So, these are the few Thai words I have learned so far :) I have written them in my own pronunciation so that I can remember. This is in no way how you actually spell the word because they have their own alphabet entirely! I carry around this really small notebook so that I can write down what people tell me and it helps me remember :)
Teacher: Kun Krru (roll the 2 r's)
How you would pronounce: Khrū p̄hū̂ s̄xn
Sticky rice and mango: cao niao ma muang (ข้าวเหนียวมะม่วงด้วย)
How you would pronounce:K̄ĥāwh̄enīyw mam̀wng
I think I will stick to my own description of the words :)
I like...: chan chop
Japanai?: Where are you going?
auleva: what? (this is the not so polite way of saying what, you would not say to a teacher or your parents, just your friends :)
cao nalac: he's cute (the first thing I learned, lol)
ko tor ka: excuse me (sorry, get out of my way)
chan mein heu: I'm not hungry
chan heu: I'm hungry
ca pun ka: thank you (I use this alot)
sa wa dee ka: greeting (you put your hands together and slightly bow, i do this to show respect for my teachers and parents and older people)
falang: foreigner (I hear this alot)
karuna (please)
Ma muang: Mango (has become my nickname because nobody can pronounce my real name and they watch me eat alot of this)
aloy - delishious
aloy ma - very delishious
Me - mom
Paw - dad
tang mo - watermelon
pet - spicy (i use this alot)
cao - rice
cao tom - rice soup (yummy)
Lin saw - pencil
pa(w) ca - pen
chan mai shop - I don't like
I learn more and more by the second but atleast these words I can jot these down :)
Rachel (Ma muang)
Tuesday, August 23, 2011
Thursday, August 18, 2011
Pictures! Pictures! Pictures!
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| My breakfast at school, it was really good, egg, pork and rice and lemon iced tea |
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| Me and a friend from school |
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| A few of my friends from back home... |
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| My family.... |
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| Queens Birthday, memorial to her... |
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| Rotary club members, my country counselor is on my left, and the club president on my right |
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| My host sister Kwanz and her dad in the back... |
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| Our uniform for school...and girls in my class... |
More pictures on the way, they just take sooo long to load :)
Tuesday, August 16, 2011
Respect
Ok, so when I first got here I didn't even realize what people were doing and saying when they greet each other. I must have been really out of it getting off that plane.
Anyway, even though my host mother does not speak English she is a very good teacher. She will point at something and tell me the name of it in Thai. I listen and repeat until I get it right and most of the time I forget in the following 5 minutes but she always goes back and tells me again. Every Thai person knows at least one English word, and the one that everyone knows is 'happy'. The way they say it is soo funny if I can catch it on video I will.
Back to what I was saying, my host mom first taught me the traditional Thai greeting. Its hard to explain but I found this video that pretty much says it all, I might make my own later though :)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SRtsCuVqxtQ
I have to do this for all my teachers, my parents, and all the old people. A lot of the time at school you see boys doing it to girls (like a lame way of flirting). When I walked into my first class which thank god was English, every body in the class went crazy when I shook my teachers hand. My English teacher is not Thai, he is from the middle east.
That's all for now :)
Rachel
Anyway, even though my host mother does not speak English she is a very good teacher. She will point at something and tell me the name of it in Thai. I listen and repeat until I get it right and most of the time I forget in the following 5 minutes but she always goes back and tells me again. Every Thai person knows at least one English word, and the one that everyone knows is 'happy'. The way they say it is soo funny if I can catch it on video I will.
Back to what I was saying, my host mom first taught me the traditional Thai greeting. Its hard to explain but I found this video that pretty much says it all, I might make my own later though :)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SRtsCuVqxtQ
I have to do this for all my teachers, my parents, and all the old people. A lot of the time at school you see boys doing it to girls (like a lame way of flirting). When I walked into my first class which thank god was English, every body in the class went crazy when I shook my teachers hand. My English teacher is not Thai, he is from the middle east.
That's all for now :)
Rachel
Monday, August 15, 2011
Post: My first days in Thailand
This is going to be my first real post because up till now I haven't even felt like writing. Ive tried to write but I haven't been able to get my thoughts together until now :)
Anyway, I guess I should start with the city itself. It reminds me of Mexico and Africa combined. The busy streets filled with more motorcycles than cars, the markets and the street vendors. The bulletin boards advertise calling cards, skin lightening creams and electronics all with popular singing groups or some really pretty modeling. Here you can drive a car at 18 and mann a motorcycle at 16 which of course means you can drive at 16 and motorcycle at 14. Convenient right? The way people drive here reminds me too much of Jamaica. Motorcyclists swerve through speeding traffic and when you swear someone is about to get killed they get out of the way in a split second.
True story: My host dad was driving 120mph on some little street while on our way to a wedding (which I will talk about later), and....I almost pissed my pants.
When I got off the plane in Hat Yai I was greeted by 2 Thai women in rotary uniforms, at that point I was ready to go home with anybody, all I wanted to do was sleep. I got into their car and thought they were going to take me to a place where I could do exactly that, but instead they took me to this children's jail. No, they didn't take me to imprison me for being American but the rotary group was doing a service project where they planted mango and palm trees (for palm oil). Personally, I don't think bad little children deserve mango and palm trees but whatever.
Anyway, I got there in time to hear them sing the queens anthem because apparently I had arrived on the queens birthday, yay. Anyway, guess who they wanted to help them plant their little trees! Me, and honestly I was so tired that I had a hard time giving a crap about their little trees. I think they could tell I was tired because they kept asking me if I was ok and I kept saying yes.
TO BE CONTINUED
Anyway, I guess I should start with the city itself. It reminds me of Mexico and Africa combined. The busy streets filled with more motorcycles than cars, the markets and the street vendors. The bulletin boards advertise calling cards, skin lightening creams and electronics all with popular singing groups or some really pretty modeling. Here you can drive a car at 18 and mann a motorcycle at 16 which of course means you can drive at 16 and motorcycle at 14. Convenient right? The way people drive here reminds me too much of Jamaica. Motorcyclists swerve through speeding traffic and when you swear someone is about to get killed they get out of the way in a split second.
True story: My host dad was driving 120mph on some little street while on our way to a wedding (which I will talk about later), and....I almost pissed my pants.
When I got off the plane in Hat Yai I was greeted by 2 Thai women in rotary uniforms, at that point I was ready to go home with anybody, all I wanted to do was sleep. I got into their car and thought they were going to take me to a place where I could do exactly that, but instead they took me to this children's jail. No, they didn't take me to imprison me for being American but the rotary group was doing a service project where they planted mango and palm trees (for palm oil). Personally, I don't think bad little children deserve mango and palm trees but whatever.
Anyway, I got there in time to hear them sing the queens anthem because apparently I had arrived on the queens birthday, yay. Anyway, guess who they wanted to help them plant their little trees! Me, and honestly I was so tired that I had a hard time giving a crap about their little trees. I think they could tell I was tired because they kept asking me if I was ok and I kept saying yes.
TO BE CONTINUED
Friday, August 12, 2011
Post #5: One plane ride away
So, I'm on the plane right now and I'm bored so I figured it wouldn't be too hard to do some writing. Food at the Detroit airport was super expensive, I got a banana, a fruit and nut bar and a small frapuccino and it came to about $8. Yes, $8.
Later...
As the plane was lifting into the sky I noticed how fast the clouds were moving...in the opposite direction. This temporarily made me go crazy, ask the war vet I was sitting next to.
Later...
As the plane was lifting into the sky I noticed how fast the clouds were moving...in the opposite direction. This temporarily made me go crazy, ask the war vet I was sitting next to.
Post #4: Saying Farewell
Aug 9, 2011
Well, this morning I said goodbye to my parents, grandparents and brother. I have already had my going away party and I saw grandma Anne yesterday evening. Saying goodbye to her was the hardest, I just felt like I was never going to see her again. I didn't think I was gonna cry at all while saying goodbye at the airport but I cried as soon as I hugged my dad, so much for the no crying plan.
Well, this morning I said goodbye to my parents, grandparents and brother. I have already had my going away party and I saw grandma Anne yesterday evening. Saying goodbye to her was the hardest, I just felt like I was never going to see her again. I didn't think I was gonna cry at all while saying goodbye at the airport but I cried as soon as I hugged my dad, so much for the no crying plan.
Friday, August 5, 2011
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