prc news - november 2011

Back in September 2009, I was a little girl who had no clue where New Zealand was. Everything seemed to be so hard and diff erent for me. For example, people, language, culture, weather and I only had a little bit of English. My purpose was to succeed with my education but my problem was that I couldn’t speak English very well so it was diffi cult to communicate with kiwis or people around me. Th e next problem was food. I didn’t like sand-wiches because I mainly had rice when I was in Th ailand. Also, I hated lamb! I thought it really smelled and tasted funny in my mouth. I thought kiwis didn’t like hanging out with Asians but that was WRONG! I didn’t realise that until I made friends. Invercargill wasn’t as big as I had imagined. It was too small to be a city so my fi rst three months were confusing. I felt homesick and I couldn’t go back home to Th ailand where I belonged. Although it was a tough time, I learned how to change myself step by step. I realised that I should make the best of my time here when I spoke to my father. He had been working hard and he had already paid a big sum of money for me to be here, so why did I waste my time being sad? I made a point of taking every opportunity and now I have come to treasure this time in my life. I know I have changed a lot since I came to New Zealand. I am now a stronger person. What I want to tell you is that “Life comes with no guarantees, no time outs, no second chances. Don’t be afraid to take op-portunities”. We all live in such a high-pressured world and life isn’t 100% perfect. Make the best of your life because every second you spend upset or angry is a second of happiness you can never get back! GOOD LUCK

HIGHLIGHTS

CHECK US OUT AT www.prc.ac.th/en > GIFTED ENGLISH > PRC NEWS

Flood makes fuss

By Mr. Jack C. Neale

STUDYING AT JHC IN NEW ZEALAND

Editorial Note: During a recent visit to New Zealand by a team of PRC Adminis-trators, the team visited one college, two primary schools, and seven secondary schools. Th e purpose of this visit was to establish partner-ships with schools in New Zealand. At each of the secondary schools we talked to Th ai students studying in the New Zealand schools. I asked some of these students to write about their experiences in the New Zealand educational system. • What they thought about studying in New Zealand? • What did they like asbout their experience? • What is diff erenct about a New Zealand education from a Th ai educa-tion? Th e following are four responses from students studying at James lkHargest College James Hargest College is a year 7 to 13 secondary school located on New Zealand’s South Island in the Southland District, in a town called Students at James Hargest College

Ms. Beaute Tanapura

Invercargill. Th is is a picturesque area with mountains, lakes, beaches, forests, and farmland. Th is rural setting is the per-fect place for students to make the most of their academic studies. I found all the Th ai students I talked to very willing and comfort-able to use English, even those Th ai students who had just been in New Zealand for six months. Th e schools off er wonderful ESOL (Eng-lish for Speakers of Other Languages) programs which allow Th ai stu-dents to master and become fl uent with English in a short period of time.How let’s hear what the Th ai students have to say about their experiences.

Ms. Beaute Tanapura

Page 4 5Along the river & in the sky

Page 17let’s get in to halloween spirit!

Page 18cartoon

THE PRC NEWS SEPTEMBER 2011 P2

My homestay family takes care of me very well. They are Molly, my host sister, Janene, my host mum and Regan, my host father. The best times I have spent here in New Zealand have been spending time with my school friends and my host family. I have got 98% in the graduation mark which is the best achieve-ment I have made here. I have also learned how to help myself. Thanks to my mum that she is trying to choose the best for me to improve my life. In conclusion, I want to say that this is the best place to give your child the perfect future. James Hargest College is also the best for learning and I know when you come here you will love the country as I do. I love James Hargest College!

Ms.Vicki Chalermlapvoraboon

Ms. Vicki Chalermlapvoraboon

Ms. Itim Khanom I also know that my high school life needs to be balanced so I am working hard in academic, sport, cultural and art activities. (But when I was in Thai-land school was all about academic learning and everybody trying to compete with each other for some reason and that’s not a healthy way to live life). I used to be a very, very shy person. I didn’t like talk-ing to someone that I didn’t know very well. I never, ever tried to talk in English to my English teacher be-cause I thought I couldn’t do it and was always worried that I would say something wrong. I have to say that that is the worst way to improve your English! I was so scared when I knew that I was coming to study in New Zealand because I couldn’t speak English at all and I could only understand a little bit. But my English im-proved so fast! Within a few months I could speak Eng-lish five times more that I used to and ten times faster. I could understand most of the things that my teacher said in any class. My attitude also changed a lot. I be-came a lot more confident about trying new things. That is probably one thing that I really am proud of. Since I came here I’ve had to take responsibil-ity for my life. For example, I need to get out of-- Ms. Itim Khanom

Mr. Tour JeerayanonClub where all international students from all over the world and kiwi students meet and we sometimes do activities together. I can tell you it is so easy to make friends with others even if you don’t know much Eng-lish because they all understand about that. New Zealand is an excellent place to study English and to live. It has only got a population of around 4 million people. Maybe this is not half of Bangkok’s population. You will not find so many people who come from the same country and speak the same lan-guage as you and this makes you learn English far quicker. Therefore New Zealand is a better place to study English than the US and Australia. I’m glad I chose to come here.

Mr. Tour Jeerayanon

bed and get ready for school by myself because Mum and Dad are not here to organise my life for me. I also have to make a lot of decisions about things I never had to deal with before. This is a great thing for me! The subjects that I am taking at school at the moment are English, Maths, Physics, Physical Education, Art and Fashion and Design. I really enjoy all these subjects. I could take more, but my timetable is already full! The last thing I wanted to say is thank you to all the friendly teachers that always give me help every time I need it and also to Mom and Dad for giving me such a great opportunity to come and study here. This will be one of the best experiences I ever have in my life

Hi, my name is Vicki and I come from Thailand and stay with the Butt family.Coming to New Zealand is a huge experience for me. I am still getting used to the weather, people and the language. I have been studying in India since I was seven years old and now I am 13 years old. Since I came to James Hargest College in June 2011, I have become more confident and independent. The people here are so nice. They always help me in every situation I am in. Also, James Hargest College helps me to follow my dreams by letting me choose the optional subjects. For me I have chosen Art and Graphics. The teachers here are very helpful. I also have my best friend (Logan and Mary) and my form teacher, Mr France who always supports me to change as I adapt to life at this school.

My life here has been amazing. I feel like the time is passing so quickly, more quickly than I thought it would before I came here. This is my third year living in Invercargill and studying at James Hargest College. I have to say that I’m really hap-py that I came here because I enjoy my life so much. The things that I like about living and study-ing here are that I can do so many activities that the school offers. It’s also a great way to make friends and become more confident. I also have the op-portunity to practise speaking in English with peo-ple that actually have English as a first language. Since I came here I’ve taken part in the school International Friendship Club, school athletics, South Island and Secondary Schools’ athletics, badminton, school Stage Challenge, art competitions, fashion awards, school production, music groups and lots more. These opportunities are the best I’ve had in my school life. When I was in Thailand, the word “school” for me meant get your head down and copy notes from the board, study them and do exactly the same thing every day. Since I came here I realise that the word “school” means enjoying learning and having the best time of my life.

At first, coming to New Zealand was very challeng-ing for me because this meant I needed to live in another country which I had never been to. With so little English it was somewhat hard for me and so many things here are different from what I was used to in Thailand but once I got to know this country more I just fell in love with it. New Zealand is such a beautiful country – won-derful scenery, clean environment and friendly people. This is my third year at James Hargest College and I am in Year 13 now which is the last year in high school. I’ve done a lot of activities at school. Schools in New Zealand are different from schools in Thailand. All the classes normally consist of less than 20 students in each class. This gives us a great opportunity to be closer to the teacher and so we can learn more. The other thing I like about my school is that there is the International--


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Mr. Geeratipong PuangtongMs. Piyuda Isarapairoj Ms. Chunapa VorawanMs. Pichchapa Thajuang Ms. Pimpisutt ChimjanMr. Patchara Pongcharoenkul Ms. Muktapa OpastirakulMs. Andaman MayakarnMs. Kamolchanok AmtadeMs. Premika MachareonsapMs. Sataporn PurasaoMs. Pimchanok TungthiamsirikulMr. Tanakrit UtenMs. Andaman MayakarnMs. Chutisa JinawongMr. Jack C. NealeMr. Gregg MummaSantipab Pack-Print

Geeratipong Puangthong

Mr. Jack C. Neale

The PRC news editorial sta�

Mr. Jack C. Neale

Inspiration

Th anksgiving is the act of giving thanks, a prayer expressing gratitude, and a public ac-knowledgement or celebration of divine good-ness. In North America, Th anksgiving Day is celebrated in Canada on the 2nd Monday in October and in the United States on the 4th Th ursday in November. Both of these North American countries have laws proclaiming these days as a national day of thanksgiving for their citizens. Th anksgiving is a time to express gratitude for divine goodness. For me, Th anksgiving is a special time of the year. It is a time of the year when I can join with other American citizens and celebrate, publically, the divine goodness of the past year, which God has given to my family and me. It is a time to refl ect where good things—abun-dant supply, good health, good relationships, and all real goodness—come from, God!

The Lord shall open unto thee his good treasure, the heaven to give the rain unto thy land in his season, and to bless all the work of thine hand: Deuteronomy 28:12

For me, there are three parts to this Th anksgiving celebra-tion. First, thanks-giving comes from within. It is a time to refl ect about the past

It is a time to think about how God has loved me, led me, advised me, guided me, and helped me to go about my daily tasks—even on days where it did not seem humanly possible. It is a time to refl ect if I have truly been listening for God’s love and guidance in my life. It is also a time for me to turn away from self and to turn and see the spiritual man that God created—in His image and likeness.

Sing joyful songs to the Lord! Come to worship him with thankful hearts and songs of praise. Psalms 95:1 (to !), 2.

Second, attending a church service to cel-ebrate Th anksgiving Day. In the United States we would attend our local church for a morning Th anksgiving Day service. Here in Chiang Mai, we conduct the church

service in our house by inviting friends in to attend our Th anksgiving Day Service. Th is ser-vice includes hymns of praise, Bible readings, a sermon, and expressions of gratitude from those in attendance. It is an uplift ing service, a service of praise and gratitude to God, and a time to commune with God.

And God is able to make all grace abound toward you; that ye, always having all sufficiency in all things, may abound to every good work: Being enriched in every thing to all bountifulness, which causeth through us thanksgiving to God. II Corinthians 9: 8, 11

Th ird, is a spe-cial Th anksgiving Day dinner with friends. In the past our Th anksgiving Day dinner was celebrated with our large family consisting of four generations at the

table. Today, that has changed because these family members are no longer with us. But we know that in Christ we are all brothers and sis-ters. So, today we enjoy our thanksgiving din-ner with new family members—a family made by Love, God. Our Th anksgiving Day dinner consists of the traditional turkey with all the fi xings. Th e pro-cess of fi xing this dinner helps to set the stage for much gratitude as my wife and I work to prepare the dinner for our guests. Items brought to the dinner table by our guests; help to increase the gratitude that all express for the meal and those who prepared the meal. All three aspects of this thanksgiving celebra-tion are expressed in Love. Love for God, love for God’s love for us, and love for each other. As our heart is always grateful for what we each have, then we can receive more of God’s goodness in our life. We can each establish our own day of Th anks-giving—setting aside time in our busy life to re-fl ect, to give thanks, and to look forward to the future fi lled with God’s goodness for each of us.

Happy Thanksgiving

and think about all the goodness that has been present in my life during the past year.

3-2-1 Th e midterm break is up! Now it’s time to have fun with lessons again! As you know, before the end of the 1st semester, our school was fl ooded for 3 days. But this time our school fortunately came though it because we were well prepared. Many events will happen in our school this month. For example Halloween, Loy Krathong, and Th e Th ailand International Balloon Festival 2011 (TIBF). TIBF is a very huge event, making PRC more famous than ever. Even though this month is the month of festivals, we have to study hard in order to get better grades than the previous semester too.

Th e more you practice, the better you are.P.S. Do not miss to enjoy Th ailand International Balloon Festival 2011 on November, 25-27, here at PRC!

Welcome you, back to school

Source: http://www.prc.ac.th


On September 28, 2011, taking the fi nal examination of the fi rst semester seriously, PRC students heard an announcement from school. “Students have to go back home before 2 p.m. because the water from the Ping River is going to spill over to our school, “an an-nouncer said. PRC was closed for 6 days (during 29 September – 4 October, 2011) to solve the problem of fl ood situation. Th e highest level of water was about 45 centimeters. Th en the water level decreased on October 2, 2011. PRC employed Chiang Mai Minicipality employees to cleaned our school aft er the water had decreased. PRC was ready to open on October 5, 2011. Teachers came back to work and stu-dents came back to continue fi nal examinations.

Source: http://www.sakulthai.com/

P.S. More fl ood article on page 14

MOURNING EVENT FOR PRINCESS AT PRC

the Princess. Th ey realized how much important that the Princess was to PRC. Th e Princess was a talented person. Her royal highness was good at memo-rizing, calculating, and music theory. Th e Princess was always on time and never wasted her time. Her royal high-ness liked to live in Th ai style diff erently from some Th ai people who do not care much about their culture. “A lot of things in Her Royal Highness Princess Bejaratana can be applied to use in our life,” Hathaithan Phianphiphatkul from M.5/3, said, “Th ere are many good things that usual people like us can learn from her life patterns.” She continued “Even though the Princess had passed away but her royal highness will be in our memories always.”

Her Royal Highness Princess Bejaratana

Premika Machareonsap M.5

Th ere is fl ood at PRC Church.

FLOOD MAKES FUSS

Pimpisut Chimjan M.5

SPIRIT FOR FLOOD VICTIMS

Pawadee Isarapairoj M5

PRC cooperated with the PRC alumni helping victims by donating things. Due to fl ooding in some areas of Chiang Mai, people living there were in trouble. Amper Hot was one of the fl ooding areas. Th e fl ood caused this district landslides and broke a bridge-neck down. However PRC still went to donate food and drinks at Amper Hot on October 10, 2011.

PRC and the alumni donate things to fl ood victims.

Source:http://www.prc.ac.th/readnews.php?

On July 27, 2011, Her Royal Highness Princess Maha Chakri Sririndhorn ar-rived at PRC to open the Harris Institute. It was a great honor for the PRC student to greet the Princess. On that day, Th e Prince Royal’s College also received bad news. Her Royal Highness Princess Bejaratana passed away on that day. Th e Prince Royal’s College had a mourn-ing event that was held at Harris House on November 1, 2011. Rev. Dr. Boonrat Buay-en, chairperson of CCT, and Ms.Narumon Palawat, Chiang Mai Deputy Gover-nor, opened the event. Th is event held to mourning the Princess for 100 days from July 27, 2011. At that event, there was dis-played information about the Princess. Th e details were including with her biography, her family tree, and her royal duties. All PRC students attended the event to search and to learn more information about


Pimpisut Chimjan M.5

In celebration of King Bhumibol 84th years, a group of students and teachers from Payap University came to PRC on October 27, 2011. Th ey visited PRC in order to invite M4 and M5 students to show respect to the King. Th ey performed stage play relating to love in family. Th e performers made M.4 and M.5 students concentrate on the show. Rawissara Th ep-tongpan, an M.5 student said, “It is a great show. I think of my parents. I will not make them feel regret anymore.” In addition, Mr.Nareed Ratpan narrated about the royal duty of King Bhumibol that we have never known. Some students cried because of the impression. At last, everyone in the auditorium sang an anthem and uttered the word, “shong pra ja ren”(the word used for praise the King) together.

LET’S DO GOOD FOR THE KING

PRC arranged the Chiang Mai University (CMU) a tour for M.5 students on November 16, 2011. Th e students went to CMU where this activity took place. Separating in groups, the students went to study about faculties in which they were interested in. Th e CMU tour is an annual activity for M.5 students. Th e stu-dents will learn more details about each faculty. Guides will tell them how to enter, what subjects they will learn, what careers that they can do if they study in this faculty, and everything that they want to know. Th is activity also helps them to know what faculty they really want to study in. So, it will not be too late for them to make a new decision for the future.

Pawadee Isarapairoj M5

KNOW MORE ABOUT YOUR FUTURE

Th e kindergarteners participated in the Kindergarten English Camp on September 24, 2011 from 8.00 a.m. to 12.00 a.m. Th e camp was located at the kindergarten building. Th is year was the fourth year. Th e main purpose of the Kindergarten Eng-lish Camp is to make the young children practice listen-ing and speaking with native speakers. Other purposes are to make them practice their English skills and their vocabulary. Th ere were eight stations and lots of English activities in the camp. An example of the stations was the seventh station, Fun with Words. It was the station that about words. Th e teachers showed the pictures to the children. Th en the children would think about the letters of that word and order the alphabets’ rubber sheets in the correct order. Th e group which ordered the words the fastest and correctly would win this game. However, there were more fun activities in the camp to help improving of the children’s English skills. Another 7 sta-tions were: Make a Person part1 & part2, Fashion Designer, Mu-sic, Save the World, Jolly Phonics Alphabet, and Simon Say’s.

Piyuda Isarapairoj M5Piyuda Isarapairoj M5

KINDERGARTEN ENGLISH CAMP: LEARN WITH

FUN

Th e students try to order English words in correctly.

Students are singing the song to respect the picture of the King .

Th e performers from Payap University are performing the show.



Students are watching the performance from Payap University.

PRC M5 students went to CMU to learn more about the faculty they interested in.


GETTING READY TO UPPER MATTAYORM

KIDS PREPARE FOR FLOOD

In early October 2011, the Ping River had overfl owed because of heavy raining. Th e Chiang Mai local government announced to citi-zens who live along the riverside to evacuate. Because of that bad situa-tion, the fi nal exam was cancelled, and all of PRC Prathom students went home before noon. “I was very shocked because in the morning the river level was normal,” said Meemee, a P.4 student. “When I arrived home there was no fl ood but an hour later, in front of my village was fl ooded,” she added. “I had to help my parents to move our furniture to the 2nd fl oor,” she said. Th en many tons of water attacked the central region. Many peo-ple lost their homes and they were now hopeless. “Nowadays, the Th ai-land central region was fl ooded. I donated some of my money to help them,” said Earth, a P.4 student. “And I hope this bad situation will be over soon,” he added.

M3 students taking M4 entrance exam.

Two P.4 students, Earth and Meemee

Kamolchanok Amtade M.5

Thanakan Kanthawanna M.5 Tanakrit Uten M.5

JUNIOR GOLF GIRL

Jiranan Ruansa-ard (Um), PRC M5 golfer

Held at Star Dome Golf Club on October 29 2001, “Th e Interna-tional Charity Golf Game” was set up by Nam Khang Yod Yha club. Th is was a Charity Challenge for Japanese, Korean and Th ai golfers. One of the competitors was our M5 PRC student, Ms.Jiranan Ruansa-ard(Um). She won fi rst place, called Low Gross Flight Lady, by the high score 40-40 total 80. She said that at fi rst she didn’t want to play this kind of sport at all, aft er that she found many advantages and loves to play golf. “Golf is a sport that uses more concentration than others, since I have to plan how to hit golf ball and how to control it to the right direction. It makes me to be more elaborate. “Besides, playing golf teaches us to be more patient, because it uses a long time to practice and become an accurate player,” she added. “Including hot weather and rivals who have diff erent characteristics, so I have to learn how to control my emotion about these things.” “I play golf, just because I love it,” said Umim. “If we love and tend to do something, we will do it the best. Th en good opportunities and friendship will come to us in a proper time,” said Jiranan.

Th ere was the M4 entrance exam for PRC M3 students on Octo-ber 4, 2011. Th is test represents 25 percent of total score to get a chance to study in M4. Th e test score was already checked and were posted it at www.prc.ac.th on October 20. Let’s here M3 student talked about the program. “It surprised me! I will study in Science program in Upper Mat-thayom next year,” Preaw, an M3 student said. “It will be more diffi cult next year, I have to try more to study in Upper Matthayom,” Beaut, an M3 student said. Some students are happy, some students are sad. Th is is one of things that aff ect their future. All of the students who passed the en-


Th e atmosphere of GO competition in Chiangmai Game

Phudit Sombutsirinun M.5

PRC’s students in Chiangmai Games

Chiangmai Games is a part of National Youth game that will be held next year at Phuket. All of Northern players have to pass the selection before going to National Youth Game. Some of PRC’s Students took part in this competition too. PRC Rugby Team is the representative for Chiangmai, in this event they met teams from Payao and Pitsanulok but this is not too hard for them to won a gold medal easily. “We have better skills and teamwork,” said Kim, M.5/1 student, one of PRC Rugby players “Th e real hard work is in the Na-tional Youth Game so we have to train harder.” Prem, student from M.5/1, is a player on the Chiangmai Basketball team. Basketball competes in tournament mode and there were 12 teams which participated in this event. “It’s not too hard but we can’t look down upon the other teams,” Prem said. Aft er they beat all of rivals in their path they grabbed gold medal and advanced to the National Youth Games. In Tennis, S, a student from M.5/4 made a big impact by beating a tennis player that is on a national team in the quarter-fi nal round and he fi nally won a gold medal in this event. “I felt satisfi ed when I beat him,” said S. “Af-ter that I played with confi dence and won easily.” Go is another sport that PRC students took part in and P from M.5/5 is a member of a Chiangmai Go team. “We won a gold medal from team challenge, this event is still easy to win but at phuket we have to meet team from Bangkok and they really intelligent,” said P. Th e Phuket Games are the next event that’s waiting for them, in that place they have a lot harder work to do, Let’s cheer them up!

THE PRC NEWS NOVEMBER 2011 P8

Andaman Mayakarn M.5

Sataporn Purasao M.5


GERMAN SECTION


FRENCH SECTION

chinese Section


Flood devastation has caused a great deal of damage in many ar-eas of Th ailand. More than 8 million people suff ered from leav-ing their homes. It made traffi c problems and also destroyed a lot of buildings. Th is is the biggest fl ood crisis problem in many years. It began in late July, the tropical storm called “Nock-Ten” had caused the fl ash fl ooding in northern Th ailand. Th en it spread down to the west and central. Although the storm already stopped, heavy rains still continued and raised the water level. It became very severe in August because most dams couldn’t keep enormous amount of water anymore. Water was forced to release and cause more trouble, especially in the central part of Th ailand. Ayutthaya is one of the most aff ected cities. Th e height of the wa-ter rose to the roof in some areas and boats were used instead of cars. In Nakhorn Sawan, the Chao Praya River spread to the center of the city and more than 10000 refugees moved to shelter. Bangkok, the capital city of Th ailand also fl ooded too. Many shops closed and ran out of food. Schools and malls were changed in to temporary sheltes. In some area, water sat for a long time and it became contaminated

People moved out because of fl ooding

Source: http://www.thaigo.org/modules.

Th is caused great damage to the country. Government and other peo-ple tried their best to help the victims in fl ooded areas. As the fl ooding tends to be more trouble, money and supply were donated. People co-operated to help each other. Problems in each section were being solved slowly. It was the fi rst time to face fl ood crisis problem and it took a long time to be back to normal. However this will be an experience for Th ai people to prevent and resist the fl ood problem in the future.

Flood attacks Thailand

ENDED UP IN THAILAND

If you were told that you could go one place in the whole world for one year, which one would you choose? Some people may choose Germany, some may choose Canada, or as most of the people choose, United States. Well, I may consider myself one of those people too, be-cause my fi rst two options were Germany and Canada. Who would’ve thought that I would end up living in Th ailand for a whole year? No one, not even in my wildest dreams did I imagine myself living 11,804 miles away from my hometown. I wonder how diff erent my life would have been if I got sent to another place, even if it wasn’t one of my two options, but I think am where I’m supposed to be. I signed up two years ago to go one year abroad to some place in the world but back then I hadn’t fi nished high school and I decided I wanted to graduate with my class-mates. So one year ago I applied again and this time I decided to take this year to learn a new language, learn about a new and diff erent cul-ture and to decide what career I would like to study in university. Germany was my fi rst option, so I began to

the lack lof space in some countries my ap-plication was only accepted in two countries, Brazil and Th ailand. I had only one night to decide what place I wanted to go, so just like that I decided Th ailand. But let me tell you, this was not an easy decision to make. Th inking about my two op-tions, in one of them I’d go with the uncer-tainty of not knowing where I was going to, but I think that’s what captivated me the most of Th ailand. As soon as I decided, I began searching about their language, culture, their extremely delicious food, their history and al-most everything so I could start knowing some things, since this was going to be my home for 1 year. My father and my grandmother were completely against me coming to Th ailand, they didn’t want me in a random place where you don’t know what to expect. When I fi rst told them I was going to Germany they were so happy and so excited for me because part of my family is German and it would be a good experience to learn where I come from. Two months later I told them I wasn’t going to Ger-many or Canada, I was going to Th ailand, and

they told me that I should better cancel the trip and just start university. Th eir reaction was something I never ex-pected and of course, very disappointing for me. Th ey never looked up what Th ailand was about, they just made assumptions based on what they had heard on TV, or seen on a movie. Th ey nev-er realized, this is the same as when people say something about Mexico, based on what they have heard some place. I decided not to care about whatever they told me, and just continued telling others how glad and happy I was for crossing half of the world by myself. I’m not going to lie; it was pretty hard to do something you truly wanted and not feeling supported. But it only takes one step and then you are in the other side, looking at everything with bright new diff erent eyes. My fi rst week here the only thoughts that went through my mind were “what am I doing here?”, “I have to go back in the next plane” but as soon as you understand that sometimes you have to do diff erent things to get diff erent results. As for my father, he is now thrilled that I’m having such a wonderful experi-ence and perhaps, he might be coming at the end of my year in Th ailand. You can search as much as you can, people may tell you as far as they know about some place or thing, but until they actually been there and see with their own eyes, don’t take their point of view into consideration.

take German classbut when they told all of the exchange students the places we were going I didn’t hear my name at all. Aft er a while they told me that because of some problems with

Patchara Pongcharoenkul M.5

Sofi a Montfort Grajales M.5



Petcharat Pongriyawattana M5


THE LEGEND OF PRATEEP

ALONG THE RIVER & IN THE SKY

It is widely appreciated that Th ailand is a cultural country, beholding a variety of deep-rooted traditions. “Loy Krathong” is one of the most popular festivals among Th ai people and foreigners. Loy Krathong Festival starts in the even-ing when there is a full moon night of the 12th Th ai lunar month. On the western cal-endar, it’s usually in mid November. “Loy” means “to fl oat” and “Krathong” is a traditionally made raft from a section of ba-nana tree. A krathong will be decorated with banana leaves, fl owers, candles and incense sticks. A low value coin is sometimes includ-ed as an off ering to the river spirits. During the night of the full moon, Th ais will fl oat their krathong on a river, canal or a lake. It is believed to originate in an ancient practice of paying respect to the spirit of the waters. Today, it is simply a time to have fun. Th e act of fl oating away a krathong is symbolic of letting all of bad things that one acted in the past, so that one can start a re-freshment life. People will also cut their fi n-gernails and hair into the raft as a symbol of throwing away the bad parts of oneself.

Many Th ais believe that fl oating raft will bring good luck and they do it to honor and thank the Goddess of water. In the North, this festival is known as “Yi Peng”, due to a diff erence between the old Lanna calendar and the Th ai calendar. Yi Peng is held on a full moon of the 2nd month of the Lanna calendar. “Yi” means “2nd” and “Peng” means “month” in the Lanna language. People launch Lanna-style sky lanterns (Khom loi) into the air. Th e festival is meant as a time to make merit. People will decorate their houses, gar-dens and temple with “Khom fai”; paper lan-terns which take on diff erent forms, “Khom khwaen”; hanging lanterns, “Khom Pariwat”; which are placed at temples. Th e most elabo-rate Yi Peng celebrations can be seen in Chiang Mai. Now, both Loy Krathong and Yi Peng are celebrated at the same time resulting in the lights fl oating on the waters, lights hanging from the trees or standing on wall and lights fl oating in the sky. It is now becoming increas-ingly more fun activities such as the beauty contests known as “Noppamas Queen-- Loy krathong festival in Th ailand

Contests”, fi reworks, light and sound shows and gorgeous parades. Even though there are many attractions to draw people and foreigners to visit this festival. But do not forget Th ai tradition that should re-main with Th ai people forever.

Source: http://www.at-bangkok.com/articles_loikrathong.php

In the present time, people believes that religion will stay in Pattakap age which fi ve Buddha will be born. Th e legend mentioned about two king and queen of white crow, it nested on the tree calls Madua along the shore. Until Lord Buddha fertilized inside the queen of white crow.later she laid fi ve eggs but when lord Buddha was born a twig from the nest was falling down by the storm while the king of white crow went out to fi nd some food.when he came back he couldn’t fi nd their eggs and both of them were dead from suff ering. With power of pure love made the queen of white crow was born on the heaven and her name is Kathikamahaprom. As fi ve eggs fl owed along the river and who picked them was a hen that picked one egg. A serpent picked one egg. A turtle picked one egg. A cow picked one egg and a lion picked one egg. Later hatched humans with beautiful bodies and went to ordain until enlightened. With gratitude, fi ve Buddha prayed because they wanted to meet with their real mother. Th ey fabricated the cotton, spun into yarn and spread into crow’s footprint for favor of their parent then lit it into lanterns to worship the water goddess because she was protecting them when they was eggs. Th e light from lanterns shone to Kathikamahaprom or the queen of white crow, she saw it and followed the light from lanterns to meet with her children then gave them ordain clothes. Aft erward people inherited it into Loykratong tradition on every twelft h full moon.

Pongumpai Kornpetch M.5

Muktapa Opastirakul M.5


Pimchanok Tungthiamsirikul M.5


CARTOON

GAME

Muktapa Opastjrakul M.5

Muktapa Opastirakul M.5

prc news - november 2011

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