Let's continue from my previous blog. There're 3 more days that I was staying with Nick & Ann.
Sat 1 Sep 07
In the morning we went to Target store which is like Lotus or BigC in Thailand. I bought a lot of daily life products such as detergent, bed sheet, etc. Then, Nick and I went to Wells Fargo Bank to open my bank account. Wells Fargo is an old and renowned bank here. It was founded since gold rush in California. I really loved the atmosphere and environment of this bank. It reminded me of the old era of America that I'd seen in movies. I also liked the logo of it which was a carriage pulled by horses. Nevertheless, I've learned later that most Thai people here are using Bank of America hahaha, but they weren't impressed by it very much...
In the afternoon, at last, Nick and I had a chance to go the beach close by. Because it's a long weekend, the beach seemed to be more crowded than usual. There're many planes attached with big advertising banner flying above the beach. Hm… I think there's no advertising like this in Thailand. I also saw a lot of interesting activities and games on the beach but I didn't know what they're called :P There're many surfers here ranging from children to professionals. Beginners could surf by using small version of surfing board. And there was another kind of board for kids to slide along the shore too.
Tonight we had dinner at Thai restaurant called Taste of Thai!! Wow, I was so excited!! Ann's son Ned from LA also joined us tonight too, and he loved Thai food very much. Staffs here seemed to be all Thai hahaha. One of the waitresses said that pork here had a little strange smell, so they were using roasted pork instead here. Anyway, the food tasted quite ok, although it didn't taste as strong as it did in Thailand. I was a little surprised when Ned ordered Pad Thai with roasted duck… hm… I thought we had only Pad Thai with shrimp in Thailand. Nevertheless, Pad Thai was surprisingly good here.
Sun 2 Sep 07This was another day that I really looked forward to because I would have a chance to go to church with Nick and Ann. Although I went to Christian school for 12 years, I had never been to church before. This church was called Solana Beach Presbyterian Church. Actually, the hosting family program of UCSD that I joined was another voluntary program by this church. It was one of many activities to help public or people here. I was really impressed. I had a chance to see the rehearsal of chorus here because Ann was a part of choir. The music was really beautiful. Well, frankly I loved to listen and sing Christian music since I was young. Then I joined the usual ceremony of the church. It was a really good experience. Also, I had a chance to meet a lot of good people here.
Tonight I helped Ann fix barbeque pork ribs for dinner. First, we brush pork ribs with barbeque source, and then baked them in the oven. Ah... very delicious :D
Mon 3 Sep 07Today was Labor Day. We had breakfast at Pipes Cafe. It's a very fun and interesting cafe near the beach. The size of dish here was so big that just one dish was enough for three of us. Today I had another exciting experience when Nick and I ride bicycles around the area. I had been able to ride a bike just a few months ago, so I'm not used to it very much. Especially, areas around here were mostly hills, so it's very hard to control the bike. Gears of the bike that seemed useless in Thailand were extremely useful for riding uphill here. It was surely fun and exciting. After riding around, I could confidently say that Cardiff town was really beautiful and peaceful.
The weather was quite hot for the past few days, especially today. We went around looking for a fan for my apartment, but they were all sold out everywhere!! Never mind... They said that it would be colder very soon. Today is the first day that I met Thai people who was staying at the same apartment with me. I came to the apartment and had lunch with them. There're four Thai people that I met today, and they're all new students here. Then I had to ride a bus back to Nick and Ann's house by myself!! Buses here cost around $2-$2.25. So expensive!! I wish I had a student id so that I could ride some buses for free. Anyway, I was able to come home without any problem.
Tonight we went to have dinner at another host family's house. Their hosting student was going back to France, so we gave her a farewell party. Again I met a lot of people there, and had a very good time having dinner and chatting with them.
Tue 4 Sep 07Morning newspaper said that the electricity usage yesterday had broken all-time record. Nick & Ann also said that weather yesterday was quite unusually hot. Today it's time to say goodbye to Nick & Ann. I have to thank Nick & Ann very much for helping me to this point. It's not like we're apart forever because we could still keep in touch with each other. Today I had to talk to housing office to change my room. As a result, I decided to move to a new room on the first floor of different building. And Thai guys here helped me carry a lot of furniture. The new apartment is very quite and nice. At first, I was quite lonely because I had to stay and sleep alone.
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