We were Caring Citizens!

            Last Friday, my school had an advisement trip to Pattaya, a city next to the beach in the gulf of Thailand; it took us 2 hours to get there. At Pattaya our grade was divided to go do different community service, some went to the school for blinds, some went to a daycare center, and others went to Father Ray’s Children Village. I went to Father Ray’s Children Village, we were able to choose what we wanted to do there, farming or painting the playground. I’ve always wanted to try farming, and my idea of farming was to plant rice in a muddy field with buffalos. But, it turned out that we were gardening instead. We had to pull out morning glory, and also pull out other weeds in the cabbage field. Father Ray’s Children Village has their own garden to use for their meals. While gardening, a little brown puppy came running into the field, she was so cute! Later on, I found out that she’s a stray dog, and her mother left her behind. Father Ray found her at the side of the street, so he adopted her as their school’s dog. The puppy is named “Julie” because Father Ray wanted her to have an American name. From gardening at Father Ray’s Children Village, I’ve learned to be more appreciative of my vegetables.

After 2 whole hours of gardening in the scorching sun, we finally head to lunch. We went to eat at a bayside seafood restaurant named “Moom Aroi.” In Thai, that word means delicious corner. Whenever I go to Pattaya, I usually go there with my parents too. I really like the restaurant because the seafood is fresh, and the scenery is also pleasant. After eating, my friends and I sat on the raised platform, watching the ocean waves and took tons of photos. During my ride back to school, all my energy is drained out from squatting for 2 hours while pulling out the morning glory, so I slept the whole way.

From this advisement fieldtrip to Pattaya, I was a caring citizen, one of the six ESLRs. I was a caring citizen because I did some community service; I helped others by gardening for them, and pulled out fresh morning glory for their meal. By helping Father Ray’s Children Village farm, I learned how hard it is for other people to have a meal. They have to grow the vegetables themselves, and every meal takes hard work. After the field trip, I’m now more appreciative of my meals, especially my vegetables. I now know how it actually feels to work as a farmer; it is extremely tiring, even though I’ve done it for only 2 hours. But after doing the community work, I felt happy because I was not only helping others but I was having fun doing it too. Being a caring citizen is fun!

Here are some pictures of me and my friends at the restaurant:

I Believe Colonists are Patriots

In Social Studies class, we are studying about American Revolution. Ms. Torie asked us to describe our thoughts about the colonists, and whether they are patriots or terrorists. First of all, we have to understand the different definition between the patriots and the terrorists. Terrorists are organizations that create fear among people in a certain nationality they don’t like, usually by bombing. But, patriots are people who love their country, and fights for their own country. So, I personally think that the colonists are patriots because they’re just fighting for America’s independence. The colonists had to boycott the British goods, start the Stamp Act Congress, created the Boston Tea Party because they were treated poorly. In the Boston Massacre, the colonists hurt some soldiers, but the soldiers killed 5 colonists.  Britain was suffocating the colonists with their new taxes and laws, which caused them to rebel, like the colonists said, “Taxation without Representation.” This historic event is similar to the Libyan civil war in 2011. The Libyan people were divided into two groups, based on their like or dislike of their leader, Muammar Gaddafi. Some Libyans couldn’t tolerate this dictator anymore, so they fought for their right to have a new government by using violence and protesting. That was just like how the colonists were fighting with the British for independence. Unlike the Libyans, colonists used actions as their weapon. To conclude, colonists are patriots because they are fighting for their country’s independence. They just wanted more freedom and more rights, so they can have a better life.  

A Little Preview

Hi everyone! My name is Meg, AKA Methira Chaijaroenpat. I’m 13 years old and I LOVE JUSTIN BIEBER!!! I really love his songs and especially him. I’m waiting for his Christmas album to come to Thailand; my favorite song in that album is “Mistletoe.” Talking about Christmas, what are you guys doing for this Christmas? Even though Thai people don’t usually celebrate Christmas, I do it almost every year. However, this year I will be going to Tokyo, Japan with my family for our Christmas break! I feel very exhilarated. We will be snow boarding and eating sushi everyday! Do you guys often ski or snowboard? I just love the snow! As a result of being located near the equator, Thailand never snow. So for the past 3 years, I’ve been going to Japan every Christmas break to snowboard.

       Oops, I forgot to introduce my family. Well, I’m a family of 4 with 4 Bull Terrier dogs. It’s kind of our inside-joke that each dog symbolizes one of us. My family includes my parents, my sister, and I. Our dogs also include, a dad, a mom, and 2 sisters. When our dogs were puppies they were so cute!  But now, they’ve grown pretty big. Regardless, I still love them. I don’t really know if it’s a coincidence, but my sister, my dad and I are all born on January and our names all start with “M.” Even though my mom is named “Sioux,” and she’s born on August 6^th, we changed her name to “Mommy,” so she can be part of the gang. My birthday is coming up next month, January 13^th, and I’m extremely excited because I have plans for my birthday. On that day, we will all go to the temple in the morning, around 6:30 (it’s kind of our tradition to go to the Temple on our birthday). Then later, we will go out to eat lunch, maybe even a buffet. Afterwards, we might go shopping or watch a movie. For dinner, my dad will cook steak for all of us, and my mom will be baking brownies. My dad only cooks steaks on special occasion, such as the King’s birthday. So as you can see, I also love eating, it’s one of my hobbies. I live to eat! I also love playing volleyball; it’s my most favorite sport in the world! Right now there’s soccer season going on, so I have to wait for about another 10 weeks until volleyball season starts. Earlier this year, I was in JV Volleyball (Junior Varsity), but then due to the flood, we were not able to make it to the championship tournament. What kind of sports do you guys like to play?       

       So, now that you know more about me, I would like to know more about you guys too! I really like this idea of quad blogging because it connects people from different parts of the world together. I will be able to know about the current events from first person point of view, which I think is sometimes more reliable than the newspaper. If you guys every wonder about Thailand or have any questions, you can always ask me. Happy Holidays!

Here are some pictures of my doggies: 

This is a picture of when they were still young:

They've all grown so fast! 

Thai People are so Creative!

The flood has stirred up a lot of problems in Thailand. People are starving, they are stuck in their home, and health conditions are poor. But, for some people they look at the glass half full. Some make a good use out of the flood; they create new inventions to help them adjust to the new environment. They created lifejackets for their dogs using bottles, or jet skis out of bottles and tubes. Nonetheless, my favorite invention was the elevated tricycles. It was my favorite invention because they adapt to their environment using what they had. It was creative and unique. Instead of just abandoning the tricycle, they raised it using scraps and pieces and turned it into something useful again.

A creation I would make to help with the flood issue is a floating shower with filtered water. There will be showering room that is on top of a sturdy raft. The water would come from the floodwater, and it will be filtered before entering a bucket. When a person wants to shower, they will turn on the filter and clean water will be filling up the bucket. People will be able to shower by using a small plastic bowl, cupping the water up and just shower. It was how Thai people usually shower in the past. Since we don’t want to pollute the water, people will shower inside a tub, which will be filtered again before going back into the floodwater. This creation will be named “The Portable & Floatable Flood Shower Room,” or the PFFSR. The PFFSR will help with the hygiene problems and showering issue for those who are troubled by the flood.

Many things inspire all of these creations.  I think that those innovation and resourcefulness comes from our environment, such as TV, Internet, books, movies, pictures, and many more. Maybe some people know how to build and create things; using their skills, they create new inventions to help with the flood problem. These qualities are very important because it helps people to live an easier and simpler life than before. For example, some people can build rafts that would be able to provide them shelter temporarily.  These qualities could help people survive during times in need. So as you can see, these qualities are very important and helpful at times.

Here is a picture of my favorite creation:

http://media.thestate.com/smedia/2011/10/28/11/09/502-iOCmv.Em.55.jpg

FLOODING IN MY COUNTRY!

A current crisis in Thailand has arisen, it’s the flood! This devastating disaster has affected everyone's life one way or another; some are stuck in their houses, some had to evacuate and leave their homes, and some even bought boats for the flood. As you can see, flooding is now becoming a big problem in everyone's daily life. It also affected my life too. This catastrophe has caused my mom to be terribly stressed out 24/7, and so she bought sand bags and a lot of microwave food. Right now, I have two freezers full of microwavable food and a small sand bags fortress wall guarding my front door. Plus, I went to visit my grandparents, and their houses are already flooded! There was so much traffic and the water reached people's knees! We had to drive our big van, or order to get through that street. I even saw some cars that weren’t able to make it. My mom told my granny to come live with us, but she refused. I hope she will be safe and dry until this whole tragedy ends. Also, the school was closed because of the flood! The school was closed for about 5 weeks; we will have a lot to make up for the time we lost. I really wish that this disastrous flooding would stop soon. It will change everyone's life forever and Thailand will not be the same. There will be a lot more preparation for next year's flood and people will be ready. But for this time, I really hope that this calamity will stop soon, and that no one else will get hurt.  

Here are some pictures of my grandparent's street about 4 weeks ago:

What is Identity?

What does identity mean? For me, it means the individuality of someone. Everyone is different and there could only be one copy of a person. For example, there are so many people in the world named Meg, but every Meg is different. Sometimes people think that twins were born the same and would think alike too, but that idea is absolutely wrong. Twins could be born looking alike, but their minds are different and their perspectives are different. Identity sets your view on things differently than others. I could see a jar of cookies as delicious treats, while my sister could view it as a meal. Identity could also affect how you see the world, some look at the world as a glass half full, but others might look at the world as a glass half empty. That also means that people could view the world positively, or negatively; it’s their identity.

Identity could depend on many factors that affect you and who you are. For example, volleyball is a part of my identity because I’ve grown obsessed with it, while part of my friend's identity is ice skating. So, as you can see, different beings have different things that affect them. Things that are important to people are different because of identity; it also causes personality. Everyone’s personality is also different because some could be very shy, while others are confident. Your Identity could also be affected by your environment. For example, if a child was born and raised in a loving family, they would turn out to be a good person. But, if a child was raised in a troubled family, that child could grow up having problems too. Also identity is not something that everyone would discover at the same time. Some people would discover their identity sooner than others. But, everyone's identity would reveal itself in their lifetime, it's just that people discover it at different times. William Shakespeare wrote, "We know what we are, but not what we may be." I think that is a very strong quote that relates to Identity because it also means that identity could change due to the different factors that affect a person's life. 

Identity has played a big role in my life because it is who I am, but I keep changing constantly so my identity is an ongoing process. I think that there are two fragments of identity, one is your core identity and the other is your outer-layer identity. The core identity is permanent and it would never change. It consist of your believes, your values, and what is most important to you. Your environment influences the outer-layer of your identity. For example, when I’m in Asia, I usually listen to K-pop and J-pop. But, when I’m in America, I listen to hip-hop and pop music. In conclusion, identity is what set you apart from others and what makes you special and unique. You should always be proud of who you are and never try to be like someone else. There is only one you and only one life, make the most of it. 

This is a chart of the many factors that affect identity and who you could become:

COLORS!!!

These are some pictures of my favorite color, orange and it's contrasting color, blue. I think that this collage looks very delightful because the color goes well together, plus it's my favorite color so I like it very much. :)