The Start of Rotary Events

These past few days have seen the start of my plethora of Rotary events of the year.  We had our orientation Wednesday, where we sat and talked about the rules and then what we were really all waiting for the trips! They informed us that they have three fantastic trips planned for us, starting with a hiking on in November.   Not only was this the first time I met the other exchange students in Korat, but also the coordinator of the Youth Exchange Program in our district.  The seven of us living in Korat are surprisingly only from three different countries, 4 from Canada, 2 from Venezuela and 1 from Mexico.  All of them are really nice and I look forward to meeting the other students in district once we start the trips!  The following day I had my first Rotary meeting with my host club, there are actually two students being hosted by the Suranaree Club, myself and Oscar, an exchange student from Venezuela.  There are quite a few differences, between Thai Rotary clubs and Canadian ones, but I would say the biggest in that the men and women do not sit and the same tables.  Also once a month they actually have a party where they have karaoke and if just happened that this day both Oscar and I had to do a presentation about ourselves, so all in all they were in a party mood so there were a lot of interruptions, but it was still fun.  I have also found out that this year I will only have two host families and I met my second host parents this week, they are really nice and had a daughter go on an exchange in Calgary, so my second host dad was wearing his Canada t-shirt for his occasion. 

So just a little bit about my school, I found out that they have clubs after school that you can just show up and to join, so this week I learnt how the take the leaves a Pandanus plant and make it into a bouquet of flowers, that then make the room smell good.  I also have changed my schedule so I now have 4 hours of Thai cooking Thursday mornings, so school is a lot of fun because I can really show up in any class and they are just happy that I am there and participating.  Finally I am learning Thai dancing and if you have seen it and think it looks easy, it is not.  The precise twists your arms have to make and changing from having your thumb and pointer finger touching to having your thumb and middle finger touching is confusing, but still fun.  I am looking forward to next week and all the new clubs I can join!