Nu's (my host-hostbrother) Departure

    This last weekend (well some of last week too) I went to Bangkok. The main reason was for my host-brother, Nu, to finish up everything he needed to leave the country and then fly out. Nu, my host-mom, Raul (the guy from Mexico), and I all went. We were there for 4 days, but we were gone for almost 5.
   On the first day we flew out of Udon Thani. Nu had a huge gathering of his friends at the airport all wishing him goodbye and even giving him some presents (I was a little jealous). But then Raul and I got noticed and the wanted a picture...

Nu's group of friends with Nu, Raul, and me at the center.

      When we got to the airport in Bangkok and took city transit: monorail (I think). Instead of going straight to the house like I presumed we would we actually went to pick up Nu's cousin from school. Her name was Ling Ling (kind of like the bicycle bell), and after we picked her up we all went to Nu's aunt and uncle's house by taxi.
      That night we went on this awesome boat ride through the middle of Bangkok. That's right, Bangkok at night on boat. The boat even had a nice meal for us. Along the river we saw many hotels, lit-up temples, and huge bridges. Raul and I also got to experience Indian dancing (bollywood music).

One of the many cool lit-up temples along the river.

The buffet on the boat (pretty grand).

Ling Ling, Nu, Me, and Raul on the boat in front of one of the big bridges.

The group of Indians dancing to bollywood music. Raul joining with them to the left.

    The next day Nu, mama Jing (host mom), Raul, and I all went to the Canadian embassy to pick up Nu's passport. Then the rest of the day was spent at the largest temple in not only Bangkok but Thailand as well.

Raul and I in front of the "golden temple".

Our attempt at trying to hold up the temple: Epic Fail.

Mama Jing and I in front of a building that allowed no photography inside.

A main building with a funeral march in procession in front of it.

   The next day we went to a museum devoted to Jim Thompson (look him up on google, kind of an interesting life) and his house that he mysteriously left behind after his disappearance in 1967. His house was a combination of authentic historic Thai houses, and his main profession was the Thai silk trade. His house, now the museum, is full of ancient artifacts and information on the Thai silk trade.

One of the traditional Thai houses.

Some of the old artifacts that are stored in the house

Man! Too tall for even the traditional houses...

   After the that museum, we went to this really cool interactive museum that was near by...

They had art all around the building!

This was a cool exhibit made entirely of unstrung fabric. We even got lay on it.

Raul and I even got to add a little piece of our home to the museum.

The next and final day was Nu's flight. Surprisingly enough there were almost no tears shed, but tones of laughter...

Nu and his aunt, uncle, and cousin.

This picture reminded me of Forrest Youth Exchange photo (minus the sombrero).

    After Nu departed my host parents took Raul and I to the weekend market in Bangkok. It was HUGE! It had almost any craft you can think of coming from Thailand, and it also had a bunch of T-shirts, sunglasses, and other random souvenirs.

My only picture of the market. This is only one of the many streets.

     After the market we went back to the house, finished packing, had some pizza (interesting toppings), and left for the train station. I found out that the train was an overnight train and that we would have our own bunks to sleep on. It was an interesting trip, and the train had nothing on US's Amtrak.

Ahhh... Relaxing...

Some interesting countryside out the train window in the morning.

    Finally on Sunday we arrived home. We were all groggy and I'm pretty sure I went to bed early that night... It was great to be home from Bangkok.