During Christmas, my host family and I went to Florida. It was very very fun. There were 12 people of us.  So, we stayed at the house close to the beach. On the New Year Eve, we went out to the beach and lid the fireworks. But the sea water was pretty cold for me and the waves were bigger than in Thailand. I saw one guy, he was surfing, and that the first time I saw real surfing (not on the TV). It was really fun.

And on Febuary 1st - 3rd, I went to the conference called "SCRYE".  I was so excited about it because I heard the there were a lot of Inbound students from many countries. I hoped that I would see my friends from Thailand at the conference. That's made me really excited. But if there were not any of my friends from Thailand, or other YE from Thailand, I still excited about it. Because I would see other YE Inbound Students from D.6110.

The weather is getting cold and I need to be used to it.  It's quite hard to be used to it because Thailand is hot all year. My host family bought a big box of hot chocolate for me. Haha ! Because hot chocolate can keep me warm and it really works for me.

My host family is really nice. My friends at school are very nice and friendly. I've done many things at school. I help teacher about the Pageant a t school. There are a lot of fun at school.
 
I'm glad to meet other exchange students. They are very nice. And I can't wait until Dec. 6 because it will be the first time ..that I go to ski and meet other exchange students again !!
 
PS. In Thailand, we don't have snow .. Actually, we have snow in Theme Park, so it's fake.
I hope I would see snow soon ^_^
 

Hello, you can call me Grace.

Thailand is a country in the South-east Asia. My country borders to Myanmar or Burma in the north, in the north-east borders to Laos, in the east borders to Cambodia, and in the south borders to Malaysia. In Thailand, we don’t speak in English, but we speak in Thai. And there are about 65,000,000 of populations. Almost of populations in Thailand is Buddhist. So we have a lot of temples. The capital city of Thailand is Bangkok where is the biggest province in Thailand. Thailand is divided into 6 parts which is the north, the north-east, the west, the central, and the south. In Thailand, we don’t have a president but we have the king and the queen. The Culture of Thailand is influenced by Buddhist. In Thailand, when we meet other persons, especially when we meet someone who’s older. We usually say “Sa-wat-dee Krub or Sa-wat-dee Kha” and Wai to others. And “Wai” is the most famous culture in Thailand which is a Thai greeting, but it’s also used when you say thank you and to apologize to others. The other famous culture is Thai Boxing called “Muay Thai”. Another one is Thai dancing called “Rum Thai”. But in each part of Thailand, there is a little difference in Thai dancing. Thailand is hot all year because it’s near the equator line, so we don’t have snow in Thailand.

My home city is Phitsanulok. It is in the north of Thailand. The north of Thailand is the part that has coolest weather. But anyway, it’s still hotter than in Arkansas. In the north of Thailand, most of its area is mountain, so we have a lot of beautiful waterfalls, and forests. Besides in the north, we have a lot of beautiful temples. And it’s different from the south that has a lot of beautiful beaches.

Phitsanulok is a pretty big province but not as big as Bangkok or Chiang Mai. Chiang Mai is the second largest province. There are almost 800,000 people in Phitsanulok. It’s in the north of Thailand. And in Phitsanulok, we have the most beautiful Buddha image, we call PraPhuttashinnaraj. And we have a lot of beautiful waterfalls.

There are 4 people in my family which is my father, my mother, my older sister and me. My mother is a nurse. My father has his own electronic shop but he used to be a teacher in High School in Uttaradit. My sister and I were born in Uttaradit Province. It’s also in the north of Thailand and near Phitsanulok. So my family used to live in Uttaradit. But when I was 6 years old, my family moved to Phitsanulok where I live now in Thailand. I was born on 22^nd November. In that year, my birthday was on Loykratong Day. Loykratong is an annual festival held in Thailand on a fullmoon day in November. And on that day we make a kratong and float it in water to apologize and thank you to water. And my sister was born on 14^th April. Durring 13^th - 15^th April, we celebrate a Thai new year. We call these days as Songkran Day. And it’s also called water festival, because on Songkran day, we pour water to other people. It’s a very fun day. Many foreigners come to Thailand to join this festival especially in Chiang Mai and Bangkok. On that day, my friends and I like to hang out and pour water to others. And on April, weather in Thailand is very, very hot. So Songkran day is the good way to made us feel cooler.

And I grow up in a normal family and normal live. When I was 13 years old, my father joined the Rotary Club of Naresuan in Phitsanulok. And my family used to be a host family for a Youth exchange student from Mexico. And she is really nice. And that was the first time that I know about Youth exchange. On that moment, I thought it was interesting to be an exchange student, because you can travel in the new country that you’ve never been before. That was just I thought when I was 13, very simple thought. But when the time passes, I know that being an exchange student has something important more than that.
Then when I was 14, my sister was being a youth exchange student in here, in America. She was a youth exchange student in Eureka Spring. And she told me that her exchange year was very good year.
And many people asked me why I chose to come to America. I think my sister is a part of my reason, because she had a very great year. Another reason is I want to have new experiences in my life, like new country, new friends, new culture, and others.  The third reason is I can make new friends. Making new friends is very good because you have more friends and these friends are in other countries. And my final reason is I want people to know more about my country. But traveling is also a part of my reason.

And I have been here about 1 month and 1 week, I think I had a good time here. Because I met a lot of people and they are nice to me. Even if I have been here not long time, but I think I would have a great time here as I wish. And I think that I come to America, no my mother and my father in here, so when I make any decisions, I will be grow up, because I have to make my own decisions.