Host Family Day 1

Yesterday, was my full first day with meeting my host family. So far, it’s been insightful, overwhelming and exciting at times. We first arrived in Phichit earlier in the afternoon yesterday and met with key people in the program (country coordinators, host families, community members, etc.). We then waited for our host families to pick us up and take use back to our new homes. After getting into my room, my mee (thai for mom) and I drove on her motobike and met with the mayor of our town about my work in this community and any questions that I would have. We then took a drive around and sat by a lake & fed catfish, drove through some temples, visited my paw (thai for dad)’s chicken farm. It was so a good introduction. My paw and I just watched a football game (Thailand vs. Taipei) and I went up to sleep. Yesterday, I was able to visit my school and introduce myself to the teachers and students. (by the way: there is an overdue post about intentions, goals and impressions being a TOEFL teacher in another language as an American and an African. I’ll get to that in another post, but I digress). Today is the morning of the 3rd day, and I hope it goes well. It has been a bit difficult with my mee because she feels a bit shy because of her lack of english but I,also suffer from a lack of thai. A funny moment occured when we both pulled out our dictionary help guides. She had her thai – to english and I had my english– to thai. I hope that we both gain something from this experience and that it is a mutually beneficial transaction.