oh eight is great

meow! life is good :)

I moved in with my host family last sunday. I'll be living here with them for the next two months. I love them already. the mom and the dad are great. they don't speak a lot of english, but it's good to have to practice my thai with them. they have two daughters and a son. the son is 16 and is studying/living at a boarding school in singapore until mid-march, about when I move out. which is good timing actually, since I'm sleeping in his room right now. meowch indeed.. the girls are wonderful. they both speak very good english, so that's helpful. the older daughter is 18 and is called pear, like the fruit. the younger one, pim, is 12. she is easily the most adorable little thai sister I could have asked for. the way that pear and pim interact is very similar to the way lyss and I relate to each other, so living with them feels very familiar. actually, the whole situation reminds me of my own family, circa 2002. I feel very comfortable here. :)

tomorrow the whole group is going to stay with the lahu village until sunday. when I told pim this, she said "oh.. I miss you!" she is so cute. anyway, this trip officially falls under the category "roughing it." but it's only four days, and if an old man like ajaan mike can do it, so can I. just so long as I have my hair-dryer with me, I'll be good to go.

also, I'd like to give a shout-out, carson daly style, to diana and announce publically that "meowch" made a dramatic debut in thailand about two weeks ago and is flourishing here, especially among the locals.

in short, I'm having the time of my life here. I definitely miss a select few at home, and a couple in england, (and one in france? jeez sarah, you make things so difficult,) but other than that, I can easily see myself spending a solid amount of time here in the future.

peace :)