The Buying of Christmas Presents

As Thai people don't celebrate Christmas, Clem and myself are trying to everything to make it Christmassy for the two of us. We decide to buy each other presents. The only problem was that we spend all of our time together to Christmas shopping was an adventure.

We decided to go out together, separate and do the shopping and then meet up and go home hiding our bags from each other. It was really funny when we were in the same shop as we would see each other and then both quickly run away so neither of us saw what we had got. If we were just together and I saw something to get Clem, I would just say “Clem, take a walk” so I got get what I needed and then hide it from Clem until I went and bought it. It was funny as it wasn't the traditional way of buying presents so we had a laugh trying to hide stuff from each other.

Also, as both of our desks are in the same room, when making or wrapping things we would tell each other to not turn around and stuff so we couldn't see anything. We have also decided to give each other stockings as well so we have had to create them and then hide them from each other until Christmas Day. It was a very entertaining thing to do over the few weeks up to Christmas.

Day of Dance

This event happened at the end of the Yassaton competition where all the schools did a performance on stage. We were told that we were going to take part in the dance the night before we had to perform. When we had got back from Yassaton the first time, we were told that we had to go and learn the dance for the next day. The dance included Clem, myself, Yok Soyai, Fah Sai and Jing. We were tutored by the lady boy who taught us for the retirement party. Thankfully it was a short and easy dance so we all managed to learn it quite quickly. We had to be ready for 8am the next day as all of us and the other students in the dance were all going in one of the big trucks. Clem and myself would have loved to sit on the top but the truck we went in didn't have the right roof for it and I would doubt that they would have let us anyway. We all crammed in and let me tell you, it was a tight squeeze. Half of the students had to sit on the floor. We were all crammed in like sheep.

Once there, the students went to go get their costume and make-up done so we had some time to explore before it was our turn. Clem and I went to look at the textiles dress making as our school was in it and also went to watch the cocktail making. We had fun just being able to explore. On the way back to the room so we could get our hair and make up done though, Clem tripped over and went flying. She was really embarrassed as it was in a public place. She got up though and carried on walking. I could not help but laugh. It happened so quickly I had no time to help though one second she was walking, the next she was on the floor.

When we got back to the room we were all in, we got ourselves ready for hair make up and Thai costume. We thankfully had quite nice Thai dress to wear this time so it was all good and they all put less make up on our faces so we looked less orange as well. 

It was then time to go out to the field with the stage. On the way we passed the Director who wasn't very happy that we had only just got there. As we walked passed he was tapping his watch with the usual annoyed look on his face. It was freezing out there and our dress kept on blowing up and not being very good protection from the cold but we pulled though. The whole Si Saket dance was about 20 minutes long as it had different sections which different people. We were last and we went on stage and danced the dance we had learnt the night before. It went al-right apart from the fact that we forgot when to start but we worked around it. It went really well until the end as we had no idea what to do so we just made it up and then when we went off stage, I realised that my top had fallen down! I was so embarrassed but looking at pictures, I don't think anyone could see anything and the pink part of the dress covered most of it. I still think it was one of the most embarrassing things ever.

Afterwards we were told that we were going to dance it again when the high up people were eating but that fell through so we were just told to eat which was good as there was loads to choose from and it was all free. Clem and myself even managed to have some cocktails made for us.

On the way back, we all piles back into the truck and we were all freezing as it was a cold night and the truck had no windows so we felts all the air and wind as we drove home. Clem and myself sat together sharing an I-pod to help keep warm and as we were all tired, tried to sleep. We also let a couple of the students lean on our legs so they could sleep when sleeping on the floor so it was more comfortable for them and it kept our legs warm. Once we got back we went home and went straight to bed freezing cold wishing that in the morning we had a warm shower not that cold thing in our bathroom.

Competition Round Two

Today was the second round of the competition. It was held in Yassaton (Probably not spelt right) and involved the winners from each province around Issan. We had to be up and ready for 5am to drive up there with P-Boom, P-Max and the students. On the way there, Clem, Nampang and crossword student and myself all went in P-Boom's car while the others went in another car. On the way there people went to sleep in the back but I stayed awake to keep Boom company and help her figure out the way. Once there, we eventually found our way to where the English speaking was being held and sat down to wait for it to start. Nampang was so nervous so we kept on saying reassuring things to help calm her down. Unfortunately, the order was names picked out of a hat and Si Saket was picked out first. She went and got herself set up and then went for it. She did really well. A bit fast due to nerves but otherwise she remembered it all and pronounced all the words. The comical factor went down really well with the audience as they were all laughing at the fact that she was doing it really badly. Unfortunately, the judges didn't understand that we were purposefully going for a comical demonstration and kept on saying that she should have a mirror next time so she can see what she is ding and such. Unfortunately, this meant that we didn't win. Due to their misunderstanding, and not liking the fact that it was entertaining, we came 11^th out of 19. It's not last at least. We didn't win crossword either so all in all not a good day for us. In the afternoon we looked around and had a look in the market and I bought a bag. We also stayed a bit with the storytelling people from Si Saket before we had to leave and had a bit of a laugh with them. On the way back I sat in the front again but this time I had to sleep as I had been up since 4am. When we got back we went into the office to use the internet and such. A fun day even though we lost. I hope that storytelling went well but I wasn't sure.

From Dorset

This is just a small one but I had to write about it as it really made my day. It was another parcel from my family in Dorset who have sent me some Christmas presents and an advent calendar. The brilliant thing was that as I received the calendar half way through the month, I had to catch up with eating loads of chocolate from it to get to the right day. It was so good as the chocolate in Thai land isn't actually chocolate due to the fact that it would meant too quickly. Instead they have this fake stuff which doesn't taste as good so to be able to have good old white chocolate was a dream come true :) All of this is helping to build up the Christmas spirit and I now cannot wait for Christmas to come along as even though it wont be the same, it will still be there. :)

Some Parcels from Afar

Today was a normal day until when activity cam along as P-Pui came up and just gave me two small parcels. After further study I saw that they were from my Mum who had sent me a pretty cool selection of English food. We went home to open it after activity and inside there were jelly belly beans, white chocolate fingers, pringles, juice, fudge and a Christmas Pudding for two. Such an amazing day. We spent the afternoon eating the jelly beans as we played the game where we picked one at random with our eyes closed, ate it and then guessed the colour. It was really fun as neither of us liked the licorice so our reactions were hilarious when we picked them. The other funny part was that Clem kept on getting two flavours of jelly beans and thinking that it was a different flavour. This happened around five times but when she actually got the flavour she was guessing with, she guessed something different! We were crying with laughter. We are saving the Christmas pudding for Christmas day and have been slowly munching our way through the other goddies. To my eyes, a pretty awesome day.

Working on a Farm

It was Saturday morning and we were going to help P-Pui teach an extra class but due to the visitors, we all had to help out at the college. We all went into TVET with Yok Soyai and helped set up and then we had to do the job that the hotel and tourism students usually do which was serve the food and drink and such. As a pair, I thought that Clem and myself did quite well serving the food and leaflets. Afterwards we sat at the back and had some of the food that was left over and had a laugh as Clem wanted to have a roll with the green custard in but could never find one. She ended up opening loads of packets looking for it and then trying to give them to myself and Yok Soyai when it was something else. She managed to eventually find some. After it was all finished and we had cleared up, we all went to Yok Soyai's house for lunch and we were going to get a massage as well but the place was closed. Instead we decided to go to P-Pui's farm with a picnic. On the way there we stopped off at Seven Eleven to pic up some food and some ice cream and then sat in the back of the pick-up truck and ate our ice creams. Bad idea. Due to the fact that the car was driving along and the wind created and stuff, as soon as we had got our ice creams out of the packets, the wind was basically disintegrating them faster than we could eat them! Our ice crams went everywhere. All over the pick-up truck and even all over ourselves. When we got out, I had ice cream in my hair.

After that little adventure, we arrived at P-Pui's farm and went to help her parents water and sort out the bamboo trees. I had to water them and only water each bamboo tree for 2 minutes while Clem rakes some leaves to certain places, I'm not sure. Let me tell you, it was so HOT out there. I was just standing still and the heat was near to unbearable. I don't know how Thai farmers do it when they are covered head to toe in clothes. After a while we finished and went to sit down in the shade and ate our feast. 

Once P-Pui's parents were finished, we all went back home to get ready to go back to P-Pui's home as we were going to make dinner. We all went to her house after an hour of getting ready and made Tom Yang Goong and fried Chicken for tea. The best part was that the shrimp (goong) was still alive in a metal bowl so if you hot the bowl every so often, the shrimp all jumped really high. It was so entertaining. They all kept on nearly jumping out if the pan when they were being cooked as well which was funny but a bit unnerving when it happens right by your face. We then all ate dinner which tasted good despite the fact that we made it and afterwards we all went up to P-Pui's room and she read our tarrot cards. Mine wasn't to good. I have to wait along time for love and I could get fired soon which is not a good thing. Once that was over we all went back home as we were all quite tired from a hard days work.

Dinner with the director

This happened on the evening after going to the English camp at the Primary School. We went to the main office to use the Internet and started to talk to P-Pui. Everything was going fine as the three of us were going to go out for dinner and such but then the Director came out. As soon as he saw us he started to talk to us and then he forced us to go to dinner with him. As we were to girls though, P-Pui had to come along as well. We all got into his car and went to a restaurant where the visitors were. The only problem was that the Director drove the wrong way so P-Pui had to subtly direct him the right way as she couldn't tell him that he had gone the wrong way. It was weird as we weren't allowed to talk in the car unless the Director spoke to you first so Clem was the only one speaking along with him as she was in the front whilst P-Pui and myself exchanged notes which was our conversation.

When we arrived, we thought that we would be able to sit at one end of the table to we could just be present and chat together. Unfortunately, we had to sit right next to the Director. This meant that we weren't allowed to talk that much again which was actually quite hard. The food was good though so on the upside, we had a good free meal. On the downside, we had to serve the Director food. There was this dish where you would have a leaf and you would then put different foods into it. We had to create them for the Director, and because I was sitting right next to him, I had to put some food on his plate from time to time. It was quite funny as I would have the food ready and would have to wait for P-Pui to tell me when the best time to give it to him was. I ended up sitting there for a couple of minutes with this food waiting for the right moment to give it to him.

On the way back I had to sit in the front which was all-right as he wasn't as talkative, but when he did talk, he started to quiz me on the Thai language which was really not the best thing in the world to do as being under pressure made me fell like I was going to forget things. When we got back we went back to our house with P-Pui and started to sort out a Christmas Party we wanted to have so it felt more Christmassy. This concludes the blog. Stay tuned for the next one.