My first day!

Here is the continuation of my story from last time:


When I arrived in the Bangkok airport, my legs were shaking so much from nervousness that I thought my knees would knock together. Then I saw Pastor Lawan, and I actually recognized her! She recognized me, too. My cross-cultural adventure had begun!

I had to wait for her for a few hours while she finished a meeting. She asked me, in her broken English, "You want to take a bath?" I replied enthusiastically, "Yes!" I was picturing relaxing in some hot water, in a nice bathtub, soaking out the aches of the 28-hour airplane ride. I felt so shocked when I saw the bathroom! There was just a toilet and a spigot on the wall- no curtain, no separate shower area, and no hot water! I read a sign over the toilet instructing children not to stand on the toilet seat and squat to use the toilet. I realized then that a miscommunication had taken place- obviously, Pastor Lawan's understanding of "take a bath" was very different from mine!

After taking a cold shower and waiting for a few hours, Pastor Lawan and I boarded an overnight bus to go up north, to Chiang Mai. We sat on that bus for 12 hours, and arrived in Chiang Mai at 4 a.m. We waited for two more hours for the earliest bus up to our small village of Mea Kachan. By the time we got to Mea Kachan, it was about 8 a.m. and we were ready to start the day! I had not really slept in more than 65 hours.



To be continued...

A Thailand "Songteaw"- the kind of bus I took to Mea Kachan from Chiang Mai



Vocabulary: All verbs are in the regular past tense



Verb-

Present tense _____Past tense



arrive __________arrived

recognize ________recognized

finish ___________finished

ask ____________asked

reply ___________replied

realize __________realized

board __________boarded

arrive __________arrived

wait ___________waited



Cloze- try to use the vocabulary words to fill in the blanks



I was very excited when I _________ work on Friday, because I was going on vacation! I packed my bags and went to the airport. But when I ___________ at the airport, I ___________ that I had forgotten my passport! "Oh no," I thought, "I'll never get to my gate on time!" I hurried back home to get it and rushed back to the airport. I was in luck! My flight was delayed, so I still had time to get to the gate. I ___________ in line for the security screening. A security official _________, "Do you have any liquids in your carry-on luggage?" I _________, "Yes, I do," and I handed her my plastic bag with my contact lens solution. I got through security and dashed to my gate. I was just in time! I ___________ the plane and began my vacation. Then I got the best surprise ever! I __________ someone sitting two rows behind me in the plane. It was my best friend! She was going on vacation to the same destination as me!

Grammar:

When we talk about something that happened in the past, we use the PAST TENSE. We use PAST TENSE to describe one thing that happened and is over already. Often, there is a word that tells when it happened, such as yesterday, last night, last week, or a long time ago.

For regular verbs, we usually add -ed onto the verb. So, "walk" in the present becomes "walked" in the past. If the verb already ends in -e, we just add a -d. So, "dance" in the present becomes "danced" in the past.

I walk to the store often. (present tense verb)
I walked to the store yesterday. (past tense verb)

In this blog, I was telling a story about things that happened more than five years ago. That's why I used past tense. I wrote, "she asked me," "I replied," and, "I arrived in Chiang Mai."

Grammar Exercise:

For each sentence in present tense, rewrite it in the past tense. For example-

I laugh at funny jokes every day.
I laughed at a funny joke yesterday.

1. I paint a picture every week.

I _________________ a picture last week.

2. I type emails to my friend every day.

I ____________ an email to my friend last night.

3. I play tennis every Wednesday.

I ________________ tennis last Wednesday.

4. I dance at every party.

I ______________ at the party two days ago.

5. My parents enjoy every holiday with their children.

My parents ______________ last Christmas with their children.

Hi! For my first official English blog, I would like to start by sharing some of my own experiences learning about a different language and culture.

Moving Day!

Six and a half years ago, I began a cross cultural adventure when I moved to Thailand. I remember saying goodbye to my parents after an exhausting day of packing, tearful farewells with my close friends in Pennsylvania, a three-hour drive to New York, and an emotional dinner with my relatives. I don't remember many details about it except for the sharp pang of nervous anticipation in my gut, which was my constant companion. Finally, at midnight, I sat alone at the gate waiting to board my plane.

I switched planes three times and arrived in Bangkok twenty-seven hours later. Believe me, I hardly slept or ate at all the whole time. My stomach kept twisting and turning inside me and I felt like I had swallowed a live snake. I think I went to the bathroom every twenty minutes! When the plane landed and I walked into the airport, my legs were shaking so hard that I could hardly walk. I was so scared! I was supposed to meet Pastor Lawan there, who was the woman who ran the orphanage. I was going to be a volunteer staff and teacher at her orphanage for hill tribe children. I kept thinking, "What if Pastor Lawan doesn't recognize me? What if I don't recognize her? What if she didn't understand me when I spoke to her on the phone, asking her to meet me? She doesn't understand English very well." I felt all alone in this foreign country, unable to speak the language... (to be continued in my next blog)


Pastor Lawan with Amee and Naree
(two children in the orphanage)








Vocabulary

Did you notice the words in dark print? They are all adjectives. Adjectives are words which modify, or describe, a noun. Here are the adjectives that I used in my blog:

exhausting
tearful
close
emotional
sharp
nervous


Now, try to place the adjectives in the blanks of the following sentences:


1. Having a baby was the most ____________ experience she ever had.


2. Dan always has ____________ feelings before he speaks in public.


3. The first day of preschool, the room was filled with ____________ children who missed their mothers.


4. Beth is my very ________ friend.


5. I just finished an ______________ exercise class.


6. Be careful, that's a very ____________ knife!

Grammar


As you may have noticed, in the English language, adjectives are usually placed before the noun. That's why I wrote, "an exhausting day," because the adjective "exhausting" describes what kind of day it was. Therefore, the word, "exhausting" goes before the word, "day."


Here are some other examples:


I have a blue sweater. (blue describes the sweater)

Oh no! A wet dog jumped on me! (wet describes the dog)


Try to rewrite the following sentences using the adjective:

example- I looked up at the sky. The sky was blue. 4I looked up at the blue sky.

1. She was wearing shorts. The shorts were orange. 4________________________

2. My friend is making soup. The soup is hot. 4_____________________________

3. I am listening to music. The music is classical. 4___________________________


For more information on adjectives, you can check out this site:
http://grammar.ccc.commnet.edu/grammar/adjectives.htm