*In the jungle, the Mighty jungle...*

Okay, so when I say we went trekking through the jungle, it was LITERALLY through the jUnGlE! It was sooooo amazing! I could have done it forever. It rained the whole first 2 days. We were up in the mountain hiking on trails less than a foot wide. Don't look to your left because you'll be reminded you're on a cliff and if you fall, you're going straight down! There were 14 in the group. A Belgian couple, 4 girls from Ireland who smoked at every chance they got, a brother and sister from Argentina who were probably my favorite, a Canadian chick, and a beautiful Frenchman, his father and his father's girlfriend. The first night we stayed in a village in a little hut. We made a fire to dry our clothes and shoes. The villagers cooked us dinner and breakfast. The second night we stayed in a little hut with only 3 walls. A deck and the view of the river made up the 4th wall. It was so cool! Then on the 3rd day we went white water rafting and rode elephants. Because of the rain the river was really high and rough, so we couldn't raft as much as we would have liked. When we came back to Chiang Mai yesterday we found out that the Mae Ping (the river that runs through the city) flooded into the streets!!! Crazy!
Then we stopped by Imperial Mae Ping to see my friend Mink's new nose. She got surgery in Bangkok and yesterday was her first day back. They all told me they were planning on coming to see me off at the airport on Friday. How cute!!!!
I must say I'm going to miss it here. I'll miss being able to get a bag of fresh fruit for 10 Baht (about $.14), the fresh food that is sooooooo good, the nice people, my friends, meeting new people, how relaxed life is, it's all been wonderful.
Today we have to watch Christina give her presentation that she's been working on this whole time, then we have to help her to tell what we have learned here in Chaing Mai that we will take with us back home. Then there is a wedding or something going on at the international center where we are, so we are going to that, then packing up and leaving for the airport tomorrow around 7! See ya'll Saturday at 10:08 am! Holllaaaaaa...

JAI-YEN

This is one of the many words I have learned since I've been here. It means "cool heart." I thought I would just share it with you guys. I like it cause you can apply it to anything! It's helped a lot when I get frustrated with Tommy or when I want to kill the rooster that wakes me up every morning at 4:30 on the dot. Yeah, I said rooster. And I mean the thing lives right under my window. I can't wait to get a good nights sleep!
Anyways, I've put new pictures up. http://community.webshots.com/user/uktimaji It's the first album on the webshots webpage. There are pictures of rock climbing. It was soooo much fun! The mountain was called "Crazy Horse Buttress." They say it looks like a horse, but I didn't see it, so I didn't take a picture cause I wouldn't have been able to describe it for you! Haha. Anyways, we did 2 routes in the morning, then had lunch and did 3 in the afternoon. It wore me out! It was nice to have some exercise, and wake my muscles up! I forgot how much I loved rock climbing...makes me wanna take a trip to Yellowstone and do the hiking, climbing thing. Anyways, that was probably my favorite thing we have done so far. Nature, exercise, meeting new people (2 girls from Canada who had been working at an orphanage in India for 4 months and a couple who didn't really have a home...they were just travelling around).
Monday-Wednesday we are going trekking. It is a big thing to do in South and South-East Asia. Take a guide to the jungle for some white water rafting, elephant camp, roughing it in the jungle, hours of hiking, and more hill tribe villages.
Friday is my last day at Imperial Mae Ping. I'm gonna be so sad! I have become really close to the concierge staff and the bell boys. I don't like that my last week is at the reception counter with people I don't know. I call over to the concierge desk just to say hi (even though they are in clear view just across the lobby). Maybe I'll ask to work there on friday.
Oh, and I took the family out for a "thank you" dinner to their favorite restaurant. It was the result of a lot of arguing with Tommy, but I finally got my way...mostly! Anyways...I guess I'll see ya'll soon! until next time...

"Industrialized JuNgLe"

Quick update, then I have a fun story. So this weekend, of course we went to Christina's, watched tv, went to the walking street Sunday. I went crazy shopping for gifts for everyone, so you better like them!

Soo...I love the concierge desk! Meeting people every day, hanging out with the bell boys and the other girls at the desk, learning Thai...it's great! Yesterday, the girls were talking about the General Manager. *background info* He is from Germany and has been with the hotel for a little over a year. He is super intimidating, but that's probably because everytime he comes around all the staff jumps. He doesn't speak to them, only says hello. He knows Thai...his wife is Thai. ANYWAYS back to the story. So the girls were talking about him and how he never shows any emotion, like he always has the same expression on his face. They asked me the word for it, and the only thing I could come up with was "stoic." I told them it meant that the person could have emotion inside, but not show it on the outside. So they kept repeating it. The reason they were talking about him is cause he just walked by. Well, little did we all know that he was standing around the corner...and we didn't realize this until after the "stoic" conversation had already taken place. So they all start freaking out, and I keep my cool because a) he's german, so he may not know what stoic means b) he may have not heard us or c) if he did hear us, I'm only here for 2 more weeks, I'm not getting paid so he can't fire me, and I guess I deserved it (even though I, technically, didn't say anything about him). So time passes and later that day, some guy from the office comes to tell me the GM wants to talk to me. SHIT! (excuse my french). So I'm thinking I'm in trouble (for something I didn't do!). I get to his office and sit down, and he's still intimidating. But he starts asking me if I'm okay, what my background is in hospitality (Italian restaurants, buddy!!), what I know about the Imperial group, etc. So I calm down a little, then he slips in that he heard us talking about stoic, but I covered it. He then proceeds to talk about how Thailand is an "industrialized jungle." I love it, because that's exactly how it is. It's not a 3rd world country (although some parts could definitely pass), but it's not quite a fully developed country, either. It's like there's concrete and cars in the middle of the jungle...seriously. But after our talk, I felt much better cause now I don't freak out when he walks by, like the rest of them do. And it was kinda cute cause he tried to give me some advice (he doesn't have kids) for the real world, and I had a chance to express my deepest gratitude to him for letting me work there on such short notice, and apoligize for the unorganizational aspects of the program (long story...email me if you wanna know). It was the first time I walked away from an authority figure having a conversation like that and being able to say that I said everything I wanted to say! Round of applause.

Anyways, there was no real point to my story, or the rest of this blog, BUT here's some new people I have met. I met this kinda egotistical guy who calls himself a New Yorker, but he's only been there 3 years. He went to Virginia Tech, but is from Tennessee...BLAH!! He was nice and gave me his number. Don't worry about it cause this morning, when the van came to pick him up to go trekking, he and his friend came down in full camo, with boots, hard hats with the flashlight on the front, and small knives in their belts. I felt better about having thrown his number away. Then I met this guy and his dad today. They checked in yesterday, and said hello, but today stopped and asked me where I was from. We started talking and this guy is from Pennsylvania and works in Dubai. His son is 26 (very cute!) and is getting ready to start his civil engineering job in Australia. I look forward to seeing them again tomorrow morning.

Anyways, I think Ang and I are going rock climbing on Saturday, so I'll get some pics of that and get an update later! See ya'll in 2.5 weeks! Lisa-I get home Saturday, August 5 at 10 am. PEACE!

"Cribs" Thailand style!

So for my slang-challenged family, "Cribs" means place of residence. And there is a show on MTV called that which showcases houses of celebrities. ANYWAYS...This link is to my webshots. Click on "NEWEST THAILAND PICS" and I'm gonna narrate each picture. It is only of the house I'm living in...but I thought I would be your virtual tour guide! So keep this window open, and open the pictures in another one so you can read and look at the same time! http://community.webshots.com/user/uktimaji

1) This is Sam and Bunmi...their dogs. P.S. there is no grass on their property, so the dogs pee on the tile driveway...no big deal. At least these are in houses and not roaming the streets like the rest!

2)This is right when you walk into the front door. To the right is the fridge, ahead is the dining room/kitchen table, to the left is the sitting area. The doorway you see is to the kitchen.

3)That is the sitting area to the left. Right in front (behind the camera) is the television.

4)This is the fridge. The first door on the left is Tommy's room. The next one is mine and Jupjeng's room (that's her sitting there) and the white door is the bathroom. Around the corner is the door to the parents room.

5)This is the kitchen. They don't have an oven! No baking cookies, cakes, bread, etc...! WHAT?!?!

6) This is the equivalent of a back porch. It has a fence around it and is really narrow. It's where they hang ALL their laundry to dry, where they have their washer, dishwasher, stack all their plates and bowls and pots, and have another stove that is the primary one for cooking. One foot behind and on both sides of the house is a fence just like this of the other houses surrounding.

7) This is my room! (Mom, see the Hello Kitty pillow on the bed!) The black rack you see is where some clothes are. There's also a closet to the right, at the end of the bed. To the left are 2 desks.

8) This is on the door of mine, Jupjeng and Tommy's bathroom. I thought it was cute. And they don't say bathroom here...they say toilet, and that is it.

9) That's the bathroom. Notice where the toilet is...for the next few pictures.

10) That's their shower head.

11) look! The shower, toilet and sink are all in the same room!

12) This is looking from the corner where the rooms are into the living area.

13)This is Jupjeng and her mom. Aren't they cute! They have become my favorite in the family....I just wish they spoke better English!

Anyways, I hope this worked out how I planned! Enjoy!

Pirates, shin splints, etc.

Soooo this weekend when I got off work we went to go see Pirates 2!! The movie theater is soooo nice! (P.S. it was only 120 baht...around $3!!!! for a Saturday night!) When you buy your ticket, they have a diagram of the theater and you pick where you want to sit...so like assigned seating! Then they played, basically, the national anthem before the flick, and everyone stood up while it played. OHHH...sidenote...at 8 and 6 every day they play this song for the king and everyone stops what they are doing out of respect until the song is finished. Then conversations and walking resumes! So cool to witness...especially at the walking street. Anways, the movie was aight...I liked it, but I think I liked the first one better, and now I HAVE to see the third because of how the second one ended. Then we got pretzels at the Auntie Anne's in the mall and went to Christina's at Maejo and watched one of the enlgish movies that was on that night. Sunday we went to the walking street...surprise!!!! Next week I think will be my second big spending week....I finnaly figured out what gifts I'm getting everyone. Hope you like 'em! Then I skipped work Monday (it's Buddhist lent here...good excuse), and when I got back to Tommy's we ordered pizza.
Yesterday at work I met this awesome guy who is American but he has lived in 65 different countries because of his job (he's been retired for 12 years) but his wife works for the U.S. embassy, so they move A LOT! They are right now in the middle of moving from Singapore (which I learned from a woman who is from there today that the first language there is English, it is very cosmopolitan, and it is an island in the Pacific Ocean). Anyways, this guy, they are moving from there to Jamaica...cause his wife is being moved. Duh...I got his business card and email address...free place to stay in Jamaica! SB '07! Then, we played with dried ice and oils from the spa counter...the afternoons are boring!
Today I met people from North Carolina. First southern accent I've heard in a long time...soo nice to hear!
Don't know whats up for this weekend. Hope everyone is getting their postcards I sent! See ya'll in like 3.5 weeks!

Pirates, shin splints, etc.

Soooo this weekend when I got off work we went to go see Pirates 2!! The movie theater is soooo nice! (P.S. it was only 120 baht...around $3!!!! for a Saturday night!) When you buy your ticket, they have a diagram of the theater and you pick where you want to sit...so like assigned seating! Then they played, basically, the national anthem before the flick, and everyone stood up while it played. OHHH...sidenote...at 8 and 6 every day they play this song for the king and everyone stops what they are doing out of respect until the song is finished. Then conversations and walking resumes! So cool to witness...especially at the walking street. Anways, the movie was aight...I liked it, but I think I liked the first one better, and now I HAVE to see the third because of how the second one ended. Then we got pretzels at the Auntie Anne's in the mall and went to Christina's at Maejo and watched one of the enlgish movies that was on that night. Sunday we went to the walking street...surprise!!!! Next week I think will be my second big spending week....I finnaly figured out what gifts I'm getting everyone. Hope you like 'em! Then I skipped work Monday (it's Buddhist lent here...good excuse), and when I got back to Tommy's we ordered pizza.
Yesterday at work I met this awesome guy who is American but he has lived in 65 different countries because of his job (he's been retired for 12 years) but his wife works for the U.S. embassy, so they move A LOT! They are right now in the middle of moving from Singapore (which I learned from a woman who is from there today that the first language there is English, it is very cosmopolitan, and it is an island in the Pacific Ocean). Anyways, this guy, they are moving from there to Jamaica...cause his wife is being moved. Duh...I got his business card and email address...free place to stay in Jamaica! SB '07! Then, we played with dried ice and oils from the spa counter...the afternoons are boring!
Today I met people from North Carolina. First southern accent I've heard in a long time...soo nice to hear!
Don't know whats up for this weekend. Hope everyone is getting their postcards I sent! See ya'll in like 3.5 weeks!

Lemme clear something up...

Aight...so the Gettysburg address thing was halfway a joke. I know it was by Abraham Lincoln during the Civil War. And I know it started with, "Four score and seven years ago our fathers brought forth a new nation..." I'm SOMEWHAT educated!

And I feel obligated to change it because I made my uncle cry! WADE!! Mr. Hardcore motorcycle tough guy uncle Wade! Anyways...let me update

So Monday I was supposed to start my new job at Imperial Mae Ping. Long story short...I couldn't start until Wednesday. So what did I do? Of course! I read for 2 days! Hung out in the city...drank an iced mocha...and on the 4th Ang and I went to the 4th of July celebration at the U.S. Consulate. It was great fun to be around Americans, but there was this annoying lady with a baby strapped to her who was somewhat in charge...she was raising her voice and being all controlling...I forget how much I DON'T miss THOSE kind of Americans.

Anyways...yesterday I started working. I hung out with the operators all day. I thought to myself, "Is this what I'm going to be doing for the next 3.5 weeks?!?!? It can't be!" But then I came to work today. I worked at the concierge desk and I LOVED IT! I got to meet people all day who spoke English! Of course I couldn't answer very many of their questions, but listen to who I met...I met this man who is travelling around the world in his sailboat with his wife. They are originally from Atlanta and their boat is in Phuket right now because they are meeting thier daughter and son-in-law here for a few days. THEN I met this guy whose cousin is some big shot with the city of none other than LEXINGTON, KY! He couldn't remember her married name though cause she just got married. THEN I met this handbag designer from New Zealand who travels all around southeast Asia buying fabrics and managing his factories that make his hand bags and he sells them everywhere...and in Chicago! How cool! He was there doing business, I don't exactly know what, but we talked for a while. He was super cool. THEN I met another woman from New Zealand who I had to help do her email at the internet lobby of the hotel. I swear she had never been on a computer before...she's 60! Carol was super nice and she is going trekking for 4 days tomorrow.

I know you all don't care about all these other people, but this is what I was so excited to do! My boss chick told me I'd be at the concierge desk for a week...WOOHOO!! The only bad part is you have to stand for 8.5 hours, and I have these heels on! I need a massage!

This weekend we are going to go see the new Pirates of the Caribbean movie. FUN!

Gooooood Blesssss Aaaaaameeeeericaaaaaa...

I've got Whitney Houston's rendition of "The Star Spangled Banner" on repeat, beating against my ear drums. If it weren't for me being around other people, I would be singing along at the top of my lungs. It is the eve of one of my favorite holidays of the year...the celebration of our nation's birthday. I'm so depressed I'm not there to join in the festivities. I'm going to miss hearing Lee Greenwood's "God Bless the USA" every 5 minutes, cooking out, Adam's spectacular fireworks show.
As I sit down to try to collect my thoughts, I wish I had an Adderol on me to try to hone the bits and pieces running through my mind that I want to spit out, but can't seem to organize into a comprehensible essay of my feelings about our great nation. I wish so badly I could write the best literary piece you've ever read, because in my mind it sounds as poetic as the Gettysburg Address. Who am I kidding...I don't even know what the Gettysburg Address was about. Yet I know I have fallen in love with my country as I'm half a world away from it.
I guess it's true what they say...absence makes the heart grow fonder. You don't know what you have until it's gone...blah blah blah. But it is true. As wonderful as my experince here in Thailand has been, it has been such a blessing in reassuring my patriotism.
I've always been passionate about what I believe in, or what I'm a part of. Basketball teams, Kappa, dance, etc. Being in America all your life, you forget your passion for the place that has given you the freedom to experience all of those things. I now realize that I have more team spirit for America than I have had for any other thing I have been a part of in my life. Yes, we make mistakes...politically. But I have spent some time here defending Americans, explaining that they are different than *political America* that the rest of the world assumes goes together. While that should naturally be the case, I inform people that most of America doesn't like the way our political system works, and while we are greatful for the freedoms and culture that we have developed, we are disappointed in the way certain people run our country.
But that's not what's on my mind...it just came out. I just wanted to say that I love our freedoms to do anything.
It is proufoundly humbling to look at the history of our young country and think of the obstacles we have overcome in comparison to other countries. We are a mere 240 years old. And while we lack the importance of tradition in most countries around the world, it has become a blessing as well. Without that tradition, we have quickly be able to clear hurdles of feminine, religious, and minority rights. And while we still have problems with each, and with new controversies everyday, think of how far we have come juggling all in just 240 years. There are countries 4 times as old as we are where people have to practice their unpopular religion secretly, for fear of being harmed. Countries where women still can't get an education, vote, own property, or get a divorce. Look at things we can't decide on...abortion, gay marriage, stem-cell research. And why can't we decide? Because everyone has a different opinion and has the FREEDOM to voice it! Other places, some old guy would just make a decision and everyone would follow because that's how it had been done for 500 years and everyone would swallow their opinions because it would be tyranny if they disagreed with the king!
I love that in our country, you can look into the eyes of anyone, and know that their ancestors came from the same place yours did. Everyone's family tree started out in somewhere besides America. Yet, we all know we are here for the same reason...opportunity, promise, freedom.
Everyone came here to exercise the opporunity of making a better life for themselves than they had in their own country. Everyone was attracted to the promise of the American Dream. And every single sole that migrated here, and is still migrating here, wanted the freedom of choice, voice, and opportunity. To know that we give that to people from all over the world on a daily basis is somewhat remarkable, don't you think? We even provide it to our own...whose roots have been buried here for generations. The American Dream of making it is open to anyone. We feed off of it here...it's like a religion; rags to riches kind of thing that doesn't exist very often in other corners of the world.
I just love that I, for instance, have a down-home southern family that cooks every casserole possible, big-ass rolls, has whiskey at every family function, and says things like "Lord," "golly," and "ya'll.". And on the other side, there is the American Dream my father lived coming from a foreign country and making something of himself. This story is everywhere in America (but not everyone is lucky enough to have a foreigner AND be southern...unfortunately some must be midwestern or...gulp...northern!) Just kidding, I'm gonna live in NYC someday.
I mean, this weekend for instance, I met a girl who told me I "looked like a Spanish girl." When I informed her of my American mother and Iranian father, she looked surprised yet delighted and replied, "Oh! You're mixed breed!" I wanted to laugh so hard, but held it in because I knew what she meant, and she didn't know she had basically compared me to a dog!
But then I thought about it...aren't we all mixed breeds? I just love that about America. I love that new cultures don't scare us, they intrigue us. That instead of people being afraid to speak their mind, wear the clothes they want to wear, listen to their own music, make their own movies, love and date who they want, and practice their own religion people are PROUD to display these things. We don't know it, but we all have this innate sense of pride in who we are as Americans...we just have to find it.
I have found mine, and I'm so glad I did. It's like I found a new religion or something. I just love our way of life, our luxury, and our way of expecting perfection...striving for it. That ambition is what drives our country to be great and to grow everyday. And, although, sometimes we have an individualistic sense of patriotism, we all are believing in the same foundations this country was built on at the end of the day. We may not go down high-fiving everyone in the street we see and say, "Way to be an American!" But, don't we all kinda feel that way?
I admire our diversity, revel in our youth, yet am proud of our progress in just 240 years. Being American is something you are privilaged to be born with. To have the guarantee of opportunity and prosperity at your fingertips is something you should feel obligated to exploit. Vote, speak your mind, travel, learn about other people, and in turn you will grow into your pride of being American. It's a great thing I have had the chance to do at a young age, and something everyone should discover about themselves.

AIGHT- I spoke my piece...cheesy as it was, but oh well! Anyways, hope everyone has a great FOURTH OF JULY! Set off some fireworks in my name, eat a cheeseburger for me (one of the few times a year I actually eat a burger!), have a bowl of homemade ice cream, belt out "God Bless America," and thank God that you're American...a part of the greatest country in the world!

P.S. I got new pics up...finally! http://community.webshots.com/user/uktimaji Click the album titled, "New Thailand Pics!" and "shoebox" something on the second page of albums.