Pim

We went to Nakhon Sri Thammarat airport and waited for our plane . . . . But! The airplane was delayed by 3 hours because of a Royal visitor to Nakhonsithammarat. We waited a long time. I had never been on a plane before and already I was beginning to think that I didn't like it. We stayed and talked with our parents until we got the signal to board and we set off on our trip. First stop was Bangkok.

The Nakhon to Bangkok flight took just over an hour and I was actually quite excited to be flying on my first ever flight. When we arrived in Bangkok we walked around the Suvarnabhumi Airport before getting in a taxi and going to Aj.Mayuree’s house about 30 minutes drive away. We checked our suitcases and bags and then we went to Tawanna for dinner. We ate dinner and then we walked around and bought a few things including a plug for use in Australia. (I bought a necklace and plug.) Then we went back to Aj.Mayuree’s house, took a bath and slept. (Z z Z) because we knew we had a long day ahead of us in the morning.

In the morning, we got up at 4.00am then showered. We checked our suitcases and finished packing them. A little later, Thomas came & then Geordie came to Aj.Mayuree’s house and we put all of our suitcases into Geordie's car as he was taking them to the airport for us. Then we went to Suvarnabhumi Airport. We waited for Mr.Usa and his family and Aj.Boonchert and when they arrived we went to change some money . . . . (฿ >> $) I had 360$. We waited for our flight, (I called my mom and talked with her before we left for Australia). We had our passports checked and were then issued with our tickets. We walked to the airplane, had our passports and tickets checked again before we were allowed onto the airplane. (And now, I knew, I was going to Australia!!)

Six hours on the airplane before we would get to Perth. In that time I had a stomachache and Jern was sick.

We landed and passed through Australian Customs and Immigration before going outside and boarding our minibus that was taking us into Perth where we were to meet our host families.

Now, I knew I was in Australia. I soon met my host family and they were quite old. They were 71 years old but they looked strong. Then Neen & I went to our host family’s house. (Excited excited! We were to live with them for 2 weeks!)

On first day in Australia, I went to Milner College. (It’s a school for people who want to learn English and English grammar) I had a test so that they could choose a class and classroom for me. The test was about grammar and speaking and I got Louise’s classroom. (She taught very well.) When I got into her classroom, she gave us another test!! (I wanted to die then.) When the test had finished, she taught us a little about grammar. (I don’t like grammar.) In the afternoon, we toured around the city and bought lunch.

This morning, my host family taught Neen and I how to get to school and this afternoon we must do that by ourselves.

Robyn was our guide this afternoon. She helped us buy smart cards so that we could travel on the public transport and she showed us how to use them.

Neen & I used it for our journey back by train and for bus before we walked the last little bit back to our host family's house. My host family were very worried about us the first day. John asked us about what we had been doing at school and I told him, “I hate grammar.” They smiled and I told him about the day. (I think I like Australia.) Then we ate dinner at 6.00pm and we must try to sleep before 8.00pm everyday. We took a bath and slept.

Australia's time is 2 hours ahead of Thai time and at 8.00pm the sun was still shining. It felt like 4.00pm. But! I could sleep.

For the next few days, we learnt grammar in the morning, ate lunch at noon and in the afternoon we had a special program. We went to Caversham Wildlife Park and saw some Australian animals and learnt a little about their lives.

One reason why we went to Australia was to not only learn about new things or discover a different culture but we wanted to show our culture too! So we went to Duncraig high school. Duncraig was a very very big school. It has room for cooking, for art, for Math or music and many rooms. We went to the music room and changed into our Thai costumes. We played Thai musical instruments and danced too. (I played the Saw, Pat played the Khim, May played the Ching, Gam played the Khluy, New played the Krub and Donut played the Mong. Neen, Jern and Palm gave a demonstration of Thai dancing.) We had a lot of fun and we made new friends too.

The next day we went to Fremantle by train to look around and do some shopping. I bought magic colors. It can change color and I liked it.

On Saturday, Neen & I went to King's Park with our host family. It was a very hot day. We walked around King's Park and we ate lunch on the grass before walking again. (I liked King's Park. Australia has only the Queen but they have a park for a King!) I bought a note book from King's Park before be went home.

*Perth is a dry city so in one day I only took a bath once a day. I just changed my clothes and in the morning I ate cornflakes with milk and I'd put an apple in my backpack everyday for lunch because sometime we would be late having lunch.*

On Sunday, Neen & I went to down town. We walked around the city and came back at 5.30pm.

The second week, in the morning, we learned more grammar and I didn’t like grammar again. (Now, I have new friends. They're from Korea, Japan, Swaziland, Europe, Brazil and New Zealand. We had many rules and I liked one of the rules . . . . 'If you are late, you must buy chocolate for everybody in the classroom'. o I was never late.

In the afternoon, we had Sports on the Esplanade. We had an Australian teacher and he taught us a little about sport. We played under the sun in the afternoon. and it was very hot, but I liked it because it was good fun. But! Neen didn’t play with us, she had a problem with her knee. (I think she is not patient. It's just my thinking.) And when we finished, Neen & I went back home. At night, I slept for long time because I was so tired from the afternoon's activities.

A couple of days later, I visited Mercedes College. It is an only girls school not far from Milner. We toured around the school, we changed costume and played Thai musical instruments for the students there. The girls there taught us a little about dancing. (I liked that.) I did something special for them, I thought about Maths in the Math classroom with only my brain, pencil and paper and I could answer the question . . . and it was correct! They used calculators in Maths but it was just an easy question.

Wednesday 21^st /03/2007. This afternoon, we had free time. I sent an E-mail to my mom and phoned my family. (Neen too!) I talked with everybody in my house. (Neen & I looked like ghosts in the phone box because we talked for such a long time.)

Then we were back home, Gwen cooked Mexican food for us. I liked it then we watched T.V. before going to sleep.

Next day, when we finished class we went to Perth Mint. It is a place all about gold and how to make gold. I touched gold too! And I liked it. It is very heavy but I still liked it.

Then we had some free time. New, Neen, Pat, Palm, May and myself went to City Beach. We walked for a long time and it was very far. When we finished, Neen & I had to change clothes so we went home.

The last day at Milner College. When I finished class I showed some things to my teacher and friends in the classroom and then all the Thai students played to everybody in Milner College. We did some Thai dancing too. Everybody came and danced with us and I think it was a great time for me and we were all very happy. Then we had our graduation ceremony for everybody who finished studying this day. The afternoon was free so we all went shopping again. (I like shopping.)

When we got back to our house, we packed our suitcases and everything into bags. Neen's bag was very big. (I don’t know why she uses a very big suitcase. It was 2-3 times bigger than my suitcase .

*Before we came back to home, we ate food at Subway. And I knew a Doctor. He is Dr. Bairig who teaches about science and anything in body.*

We arrived to Milner College early in the morning for our transfer to the airport. I like Australia and I didn’t want to come back to Thailand. Another 6 hours on an airplane, I wanted to die! I don’t like airplanes. We took off at 10am and arrived in Phuket before continuing on to Bangkok. Thomas welcomed me to the club “The who doesn’t like airplanes club”. After a short time at Bangkok airport, we joined our Nok Air flight for the flight down home to Nakhon Sri Thammarat.

Ps. I really liked Australia. I had a good time and I think I want to go back to Australia some time in the future. I can practice my English and I think my English is now better than it was before. I learnt a little about the culture of Australia and I think they are friendly people too. The last reason . . . I liked the boys in Australia. (This right!). I liked the kangaroo too and the shopping and the . . . . . !