Day 5 was a day for learning Thai music and dance, and we were divided into two groups:
yea kai mod dang and
ram pleam. These are names of two dances, the first one is a dance that mimics couples picking ants together, and the second one is a dance just for girls, and it was also the one I danced. Boys holding long sticks for poking ants nest while girls holding baskets for catching the ants,
Yea kai mod dang is a joyful, energetic dance accompanies by a very vigorous music. On the other hand, my dance was much slower and more elegant, focusing on the hand gestures and swaying of the hip.
After a dancing class in the morning, we all put on the make-ups and customs for the dance and headed toward the Agriculture Fair. I had never worn such a heavy make-up in my life, and I had never worn such an exposed outfit ,which was basically a bodice and a skirt, in front of so many foreigners.
Left to right: Quynh, me, Janet, Hsiu.
The stage we performed our dance on was by a small lake, and the auditorium was on the other side of the lake. It was exciting and frightening, and we tried to remind each others the next moves by whispering while still keeping the smiles on our faces. For unexperienced dancers that had only practiced for two hours, I think we did a fine job.
Top left to right: Alex(Taiwan), Megan(USA), Ran (Malaysia), Ellen(Taiwan)
Down left to right: Shin (Japan), Chi (Vietnam), Tung (Hong Kong), Linh (Vietnam).
The Thai girl who taught us the dance.
Day 6: visit Mitr Phol Sugarcane Mill in Chaiyaphum
Behind was a mountain of brown sugar.
Thailand is also a country that regards insect as a cuisine, so it was no surprised that they have raising farms for all kinds of insects. We visited one for raising crickets. The way they cook insects are usally deep-fried. I didn't have the gut to try one, especially after Megan said that she got some cricket's legs stuck in her throat and the taste wasn't good anyway.
From day 6 to day 10 we were all sent to different host families and on Sunday was a all-day-long free time with them. My host family decided to keep two of us sinced they had two children and had two rooms, so Liew (Malaysia) and I stayed with them together. The mother was a professor in the department of microbiology, and the father was as production superintendent who had traveled to many countries. They have two very sweet kids, Mek and Mai, who are 12 and 10 years old. Mek is the brother and could speak English quite well. Mai on the other hand, is the sister and although she couldn't speak English as good as her brother, she was very sweet and always asked her mother to translate her questions to me. It was their first time to be a host family, and they welcomed us the first night by helding a family get-together dinner. We had dinner on the porch with their relatives who were all very nice and welcomed us very much.
Their house was unbelievable big and beautiful, comparing to the other houses I had seen in Thailand. They used to have a house inside the campus. One year ago they moved to the new house, and the rooms we slept in were never been used since the children are still sleeping with their parents .
I loved my room, so big and cozy. It even has two balconies facing their garden.
The garden was very beautiful, full of trees and flowers they planted. There was a new tree planted on the day we arrived, and the father said that he wished to plant more trees so they could have more shades in the garden. There was also a very beautiful pavilion in the garden, surrounded by water that had fishes and tadpoles.
Megan performing belly dance.
Student from Taiwan performing "You're My Flower."
A very special present from Mek.
Day 7 was Sunday and we had a all-day-long free time with our host family. We had been discussing what we were going to do for Sunday, and my host mother wanted to take us to the border of Lao, which was about a two-hour drive from the city, but the plan was called off after they figured it would need a lot of paper work and procedure for us to get through. So our plan was a tour in the city and to the pet fair held by the department of veterinary medicine in KKU. After breakfast, we first went to the local fresh market which was much like the ones in Taiwan, selling all kinds of fruits, vegetables, sea food, and even bags and clothes.
The pet fair was held only for two days at the weekend. They offered medication, pet products sale, pet beauty contest and a police dog show.
