoying, and last week he said he met an American soldier which he thought was neat. We're currently just sticking to good old hand written letters, which takes a little coordination because I'm very much on the opposite side of the world, but it's going pretty good. I absolutely love letters. Miss him a lot, but he's doing a wonderful job in Brazil.

yes,

I'm very happily content with my life right now. I'm one of the luckiest people I know, despite my constant bouts of bad luck. I realize that's a completely contradictory statement, but my mother would understand. Luck, or lack there of, creeps its way into our daily lives but I'm glad to have had her as an example of how to tackle it gracefully and with a smile of determination. Today was a perfectly ordinary day, nothing too significant...woke up, cleaned my room, went to lunch, ran some errands, hung out, read, dinner, market andddd it was a beautiful day in Thailand today. I'm not sure where this is going, but I just realized sitting here that I don't have a single thing to complain about and that's a wonderful thing.

“Each morning when I open my eyes I say to myself: I, not events, have the power to make me happy or unhappy today. I can choose which it shall be. Yesterday is dead, tomorrow hasn’t arrived yet. I have just one day, today, and I’m going to be happy in it.” ~Groucho Marx

costumes and music

Halloween definitely isn't near as big in other countries, but the IC staff figured they try to make up feel as at home as possible so they decorated our building at school and here are some pictures from the Halloween party. It was definitely entertaining, and I got mummified and was able to have it be acceptable that I ran around all night without shoes on. HAPPY HALLOWEEN! the only thing missing was the pumpkin carving, I'll just have to double up on it next year.

Then last Saturday night we went to see Benny Benassi in Bangkok. The boys decided to dress up like Guitos and we were their official tattoo artists. After a little ticket mix up the rest of the night went well, it was a lot of fun. Quote of the night, "You don't need to worry, she's fine, I'm pretty sure all she's been sipping on is 7up all night." - thank you for you concern Chris. haha