Amazing Thailand Phuket Countdown 2021/2022 was a bit of a disaster

Andrea Bocelli! The greatest tenor of our time!

So… uh… do the organizers even know who he is? Do they even listen to him?

I don’t usually write posts like this, since this blog is for anime/manga/light novel stuff, but about six years ago this was a lifestyle blog so I guess this isn’t so out of place. I wanted to just forget this ever happened but I can’t listen to Andrea Bocelli peacefully after what I consider that the Thai organizers of the event have disrespected him. I have to get this out of my system. So, here’s what happened:

Things you may want to know about America

Probably the last post before I leave America, so here goes nothing:

1. Not all Americans are racist. Some are genuinely interested in people from other countries. Some are sheltered so much they just don’t know how you wish to be treated as a foreigner.
2. Eventually you’ll run into racist people. Ignore them, they won’t listen to lectures unless they are good people.
3. Everything with cinnamon is Mexican, so says American restaurants.
4. Hamburgers and hot-dogs are not all the food they have in America. They have food from every corner of the world, if you know where to look.
5. Not all Americans are fat.
6. Like every other place, there are crazy people in America.
7. Don’t comment on other people’s appearance.
8. They have a term for everything and get easily offended on sometimes harmless remarks.
9. It’s a first world country but internet is so damn expensive.
10. Food is also very expensive compared to other countries.
11. The high schools are not like Mean Girls. They aren’t like High School Musical either.
12. Be outgoing. Or at least pretend to be.
13. America is a big country, so people on the east coast and west coast are totally different.
14. Don’t get angry when people think everything from Asia is Chinese.
15. A lot of people only speak one language. Maybe a little Spanish in High school.
16. According to my European friends, public transportation isn’t as good in America. According to me, at least they don’t have crazy bus drivers who think they are the star of Fast and Furious.
17. How to be a nice person? Be talkative.
18. Some people think everybody in the world speaks perfect English. That doesn’t stop them from trying to understand you if you don’t.
19. If you do speak good English, they think you’re American.
20. Some people express their love for America in strange ways.
21. For some, the Civil War is not over yet.
22. If you don’t like the same thing they like, they’ll think there’s something wrong with you. Seriously, I told them I don’t like salty bacons and they think I’m sick or something. I don’t have to be like you, okay? The world doesn’t revolve around you.
23. They offer good courses in school. Take them if you have the chance.
24. Everything with soy sauce in it is Asian, so says American brands.
25. If you are a foreigner, you do not have to put your hand on your heart during the Pledge of Allegiance. Standing up and showing respect is enough.
26. Same applies for the National Anthem.
27. In a modern American household, you don’t have to do anything by hand except for cleaning the bathroom.
28. School work is easy.
29. If you’re from India, you’re not Asian. You’re Indian. So say my friends.
30. Star Wars is everywhere.
31. Zoning law requires all houses to look pretty much…the same.
32. You can be 15 and drive, so be careful crossing the streets.
33. BBQ. Everywhere.
34. America is weird, like every other country. Let’s say people are weird.
35. Texas is part of America. It was independent for a while but not anymore.
36. California is not perfect.
37. People are scared of Muslims, but don’t worry, many are very understanding.
38. Yes, people do have guns in their homes.
39. Obesity IS a problem. There are many kinds of obesity and some of them have it since birth, which isn’t really their fault.
40. Eating disorders are a problem too. Anorexia, bulimia, binge eating, you name it.
41. Be aware that school shootings is not something that can’t happen to you.
42. Some think global warming is a myth, same as WWII. Your breakfast was a myth, then.
43. In some states, the military do recruits in school. They get very special recognition from the general public.
44. America is not perfect.

November Full Moon Shine & “Synergizing” for Christmas

It’s one day after Halloween and I see Christmas lights coming up. Shows how big Christmas is in America.

I had a White Thanksgiving where the temperature is -17 celsius and it was pure torture for someone used to a temperature of 38 celsius. Even so, I went to play outside in the 45 cm snow without boots, just my tennis shoes and a pair of socks.

Too bad the snow was too powdery and I couldn’t build a decent looking snowman. Welp.

Behold my dark magic ritual site.

Behold, this post is even longer than the Lagoon post.

Root Beer Float – Roller Coaster – Chicken Salad

I went to Lagoon yesterday, and it was really fun!

But this was the first thing I saw:

Hmm, not exactly the best way to start the day, but hey.

(Long post awaits…)

Cowboys and Indians…Indian?

This week is homecoming week in CRHS, and tomorrow we’re supposed to dress up as cowboys or “Indians”.

Indians, eh? Pfft.

You don’t realize how you’re offending Native Americans, right? Well, some people are enjoying their privilege to the maximum, it seems.

At least call them Native Americans, please. They’re not Indians. Indians live in India.

If I had a sari, I would go to school tomorrow and yelled to whoever came up with this event: In your face, mate! I’m dressed up as an Indian, and no one can defy me!

Well, that’s going a bit overboard. But hey.

For the purpose of my blog not going out of control, have a moe Rakshata from Love Live.

Twin Falls? Is that a place in an online game?

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 ❤