An update finally!!

So to update all y'all!! I know it has been awhile, but here goes... Belgium continued to be great and my host family there was INCREDIBLE!! It seems that every host family I stay with is so different and yet they all are wonderful!! To highlight Belgium a bit, we performed two shows on our show day there and I think the first show was my worst by far. I remeber being told in the beginning of our trip that we will all have a bad show at one point or another, but I never believed it and for the most part was pretty consistent. Then came Belgium... during the first show I did so many things wrong and I seriously felt like my body was detached from my brain at moments. So to fill you all in, the show started and everything was going great until before the rythm portion of our show. I had been moved to mic groups for the song before rythm and then during rehersal my enterance for the bucket portion was switched to the other side, so I got off stage after mic groups and was saying something to a cast mate when all of a sudden I heard the intro music to rythm and got this look of "oh crap" on my face and sprinted to the other side of the stage so that I could grab my bucket and go but by the time I got to the other side I was way late so I instead got to watch everyone else do buckets instead. I know this doesn't sound that bad, but believe me, it gets better. So I was really mad at myself for not paying attention and not having my head in the game as well as it could have been but it was not a big deal cuz it happens to everyone at some point in time or another and so i tried to brush it off and just continue with the rest of the show. Then we get to the Culture Jam portion of our show and I am in mic groups for the American swing dancing song. So I am up on the mic platforms jamming out because you are suppose to just have a good time with the song and so I was really getting into it, then we came to the part where we all throw our hands up in the air repetidly from one side to the other. So as I go to do this I forget that the mic is in front of me and completely knock the mic over and see it fall in slow motion and hit Yui (one of the main dancers) in the head and then hit Chris (her dance partner) and then proceed to fall on to the floor with a loud thud and a high screech....ooops :( So at this point I would have loved a picture of my face because I am sure it was probably one of complete horror and then turned quickly into an "oh my gosh, what do i do now!" face!! Then I recomposed myself and kept jamming out on the mic platform, trying to pretend that nothing had happened when in fact I thought that after the show I would be killed by Gaby (the head of the tech team) because in staging they gave us all a big lecture on how to properly carry a mic, and how you treat a mic which definitely didn't include throwing it on the floor... But thankfully they didn't kill me cuz otherwise I wouldn't be able to tell this story to all of you today. I did however feel so bad after the little incident that it was hard to get back into the rest of the show, but what made it even more wierd was that the tech team never said anything to me... Seriously not a word, like nothing ever happened... I expected to never live it down or to get a rediculous nickname out of the entire situation, but seriously, nothing. the next show however did go 85 times better than that show did, I guess we are all just allowed a bad show at some point and I had mine. So that was Belgium and I think my host family would agree with the fact that it was probably my most clumsy city. I seriously dropped something on an hourly basis there.

After Belgium, we boarded the plane and headed to Atlanta, Georgia! We actually stayed in a suburb of Atlanta called Gwenitt County. My host family here was also very great! To highlight what happened in Atlanta, for community service, we did our first Stand for Peace in Creekland Elementary School for a bunch of 6th graders and it was FABULOUS!! I had such a blast with the kids there and I can't wait to continue doing SFP in other schools in the states. After SFP, we performed a mini show for all of the 6th graders and it was so great! Officially one of my favorite noises in the world is a gym full of kids performing Stomp on the bleachers with us!! I think it just goes to show how easy it is to have a positive impact on young kids if you just take the time to spend with them. Also in Gwenitt County we spent some time at the Boys and Girls clubs in the area. My favorite time there was playing touch football with a bunch of 10 year old boys that didn't think I would want to play or could play!! I am glad my coordination was working on that day because I really needed it! I had such a blast with those kids! And one final highlight of Georgia was going with my host family to Stone mountain and seeing the lazer show there. One of the very first songs they played at the lazer show was the song by Bon Jovi and the girl from Sugarland and I think it is called something like "Who says you can't go home" but in the song it talks about going all around the world and that no matter where you go or how far you travel, home will always be there when you want to go back. The song made me really think about how by the time the program is over and I fly back to Minnesota, I will have traveled all the way around the world and how i will go back to my home looking at it through different eyes knowing what I know now, but I also think I have gained more of an appreciation for it and the people there! So it was such a great feeling to know that I have loved all the places I have been, will continue to love all the places I have yet to go, but still have a love for where I have came from!! So that is great I think!! That caps up Georgia and from there we headed to Winston-Salem, North Carolina!

I have been here for just 2 days now and haven't gotten the chance to do or see much, but we had a discussion today about tobacco companies and the positive and negative affects on people and communities that tobacco has had and continues to have. We discussed this because Winston-Salem was built on tobacco companies and so it is a topic that is interesting for this region! But that is all for now, my hands are exhausted!! Lots of love to all and goodnight!

Belgium!

So to update all of you... Crazy busy here all the time!!! Erfurt was great and it was so nice to see the city and really get to know my way around!!! We walked everywhere and it was great! Some highlights from there.... I think I had the coolest CI project so far when we were asked to paint a self-portrait of ourselves, not how we see ourself on the outside, but rather how we view ourselves from the inside out!! The coolest thing about this was that I had always thought I was horrible at painting, drawing, and basically anything artistic so when I was able to paint and it actually turned out better than I had hoped for, I realized that maybe I am not as bad as I thought I was! :) Next, the show was great and we had some guest break dancers perform in our show which was very cool and they were incredible! The only disappointing thing from the city was that the evening before the show I had my wallet and my camera stolen. :( But there is always a lesson to be learned and so it really brought me back to the reality that life is full of good and bad and that sometimes it takes a while to see the reason behind things that happen. The only thing that is really disappointing to me is that I had taken a picture of my painting and now I can never show it to the people I love back home, but such is life.

I am currently in Hasselt, Belgium and it is great! My host family is great and it seems that everyplace I go my host family is wonderful in thier own way! Today our CI consisted of going to a school for children and young adults with physical and mental disabilities. It was great because our job there was just to interact and play with the children! I completely had a BLAST and was continually amazed at how much life and energy these kids had! But that is all I have time for right now because it is time for dinner! Peace and love!

Wow, long time no post!!

So sorrz about the long time between posts, but I am currentlz in Germanz and would like to update all of zou on mz life so far!! First, the kezboards here have the z and the y in the opposite places than American kezboards and since I don't have the time or the patience to switch all of them, zou will just have to bear with me. So startíng with Vimmerbz, Sweden... After the cast arrived, the week flew bz with so much to be done but it all went off verz well with onlz some minor problems, which we sloved with ease!! I think the best part of the week was the end. Getting to watch all of mz cast members perform the show was incredible and it was great to sit in the audience and see the reaction on people's faces. I think it was especiallz cool to get to know so manz of the people in Vimmerbz and then get to see them react to the show and be moved bz it. It reallz brought me back to whz we do the show and gave me a renewed energz and spirit for performing it!! It was incredible to have people we had been working with for the past couple weeks come up to us with tears in their ezes after the show and tell us how much thez loved it and how important it is to have a show like this for people to see and understand. The next best thing was Sundaz which was a host familz daz and Sokheoun and I actuallz got to relax for the first time in what seemed like FOREVER!!! Our host familz took us on a walk through the woods, which was beautiful; then to the biggest Oak tree in Europe, which we weren't suppose to climb, but did it anzwazs; then to thier lake cabin, where we enjozed coffee and some treats; next we went to another host families house, where we got to have dinner, sing, plaz games, and just relax! After all of this, we went home and hung out for hours before finallz deciding to go to bed. It was seriouslz the best daz in Vimmerbz I think because I didn't have to think about anzthing work related and just got to enjoz mz host familz. The following morning we had to saz goodbze and this was so hard because I had gotten to feel so at home in mz host familz that I didn't want to leave and even though I was onlz there for 2 and a half weeks, it felt like much longer!

So we boarded the bus and headed to our next citz, Uelzen, Germany. While here we did manz things, but to highlight, mz host familz was intimidating at first but once I got to know them I reallz enjozed them and all that thez had to offer. the CI I was involved in for the week was working at an immigration house, which is a place that mainlz zoung immigrant children can come to and get help with thier German and their homework and just to socialiye and hang out. While we were there, we helped them prepare for a partz that thez were having the Major attend to trz to get more funding for their facilitz. It was cool helping them set up and get readz and I have now decided that if I am adding "partz planner for non-profit organiyations" to mz list of potential occupations!! So anzwazs, the show in Uelzen was great and it was fun to be back in it. Mz renewed spirit and I were readz to put on a great show! The next daz we spent with our host familz just relaxing and having a good time.

Finallz, zesterdaz we traveled to Erfurt, Germany. I have come to notice that I think it is funnz that I still get nervous before I meet mz host familz for the week. One would think that I have had so manz that I would be comfortable with it bz now, but I think a little nerves are good sometimes. So we got to Erfurt and met our host families, mz familz is great and thez have hosted UwP students manz times in the past (6 in total i think not including mz roommate and I). Thez alreadz seem like a lot of fun!! Also, zesterdaz we found out that when our cast is in New York in November, we will get the incredible opportunitz of going to the United Nations!!! I am completelz stoked about this and I need to start doing research on it so that I go in informed!! But that prettz much sums everzthing up for now!! Till next time, peace!

Execution is key!

So the cast arrived and oh what a great feeling!! I don't think that i have been hugged so much in one daz ever!!!! It was so great and I didn't realize initially how excited I would actually get to see the entire cast!! I could describe the feeling at first until a staff member came up to me and asked if it felt like Christmas and at first I was confused, but then it totally made sense!! I completely felt like a small child at Christmas! Like you spend so much time waiting for the day to come, and when it finally arrives, you can't believe it and all of the emotion of that day and the time that has been spent preparing for it just comes rushing forward and bursts out of you! And all of the things that you struggled with throughout the week doesn't really matter anymore because the cast is here!
It has also been great having the cast finally here in Vimmerby as well, and letting them experience the things that we had planned and set up thinking of them and how they would enjoy it or what they would get educationally from it! I was originally very nervous to run the city with the cast here and to be responsible for a group of 70 students for an entire week, but now that I have a couple days under my belt, I have gotten comfortable and really enjoy the pressure and the hard work! But can't add much more now, gotta go!!

Vimmerby - T-minus 1 day!

So it is officially one day before my cast arrives in Vimmerby and I am so excited!! It is a unique feeling because I am so excited to see my cast but I also know that things will really get stressful when they arrive and it will be sink or swim time! I am nervous now that the students will not like what we have planned for them or that someone will back out of our plans and it will cause everything that we have worked for to spin out of control! It makes me just a little nervous I guess. But anyways, planning for all of the students to arrive has been hecktic and hard but also a great learning experience for me. We did not have enough host families until yesterday! Crazy right, and we had been working our butts off to get them! I don't think there was ever a time in our advanced work when we weren't soliciting for host families!! But they are taken care of now so we are all breathing a bit easier. Also, the host family that Sokhoeun and I have been staying with has been WONDERFUL! They are so helpful and excited to have us staying in their home and are also taking 2 more students tomorrow! They are so great and our host mom keeps telling us that she is going to apply to be a road staff member because UwP sounds like so much fun and it would be cool to travel around the world with such energetic students! Personally I think she would be a great staff member because she has so much energy and vivacity for life, but also has that mom appeal and would keep all of the students in line!! (not that we as students misbehave) Our host family also consists of 3 sisters as well, not all of them are here becuase 2 have left for university, but so far we have met 2 and they are great! They all sing and dance together and are well known in the Vimmerby community for their talent! So we have had a blast here in vimmerby and are continuing to enjoy all that Vimmerby has to offer and I can't wait for the rest of our cast to get here to experience everything that we have in the past couple weeks. But that is all for now I guess, I have to get back to work!!

Oh Sweden

So I just realized that it has been FOREVER since I last posted anything! So to get you all caught up to date. We left Nampong, Thailand on the 4th and once again prepared for an incredibly long trip, this time to Espoo, Finland. We arrived in Espoo on the 5th and while the rest of the cast headed to thier host families, a fellow cast member and I boarded a plane to Stockholm, Sweden. We arrived in Stockholm and there we spent the night will UwP alumni! In the morning we boarded a trail to Vimmerby, Sweden where my cast member and I were to start our Advanced Team work. Advanced team is where students are chosen from the cast to go ahead of the cast and set up the cities that they are going to. Anyways, so we got to Vimmerby and I have been in a wonderland since. The area of Sweden that I am in is almost identical to Minnesota! It is crazy because everywhere you turn there are apple trees and pear trees and woods and lakes! It is so beautiful here and I feel like I am back home. One of the first things I did with my host mom was go for a walk in the woods behind thier house and we walked to this lake that was so calm you didn't want to touch the water cuz you were afraid you would shatter the glass that layed on top of it! Also, the town of Vimmerby is only about 8,000 people and so it is a very quaint town and when we walk down the streets it feels like you could be part of a fairy tail! In the summer, however, Vimmerby is full of tourists because Astrid Lindgren (the writer of Pippi Longstocking and many other children's books) grew up here and she themed most of her books off different places around Vimmerby! So everything and everyone here almost revolves around Astrid and Pippi! It is crazy!! I am having so much fun here planning things for the cast to arrive and I am really enjoying finding host families, figuring out the Community Impact Projects, and completing everything before the cast arrives. Every day that brings me closer to when the cast will come, gets me more and more excited! I can't wait for them to experience Vimmerby!

HOT HOT HOT!

So to update you all...It has been a complete rollercoaster the past couple days! Thursday we spent most of the day rehersing for our shows on Friday... It was especially interesting because we found out that we would be performing in a big alumninum shed. The acoustics were quite interesting and you would hear yourself after a 2 second delay...kinda funny actually. Also, there was no Air Conditioning, which in case you were wondering, the show is a naturally high energy show and I usually sweat a lot during a show in a 'regular' building so I was pretty drenched after the three shows on Friday. We performed 2 in the afternoon for school students and 1 in the evening for the general audience. We found out in that day alone we performed for over 10,000 people!! It was so crazy during the school shows because the kids we were performing for had never really gotten to see anything like this and so we were like rock stars in thier eyes which was cool but you had to be careful after the show so you weren't mobed by tiny Thai children!! The girls went especially crazy for some of the boys in our cast and everytime they would come out on stage all the girls would erupt in a high pitched scream! It was like being at a boy band concert! I realize now that I have sympathy for actual celebrities when they are mauled by their screaming fans!
I started Saturday by being completely exausted after all of the energy that I used up at the shows on Friday, but somehow found the energy to get into what was in store for us. We started the morning with a local speaker who had some incredible insight, and I think the best thing I took away from him was the difference between Western culture and Eastern culture and how in the east life is more focused on harmony and that the earth is very sacred. He also touched on how the trees are considered extra special. This really hit me as I started thinking about the rest of the week and how on Monday we are going to plant trees around the community with Monk. So we get to be involved in something that is considered a very spiritual and sacred act. Another thing that our speaker touched on was the fact that in Eastern culutre they worship the moon and so back when the US first walked on the moon, we saw it as a great accomplishment but while we were celebrating people half way around the world were crying because we had placed our feet (something they consider very dirty) on something they worshiped. This got me thinking about how so much of the US culture is about achievement and sometimes we get so caught up in what is happening around us we forget to consider how it will impact the people around us, or the people half way around the world.
After the speaker we went to the King Cobra Village and I was so excited to go and see the huge snakes but when I got there I was very suprised with what I saw. We got there and were told to go look at the animals and what we saw really hurt my heart. There were monkeys trapped in these tiny cages and you could tell they were full of anger from being trapped in such small cages. If you put your hand to close they would swat at it and try to grab things from you. I was watching one of the monkeys with a girl from the cast and she got too close trying to take a picture and the monkey grabbed the cord of her camera and started tugging on it full force. Then one of the workers came over and raised a hand to the monkey and it immediately cowered down like dogs do when they have been beaten and abused. This just tore my heart out. After that I moved on and kept looking at the animals when I came upon a big black bear that was sleeping in a cage that was probably no bigger than a 10'x10'x10' cage. It made me wonder how it got there because there aren't bears in Thailand. After this I had seen enough so I sat down for the show. When the show started 4 women came on stage and did a dance with the snakes around thier bodies and toward the end of the dance put the snakes' head in thier mouths and played it like a flute. It was especially hard to watch because the womens' eyes looked so lifeless like they hated what they were doing but it was a way to make money. After the women were done these men came out and started to do 'snake boxing' which was not what I expected to happen. It was so hard to watch because these men would make the snakes angry so they would flatten their 'necks' to look good for the audience, and then they would get the snakes to lunge at them, but many times the snakes would try to flee and the men would drag them back by the tails and make them fight. It was so hard to watch. I am still trying to process how I feel about everything because I know in my heart that it is wrong to treat animals like that, but if it is the only way for these families to make enough money to survive or to put their children through school, then is it tolerable?
Later in the afternoon we went to the local school and had cast olymics! I was so completely drained of energy that I was not excited at all to have to run around and act like I was enjoying it, but I was completely wrong. We ended up having wacky relay races (like potato sack races and coconut races)! It was so much fun and it had rained so the grass was muddy and we got so dirty. We then had an extreme eating contest where we had to dig things out of a pile of flour and eat bananas handing from a rope without our hands, etc. By the end it turned into a huge flour fight and we were all covered in mud and water and flour! It was so much fun and I think we all needed it after the more serious morning we had!! That is all I am writing for now because this post is so incredibly LONG!! Sawadee kaa! (goodbye in Thai)