Trip objectives: Collect stories from children in four different schools and gather it all together to produce a book

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The diary of a teenager’s experience:

One week down in Khao Lak

to help children tell their

stories to the world

Trip objectives: 

  • Collect stories from children in four different schools and gather it all together to produce a book to be sold, hopefully, worldwide.
  • Paint a mural and fence at Pak Weep School

Sunday 26th June 2005

        The initial plan was to meet up at Bangkok International Airport, Domestic Terminal at 1400 hrs, by the orange chairs near the Check-In counter. A few were early, a few on time, and yes, some were late. No one is perfect. By the time we gathered everyone as a group and made changes to the groups, we were headed towards the check in counter, half an hour after our meeting time. It’s the same every time. Pass your bags through the x-ray machine, queue up at the check in counter, and check in. After that simple process, we were slowly heading inside the waiting area in front of our gate. And for once, we didn’t have to walk across the whole terminal, not that it’s big or anything, but it can be pretty annoying considering Burger King is right at the front. Lucky for us, it was right opposite our gate. Lunch time. Or maybe not. We had two hours free time to do whatever we wished to do. For the majority of us, it meant sitting down on chairs or floors, or even laying down on the floor to chat to friends and play cards.

Boarding time was at 1615 hrs. As soon as we got onto the plane, instead of going to our own seats, what we did instead was to sit in other people’s seats right away, but in the BPS seats. I ended up sitting next to Emily on my right and Fizz to my left. Fizz, obviously, just had to sit next to Adam and Adam was next to Chris. But sadly for Fizz and Adam, they were separated by the aisle. The only reason however, was because I didn’t really want to sit next to Chris. Not that I hate him or anything, but if I had a choice, I’d rather sit next to Fizz. The flight went by really quickly. Most of the time we just spent chatting. Fizz and I were planning to listen to our I-pods and read, but we just ended up doing the opposite and socializing. Obviously, I felt sick during the flight. Think prom. I did get some reading done, however. But I don’t know if it was a good idea though considering I was getting awfully teary from reading Tiger Eyes.

We had a smooth landing, and took our time walking to the conveyor belt. Only a short wait after, our bags started arriving. And I was lucky. My  bag was the first to arrive, Fizz, Adam and Chris’ bags arrived soon after so we just ended up waiting for everyone else’s bag, including Mr. Nagy’s suitcases. It really looked like he was going back to England for three months or something like that. After everyone got their bags, we walked out to the minibuses waiting for us. I ended up sitting on a bus with Adam, Fizz, Chris, Gee, K. Nong and Mr. Nagy. The back row was Fizz, Adam and I, the middle row Chris and Gee, and in the front row, K. Nong and Mr. Nagy. Had a blast on the bus. Adam, Fizz and I were playing funny and stupid things along the ride. One of the best bus trips I’ve ever had. As we got to the resort, it really didn’t look like a Tsunami had hit exactly six months ago. We were assigned to our rooms, and had time to settle in. Fizz and I settled into room 1007, and Adam and Chris were above in room 2007. Due to the fact that we arrived pretty late to the resort, we had Thai food for dinner at the resort. It wasn’t too bad I’ll admit. I didn’t have much appetite though because I was still feeling sick. After dinner, fizz and I went to Adam and Chris’ room and we chilled out until half ten, or something you call a curfew. Back in the room, we just talked. And by saying talk, I mean a lot. We had so much stuff to talk about and also had so much in common.

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Monday 27th June 2005

        Woke up by an alarm called Adam. After getting ready, we headed upstairs for breakfast. Lets just say, I didn’t eat much at all. After breakfast, we took the buses to Pak Weep School. As we entered the school, there was an army base stationed right on the school front field. They were there to help the victims of the Tsunami that struck Asia but had affected the whole world on a ‘normal’ 26th December Boxing Day. As the bus arrived in front of the school building, these cheerful, gleaming, laughing, smiling girls were huddled up in ...

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