Surat Thani Province!

I am going to be in the Surat Thani Province.  I will have to tell you more about my city after I get there, because I haven't been able to find much information about where I am staying, other than in Muang City.  Surat Thani is the largest of the southern provinces of Thailand, and its on the eastern shore of the Gulf of Thailand.  The name translates into City of Good People. 

Geographically the center fo the province is the coastal plain of the Tapi River, mostly grassland interchanged with rubber tree and coconut plantings.  In the west are the limestone mountains of the Phuket range that are mostly covered with forests.  There are a lot of national parks and little islands in this province, and they take pride in having these protected areas. 

More School!

So, as I briefly mentioned earlier, I will be going to Suratpittaya School.  It was established in 1902 as a gile's school.  In 1978 the school first admitted boys to study. 

The Suratpittaya Seal:

       The seal is two circles joined together and their connection refers to the life and education linking Buddhist beliefs on ethics, and morality.  At the bottom of the circle are the words "Knowledge, Kindness, and Peace."

Some interesting features that my new school has that my old school didn't was a school song: (March Suratpittaya), their school colors are Blue and Yellow (as you have seen in the school uniform pictures.)

The school that I will be going to has its own Budda, which is really cool.  Their Budda is Praputtaroob Parg lee-la.  

So, that is some information about my school.  I look forward to going to school there, and hope that I do well in school there. 

My School

One part of my Rotary Exchange, is that I will be attending school in Thailand.  Luckily for me, my birthday fit so that I could go back to highschool.  It was a little weird for me, being a graduate, and then going back to school, but nonetheless I'm pretty excited. 

One of the biggest changes that I will have to deal with in my school will be having a uniform.  In Canada, I don't have one of those, so it will definately be different.  I have an outfit that I wear for all my classes, and then an outfit for gym. 

So the skirt, blouse, socks, and the black shoes will be my everyday classes. 

The bright yellow and blue outfit will be my gym outfit.

My First Host Family

I have been lucky enough to get in contact with my first host family, and talk to them before I get to Thailand.  So I have learned that I have a mom, dad, two brothers and a sister.  My host sister, who is my age, is going to the United States, so I will only have 10 days with her, because she leaves on August 20th.  One of my host brothers is at University in Bangkok and my other host brother is twelve years old, living at home.  I'm very excited to meet this family, and my other host families.

This is a picture of my first host family :)

First Information!

I guess I'll start with the basics.  My name is Emily Keiver, and I am going on a Rotary Exchange to Thailand for the 2010-2011 year.  It has taken a while for me to get all of my information totgether, and we are still waiting on a few parts.  The good thing is that I have all of the information, it just needs to come together.

If everything goes according to plan, I will be leaving on August 9th, and landing in Thailand on August 10th.  I have a layover in Taipei, and in Bangkok before heading over to my final destination, which is the Surat Thani International Airport.

This will be my online "diary" for my trip, and I will do my best to keep it updated.