So on the twentieth of August, 2015, I arrived at this big town in Idaho (The Potatoland) called Twin Falls. I will be staying here for ten months as part of my exchange program with EF.
Me with some people at the EF camp in Thailand. The resort was beautiful. Why the heck did I have to close my eyes in every photo, darn it?
After the horrible night at Welcome Days (which I wish they would change for the sake of next year’s poor kids) I found the sleep on the plane very pleasant. Ate a chocolate meal bar, waited an hour or two for the next flight, and just crash on the plane, ignoring the roaring engines and whatever the heck the passenger next to you was doing.
I flew through Phoenix, and snapped some pictures of Grand Canyon from up above. Pictures to come later though. Text first.
What I will miss: Love Live Movie airing in Thailand, School Idol Diary on sale, Blacx volume 25 coming out, less time for anime or manga, the next volume of Beyond Another Darkness, and less time for Rin’s upcoming event.
But hey, it’s not all potatoes here. I met some really nice guys here. My host mom being an IEC, I decided that I should go on secondary visits with her. There were really nice people out there… Aylin, Roel, Alexandra, Q, Ya-ting, Sarah…man, I wished I met these people at Welcome Days so I don’t feel so awkward and alone. (Yeah, I’m not good at making friends. Sorry, guys, if you hated me.)
I’ll tell you something, though. There was this “divide” in Welcome Days between the European kids and Asian kids. Me, being separated from all of my Thai friends, I tried to talk to girls from nearby countries. (Nearby, being as far as South Korea.) Turns out they found their friends, and I got excluded from them too. So then I tried to close this gap by talking to Germans and Danish, but I just can’t shake off the awkwardness. I tried desperately to talk to my Norwegian roommate, but my incompetence with getting a conversation going made me lose her too. Ah, well, the road is not paved with rose petals. It’s paved with bones. Well, not bones, but, um, you know.
My school…well, I somehow got used to being under the radar. I went to Canyon Ridge, which is such a gigantic and diverse school that nobody even knew I am an exchange student until the Open House. They all thought I was a refugee, which I don’t blame them at all. I can’t say I didn’t enjoy the diversity though. Kinda sad when I don’t see any Thai kids here. Well, at least I know a girl from Myanmar and some other nice American girls. Even had a classmate from Russia and Afghanistan.
My school is rivals with the nearby Twin Falls High School. Wow, my first time having a rival school! It doesn’t really affect me personally, but whenever I see someone from Twin, I was like: Um? Are we supposed to be rivals? Hello? Can I talk to you?
It’s been 3 weeks since I arrived. I’m worried as to why homesickness isn’t here to kick my butt yet, but I’ll enjoy it while it lasts. I can see what America lacks compared to Thailand and what Thailand lacks compared to America. Well, we lack ATMs and all those fancy stuff. America lacks healthy food. Whoops, forget I said anything. *grins* But I love Quesadilla! Even though that’s Mexican food and doesn’t count!
Those of you who played Aura Kingdom (or Fantasy Frontier) will remember a map called “Twin Falls Forest”. Honestly, before I came here, I had this fleeting feeling of going to a place in an online game. While they lack skies with a hundred colours and a whole lot of trees, they do have the Snake Canyon, the Perrine Bridge, sand, and desert bushes. A whole lot of bushes. And fire. So much fire that the air hostess on my plane from Salt Lake City to Twin Falls had to make it clear to the passenger that the engine is not on fire.
This ENGINE is on FAIYAAAAAA!!!!
Mangas here are so expensive. I mean, they cost three times as much as they would in Thailand. Lucky we have libraries. All hail the libraries!
Ok, enough nonsense. It’s getting really cold here. 23 celcius maximum in falls. That’s like…even colder than winter in Thailand, man! And it’s just Frigging Falls! What the hell is this freezing desert nightmare!?!?
I envy those from the polar. Me, who came from somewhere near the equator, and will never knock up that much cold resistance.
Well…until next time where I update more about stuff I do here. Love you all ❤
bonutzuu 