Sawatdii Kha!!! That means hello in Thai (for female!). I hope everyone is doing well! I am back from a great 6 day trip to Thailand seeing my family! It was def. too short, but I will be going back to Thailand for 4 days in 3 weeks for my cousin's wedding! I am so excited! So this post is great because I have pictures from Thailand to show you guys! Don't laugh at the pictures too much haha. I had such a wonderful trip and here is what I did:

I arrived in Bangkok on Friday night and my uncle and aunt who lives near the airport picked me up. I ate dinner at my uncle's house and saw my cousin for a little bit. Unfortunately she had to study for her final exam. I actually went to Thailand at a really bad time because this is when their semester is ending and she had a huge engineering final exam so she couldn't talk too long. Next day I went to see my grandma and the rest of my family on my father's side. It was so great to see my grandma again. As always, she loves to feed me food so that's what she did. She always says, your young! Eat! Oh I do love my grandmother so much. I also got to see some of my other cousins and that was absolutely wonderful!

The next day I left to go to Chiang Mai (which is up north) to see my mother's family for 3 days. That was also a lot of fun because I got to see everyone! Chiang Mai is actually one of my favorite places to go so I was really happy to go even if it was only for 3 days. One thing that I don't like about Chiang Mai are the mosquitos. I get bitten all the time so it was a bit annoying, but nothing too worrisome. I got to hang out with my cousin P'Thuy (Sounds like Pee Thu oey haha) and her friend and I got to drive an ATV and Buggie in the woods in Chiang Mai. It was so much fun! After 3 days of Chiang Mai, I went back to Bangkok to spend one last day with my father's family.

So the last day before I left, I went to MBK (Mah Boon Khrong) shopping center which is one of the best shopping places to go! I bought so much stuff from there it is great. It is like one big China town except indoors. I had a blast because I love to shop and I got a ton of stuff and I am so surprised I did not go over the weight limit for my baggage =D. Later that night I left to come back to Singapore. I had to come back early because I had a hospital visit today at the Institute Mental Hospital here in Singapore for my class. It was a really cool visit and great experience!

As I promised I have some pictures below! Enjoy! =) Leave a few comments! Take Care!

- Pattie Vongsoasup

Posted by Patra Vongsoasup at 2:49 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Ah yes, the title says it all. Recess Week is in 2 days! Yay! I am really excited and I can't wait! I would describe Recess Week kind of like the Spring Break for college. Its so early and I am super excited! It's so weird because I am so used to having Spring Break in April and I am having it at the end of February. That means the semester is already half way done and soon enough I will be coming back to the states =(. I can't believe the time is flying by and I wish it would just slow down just a bit! Time flies when you are having fun and studying! Like in my previous blog, I said for break I will be going to Thailand! I am so excited because I get to see my family and I haven't seen them for about 3 years so it will be a great short family reunion. Though I am not too keen on flying, it is so worth it seeing my family (yes I hate flying! I still am trying to figure out how I got here in one piece)!

Anyways, I have an hour before class, so I decided to write my entry a bit earlier just because you won't hear from me til next Friday. Next month is going to be really exciting! So I officially signed up for IVP for the Judo club and the first competition is next month and I will be fighting individually and apart as the team. I am so nervous because I don't have too much fighting experience, but this will help me a lot when I go back and go for my next promotion (green belt). I do need the fighting experience anyways, so I really hope I don't get my butt kicked too much! Lets hope I will come out alive! haha! I really like the people who are on the Judo club, they are so nice, helpful, and fun to talk to. I'm so glad that I joined Judo. I met some great people and made friends =).

Sorry that the entry is a bit short... I've been pretty busy with a lot of things and being sick still is not helping at all. Who knew that in this nice warm weather I could have a cold =(. Being a bit sick is making me home sick because I am used to having my mom take care of me if not I could go to the Wellness Center for free and get medication. Here you have to pay a hefty price at the Medical Center on campus. Being that I don't have much money to spare I will try to get better on my own, but if my throat continues to get worse I may just have to haha. I usually don't get sick around this time, but the weather has been so weird lately I guess it happens! I'm not the only one though, there are some other people who are sick as well. Unlike PA, here it is bright and sunny one minute, the next minute torrential downpour, then bright and sunny a minute later. The weather is so crazy here! And I always tend to forget my umbrella. The one thing at Orientation said was to always keep an umbrella with you since it will be useful for more ways than one. Sigh, I should've listened more. I see on the my.scranton that it is suppose to snow again. Stay warm everyone! As crazy as this sounds.. I do miss the snow! Leave some comments!

- Pattie Vongsoasup

Posted by Patra Vongsoasup at 2:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Your probably thinking, Prince George's Park.. is that a really cool tourist area? Well if thats what your thinking then your wrong! Haha, sorry I haven't been able to write because I have been very busy with school work and moving into my on-campus accomodation at Prince George's Park! Yes, my residence is called Prince George's Park. Its absolutely beautiful, and about 3,000 plus students live there! It is awesome and I am so glad I was able to move campus because it was a lot more convinient from where I was living before. Before moving on campus I was given an off-campus accomodation which was about a 30 minute travel to school. Now that I am living on campus its only a 5-10 minute shutte to classes which is great! Plus, the shuttle is free and I don't need to pay for going on two different buses to get to NUS! Its great!

So, what has been going on right now. I don't really know because I haven't done anything too exciting for the past week or so. Right now I am coming down with a cold and not feeling too hot. Next Friday starts Spring Break aka Recess/Reading week! So I get the entire week off from February 20th to March 1st! It is great! My plans are to go visit family in Thailand and spend some time with them. I can only go for 6 days because on February 27th, I have to go do a class assignment at a local Mental Hospital called IMH (I think?) and do some observation and interviews. I am really excited about going because I never really been to a mental hospital and this will definately be a good experience for my major! But, I will be spending a couple of days in Bangkok with my father's family, then fly up north to Chiang Mai to see my mother's family. I am so excited but I wish I could've stayed longer. But hey, I get to see my family at least right? Plus in March I am going back to Bangkok for 3 days because my cousin is getting married so at least I get to see them again! =D

I can't believe how quickly this experience is flying by. Being on this experience really makes you realize how great some things are and also you appreciate more for what you have. There are many times when I think about U of Scranton because I really miss the strong sense of community and how everywhere I walk there is at least one person that stops to say hello and talk. Theres not too much here in Singapore, but its ok. A lot of the students are so helpful and friendly and as long as you can find those people it makes it so much easier to adapt. Talking to friends and family back home also makes me a bit homesick too, but talking to them helps me destress while I am here and its good to know that everyone is doing well.

While I'm here in Singapore, it made me realize how lucky I was to be given this opportunity and experience. Even though its not what I am used to and its not a bad thing, I really appreciate that I go to a wonderful University back home. I miss U of S a lot and while being here and after being here I feel so lucky to go to Scranton. So for all you seniors looking at U of S, please go visit! Even if your not interested go visit and you will understand why it is such a wonderful place. Don't get me wrong, I think NUS is absolutely amazing! But, it just made me appreciate that I also have a great University to go to back home (for my last year!! ahhh!!!!)

Take care! Comments comments comments please!!! =D

Pictures still soon to come I promise!!! I have to remember to bring my camera on campus!

- Pattie Vongsoasup

Posted by Patra Vongsoasup at 11:21 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)