After two and a half weeks of school, I have come to like some classes more than others. Math, history and chinese are my most interesting classes. The other classes are okay, nothing too special.

Before I talk about my classes, let me explain that at Prem we address our teachers by their first name, and instead of saying the usual Mr or Mrs, we say "Arjon" which means "teacher" in Thai. So, for example, if I were a teacher, I would be Arjon Joe. It took some time to get used to but now I am used to the whole call-your-teachers-by-their-first-name thing. 

Okay,

Let's start with math. My math teacher, Arjon Eric, is from Oregon and is a really interesting guy. He taught in Turkey last year and is now at Prem. I have no idea what takes him from country to country. He is a really nice, approachable and laid back person. Luckily, he is my home room teacher so I get to hang out with him a lot. His math class is also interesting and he is going to help me keep up my pre calculus while the rest of the class continues with the IB math curriculum. 

For history, I have Arjon Mac. He is Canadian and a really nice guy and his class is really interesting.  Right now we are studying Socialist Russia. The first week we studied about Lenin, and now we are concentrating mainly on Stalin because that is what is going to be on the history IB exam next year. Arjon Mac is cool and really laid back. Our class is really engaged which makes class fun. I have personally always wanted to learn more about Socialism, so his class is perfect.

For chinese, I have Lin Lao Zhi (Lao Zhi is Mandarin for teacher). He's pretty much a crazy guy from China who talks really loud and is really insistent that we pronounce ev-er-y sing-le sy-lla-ble perfectly before we move on. This week is Chinese New Years, so we have been celebrating in class. Each day this week Lin Lao Zhi has brought in a different Chinese New Years food. He has a constant grin on his face when he talks about the Chinese New Year and is always extremely excited to give us food. Our Chinese class (Lilly, Boss, Kazi, and I) are going to go get Chinese food with him for brunch on Saturday. According to Lin Lao Zhi, we are going to the best chinese restaurant in Chiang Mai. We'll see how that turns out.

Well, those are my three favorite classes. The other classes (English, Biology, Art, and TOK) aren't too bad, just a little dry. Oh well... 

We switch teachers for TOK every few months so hopefully my next teacher will be better. The information in TOK is really interesting its just that the way its presented is kind of boring. 

Today we went to Wat Phrathat Doi Suthep. This Temple is on a hill that overlooks Chiang Mai. There are 300 steps that lead up to its elaborate entrance (we counted), and on the way up these steps there was a temple elephant!

Lilly bought some cucumbers for 10 baht (30 cents) and Lilly, Chris and I fed the elephant cucumbers. The elephant literally inhaled the 30 cucumbers in less than a minute. It was incredible. All three of us hung out with the elephant for at least 45 minutes.

We got feet messages at an outdoor market! This was when my Mom was here two weeks ago.

As you travel down the major streets in Chiang Mai these ornately decorated portraits of King Bhumibol Adulyadej are ubiquitous. Some are large like the one above and others are small. King Adulyadej is the unifying figure of Thailand. He is loved, revered, and honored by a vast majority of the Thai population. Thailand has a policy of "Lese Majeste". This law prohibits insulting the King. Dishonoring the King is punishable by up to 15 years in jail.  However, most Thai families have nothing bad to say about the King. He is currently the world's longest reigning monarch and his incumbency has yielded great accomplishments for Thailand.

Okay... 

So much has happened since my last post. I don't know where to start... 

This school is highly international. The average student here speaks three languages and is biracial. For example, one of my roommates is Thai-German and the other is French-Karen. Just being around these type of people is an experience in itself. English is definitely not the prominent language spoken outside of the classroom. It is interesting being around so many different nationalities. It gives invaluable insight into how other countries view international affairs and enables you to view issues from totally different vantage points.

Boarding is also a very different lifestyle that took some time to warm up to. The first week I felt strange and uncomfortable. But now I have befriended my roommates and everything is more enjoyable. It is really interesting being around so many different nationalities. It gives you insight into how other countries view international affairs.

Prem is an International Bacheloriate school. It is very different than the AP program that I am used to. One of the main differences is the class Theory of Knowledge. This class makes us question whether the information that we take to be knowledge is accurate. We are to question the foundation of everything we take to be certain. I've only had two TOK classes so far and it has been really interesting. Another class that the IB offers is Creativity Action and Service. CAS is a community service class where help the community around us by volunteering time. Today was our first CAS lesson. We visited a public Thai school and taught third graders English. Our lesson was an hour long and the kids picked up a few simple English phrases.

Two nights ago Lilly and I were able to watch the inauguration. It was an absolutely incredible experience to witness Barack Obama take office while overseas. It built up a huge amount of emotions in me and made me proud to be American. After eight years of Bush in office, it was great to see the United States elect a man like Barack Obama. While being around all these international kids, it is already apparent that the world view of the United States has changed for the better. With Obama as the figure head of our country, the United States has taken a huge stride forward in the right direction. But a lot more still needs to be done. 

That's all for now. I'll upload some pictures of Prem as soon as possible.

After close to 30 hours of traveling, we finally arrived to Chiang Mai. I am writing while trying to avoid falling asleep at 2 in the afternoon. Sorry if my sentences are incomprehensible.

The people here call Chiang Mai the City of Smiles. This nickname was clearly evident from our first steps into the city. Immediately after we exited the plane we were greeted by a smiling porter. Smiling is a great part of the Chiang Mai culture.

In nine days I leave for Thailand. My mom, sister and I will fly into Singapore and then transfer to Chiang Mai. School starts on the 12th so we will have a few days to explore the city and get adapted to the 12 hour time difference. 

Last night our family was at dinner with some of our parents' friends who had just spent time in Thailand. It was great talking to them about what to expect and what not to expect. One of the foreign concepts they expressed was to not show the soles of your shoes to anyone. Apparently in Thailand this is equivalent to the one finger salute. This was just one new interesting thing I learned about Thailand. 

I am sure there is more to come.

Joe L.