My first night with a Thai host family

We only had Thai lessons this morning with Ajaan Soison (P'Nan) and no afternoon classes. The group went to eat for the last time at a special vegetarian market and then went back to the dorms to pack up for our home stay this weekend with a Thai family. I was originally told by P'Gee, who is the organizer for the ETA program and a wonderful lady, that I was going to be with the same family as Jamie, another fellow Fulbrighter.

I was getting myself ready for a family of little children until I arrived back in the classroom and found out that there was a mix up. To make a long story short, the father of my 'real' host family had the same name as the father of Jamie's family so the office thought that we were going to the same family, but in fact, we were going to two different families. If you didn't get that story, just scratch it.

P'Tip, the director of the Fulbright program who I mentioned before, had a little icebreaker where the Thai families had to find their Fulbrighter. Since I was the only male, P'Tip thought it was a little bit too easy for me and thought that I had to find my family instead of the other way around. I found them alright and the ice began to melt. I am with a family with two kids, one 20 year old daughter (Ming) and one 17 year old boy (Dtern). The father, who I call Khun Paw, which means father in Thai, owns an aluminum and glass business for construction. He had a degree in mathematics and used to teach for 6 years before beginning his business which has been successful for 20 years. The mother, Khun Mae, is a homemaker and very kind. We went to a shopping complex called Central Plaza to watch a movie and have dinner.

We ended up watching "Red," an American film based on DC comics that I've not heard about before. It was funny and entertaining except for the awkward movie previews beforehand that showed a little bit too much skin for Thai standards (I think). The movie previews/commercials were about 30 minutes long followed by a short video of His Majesty King Bhumibol Adulyadej to which everyone stood up to pay their respects including me. At the end of the movie, we went to eat at Sizzlers and I ordered fish and chips, because I've been craving it. By the end of the movie, the ice had melted quite completely and I really feel like I am part of the family now. We talk and laugh a lot, mostly at me and my bad Thai, but hey, sanuk is sanuk. Adding to my fortunate circumstances, we are going to the beautiful province of Kanchanaburi tomorrow, so stay tuned for stories of my awesome adventures with my Thai host family in the jungle.


My Thai host family, eating at Sizzlers