I call this post the bad sequel because you know how sometimes when they made sequels to movies they just turn our terribly and you wonder why they felt the need to continue the story when the story should have just ended? Well, that is how I feel about art class, only there was no choice in the making of the sequel. It just had to happen. Art Class happened on Friday. We had two sessions...and it was TERRIBLE! Seriously! Some people would probably love to have 5-6 hours of art class in one day...but not me! Some art I really enjoy and find it super fun....but when I have to freehand draw things and then paint them, I HATE IT! We started out slowly by drawing an animal. I drew an elephant and it turned out pretty well if I must say so myself. But then I had to paint it and blend the watercolors AND do shading on this thing. Everyone kept telling me to just picture it with a light shining on it...well I just can't do that. It's impossible for my brain to see it like that. So my elephant looked pretty special. In the middle of my elephant painting, we had to break for lunch. This was a welcomed break, especially because it was birthday lunch. It was two people's birthdays so we had a special lunch. This means that Aj. Mike pays and has it specially catered and that we had the best thing of all... CAKE! This cake was funfeti with pink icing because the girl whose birthday it was always has the kind of cake and her best friend...who happens to be on the trip...told Aj Mike that and he got her a special cake. So it was good cake.
But then the torture began again...back to art class. I finally finished my elephant (i'm getting a headache just thinking about this whole ordeal) and then we had to paint a whole other picture. We had to trace a painting (a famous one) and then paint it exactly like the original one. This meant mixing colors and all that fun stuff. It was just so time consuming. About half way through this I had to find my i-pod and turn up the volume so I could just try to find my happy place. I was just getting so mad at this painting. And not because it was hard, just because it was annoying and I was so over painting. It was not fun or relaxing to me. I finally finished and turned it in. When I turned it in I felt like I could have cried...not because I was sad, or happy because it was done, just because this painting made me so frustrated.
I figured it was all up hill from here...no more art class for the rest of the day, but then they gave us our final art project....and the hill suddenly hit a dive and it was down hill again. Our final for the art class is so take one of the famous painting they gave us and draw one of the people in it. Freehand draw a person. Then paint them exactly the way they are in the picture. And there is no chance for tracing this picture because we have to enlarge it. It's not gonna be good...so if anyone is in Thailand and can draw or paint, I would pay you do to this art final....any takers?? I'm dreading this painting and putting it off like it's some type of deadly plague!
Monday, February 22, 2010
Wednesday, February 17, 2010
Art Class
Mom, I know you are gonna love this! Today, we did watercolors in art class. They gave us all our own set of really nice watercolors, a watercolor paper book and some paint brushes. First we had to draw a flower and then we had to paint it. Mine turned out terrible! And I'm talking terrible! I tried to blend two colors together in the pedal like they showed us and it just looked so ugly. The one art student...who ends up helping me a lot in this class, tried to teach me how to do. But first he had to teach me how to properly hold the paint brush. Apparently I don't hold it correctly. Then he tried tirelessly to teach me how to blend these colors and use the watercolor paints...and I just couldn't do it. On one of my tries it didn't work and he called over the head art guy and they both had a good laugh. Then the art professor came over and got a good chuckle and suddenly most of the art students were gathered around my painting all laughing. Luckily I don't take art that seriously and was not offended in the least...in fact, I was laughing just as hard as they were. The kicker is that since I didn't finish in class, and my painting just looked so ugly, I have to do one for homework. ALL BY MYSELF! And it's gonna be graded! haha...but luckily I'm only taking the class pass/fail. So all I have to do it pass!
In the bag of art supplies they gave us today was also colored pencils made from sticks...they look cool and some charcoal. So Friday's art class should be fun too! This is right up your alley Mom. If only you were here you could do my art project for me and it would look good. Haha.
In the bag of art supplies they gave us today was also colored pencils made from sticks...they look cool and some charcoal. So Friday's art class should be fun too! This is right up your alley Mom. If only you were here you could do my art project for me and it would look good. Haha.
Dropshots Pics!
Check Dropshots.com/mkinthailand for pics from the field trips, the cave, the temples and the wat stay! :)
Wat Stay Weekend
This past weekend we went to a forest temple to stay over night. It was actually really cool. At first I wasn't totally sure what to think about the whole idea and was kinda bummed about getting up early on my weekend, but it turned out to be super awesome. The temple was about 2ish hours away in Lampung. And when we got there it felt just like a weekend retreat at camp. All the girls stayed in this huge room and slept on the floor. The bathrooms were outside and a few were actual toilets and the rest were squatties. No big deal, I could handle it!
On our way to the temple we stopped at a few other temples to look around. One of which had the "Buddha Footprint" at. This thing was huge. Not what I was expecting at all. Some people believe that it represents that the Buddha was actually there and he carved it in the ground to show that Buddhism is there. But other believe that he wasn't really there and it's just kinda a symbol. I was talking to a monk who went with us..actually he was a monk for like 14 years or something like that and he derobed a few years ago...meaning he was done being a monk. And he told me that he didn't believe that Buddha was actually there.
We went to a market that was right across from the temple and I found the awesome pants that are pictured below. They just made me laugh so hard. Gotta love em!
Then we had lunch in this really good restaurant and continued on our journey.
We finally arrived at the temple and had some relaxing time before dinner. Dinner was amazing! It was all sorts of good stuff. I can't remember exactly what it was...but it was good.
After dinner we had our first meditation session. One of the reasons that we went to stay at the Wat for the weekend was to understand Thai culture better. Plus it was an experience that we would never have if we just visited here for a week. We got to learn so much about the monks and what they do. So part of that was meditation. We went into the temple meditation room area and all sat on mats on the floor. Eventually the Abbott of the temple arrived...he's the head monk. And then the other monks trickled in....there are 5 monks at this temple. Most Wats have more. But some have only a few. Anyway, they did their evening chant....which lasted nearly an hour! It was all "next verse, same as the first, a little bit the same and a whole lot worse!". It just went on forever. They gave us copies of what they were saying in English, but I was just so lost that I gave up trying to look at the sheet. It was even longer than usual because it was "buddhist day"....which happens once a week. I guess it's like Sunday's to Christians...only it rotates each week. So the chanting was super long! After the chanting they taught us about mediation. The one monk whipped out his reading glasses and started to show us a power point presentation. Please note that at about this time we had been sitting pretzel style on the floor for almost 2 hours now.... and you can't point your feet at the Buddha image and it's just so hard. So first we tried meditation in the sitting position. Basically the goal was just to clear our minds. It turned out to be very relaxing. I was reading in a book that we got that monks practice this idea of clearing their heads over and over and over again. Then after they have that mastered they move onto to trying to receive enlightenment...a/k/a trying to understand life and suffering. After sitting meditation we trying walking meditation. This was actually kinda cool. The derobed monk (his name is Gabe) that came with us was our translator so he walked us through it...no pun intended. haha. You just consentrate on walking. The movement of your foot. And it's a really quite way of walking. You walk really slowly and instead of putting your foot down heal first you put your whole foot down at the same time. Kinda interesting. We did this for like 20 min. They set a little kitchen timer. It was kinda relaxing to just head Gabe's voice over and over again saying "walking.......walking.....standing.......standing....walking......".
Then we all were so exhausted from the day and went to bed. The monks told us that we could join them for early morning chanting at 2:30am! We said nooooo thank you! haha
We got up super early the next morning...5am! And went to the market with the monks to collect alms. Each day the monks get up early to go to the market and people there give them alms...food....for their meals. Monks don't cook or buy things. The people of the community just give it to them. It's a way of supporting the monks and getting good merit. Also the left over food goes to the poor people of the community. So there is very few hungry people in Thailand. If you are ever in need of a meal, just go to a temple. There is an over abundance of food. It's kind neat to see the way the community and the temple rely on each other. Monks also cannot prepare food so they rely on local people to come help them do that. Then the local people eat too.
So anyway, we walked about 1 1/2 miles to the village. It was still dark out so we could see the stars. We left with 4 of the 5 monks. I think the other one was sleeping in or his alarm didn't go off or something. Because about 1/2 way through the walk he appeared from behind. Really funny.
At the market we watched the locals give alms to the monks and then we all bought food for them too. Aj Mike told us that we should buy what we want to eat because it will end up being left overs and we will eat it for breakfast. So we all bought a variety of good food...from bananas and other fruits, to sticky rice and donuts! Then the monks came back from the next market and we all gave them the food. It was a very unique cultural experience. Similar to what happened on my host brother's birthday.
We all went back to the temple, but we took the rot-dangs and the monks walked. Once the monks got back we went to observe another chanting session. Not nearly as long as the previous nights one...but still rather lengthy. Then it was eating time! This buffet that was set up with all the food was HUGE! I'm talking HUGE HUGE HUGE!! There was so much food. And it was all so good. It was like everything at the market was there. So I stuffed my plate full and then stuffed my belly. I was full nearly all day from that meal. Which is good because the monks only eat 1 meal a day. Some eat two....but both must be before noon.
After breakfast we had meditation session number two. Which was good because there was no chanting at all! So it was a lot more bearable. We just did what they had taught us the night before. Then we were told we could use the herbal sauna....
This was unique. I did it only because I figured I wouldn't ever have the chance to go in an herbal sauna at a temple again. So a bunch of us girls put on our bathing suits and headed over to it. Wow! It was kinda small so only 6 fit in sitting and 1 could stand. I choose to stand next to the door because I felt better knowing I could get out if I wanted to. It was like sitting in a cup of tea. It was all foggy in there so you couldn't really see anything and it was all herbly smelling. It was also hot, but that didn't bother me as much as the smell and the idea that I couldn't see. It made me feel like I couldn't breath. Which I could, just the whole idea freaked me out. Hence my reason for standing by the door. I lasted about 1 minute the first time. Then I stood outside the door for a little while. And then finally made a second attempt. This lasted another minute or two. Then I tried again a final time and we girls tried to be quite for 30 seconds. It was cool but then I was done. Couldn't take it anymore and I was outta there! Showered off and it felt so good. It was so hot outside but coming out of the sauna it felt so wonderful!
After that we had some lunch...which no one was hungry for because we had all filled up on breakfast and then we headed home.
It was a pretty fun weekend!
After I got home on Sunday afternoon I sat down and watched The Proposal....my valentines day treat to myself. I figured I would watch a happy love story in honor of valentines day. It was quite fun. My youngest brother watched some parts of it...like the part where the eagle steals the dog and he laughed so hard. It was kinda funny. Then later that night my host family was all watching a movie in the TV room and my oldest host brother invited me to watch too. It was so nice and it is something that I've been wanting them to do for a while now. The family always goes in there and shuts the door and watches movies and I've always wanted to be invited to watch with them too...even if it was in Thai. And this time they invited me. It just felt so good. Of course the movies was X-Men....but hey, they invited me at least! And it was in English!
It was a good weekend!
On our way to the temple we stopped at a few other temples to look around. One of which had the "Buddha Footprint" at. This thing was huge. Not what I was expecting at all. Some people believe that it represents that the Buddha was actually there and he carved it in the ground to show that Buddhism is there. But other believe that he wasn't really there and it's just kinda a symbol. I was talking to a monk who went with us..actually he was a monk for like 14 years or something like that and he derobed a few years ago...meaning he was done being a monk. And he told me that he didn't believe that Buddha was actually there.
We went to a market that was right across from the temple and I found the awesome pants that are pictured below. They just made me laugh so hard. Gotta love em!
Then we had lunch in this really good restaurant and continued on our journey.
We finally arrived at the temple and had some relaxing time before dinner. Dinner was amazing! It was all sorts of good stuff. I can't remember exactly what it was...but it was good.
After dinner we had our first meditation session. One of the reasons that we went to stay at the Wat for the weekend was to understand Thai culture better. Plus it was an experience that we would never have if we just visited here for a week. We got to learn so much about the monks and what they do. So part of that was meditation. We went into the temple meditation room area and all sat on mats on the floor. Eventually the Abbott of the temple arrived...he's the head monk. And then the other monks trickled in....there are 5 monks at this temple. Most Wats have more. But some have only a few. Anyway, they did their evening chant....which lasted nearly an hour! It was all "next verse, same as the first, a little bit the same and a whole lot worse!". It just went on forever. They gave us copies of what they were saying in English, but I was just so lost that I gave up trying to look at the sheet. It was even longer than usual because it was "buddhist day"....which happens once a week. I guess it's like Sunday's to Christians...only it rotates each week. So the chanting was super long! After the chanting they taught us about mediation. The one monk whipped out his reading glasses and started to show us a power point presentation. Please note that at about this time we had been sitting pretzel style on the floor for almost 2 hours now.... and you can't point your feet at the Buddha image and it's just so hard. So first we tried meditation in the sitting position. Basically the goal was just to clear our minds. It turned out to be very relaxing. I was reading in a book that we got that monks practice this idea of clearing their heads over and over and over again. Then after they have that mastered they move onto to trying to receive enlightenment...a/k/a trying to understand life and suffering. After sitting meditation we trying walking meditation. This was actually kinda cool. The derobed monk (his name is Gabe) that came with us was our translator so he walked us through it...no pun intended. haha. You just consentrate on walking. The movement of your foot. And it's a really quite way of walking. You walk really slowly and instead of putting your foot down heal first you put your whole foot down at the same time. Kinda interesting. We did this for like 20 min. They set a little kitchen timer. It was kinda relaxing to just head Gabe's voice over and over again saying "walking.......walking.....standing.......standing....walking......".
Then we all were so exhausted from the day and went to bed. The monks told us that we could join them for early morning chanting at 2:30am! We said nooooo thank you! haha
We got up super early the next morning...5am! And went to the market with the monks to collect alms. Each day the monks get up early to go to the market and people there give them alms...food....for their meals. Monks don't cook or buy things. The people of the community just give it to them. It's a way of supporting the monks and getting good merit. Also the left over food goes to the poor people of the community. So there is very few hungry people in Thailand. If you are ever in need of a meal, just go to a temple. There is an over abundance of food. It's kind neat to see the way the community and the temple rely on each other. Monks also cannot prepare food so they rely on local people to come help them do that. Then the local people eat too.
So anyway, we walked about 1 1/2 miles to the village. It was still dark out so we could see the stars. We left with 4 of the 5 monks. I think the other one was sleeping in or his alarm didn't go off or something. Because about 1/2 way through the walk he appeared from behind. Really funny.
At the market we watched the locals give alms to the monks and then we all bought food for them too. Aj Mike told us that we should buy what we want to eat because it will end up being left overs and we will eat it for breakfast. So we all bought a variety of good food...from bananas and other fruits, to sticky rice and donuts! Then the monks came back from the next market and we all gave them the food. It was a very unique cultural experience. Similar to what happened on my host brother's birthday.
We all went back to the temple, but we took the rot-dangs and the monks walked. Once the monks got back we went to observe another chanting session. Not nearly as long as the previous nights one...but still rather lengthy. Then it was eating time! This buffet that was set up with all the food was HUGE! I'm talking HUGE HUGE HUGE!! There was so much food. And it was all so good. It was like everything at the market was there. So I stuffed my plate full and then stuffed my belly. I was full nearly all day from that meal. Which is good because the monks only eat 1 meal a day. Some eat two....but both must be before noon.
After breakfast we had meditation session number two. Which was good because there was no chanting at all! So it was a lot more bearable. We just did what they had taught us the night before. Then we were told we could use the herbal sauna....
This was unique. I did it only because I figured I wouldn't ever have the chance to go in an herbal sauna at a temple again. So a bunch of us girls put on our bathing suits and headed over to it. Wow! It was kinda small so only 6 fit in sitting and 1 could stand. I choose to stand next to the door because I felt better knowing I could get out if I wanted to. It was like sitting in a cup of tea. It was all foggy in there so you couldn't really see anything and it was all herbly smelling. It was also hot, but that didn't bother me as much as the smell and the idea that I couldn't see. It made me feel like I couldn't breath. Which I could, just the whole idea freaked me out. Hence my reason for standing by the door. I lasted about 1 minute the first time. Then I stood outside the door for a little while. And then finally made a second attempt. This lasted another minute or two. Then I tried again a final time and we girls tried to be quite for 30 seconds. It was cool but then I was done. Couldn't take it anymore and I was outta there! Showered off and it felt so good. It was so hot outside but coming out of the sauna it felt so wonderful!
After that we had some lunch...which no one was hungry for because we had all filled up on breakfast and then we headed home.
It was a pretty fun weekend!
After I got home on Sunday afternoon I sat down and watched The Proposal....my valentines day treat to myself. I figured I would watch a happy love story in honor of valentines day. It was quite fun. My youngest brother watched some parts of it...like the part where the eagle steals the dog and he laughed so hard. It was kinda funny. Then later that night my host family was all watching a movie in the TV room and my oldest host brother invited me to watch too. It was so nice and it is something that I've been wanting them to do for a while now. The family always goes in there and shuts the door and watches movies and I've always wanted to be invited to watch with them too...even if it was in Thai. And this time they invited me. It just felt so good. Of course the movies was X-Men....but hey, they invited me at least! And it was in English!
It was a good weekend!
Tuesday, February 16, 2010
Just too good of deal....
You can't even say that these aren't the greatest pants you've ever seen! Well...they are mine now!
They were just too good of deal to pass up! Gotta love 'em! When else could I find a pair of these awesome pants and be able to wear them and actually fit in with society. People actually wear pants like this around here. I think they are cool and crazy and just so totally bizzar! But that's why I like them!
And yes, I will wear these in the States when I get back.
I wore them for our first meditation session during the Wat Stay weekend! So great! :)
Wat Stay
check back tomorrow for stories about the Wat Stay this past weekend. It was a lot of fun and definitely has a lot of good laughs...but you'll have to wait til tomorrow. too tired tonight.
Thailand Week 5 (89 photos), by Mary Kate Stone
I'd like to share my Snapfish photos with you. Once you have checked out my photos you can order prints and upload your own photos to share.
Click here to view photos
Here are the pics that Pii Stacy took this past week! They are very good...pics from the Wat Stay and the art field trips...good stuff. And there are some of me in there too!! :)
And yes....I did buy those pants....
nung chaay's (younger brother in Thai) birthday celebration
Friday was my oldest host brother’s birthday. I am not exactly sure how to pronounce his name…Yaat…maybe. But his name and my youngest host brother’s name sound almost exactly the same to me. So I was not even totally sure whose birthday it was going to be. I decided it would probably be a nice idea to get a card for him. After searching several stores for a card and coming out empty handed I decided to make a card. I colored a Power Ranger (we were coloring Power Rangers in my English class at the Agape school that week, so I colored one with some of the kids)….and cut it out. And pasted it inside a folded piece of paper. I asked one of the Thai professors to write out Happy Birthday in Thai and I wrote it on the front of the card. The inside I wrote Happy Birthday in English. I even found some red paper and cut strips and pasted them on the outside to make it look cool. I must say it was one awesome card! I included some small Milky Way candies inside too. Hope he liked it!!So that was the card…but by far not the most exciting part of the day. The best part came after all the long art field trips. It was Field Trip Friday….we hit a few more temples, and saw a few private art collections. The real kicker is that in Art Lecture earlier that day we looked at slide after slide of pictures of lacquer ware…pots that are painted with this black or red lacquer…and then we went and saw the actual pieces….the same ones we looked at slides of. And they all look the same. No joke! So after our lovely art field trips, my host family picked me up at school and Khun Mee said we were going out to dinner. I knew it was birthday dinner and I was hoping that Yaat was going to pick a good place. He picked PIZZA HUT!! Yes, the American pizza chain! How amazing is that!?! Apparently they go there once a year….for his birthday. And I just happen to be here at that time! J
I must say I was one very very happy girl! And I expressed that joy to them a few times. Once we got to Pizza Hut the real hilarity began. We sat down and it looked almost exactly like an American Pizza Hut. I had a knife and fork in front of me, as opposed to a fork and spoon. I didn’t even notice it until half way through the meal when I saw my youngest brother using his knife as the spoon. In Thailand they use the fork to put food on the spoon and then eat off the spoon. I laughed to myself when I saw him trying to put food on the knife with his fork and then bending over real close to the table to eat it off the knife. Quite a funny sight.
We looked at the menu and my host mom asked me what I wanted to eat. And I thought, well, we’ll probably order a pizza pie or two and some bread sticks. I was pretty wrong. Because she pointed to some special on the menu and it was shrimp and crab and some octopus. She knew I wouldn’t eat it so she told me I could order whatever I wanted. I proceeded to get a personal cheese pizza. So amazing!! J
The first batch of food arrived. I was an appetizer…I think. Part of that combo deal my Khun Mee ordered. It was 3 mozzarella sticks…and they were tiny. And fried octopus and fried shrimp. Then the bread sticks arrived. They were good. Not served with marinara sauce though…they were served with slightly spicy thousand island dressing. It was good though. My pizza came and I was so happy. I loaded it up with the parmesan cheese too. It tasted very similar to Pizza Hut in America. I was surprised. It even had CHEESE on!! Amazing!! J
Another part of the combo deal arrived and it was crab salad on a piece of sourdough bread….with a black olive on top. I asked my Khun Mee what it was and she didn’t know. So she asked the waiter…he didn’t know. So he asked the cook. The know waiter returned and said something in Thai to my host mom and then I asked her what he said. He said it was called a black olive….haha. I wanted to know what the whole thing was….I knew what the black olive was. In fact, I could have informed the waiter and my host family that it was an olive. I just laughed.
Then after I though the food was done arriving a pizza came. And this was no ordinary pizza. It was a pizza that had 2 long things jutting off of each piece of it. Each long piece was like stuffed crust pizza…just going a strange direction. It was stuffed with shrimp and crab. Two foods that I just love….NOT! And the pizza had a mix of seafood too. But my Khun Mee said I should try. And I was just not going to give up an opportunity to eat pizza. So I scraped off all the seafood and ate the pizza. My youngest host brother ate the stuff I scraped off. I can always count on him to eat food off my plate. If I scrape fat off of something, he reaches his fork over and helps himself. It’s pretty funny.
The Pizza Hut experience was amazing! We went home and waited for my Khun Pa to get home from work and then had cake. The cake was pretty good, but not homemade and nothing like my Mom or Dad’s cakes! J
It was a really good day!!
Oh yeah…so in the morning, since it was his birthday, it is good kharma to give alms to monks. So we arrived at the boys school for breakfast and I was told to stay in the car with my host dad and youngest brother. We went to park the car and we just sat there for a little while. I had no idea what was going on. Then all the sudden my host mom and Yaat came walking over with bags full of food. It was for the monks. So got out of the car and then some monks came along. They gave some of the food to the monks and then they kneeled down to receive a blessing. About half way through the blessing the young monk (he was probably about 13 or 14) busted out laughing. And I think he was laughing at me. I was awkwardly standing behind the family. I had no idea what to do. So I just stood there. It was really funny because I’m pretty sure a monk should not laugh in the middle of his chanting a blessing. Then they repeated it all again with the next few monks that came over. This time, to avoid being laughed at, I kneeled down behind the family. Then the third time, the family gave me food to give to the monks. So the monks came over and I placed food in their alms bowl. The whole time leading up to this moment all I could think about was do not touch the monk…and then what if I fall into him or something. But I didn’t. And this time the family gave me instructions about what to do. So it worked out well. And it was quite a different cultural experience.
Friday, February 12, 2010
MK's Cultural Insights
Thai culture is so unbelievably different than American culture. There are so many differences. All these differences can be broken down into one huge underlying reason. Thailand is a high context culture and the US is a low context culture. Most of the differences are a result of this. For those of you who have no idea what I'm talking about....allow me to explain.
High context cultures derive meanings of things from the context in which the communication is taking place. Low context cultures derive meaning from the message it self. Those are basic definitions but the real interesting parts of this are more practical.
The classes I am taking here require very little work...actually. Which is quite nice. But the one piece of homework I've had recently required me to read a chapter in a book about intercultural communication. It was for my internship seminar. I found it so interesting. It broke down the low-context vs high-context culture on an easy to understand comparison chart.
The first thing it discussed was the issue of time. Time is a huge deal in the US. As you all know, Americans are always in a hurry or on a schedule and trying to fit as much into each day as possible. It is completely the opposite here. Time doesn't matter much to the Thai people. Plans change last minute and it's all no big deal. One of the reasons Thai people are so relaxed about time is that they figure if they can't fit it into this life, they can do it in the next life. Buddhists believe in re-birth. For Christians, we only live this 1 life. We have one chance to get it right. Buddhists believe they have many chances.
Another comparison this chart made was in the way our two cultures reason things out. Asian cultures feel that knowledge is gained through intuition, spiral logic and contemplation. They place a high importance on feelings. While cultures like the US or some European nations place a high importance on words and feel that knowledge is gained through analytical reasons. I just found this to be interesting. And it makes sense when I think about the Buddhist culture. Buddhism places a huge importance on meditation and contemplation. They believe that in order to move up in the next life and get closer to "nirvana" which is their heaven, they must meditate and contemplate life. "Enlightened" people, such as the Buddha spent/spend a lot of time thinking and figuring out suffering. In contrast to American culture, we do not spend a lot of time thinking. We are human "doings" as opposed to Thai people who try to be human "beings". It's a very different way of thinking and living.
Verbal communication is also a major difference in Thailand. Asian cultures....high context cultures... stress being polite and keeping harmony while communicating. Often times they are indirect and will not express exactly how they are feeling. This means that when talking with them you must learn to read their non-verbal cues. Also....one thing we learned when we first moved into our Thai families is the idea of lying to preserve the relationship. This means that if we asked them what they thought of a super ugly dress, they will say it's lovely because they wouldn't want to offend us. Or if we asked them about something, they would give us the answer that they think we would want to hear, even if that's not really the truth. They feel it is better to preserve the relationship and not offend anyone so they will take measures to prevent problems. They are also not confrontational. As an American, I like directness. I do not like beating around the bush. I feel like we should just get to the point. That is so not the case here. Beating around the bush is a commonality. Another major difference in my book.
Yet another difference in these two cultures is social roles. Thai people, and other high context cultures place a emphasis on the group, not the individual. In the States we spend a lot of time encouraging people to be an individual. Not the case here. Students in my English classes color pictures similarly with similar colors. In the US, students would be encouraged against this. But here it is important to be a part of the group.
Along the lines of social structure is how people respond to their place in society. If you are a university student, you dress like one....all the time. If you are a professor, you dress like one. You are expected to dress your position. It would be wrong and unacceptable to not dress for place in society. For this reason, students, regardless of whether they have class or not, will dress in their uniform. There is a level of respect for the position you hold in society and if you dress for your position, you will be respected.
Well, that's all for MK's cultural insights for now! Hope you understand Thai culture a little better and can understand how radically different it is from the US.
High context cultures derive meanings of things from the context in which the communication is taking place. Low context cultures derive meaning from the message it self. Those are basic definitions but the real interesting parts of this are more practical.
The classes I am taking here require very little work...actually. Which is quite nice. But the one piece of homework I've had recently required me to read a chapter in a book about intercultural communication. It was for my internship seminar. I found it so interesting. It broke down the low-context vs high-context culture on an easy to understand comparison chart.
The first thing it discussed was the issue of time. Time is a huge deal in the US. As you all know, Americans are always in a hurry or on a schedule and trying to fit as much into each day as possible. It is completely the opposite here. Time doesn't matter much to the Thai people. Plans change last minute and it's all no big deal. One of the reasons Thai people are so relaxed about time is that they figure if they can't fit it into this life, they can do it in the next life. Buddhists believe in re-birth. For Christians, we only live this 1 life. We have one chance to get it right. Buddhists believe they have many chances.
Another comparison this chart made was in the way our two cultures reason things out. Asian cultures feel that knowledge is gained through intuition, spiral logic and contemplation. They place a high importance on feelings. While cultures like the US or some European nations place a high importance on words and feel that knowledge is gained through analytical reasons. I just found this to be interesting. And it makes sense when I think about the Buddhist culture. Buddhism places a huge importance on meditation and contemplation. They believe that in order to move up in the next life and get closer to "nirvana" which is their heaven, they must meditate and contemplate life. "Enlightened" people, such as the Buddha spent/spend a lot of time thinking and figuring out suffering. In contrast to American culture, we do not spend a lot of time thinking. We are human "doings" as opposed to Thai people who try to be human "beings". It's a very different way of thinking and living.
Verbal communication is also a major difference in Thailand. Asian cultures....high context cultures... stress being polite and keeping harmony while communicating. Often times they are indirect and will not express exactly how they are feeling. This means that when talking with them you must learn to read their non-verbal cues. Also....one thing we learned when we first moved into our Thai families is the idea of lying to preserve the relationship. This means that if we asked them what they thought of a super ugly dress, they will say it's lovely because they wouldn't want to offend us. Or if we asked them about something, they would give us the answer that they think we would want to hear, even if that's not really the truth. They feel it is better to preserve the relationship and not offend anyone so they will take measures to prevent problems. They are also not confrontational. As an American, I like directness. I do not like beating around the bush. I feel like we should just get to the point. That is so not the case here. Beating around the bush is a commonality. Another major difference in my book.
Yet another difference in these two cultures is social roles. Thai people, and other high context cultures place a emphasis on the group, not the individual. In the States we spend a lot of time encouraging people to be an individual. Not the case here. Students in my English classes color pictures similarly with similar colors. In the US, students would be encouraged against this. But here it is important to be a part of the group.
Along the lines of social structure is how people respond to their place in society. If you are a university student, you dress like one....all the time. If you are a professor, you dress like one. You are expected to dress your position. It would be wrong and unacceptable to not dress for place in society. For this reason, students, regardless of whether they have class or not, will dress in their uniform. There is a level of respect for the position you hold in society and if you dress for your position, you will be respected.
Well, that's all for MK's cultural insights for now! Hope you understand Thai culture a little better and can understand how radically different it is from the US.
Wednesday, February 10, 2010
a few random things!
I've decided that I love Tuesdays! They are just great days! Tuesdays are the days that my host brothers study late at school and my Khun Mee doesn't pick me up at the market until 6pm. So that means I have nearly 1 1/2 hours to do whatever I like. The first few weeks I didn't really know what to do with myself, but then last week I decided to go and sit in the little bakery and get a coffee and listen to a sermon on my i-pod. This coffee shop is a bit over priced...for Thai, it's only like 3 US dollars, but for Thai food it's not cheap. But it's so worth it for a once a week escape!! I had a cookies and cream frost last week and again this past Tuesday. I now have a frequent shopper card with two punches on. I'm on my way to a free drink....I think. The card is in Thai so I can't read it. haha. I just sit there in the a/c and relax and have a little time to myself.
The sermon I listened to last week...was entitled "The Making of a Leader". It was the Jacksonville sermon from 1/18/10....incase you were wondering. And the pastor was talking about these windows of influence that we have in our lives. We have influence on people and sometimes that influence is only for a short period of time. The way I see it, right now I have a window of time in which I can impact people in Thailand...my host family, the kids at my Internship, the teachers at my internship, my friends....the list goes on. This is just a small window in the big picture of my life. But it is an important one. Right now I'm surrounded by a dominate Buddhist culture. I am a Christian in a country that lives a very different religion. And I have this window of time that I am able to live my life in a way that will influence the people around me. This window will shut in a few weeks for my host family and at my internship. These windows of influence will happen all throughout my life. But the question is how will I feel about the impact that I had when this window shuts. I may never know the full extent of the impact that I have on these various people in my life right now, but I hope that at the end of my time here I can feel good about the impact I've had. For me that means, did I live my life in a way that stands out differently than the way the rest of the country lives their lives. Where my internship is concerned my desire is not for these children to learn to speak English fluently in my short time with them. That just can't happen. But my desire is to just provide these children with some love, encouragement and a classroom experience that is fun and enjoyable. The children may not remember my name after I leave, but I hope they can remember the fun they had learning English with us and the love we showed them.
Ok, that's all for my little rant about my window of influence. I just found it encouraging that I have this small window of time to influence the people around me and my prayer is that I can use it to be all that God wants it to be!
I'm sure you are all still wondering about my host family situation. Things have definitely gotten much better from the time I first moved in. It was definitely a challenge at first to adjust to living with these people. There are good days, and then there are days that aren't so good. I was really encouraged by my Khun Mee this past weekend. Saturday night, after all the festivities of the day, she called me to make sure I had gotten to Lauren's and had dinner and that I was all settled in for the night. I thought it was sweet that she called to check on me and find out about the weekend. She also asked to see pictures of the beauty contest when I got home on Sunday afternoon. So that was also very sweet. We have been talking much more at dinner than before. She sits and talks to me for a little while after we are finished eating. It's in English, so my Thai is sorta at a stand still, but I think I'm getting to know her better through this. She even showed me her wedding pictures the other night. In contrast to these great moments, there are times when I feel somewhat disconnected from the family, but I'm starting to see that that is more of the culture coming through than them not liking me. So thank you all for your prayers. God is answering them and when these good things happen I know it's because people are praying for me!
Check back again for MK's insights into Thai culture. I've been reading some cultural stuff for my Internship seminar and I've discovered a bunch of things...pretty interesting. But I've given you enough to read for one sitting! And this weekend is our "Wat Stay". We are going to a forest temple to learn about Wat's and Monks and Meditation. We are staying over Saturday night and on Sunday morning, really early, we get to walk with the monks to collect alms. Should be very interesting. So check back next week for that story!
The sermon I listened to last week...was entitled "The Making of a Leader". It was the Jacksonville sermon from 1/18/10....incase you were wondering. And the pastor was talking about these windows of influence that we have in our lives. We have influence on people and sometimes that influence is only for a short period of time. The way I see it, right now I have a window of time in which I can impact people in Thailand...my host family, the kids at my Internship, the teachers at my internship, my friends....the list goes on. This is just a small window in the big picture of my life. But it is an important one. Right now I'm surrounded by a dominate Buddhist culture. I am a Christian in a country that lives a very different religion. And I have this window of time that I am able to live my life in a way that will influence the people around me. This window will shut in a few weeks for my host family and at my internship. These windows of influence will happen all throughout my life. But the question is how will I feel about the impact that I had when this window shuts. I may never know the full extent of the impact that I have on these various people in my life right now, but I hope that at the end of my time here I can feel good about the impact I've had. For me that means, did I live my life in a way that stands out differently than the way the rest of the country lives their lives. Where my internship is concerned my desire is not for these children to learn to speak English fluently in my short time with them. That just can't happen. But my desire is to just provide these children with some love, encouragement and a classroom experience that is fun and enjoyable. The children may not remember my name after I leave, but I hope they can remember the fun they had learning English with us and the love we showed them.
Ok, that's all for my little rant about my window of influence. I just found it encouraging that I have this small window of time to influence the people around me and my prayer is that I can use it to be all that God wants it to be!
I'm sure you are all still wondering about my host family situation. Things have definitely gotten much better from the time I first moved in. It was definitely a challenge at first to adjust to living with these people. There are good days, and then there are days that aren't so good. I was really encouraged by my Khun Mee this past weekend. Saturday night, after all the festivities of the day, she called me to make sure I had gotten to Lauren's and had dinner and that I was all settled in for the night. I thought it was sweet that she called to check on me and find out about the weekend. She also asked to see pictures of the beauty contest when I got home on Sunday afternoon. So that was also very sweet. We have been talking much more at dinner than before. She sits and talks to me for a little while after we are finished eating. It's in English, so my Thai is sorta at a stand still, but I think I'm getting to know her better through this. She even showed me her wedding pictures the other night. In contrast to these great moments, there are times when I feel somewhat disconnected from the family, but I'm starting to see that that is more of the culture coming through than them not liking me. So thank you all for your prayers. God is answering them and when these good things happen I know it's because people are praying for me!
Check back again for MK's insights into Thai culture. I've been reading some cultural stuff for my Internship seminar and I've discovered a bunch of things...pretty interesting. But I've given you enough to read for one sitting! And this weekend is our "Wat Stay". We are going to a forest temple to learn about Wat's and Monks and Meditation. We are staying over Saturday night and on Sunday morning, really early, we get to walk with the monks to collect alms. Should be very interesting. So check back next week for that story!
Internship
Here's a quick update on my internship. I realized it's been a while since I've told you all about that.
It's going really well! This week we are teaching them parts of the body and singing the hokey pokey! It's lots of fun! Last week we did fruits and veggies. And each time we color a picture of some sort. This week they have a choice between Sleeping Beauty and a Power Ranger. They all cheer when we get out the coloring pages! I even did some coloring myself yesterday. I hung Sleeping Beauty in my room to make it a little more decorated.
There is an older lady at Agape, I think she is about 37 years old. And Melissa and I went to visit with her yesterday. We've done this a few times. We practice our Thai with her and just encourage her by being there and showing her some love. She told us yesterday that she gets to go home on Saturday. This is like her life dream right now! She is so excited! And for nearly the whole 45 minutes we talked to her this is all she could talk about! It was so exciting to see her this excited!
It's going really well! This week we are teaching them parts of the body and singing the hokey pokey! It's lots of fun! Last week we did fruits and veggies. And each time we color a picture of some sort. This week they have a choice between Sleeping Beauty and a Power Ranger. They all cheer when we get out the coloring pages! I even did some coloring myself yesterday. I hung Sleeping Beauty in my room to make it a little more decorated.
There is an older lady at Agape, I think she is about 37 years old. And Melissa and I went to visit with her yesterday. We've done this a few times. We practice our Thai with her and just encourage her by being there and showing her some love. She told us yesterday that she gets to go home on Saturday. This is like her life dream right now! She is so excited! And for nearly the whole 45 minutes we talked to her this is all she could talk about! It was so exciting to see her this excited!
Thailand Week 4 (65 photos), by Mary Kate Stone
I'd like to share my Snapfish photos with you. Once you have checked out my photos you can order prints and upload your own photos to share.
Click here to view photos
Here are the pictures that Pii Stacy took. Check them out! She got some great ones of the Miss International Contest and of the Thai Beauties. Just look that their hair and dresses! Crazy!!
Doi Inthanon --the highest peak in Thailand
This weekend was so busy. With the flower festival on Saturday and the contest ending late on Friday night, my host family decided I should just spend the weekend in the city. So Friday night I stayed over at the Pii's apartment. Which was really fun! Then Saturday afternoon after the parade...(which I don't think I told about.....real quick, the parade was awesome. It was like the Rose Parade. So many floats made of flowers. It was so pretty! It also was so hot. It was only like 11am and it felt like it was 100. There were some marching bands and some native people who dressed in traditional costumes. As soon as we thought it was over, a whole other group of things came by. It was fun. There were lots of little shops that sold "great cheap crap" according to Aj Mike. And lots of food. A few of us had a picnic after the parade was over with some former monks that Pii Stacy knew from her last trip here.)
So after all this...I went to Lauren's house. I was going to spend the night there because her Khun Mee had arranged for a few of us to go visit the highest peak in Thailand the next day...but the catch was she wanted us to be there for the sunrise. So I had to spend the night. She lives in a gorgeous house. A maid, a cook, the whole shabang. Crazy! We went swimming in a pool that looked nicer than most resorts I've been to. And then we went to bed early.
We left Sunday morning at 4:45am! WAY TOO EARLY for my liking! The cook went with us because Lauren's Khun Mee suddenly had to work and couldn't go. She hired a 10 passenger van to drive us. The Mountain was about 1 1/2 away. We saw the sunrise as we were driving to the summit. It was so pretty.
We walked around the summit....which was FREEZING!! Melissa and I brought blankets from Lauren's house because no one gave me the memo that it would be cold. I had a lovely Pooh Bear one and Melissa had a great Hello Kitty one. We then proceeded to wrap ourselves up in them and tour the summit. And I found a hat stand and made a purchase! It's a great hat! I love it!
Then we worked our way down the mountain. Making several stops a long the way. After the summit our first stop was the twin pagodas, a/k/a the King and Queen pagoda. We had a breakfast picnic here. There were 7 of us plus the cook and the driver. So 9 in total. The cook made Pad Thai and Fried Rice for us! It was so good. We ate out of Banana leaf bowls and with tak-i-ap....chop sticks! All while being on the highest peak in Thailand. Such a great experience.
We toured the pagodas after eating. They were probably the coolest pagodas I've seen so far in Thailand...and believe me I've seen A LOT! They were very modern looking and had very neat looking mosaic on the ceiling. Plus the view was breath taking. We were above the clouds and could see the peaks of the mountains peaking through the clouds. So cool!
Then our next stop was waterfall #1. This was an amazing waterfall! We hiked up to this little rock area and just looked at it. It was goregous! Pictures can't even describe how cool it was. Josh, one of the guys who came, brought his guitar and we had a little worship time. It was great! Worshiping next to this huge waterfall, just surrounded by God's beautiful creation! It can't get much better than that.
Then Ian decided to go up the path (I use path very loosely...it was like climbing over limbs and stones, but it was a path) a little further to see the top of the waterfall without a tree limb in the way. I gave him my camera because if he was going up there he might as well get a picture. Along the way he found a huge snake skin. That was a little scary because it meant that snake could be somewhere close. The pictures he got were so cool.
After that waterfall we went to a little market. We got some fruit and I got a teak wood elephant. It's not as big as Grandma T's....if you know what that looks like, but it is certainly heavy! It reminds me of Grandma's Thai Teak Elephant and it's really cool!
Our next stop was another waterfall. This one was great too! We got some pictures at the bottom and then hiked up the path to the top. Again pictures couldn't even capture this waterfall. It was finally hot by the time we got here so the mist coming off the water was amazing. After hiking to the top we found another path that looked like something out of Indian Jones or something that lead to a lost city, so we hiked it too, thinking it lead even higher up the waterfall, but didn't. Just to some road....mighty disappointing. However we realized how American we are in the process. We were so concerned about what was at the top of this path. Thai's would have been more concerned about the journey and not cared so much what was at the top. It put into perspective some of what we had been learning.
One the way back down we met this French artist. Ian and I stopped to talk to him for a bit. He was teaching himself Thai and he knew way more than we did. It was pretty cool. He paints, sculpts, does photography, and a few other things. He told us that we made his day by talking to him. It was kinda nice!
We also ate lunch at this waterfall. Pad Thai and fried rice again! Out of banana bowls and with tak-i-ap! It was so fun!
Then our final stop was a temple at the bottom. We were all kind of exhausted by the time we got here though that we didn't totally care that much about it. We walked through it and it was very pretty, but we've seen so many temples in our time here and we were so exhausted from the entire day that it didn't make too much of an impact.
The day was great and the mountain was gorgeous! I was so happy to be able to do something and see a part of Thailand!! :)
So after all this...I went to Lauren's house. I was going to spend the night there because her Khun Mee had arranged for a few of us to go visit the highest peak in Thailand the next day...but the catch was she wanted us to be there for the sunrise. So I had to spend the night. She lives in a gorgeous house. A maid, a cook, the whole shabang. Crazy! We went swimming in a pool that looked nicer than most resorts I've been to. And then we went to bed early.
We left Sunday morning at 4:45am! WAY TOO EARLY for my liking! The cook went with us because Lauren's Khun Mee suddenly had to work and couldn't go. She hired a 10 passenger van to drive us. The Mountain was about 1 1/2 away. We saw the sunrise as we were driving to the summit. It was so pretty.
We walked around the summit....which was FREEZING!! Melissa and I brought blankets from Lauren's house because no one gave me the memo that it would be cold. I had a lovely Pooh Bear one and Melissa had a great Hello Kitty one. We then proceeded to wrap ourselves up in them and tour the summit. And I found a hat stand and made a purchase! It's a great hat! I love it!
Then we worked our way down the mountain. Making several stops a long the way. After the summit our first stop was the twin pagodas, a/k/a the King and Queen pagoda. We had a breakfast picnic here. There were 7 of us plus the cook and the driver. So 9 in total. The cook made Pad Thai and Fried Rice for us! It was so good. We ate out of Banana leaf bowls and with tak-i-ap....chop sticks! All while being on the highest peak in Thailand. Such a great experience.
We toured the pagodas after eating. They were probably the coolest pagodas I've seen so far in Thailand...and believe me I've seen A LOT! They were very modern looking and had very neat looking mosaic on the ceiling. Plus the view was breath taking. We were above the clouds and could see the peaks of the mountains peaking through the clouds. So cool!
Then our next stop was waterfall #1. This was an amazing waterfall! We hiked up to this little rock area and just looked at it. It was goregous! Pictures can't even describe how cool it was. Josh, one of the guys who came, brought his guitar and we had a little worship time. It was great! Worshiping next to this huge waterfall, just surrounded by God's beautiful creation! It can't get much better than that.
Then Ian decided to go up the path (I use path very loosely...it was like climbing over limbs and stones, but it was a path) a little further to see the top of the waterfall without a tree limb in the way. I gave him my camera because if he was going up there he might as well get a picture. Along the way he found a huge snake skin. That was a little scary because it meant that snake could be somewhere close. The pictures he got were so cool.
After that waterfall we went to a little market. We got some fruit and I got a teak wood elephant. It's not as big as Grandma T's....if you know what that looks like, but it is certainly heavy! It reminds me of Grandma's Thai Teak Elephant and it's really cool!
Our next stop was another waterfall. This one was great too! We got some pictures at the bottom and then hiked up the path to the top. Again pictures couldn't even capture this waterfall. It was finally hot by the time we got here so the mist coming off the water was amazing. After hiking to the top we found another path that looked like something out of Indian Jones or something that lead to a lost city, so we hiked it too, thinking it lead even higher up the waterfall, but didn't. Just to some road....mighty disappointing. However we realized how American we are in the process. We were so concerned about what was at the top of this path. Thai's would have been more concerned about the journey and not cared so much what was at the top. It put into perspective some of what we had been learning.
One the way back down we met this French artist. Ian and I stopped to talk to him for a bit. He was teaching himself Thai and he knew way more than we did. It was pretty cool. He paints, sculpts, does photography, and a few other things. He told us that we made his day by talking to him. It was kinda nice!
We also ate lunch at this waterfall. Pad Thai and fried rice again! Out of banana bowls and with tak-i-ap! It was so fun!
Then our final stop was a temple at the bottom. We were all kind of exhausted by the time we got here though that we didn't totally care that much about it. We walked through it and it was very pretty, but we've seen so many temples in our time here and we were so exhausted from the entire day that it didn't make too much of an impact.
The day was great and the mountain was gorgeous! I was so happy to be able to do something and see a part of Thailand!! :)
Miss International Flower Bloom Beauty Contest
Yes, I joined a beauty pageant. Crazy I know! This past weekend was the Chiang Mai Flower Festival. It's like a huge fair and the Rose parade mixed together into one never ending event. Its super cool though! They have gorgeous flowers in Thailand. So on Friday night they have an international beauty contest. And each year the girls from this program join it. There were 16 of us that decided to do it this year. And there were only 5 other random international girls. We had pretty good odds of one of us winning 1,2,3 place. Us girls were taken to a nice hotel in Chiang Mai to get ready. We got to leave our Friday afternoon field trip early. Which was very exciting to me because I HATE museums...and that Friday we were headed to a few. Pure torture in my opinion. So all 16 of us squeezed into a rot-dang...which seats about 10-11 comfortably, and we drove to the hotel. We were then grabbed by Thai women and squeezed into Thai clothes. They held up a giant skirt and told us to strip . Quite an interesting experience. After we were dressed in traditional Thai outfits, we headed to the makeup station. They applied about 10 minutes of foundation, making me even whiter than ever! Then some interesting blue eyeliner and only a tiny bit of maskara. Oh and then to top it all off, HOT PINK...i'm talking seriously hot pink, lip stick! It was insanely pink! Then they did our hair with flowers. And then we just sat around for a while. We learned a little bit of Thai dance, but the Thai ladies instructions were "do whatever you feel is right!". So we didn't really learn anything. Then they fed us pizza.
After pizza, the tourist police came to take pictures with us. You know this is a tourist event when the tourist police come to take pictures with you. It was quite funny. Then we were escorted by the police in a caravan all the way to the park where the contest was held. It got too crowded in the streets so we got out and walked. But the police were all around us like we were some sort of celebrity. It was a crazy experience. We waved and smiled for pictures the entire way.
We got to the park and had our introductions on stage. We walked out with the "Thai Beauties". They had their contest first. It was like Miss America...only Thai. And so much longer! It lasted a good 4 - 4 1/2 hours! Then it was finally our turn!
We went out on stage and did our Thai dancing. Then each of us was called up to introduce our selves and do a talent. I sang the Thai fruit song. Yes, I sang. It's crazy...but I did. Then I took my walk across the front of the stage and go flowers from Aj Mike! It was super fun! Something I will only ever do in Thailand.
After all 22 girls went....that was 1 French girl, 3 English girls, 1 Chinese girl, 1 New Zealand girl and then all 16 of us....3 finalists were announced. The Chinese girl, the French girl and STACY!! One of our very own!! We were so excited that at least one of us was chosen. Aj Mike was very proud.
They were asked a question...just like on Miss America. Questions like what will you tell people about Thailand. Then the Chinese girl was given 1st place, followed by the French girl in 2nd, and then Stacy in 3rd. We think it was fixed a bit....the Chinese girl was not really international...yes she was Chinese, but she spoke fluent Thai and didn't get ready with us. She had her own outfit and special hair lady. She was definitely in it to win it. I'm thinking she figured she had a better chance of winning against us internationals than in the Thai beauty contest. And then there's the French girl. She was very nice. But her dad is on the local Tourist police. So we're thinking that's why she won. But on the other hand, at least her dad was there and it was really special for him.
1st place got plane tickets! Which when I heard that I really wanted to win...but who knows what the plane tickets were for. Stacy got a night in a luxury suite of a nice hotel, 2 snorkeling tickets at the aquarium, a cell phone, lip gloss, a gift card to the digital imaging store and finally, LOTS of whitening powder....like we're not white enough already.
It was great! Such a unique experience! But lots and lots of fun!! Check http://www.dropshots.com/mkinthailand for pictures!
There are professional pictures on http://www.cm108.com/bbb/25796.html so check that too!! Just keep scrolling down and you'll finally see me!!
Here is the website for the winners pictures! http://www.cm108.com/bbb/25778.html The first picture is the Thai Beauties. The lady in the middle won 1st. And the next picture is the International Beauties. Winner in the middle, and Stacy is on the right. Enjoy!
After pizza, the tourist police came to take pictures with us. You know this is a tourist event when the tourist police come to take pictures with you. It was quite funny. Then we were escorted by the police in a caravan all the way to the park where the contest was held. It got too crowded in the streets so we got out and walked. But the police were all around us like we were some sort of celebrity. It was a crazy experience. We waved and smiled for pictures the entire way.
We got to the park and had our introductions on stage. We walked out with the "Thai Beauties". They had their contest first. It was like Miss America...only Thai. And so much longer! It lasted a good 4 - 4 1/2 hours! Then it was finally our turn!
We went out on stage and did our Thai dancing. Then each of us was called up to introduce our selves and do a talent. I sang the Thai fruit song. Yes, I sang. It's crazy...but I did. Then I took my walk across the front of the stage and go flowers from Aj Mike! It was super fun! Something I will only ever do in Thailand.
After all 22 girls went....that was 1 French girl, 3 English girls, 1 Chinese girl, 1 New Zealand girl and then all 16 of us....3 finalists were announced. The Chinese girl, the French girl and STACY!! One of our very own!! We were so excited that at least one of us was chosen. Aj Mike was very proud.
They were asked a question...just like on Miss America. Questions like what will you tell people about Thailand. Then the Chinese girl was given 1st place, followed by the French girl in 2nd, and then Stacy in 3rd. We think it was fixed a bit....the Chinese girl was not really international...yes she was Chinese, but she spoke fluent Thai and didn't get ready with us. She had her own outfit and special hair lady. She was definitely in it to win it. I'm thinking she figured she had a better chance of winning against us internationals than in the Thai beauty contest. And then there's the French girl. She was very nice. But her dad is on the local Tourist police. So we're thinking that's why she won. But on the other hand, at least her dad was there and it was really special for him.
1st place got plane tickets! Which when I heard that I really wanted to win...but who knows what the plane tickets were for. Stacy got a night in a luxury suite of a nice hotel, 2 snorkeling tickets at the aquarium, a cell phone, lip gloss, a gift card to the digital imaging store and finally, LOTS of whitening powder....like we're not white enough already.
It was great! Such a unique experience! But lots and lots of fun!! Check http://www.dropshots.com/mkinthailand for pictures!
There are professional pictures on http://www.cm108.com/bbb/25796.html so check that too!! Just keep scrolling down and you'll finally see me!!
Here is the website for the winners pictures! http://www.cm108.com/bbb/25778.html The first picture is the Thai Beauties. The lady in the middle won 1st. And the next picture is the International Beauties. Winner in the middle, and Stacy is on the right. Enjoy!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
