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July 10th, 2004
12:05 am
Wow. Well, talk about letting something slide.
I guess since I've been home, and seeing that the main reason for keeping this journal was to record everything that was happening while I WASN'T home...I haven't really thought to update it. But it should have an ending, you know? It's kind of like the story of my 3 months overseas and...I don't know. On this random July night, a full two months after I've been home...I just thought I should end it.
So, to anyone who may still read this, my online journaling days are, I think, pretty much over. I'm so glad I was able to communicate and share everything that happened while I was away (including a few too many details in some instances, I'm sure), but it also did a lot for me too. It has helped me to remember a lot more details that I might have ordinarily forgotten about this time in my life. I remember how I used to jot down little details of each day and things that happened to remember to put them in my journal-so I would remember, so other people would know. It kept me focused and alert and sharp to things I might ordinarily have brushed off or seen as not so important. I wanted everyone to know it all, to practically be there with me!
For sure, it helped me to feel so much closer to everyone at home, and I know it helped some people (ahem, MOM) feel closer to me too. I also think it's saved me a lot of breath (can you IMAGINE me telling the cracker story a hundred times over and still making it seem entertaining!?!)
This fantastic journal has also served as an amazing sources of memories and a great reference point for me. When I get back to school in the fall, I'm printing out my journal, in its entirety, and it's getting its rightful place in my portfolio (between my world map, tobacco groups' t shirt scraps and countless receipts that I saved too, ha ha) and I'm so glad I'll have it forever...to reminisce and remember, to laugh and cry and just feel all the emotions that went into it all.
For now, all I can say is that I cannot WAIT to get back to school in the fall.
Traveling may be great and all--I'm so proud I made it through what I did, sometimes I can't even believe it myself and I think of all the stories I'll have to tell someday...
...and though I do hope to visit especially Thailand and Malaysia again some day, truly, there's no place like being with the people you love and the place you really belong.
Senior year-bring it ON! :-)
Current Mood:  contemplative
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May 3rd, 2004
11:19 am - ...back in the BC Airport...
...and totally, completely exhausted.
The summit was..interesting. If they'd told us that 85% of the attendees were going to be aboriginal natives I think we would have prepared a little differently.....most of them were looking at us like we had six heads the whole time. What an experience...I'll have to write more about it later, but
Why did they come? So say if we were to take a survey.......
To go to the mall- 50%
I heard there was a dance-15%
My mom/dad made me-25%
Free food-5%
I really wanted to come-5%
jsut a rough estimate, of course..
Oh, it was so interesting....we came to do some trainings and we ended up faciliating the entire conference. Some people, and I'm not naming names here, make mad money for doing that kind of stuff...but of course...we were the bargain of the century. FREE!
So, other than waking up totally sick to my stomach this morning, I feel much better now, don't have a ride home from the airport, so it should be interesting..haha..welcome home, KT :-p
BC...REPRESENT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! (guess you had to be there......)
I GET TO SEE MY MAMA TODAY!!! and tomorrow----BROCKPORT :-D
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April 29th, 2004
07:41 pm - BC in a nutshell....
Exhausted, running an action packed schedule......but glad to be here. SO good to catch up with Alison and Andrea..we've decided we make a pretty kickass threesome and are enjoying every minute of it!
The weather is gorgeous..the mountains are beautiful. We're staying in a cute B&B....with the most comfortable bed ever--someone remind me to buy a down comforter when I get home please?! Too bad I only slept till 4 am last night--ugh I am still totally screwed up..it's 745 pm and I'm ready to drop, which sucks because we have a VERY long night of prep ahead.....BLAHHH
On a better note, yesterday we had Vietnamese food, today Greek, they are feeding us like queens and it's fantastic!
Spent all day in schools today..presentations went well but were rushed...had that 'I want to be a teacher' feeling again (pretty unavoidable lately, what is up with that!?!)
Tomorrow the symposium starts, I'm looking so forward to it and hoping the energy stays up there. This is really a big thing for Prince George, British Columbia, and Canada as a whole so it's really important that it goes well and we get a lot done! I just found out I'm doing a presentation on international tobacco industry marketing and the like (um, in addition to the four other ones Andrea and I are doing tomorrow...) With that said--wish me luck on getting to bed tonight!
Through it all--I refuse to stress!!!!!!!!!!!
still counting down to brockport reunion....May 3 :-)
Current Mood:  sleepy
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04:29 am - well..i'm home.
And of course it's great, but it's also an odd feeling.
Poor Chris..it was like sensory overload and shock when I got back. It's cold here (it was 102 degrees when I left Bangkok...too hot, don't get me wrong, but it's still a BIG adjustment when it's..40 here)
The first thing I thought when we got out of hte airport..besides it's cold...is that everyone was driving on the wrong side of the road. ha ha ha..and if we were in Bangkok or KL, they would be...but this is AMERICA people, the right side reigns supreme!
Well in the time I was gone, of course things changed. Around my house, stores closed, new restaurants have opened, a new house was built, and songs are on the radio that I've never heard before. Construction is going on everywhere...
The buffalo news looks better and brighter...and the grass is green now. (when I left it was snowing!)
My sister Mary has a job now, and is taking driving lessons. Julie's hair looks fantastic in a new style...
We have cable internet, and my mom is in MEXICO (go mom!!!)
*sighs* and so it goes...
I'm tired...a little jet lagged I think, and so I didn't sleep too well last night...but I was with Christopher so it was a happy and warm feeling :-) What a fantastic reunion, a great first face to see in the airport, and the way to feel really, really HOME.
Spent most of today feeling sick to my stomach-Ken warned me that would happen, the readjustment to the difference in food (probably not the best idea to pig out on pizza, hot dogs and steak subs right away right? haha...CHRISTOPHER It's all your influence :-p)
and I come home, remarkably, with money in the bank..can't BELIEVE it. Not much, mind you..but I'm not SUPER broke! And that's a good feeling for sure!
Which reminds me of something I've been pondering for awhile. I think the thing I love the most obout SE Asia is that it's one of the few places left in the world where the average joe can go, live like a king and still come home wiht money in the bank. If you're in the game for vacation, you can stay in a true 5 star hotel in Bangkok for abouyt 50-60 USD per night, comparable to 200+ in the US. From $5/hour Thai massage to picking up fresh pineapple from the street vendors everywhere, to bargaining in the Malaysian markets...you just can't resist falling in love with this place and feeling so good about yourself when you leave.
So, am I different? I mean, besides the cornrows in my hair? (ha ha) Some people already seem to think so. I know I'm freaking out less...at least so far...but I guess I don't really know. I know I come home with an experience that no one else can ever replicate, or take away from me, a truly one of a kind, once in a lifetime experience I will never forget.
Well, all I have to say is that being away is great for sure..but truly, there is no place like HOME.
Well, it's onto British Columbia! I'm looking forward to it, but hopefully I can sleep on the plane! PLEASE!!!!!
Current Mood:  exhausted
Current Music: DMB-Crash
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April 25th, 2004
07:26 pm - Final thoughts.....
Had a fanststic day today...chatuchak weekend market, paddleboating in the park, last meal of noodles and 'chicken on a stick', as I call it. But enough of that, my mind is full tonight....
Well, the sun has set in Bangkok tonight, and with it comes the end of this whirlwind adventure that I've called life for the last three months. God. I absolutely can't believe it...
It's really odd to think that the reason I came to Brockport, the reason I joined Delta, the thing that seemed so far away for so long, this semester abroad, is already over. And I thought the bon voyage party was a reminder that we're all old???! My god...what is left?
In seven hours I will get on a plane for a long ass flight that takes me back to reality, away from the places I've grown to love and at times loved to hate, from the places that I wish everyone back home could see, the places that taught me how to grow up and be tough and be damn grateful for it all.
I look around, at everyone and everything, and try my hardest not to be sad. It's hysterical, because all this time I was counting down the days till I could come home, and now I don't want that day to be here. But, I AM tired of being alone. I don't like travelling by myself much I've discovered, which surprised me a lot at first, and I now know that the perfect combination for me is bringing a everyone I love over HERE..that'd definitely be the best of both worlds. Ah, to have it all...
I think about all the times that I put my life in the hands of complete strangers, and am happy and encouraged to think of all the times they did not let me down. I'm alive, which is a real reason to be thankful, considering all the things that could have gone wrong. I've become a lot more trusting, but guarded, a lot smarter when it comes to street savvy. I discovered I'll eat ANYTHING if I'm hungry enough (um, I ate EEL yesterday..haha), and that I'm not going to die if I eat something from the street vendors. Actually, that's all I care to eat, a 25 cent dinner is way better than a dumb restaurant around here ANY DAY! So, basically if you listen to anything the government warnings say about not eating food and whatever, you're missing out on some amazing experiences.
EXCEPTION: Nigeria, thanks very much...they hit that one on the mark!
Now mind you, I'm not complaining at all, I'm SO happy to see everyone at home so very soon, but I'm going to miss this place soo much. I definitely will be back this summer though, so I'm not going to be sad. Hopefully I can get a little help with the flight, but either way, I'll be there. With no luggage except an empty suitcase to bring back stuff in! Mark my words!
So, I come home tomorrow with three huge bags filled to the brim (ack! Sorry, my Christopher ;) ), a couple pounds lighter, (though you can't tell at all), with friends from all over the world, covered in various insect bites and the scars they've left behind, a little tanner and a LOT wiser.
I have so many plans for when I get home. Just to be a part of it all again...almost like everything is in a new light. A grateful one, for sure. A less stressed one, that's a given.
Well, I have to go pack! And say goodbye to Man and Otto too :-(
But in so many ways, I absolutely can't wait to be in the Buffalo airport, because I know that moment when I step off that plane and see Chris' face is going to be just...indescribable.
And I can't wait!
Current Mood:  anxious
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April 24th, 2004
11:58 am - safe, and sound, and back in Thailand...
Evidently, just barely though..I found out that they'd cancelled the same train I was on the day before because one of the workers had been killed outside the train in So.Thailand...jeeez...so glad to be out of there. The 22 hours went surprisingly fast..even though I had to sit on top of my luggage for most of the ride, because I had so damn much of it, and there was absolutely no room for luggage anywhere....bahhh..well,it's over now! and my huge bags are at the airport already, out of my way thank goodness!!!
How do I know I'm back in Thailand?
*It's 100 degrees...i'm not kidding...it's so much freaking hotter here than in Msia
*I'd been there for seven and a half hours, and we had THREE meals...ALL NOODLES...haha..you have to love the Thai
*Um, passion fruit and red bean ice cream anyone?? YUCK Thai desserts are sooooooooo gross sometimes :-p
I'm staying with Otto at her place and it's a blast..she and Man and I, well, we're off to the Bangkok zoo now!
Mom and Mark have so much fun in Mexico! Don't drink the water! Love you!!
TWO DAYS :-)
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April 22nd, 2004
09:24 am - Check out the website for next week's symposium in BC!
Should be a great time :-D Can't wait!!!!!!!!!
http://tobaccosmokesyouth.ca/main.html
OK, i'm leaving now...time for the train. I'm a little nervous, but, it should be all right. I have lots to read and stuff to eat and a new powerpuff girls towel to use as a pillow..haha..ok, it was a splurge, but I guess I'll always think those girls are so darn cute...
I won't tell you how I got lost for two hours yesterday trying to find Penang Hill, the main attraction on the island, and when I finally DID find it, that it's been closed for five months because the railcars are broken, even though NONE of the people who pointed me in the right direction told me so, and then I tried to take a bus back, by some miracle got on the RIGHT bus, but fell asleep halfway into the route and stumbled off the bus at what I thought was my stop..because it looked familiar..yeah,it was familiar all right, because it was exactly where I'd gotten on the bus in the first place! I did the whole 45 minute route and then got nothing out of it. (and I can hear it now, especially Jen I think would say, "only you, Kate", and shake her head and laugh...am I so right or am I so right?!?)
Needless to say, I took a cab back...hahaha...cabs are such a ripoff on the island, so much more expensive than KL, but I didn't even CARE about money at that point...
So, just a note to self: It's a really, really bad idea to walk around all day and get sunburned the day before you have to get on a train for 22 hours...dummy :-p
**HOME** in four days...seeing Man and Otto tomorrow...weekend Market on Sunday...life is great!!!
Current Mood:  cheerful
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April 21st, 2004
01:01 pm
umm..and did I mention how I'm coming home in FIVE DAYS?!?!??!?!?!??!?!
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12:45 pm
absolutely no time to write......jotting things in here to remember for later.
The past three days I...
*stayed in a 5 star hotel...for free...umm jacuzzi bathtub and rooftop pool anyone??! And free meals...
*ate like a freaking queen, speaking of food
*coordinated the activities of an international group of youth at the conference from Taiwan, Cambodia, Malaysia, Indonesia, Vietnam, Thailand, and of course I'm forgetting some.... :-p
*Went to the conference dinner, an outdoor bbq on the beach with seriously the best food I have ever eaten in my life..and the most of it too!
*at said dinner, was coerced by the head of the conference to 'start the party'....so I got up in front of 200+ tobacco control professionals, you know, people I may need for contacts someday, and sang 'I will survive' on the karaoke--Alone! (AHHH)
*also at said dinner, led our lovely youth group in the teaching of the Macarena...again, in front of all these people.
haha..I'll never live it down..especially now because everyone in the SEAsia tobacco control alliance knows me as the "american idol"
..don't get me wrong...I have been freaking busy as hell, just not stressing out about it (WHOO HOO!)...aside from all the youth hoopla, I had to finish the evaluations from Operation Silence, write an op-ed on Philip Morris promotions in Malaysia for the shareholders meeting in Jersey next week, trying to get the movie surveys done for Ken, and I'm still trying to get prepped for British Columbia next week....
all of course..without a computer or access to one, for less than 25 Ringgit an hour...GRR...I REFUSE to pay hotel rip off prices!!! I paid 10 ringgit to get to this internet cafe ,for 3 ringgit...haha
well, in keeping with the good, american idol spirit...some drs from Malaysia took Susan and I out to a karaoke bar last night...it's super cool, it's private, you get your own little room with leather couches and literally a million songs to choose from. Cool! I have to get my mom there sometime!!!!
Said goodbye to Susan today...it was so sad..but we WILL see each other again! I am determined!!!!
Sooo--Beautiful sunrises, sunny warm breezy days, food that's to die for, and the ability to treat yourself super well without breaking the bank...
PENANG=AMAZING
Back to Bangkok tomorrow !
Seeing Man and Otto again...YAYYYYYYYY
Thanks for the emails everybody :-d will be replying ASAP
Current Mood: chipper
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April 17th, 2004
09:13 pm - Last night in KL...
...pretty tame. Went into the office for a couple hours, which I actually didn't mind, because it was like a final goodbye, good to do the 'routine' for one more day. Got some last minute stuff done too...
Went to Phillip Wain this morning before that...had so much fun just joking around with the trainers--they really ARE the best, and I'm going to miss them so much...and, I decided to do Latin dance, b/c they had a class going on! So, even though they were like on week four, I hopped right in...haha it was HYSTERICAL...I had so much fun and knew I looked like a total flailing dork the entire time...but they said for a first timer I did really good! Alissa would have been so proud of me!! :-) They told me, and I quote, that I "have the butt for salsa."
Um...was that a compliment!? Better do a double workout tomorrow :-p
Well, it took forever, but I've managed to stuff the way too much that I brought in the first place, as well as the way too much stuff that I bought, into those two huge bags (hey, don't be too impressed, I'm not saying they CLOSE or anything :-/), so I still have a lot of work to do. BLECH...
Last meal here in KL: Chicken satay and butter naan. Hmm, Malay and Indian....who cares, it was a freaking good meal that cost me all of two dollars, bottled water included. THAT'S definitely something I'm going to miss...
in other, related news---bought satay sticks and chopsticks for the big return home...and I'm pricing woks online righ tnow...seriously, I can't WAIT to cook, no lie!!
Umm...I really, really am going to miss this place...but I'm also really tired of being here alone. I think that pretty much sums it up right there. I know I'll never be able to describe what each day was like, what it feels like to be here, and how overwhelming and wonderful everything here is...and that kind of puts a damper on it. Does that make sense at all? I wish I had a video camera!!! I have to find a way to come back for those three weeks this summer...I have to. :-( any ideas on how I can raise 1,000 dollars for a reallllly good cause? :*(
Ooh, before I forget!
OK, so the wedding ring theory! Since i JUST used it...it's an appropriate time to spell it all out. I can't BELIEVE I haven't written it in here before!
OK, so before I left for Thailand Ken mentioned that it wouldn't be a bad idea to kind of pretend I was married, to fend off some annoying unwanted male attention. I'd read about the harrassment single women can get travelling in Asia, so I said, what the heck, worth a shot. So, I went out and bought myself a beautiful, 4 ringgit silver band with a rather convincing stone....and I've actually had to use the whole technique about 7 times.
here's how it works:
Creepy guy: "*wink*" or, "hellomiss" (said as one word, usually accompanied by whiplash from turning head so hard, I'm not even kidding...)
Or, creepy guy, in the circumstance of today: "Can I follow you?" (UM...NOOO!??!)
Me: "*cute smile* Um, sorry...*flashes ring*," hopefully blinding the offending sucker......and then, the walk off...HAHA..using my salsa-licious butt of course ;)
Copyright Katy Pezzimenti, 2004...HAHA
OK, so I'm a dork, but it seriously has helped. It works EVERY time! I highly recommend it!!!!!!!
So, I probably won't be online much the next couple of days...Don't WORRY, Mama :-) I'll beheading to Penang tomorrow morning, not sure what the situation is going to be there, but I'm looking forward to getting out and seeing as much of the island (ISLAND!!!!!!!!!!!!) as I can, and then of course the conference....so things will be pretty busy. Pray that my luggage and I make it...ugh it's gonna suck lugging all that stuff around. Well, Live and Learn!!!!
I now realize how unbelievably stupid I have been in scheduling this whole thing...I am going to sit on a train for 23 hours to get to Bangkok from Penang, and then stay in Thailand for a day and a half, then get on a plane for another 22 hours....BLAHHH I can't take it! I'm going to be either exhausted or completely cabin fevered by the time I get off that airplane on the 26th....oh my god...it's coming up so fast!! WHOO HOO!
8 days :-d
Current Mood: mellow
Current Music: Liz Phair: Extraordinary
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