March 3, 2012
Oy, I had such plans to update
the blog and then life got insane. Basically, I ended up working every single
day of January, most days about 12 hours, so it was like being back on set
again in LA. I was working feverishly to finish all our promotional materials
and stuff for the sponsorship packs because Larry is going back to the US to do
some fundraising. So, here is the insanely belated update about Christmas.
First, a few days before my
parents arrived for Christmas, Ahna’s friend Emily came to visit from China on
her way back to the States. We decided to go up to Bua Tong waterfall because
it’s SO MUCH FUN and I wanted to take Sophie too. She wanted to bring her
friend Ying, so the 5 of us piled into Jasmine’s car with a bunch of food for a
picnic and headed out of town. Sophie was worried because she still had a
mountain of homework to get through before she started back to school on Dec
26, but she had been spending so many hours every day working on it, I thought
her brain needed a break. She was convinced that she would not want to go in
the water, but I brought all my swimming gear anyway, because I knew she and
Ying would not be able to resist the lure of the falls. We had a nice picnic at
the top, battling ants the whole time, and I was really excited to show Sophie
and Ying the falls.
After the battle of the century
finally resulted in Sophie and Ying changing out of their regular clothing and
into swim gear so they would not be sopping wet when we went home, the five of
us headed down to the bottom of the falls. Along the way, we all had so much
fun playing in the water and splashing around. When we got to the bottom,
Sophie even swam in the lake, despite the chillier water. She and Ying had such
a blast, I was so glad we all went. On the climb back up, they couldn’t believe
that you could just climb right up the rocks and not slip off. The water was
really warm too, so it wasn’t unpleasant at all. We took a ton of photos and
almost all of them turned out great.
Before heading home, we went up to
look at the pond with 7 colors (though I have never been able to count more
than 5) and Ying and Sophie tried to catch fish in a bucket that was supposed
to be for getting this Buddhist “holy” water and pouring it on the little
shrine. It cracked me up that they really thought they could catch a fish that
way.
On the way home, they both
completely passed out, it was really funny to see. Playing in the water in the
sun really takes it out of you.
When we got home, we still had time for Sophie to get some homework in
too, so it all worked out.
My parents got into Bangkok on
the 19th of December and spent the 20th being tourists
around there, doing a day tour of a bunch of temples. As a result, they ended
up knowing more about Buddhism in Thailand than I do after living here for 10
months!
They arrived in Chiang Mai on the
21st for their whirlwind trip. Luckily, I had borrowed my friend
Sacha’s car while she was in Australia for the holidays, so Sophie and I were
able to meet them at the airport. But of course, on the way there was first a
traffic jam and then construction on our route, so we had to go completely the
opposite way from the airport for a good 3 miles before finally hitting a
U-Turn and heading back to the airport. I was so frustrated because it normally
takes about 10 minutes to get from our house to the airport, even in a car, and
this time it took about a half hour or more! My parents had no phones to
contact us with, so I was so stressed out, but we got there, finally found a
parking spot and saw them right away when we came in. Sophie was so cute, she
wanted to get dressed up to meet them, so she made me put on a skirt and nice
top too. My parents were surprised, obviously, since I would generally go in
shorts and a t-shirt to the airport.
After picking them up, we headed
to their hotel and checked them in, then went for lunch at a restaurant I
hadn’t eaten at since I was here with my church in November last year. After
lunch, we gave my parents directions to Taw Saeng while Sophie and I ran home
to change and get to Taw Saeng.
That night, my parents found
their way to Taw Saeng only getting lost once! Haha. They got to come to class
with me and see me teach; and, despite the utter chaos that always reigns, I
think they had fun. Amelie was so funny: once she found out they didn’t speak
Thai, she was like “why didn’t you teach them??” and then she said “you have
the same face as your dad. And a little like your mom. Well, your mom and dad
must be happy, now because they have a grandkid. (Pause) But she doesn’t look
like you.” Later she was teasing Sophie saying “Hey, how come you aren’t
calling P’Heather’s parents Yai and Tda? (Thai words for Grandma and Grandpa)
They are your grandparents now!”
After Taw Saeng, we went out to
an Italian restaurant I have been wanted to try for a while now, near our
house. It was so fancy and nice, and more expensive than I thought it would be,
so I offered to pay for our dinner, but my awesome dad was like “What? Put your
money away! I only see you a couple times a year, I can buy you dinner.” Yay!
Thank goodness for generous parents. Sophie took forever to decide on what to
eat and she was bugging me to get red wine because it’s made from grapes. She
was convinced that it would taste sweet, and would not believe me when I told
her it was really bitter, that it’s wine COOLERS that taste sweet. So, I
ordered a glass and let her have a little sip. The look that came over her face
was priceless! I wish I had a picture of it, it was hysterical! She finally
believes me that red wine is not sweet, just because it’s made from fruit.
The next day, I sent the three of
them off with Emily, Ahna’s friend, to ride elephants for the day. It was funny
because Sophie had to speak Chinese to Emily, who would then translate for my
parents. When they got back, Sophie said “P’Heather, it was SO much fun! But I
spoke SO much Chinese today, so now I’m really tired. And your mom really loves
me.” I thought something must have happened to make her say that, but no, it
was just my mom being herself. I was like “Of course she loves you, you’re an
awesome kid!”
That night, we visited the Night
Bazaar and had dinner at the German restaurant. It was a special treat because
I have not had ribs since I have been here, they are so expensive, but we got
ribs and fries that night. I was worried Sophie was starting to get super
spoiled, but how often do my parents fly half way around the world to visit us,
right?
Friday we had the day off from
work, but Sophie wanted to go to school to get some extra study help for starting
back to school the next week. In the morning, my mom and I tried yet again to
see Winnie dance (this is the 5th time I have tried and failed). We
got there at 9:25 and were just in time to see the last 20 seconds of the
dance. I was so disappointed because I asked her so many times what time to
come and she said 9:30am! At least we saw the tail end of it and then we saw
her little brother’s class dance, which was super cute. They were all dressed
up like cats and did a song with a lot of meows in it. After we saw a few of
the other classes dance, we went back to the hotel to get my dad.
We went up to Doi Suthep, which is the big temple overlooking
the city of Chiang Mai. It’s a beautiful view and you have to climb 300 steps
to get to the top. It was cool to finally see Doi Suthep, but it was SO hot up
there! It was fun to get a bunch of food for my parents to try, like fruits and
quail eggs. However, I didn’t realize there was a waterfall so close, and I was
super bummed when I found out about it later cause my mom loves waterfalls too.
We didn’t have time to go out of town to visit the big ones, but we could have gone
to the one near Doi Suthep, had I realized its proximity. Oh well, more reason
for them to come back, right?
We headed back down the mountain
after about an hour and I dropped mom and dad at their hotel while I went to
pick up Sophie, Winnie and Winnie’s mom. The four of us went to the market to
get food to make for our big Christmas dinner that night. We bought enough for
10 people to eat, and it was only about $18. Plus, we had so much food left
over! We went to Winnie’s house to cook because they have two burners and we
only have one at our house. I took some back home with me and showered and
changed while Winnie’s family showered at changed at their houses. I went to
pick up my parents and we all gathered at our house about 7pm with a huge spread
of food. It was so fun and was the perfect Christmas dinner. We had Maiko, me
and my parents, Sophie, Winnie and her mom and brother and Winnie’s two cousins
who I have become friends with since I’ve had Sophie. Then we had Winnie’s
family open the presents we got them and they were all very happy with them.
They went home, I took my parents to their hotel and then Sophie and I did
dishes for a long time! J
Christmas Eve was Saturday and I
had some last minute shopping to do for Sophie’s stocking. I dropped her at the
hotel and ran to get some candy and the new Justin Bieber Christmas CD for her.
Then we all went to the Night Safari, where Sophie and I got discounted tickets
because of our Thai status. J
Having that Thai driver’s license gets you discounts everywhere! Best deal I’ve
gotten here.
We had a great time at Night
Safari and saw a bunch of animals and Sophie got to feed a lot of them. Dad got
scolded for feeding the zebras because there are signs everywhere in English
saying “DON’T FEED THE ZEBRAS” and they told us that when we got on the tram
and again when we got to the pen with the zebras. But, Dad fed them anyway, so
the tour guide said “Sir, please don’t feed the zebras. They have very sharp
teeth. You will lose your hand and I will lose my job.” HA! Luckily, he didn’t
try to feed the lions.
We had dinner at the
international buffet for only $4 a person! After that, we went back in to see
the evening show and watch the water show, which was pretty cool but not quite
on the scale of Disneyland. I know, I’m a bit biased. Afterwards, they had a
baby white tiger that you could take pictures with. Sophie and Mom sat with it
and Sophie was holding a bottle and had something shiny on, maybe her earrings,
so the baby tiger tried to attack her! I got a bunch of pictures of her getting
pounced on and finally a nice picture with my Mom as a buffer between Sophie
and the tiger. It was half scary and half funny.
We got home and it was time for
presents! Wow, my parents brought so much stuff from the US. Sophie was very
excited about her new Converse (from me) and her new pea coat (from Mom and
Dad) as well as a necklace that matched one they gave me.
Next time, on The Thais That Bind: Christmas Day at Akha church, Phuket, touring Chiang Mai with my friend Jenny. Also, pictures!
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