Proedphan "Yok" Klubkhan

2007-08 Inbound from Thailand

Hometown: Muang, Phuket, Thailand

Sponsor: Tongkah Rotary Club, District 3330, Thailand

Host: Daytona Beach West Rotary Club, District 6970, Florida, USA

School: Spruce Creek High School

Yok's Bio

My name is Proedphan Klubkhan, you can call me "Yok". I'm an Exchange student from Thailand district 3330. In Thailand I live in Phuket Island, it is as same as Florida , has a lot of beach and the weather is really hot. In Thailand I have 1 younger brother but now, I don't have any brother or sister . It is lonely but I have Emma, the bluedog now, she is my best friend.

At first when I arrived at LA airport, it was really terrible because I have to change the terminal from International to Domestic. I have 2 hours to find it and I ask everybody in the airport but everybody said "I don't know". I have to find it by myself. I walk outside around the airport. The weather is really cold about 20 c. However, I found it and came to Florida on time. I was really proud because this is my first time, that I travel alone.

Now, I 'm studying in Spruce Creek High School . It is bigger than my school in Thailand. The teachers in this school are very kind, but sometimes they speak very fast and I can't understand it. My host club is Daytona Beach West club. The Rotarians in this club are kind people. I'm very happy to be in the club and I have to thank you them to choose me to be an exchange student in their club. "Thank you very much!" My host family is Mark and Judi. They are really nice persons, and I 'm very lucky to have them to be my host family.

September 9 Journal

August , 7 ,2007 1.05 PM. I was at Bangkok Airport, Thailand with my family. I was excited, nervous about my new life in Florida. The place that I have never been before and I had to stay there for a year. I was sad when I had to say "Good bye" to my family and walk into the airplane alone.....................

24 hours from Thailand to Florida. It was very long time on the airplane and I was very tired, but when I saw the big sign, that told me "Welcome Yok" I felt better . A lot of Rotarians from Daytona Beach West club and my host family met me. It made me very happy and I felt good. Along the way from the airport to my new home in Florida, I saw a lot of things that were very different from Thailand, such as housing, language, people, etc.

My host family

My host family is Mark Halal and Judi Lane. They don't have a child, so I'm the only child in this family. That sounds great because in Thailand I have 1 younger brother and I want to be an only child. My first day in Florida, I was very tired. I think I had a Jetlag. My host family is very nice. They always help me practice my pronunciation because at first my pronunciation seemed like Thai-English and I want to improve it.

My school

My school is Spruce Creek High School. It is bigger than my school in Thailand. My first day at school, I was very confused. The school here is very different from Thailand because in Thailand I had to stay with the same group of friends all day but in USA, I have to change the group of friends all day. I was excited to meet new friends all day and I had to tell them about Thailand and my exchange program. Now, I participate in Interact club, drama club at school, and I want to participate in a basketball team at school but I didn't begin it yet. I think I will tell my coach as soon as possible.

My Inbound Orientation at Camp Montgomery

It was very fun to meet friends from all around the world , exchange information about our own country and learn more about Rotary. It was my great time to practice another languages around the world and take on some challenges. Although we are from different countries, different languages and different cultures, but we can understand and love each other.

New York City

Last weekend, I went to New York City with Armstrong family. New York City is very very big and wonderful city . I never thought that, one day I will be in New York City. When I arrived at New York City, I was very excited because there have a lot of big and tall building, that made me thought "I 'm a little girl in the world." At New York I stayed at Double Tree Hotel in Times Square and I went to The Statue of Liberty, American museum, Central Park, Rockefeller Center, Empire State Building and saw Broadway show. It was very awesome and it is a good time in my life . I LOVE NY.

My first surfing

Yesterday I went to Daytona Beach with my host father for surfing. I was very excited because I had never done it before. At first my host father told me how to surf and what to do if I fell off the board. And then he lets me try to stand on the board. It was very hard because today had big and strong waves. However I can stand on the board just a couple seconds and then I fell off the board. I will try to do that again in my next surfing. I 'm very happy to do something that I never done before, it is very fun. I love surfing.

December 24 Journal

I was sitting in my anatomy and physiology class. I know it wasn't the best place to begin to write my journal but I wrote it anyway. I asked myself how long have I been here and I realized that I have been here about 5 months. It amazed me. I thought I have been here just couple months. Being an exchange student, I learn a lot from this. I'm growing up a lot. I think I made a really good decision that I came here because if I didn't decide to come here, I might be sitting in some of my classroom in Thailand and don't even know what going on in another part of the world. It is very amazing, isn't it? Just 5 months but it made one 16 year old girl grow up and learn how to live in the real life.

September

This month is the second month since I been here. The first week of this month I went to New York with Armstrong family. It was very awesome. I love New York. I went to the Statue of Liberty, Times Square, Central park, China town, Empire state building, Broadway show, etc. I spent about 4 days in New York City. It was very amazing. I have to thank you Armstrong family and my host parents that they made this wonderful trip happen. I appreciated. Also this month is my birthday. I had Thai birthday party because all of the foods in my party were Thai foods. Peak cooked that for me. It was pretty good. I think he cooks a lot better than me. My birthday party had some Rotarians from my Rotary club came and join. It was very nice of them, that they came to my birthday party, thank you very much. I also went to the Gators volleyball game with some Rotarians in my Rotary club. It was a very good game. I like the Gators. GO GATORS!!!!

October

The first week of this month my host parents had to go to Connecticut. So, I lived with Brumenschekel family for a few days. It was so much fun to live with them. They are all really nice people. I had a good time with them. I taught them how to cook Thai food and they thought me how to cook American food. They are really nice to me. The second weekend, I went to Kennedy Space center with other exchange students. It was a wonderful trip. I like Kennedy Space Center. I saw a lot of unbelievable thing that humans can make. I heard one quote from Neal Armstrong "No dream is impossible." It impressed me. I never believe that way before until I came here. A lot of things going on in my life and now, I realized that "No dream is impossible." Next day we went to Winter Park, it was pretty park but it was a little bit hot on that day. So, I didn't enjoy it that much. Anyway it was fun to hang out with another exchange students and get to know each other. Thank you all the Rotarians that made this trip happen. I appreciated.

Also this month I went to my first homecoming at my school. It was very interesting because I haven't been to homecoming before. Anyway it was very good experience for me. I love it. I went with Jonas (exchange student form Germany). We were dancing all night and it was so much fun. I really like home coming week. It was so much fun. My school had a lot of fun things to do. We had twins day, character day, spirit day, etc. It was fun to look at other people in my school dress up like that. I also went to homecoming football game with some of my friends. I watched the coronation of homecoming king and queen. I think homecoming is pretty big deal for American teenagers and it was a big deal for me too.

I also went to Cocoa beach with my host family over the weekend. It was very nice beach but the weather was too cold for me to swim or surf. Anyway it was fun to hang out with my host family and get to know them more. I really like the beach. Every time I see the beach, it makes me feel relax. So, it was the perfect weekend for me to relax.

I also went to try out for basketball team. It was very tough. The try out was 3 days. The first day was all about running. After the first day of tryout, I went home and I told my host mom I won't be able to run anymore because my feet hurt so bad. I went straight to bed. I was very tired. I couldn't eat anything. The second day was about basketball skills. I was tired too but not that much like the first day. Last day of tryout was about play the game and things like that. After 3 days of tryout, I was very tired and I think I won't be able to be on the team because I always be the last one when we try out. Anyway I think I did my best if I won't be able to be a part of the team at least I got to know more people and I did the thing that I wanted to do. Unfortunately next day the coach came and told me I supposed to be on a team. I was perplexed. I couldn't believe I made it. I was surprised.

On Halloween, I went to trick or treating with my friends. It was so much fun. Actually I never done it before. I saw a lot of children were walking around their neighborhood to play trick or treat and get candies. I dressed up like a vampire. I got a lot of candies from Halloween night. I couldn't believe that I got that many candies. It was fabulous. I love Halloween.

November

This month is the beginning of he basketball season. My first game was pretty amazing. I was very excited before the game. I couldn't control myself. I felt like I had 1,000 butterflies in my stomach but my teammates helped me a lot. They told me it OK to be excited before the game but don't let it bother me. Luckily we won that game. It is very fun to be a part of the team. I get to know more people. We play together, eat together, practice together and hang out together. They all very nice to me. I really love them. I like all of my teammates and my coaches. I learn a lot from basketball not just basketball skills but I learn how to win and how to lose. We work together like a team. Sometimes when I did something wrong I have to do push ups. It makes me very tired while I'm doing it. The first couple days that we were practicing my coach made me do a lot of running because I was late at practice. At first I couldn't understand why he made me do it that much. I was late just 5 minutes. I thought he is very mean.

And one day my dad call me from Thailand. I told him the whole story about my basketball coach that he made me run because I was late just 5 minutes. My dad told me the coach did the right thing. He told me that is the real thing that gonna happen to my life when I grow up and I have a job. He told me when you have a job, if you were late you have to confess to it. They don't care why you are late. You have responsibility to it. I told him but I'm 16 years old and I don't have a job, yet. He told me you won't be 16 years old forever, you have to learn how to live in real life. I don't know it apparently at that time but now I realized it what was my dad talking about. I used to feel like I want crush my coach but now I feel like I really like him. He teaches me a lot of things, not just basketball skills, but everything. I'm glad I get to know him and I get to know all of my teammates.

One day I walk into the gym with sadness. It was a very tough day for me. My teammates asked me why you look so sad today! I told them I miss my family. They told me you don't need your family because we are your family and then they gave me hugs. It made me felt much much better. They are so nice. They always take care of me and teach me a lot of things that I don't know. They always help me with my basketball skills and making me play better. I really love them and I will remember them forever. My team is doing pretty good this season. Actually we lost only 1 game from 8 games.

The other thing that very important this month is Thanksgiving. It was very good time to hang out with family and eat a lot of foods. I gain 10 lb. on Thanksgiving Day. I couldn't believe that I gain that much weight. I did a lot of things over Thanksgiving break. I went to St. Augustine with my cousins. It was so much fun to hang out with collage kids. I also did Thanksgiving project with my host mom. This project is to give the foods to some families that don't have enough money to buy foods for Thanksgiving. We got about 350 baskets from a lot of people and then we delivered them to the people who needed it. It was very interesting to see all kinds of American families and made me realized how lucky I am.

December

The first weekend I went to Asheville, North Carolina with my host family to visit James. The weather in North Carolina was very cold. I was very freezing. Asheville is very nice small town. The trees had shed leaves and the colors were very pretty. We drove from Florida to Asheville so, we can see the leaves were changing their color but actually I slept along the way.=) However Asheville was very nice and interesting town. I went to the largest house in America; Biltmore house. It is huge house. It is the biggest house I ever seen. I really like that house but I won't live in that house if someone gave it to me. I would rather have a small house but all of the family live together. This house is too big. I think I might get lost if I live in that house. However the property is very nice. I was very astonished why they were very rich. I wore a sweater all the time when I was in Asheville even while I'm in the car. I think that was the coldest weather I have been.

Disney World===> Dream come true. I went to Disney World with all exchange students. Everyone seemed to very excited about Disney World trip including me. I really love Mickey Mouse and my goal for this trip is to kiss Mickey Mouse. The first day we were walking in MGM. It is my favorite theme park. I like MGM because I like all Disney movies. I play a lot of rides in Disney. It was so much fun. Next day we went to Magic Kingdom. It was magic. That park has the Cinderella castle in there. I like it a lot. I think all of the girls know about Cinderella and always dream that you are Cinderella that live in the nice castle waiting for a prince. I have done that when I was a kid but not anymore when I grow up. However when I saw that castle it made me think about that again. I don't know why but I was very happy to think like a 5 year old girl again. Next day we went to Epcot, this is very fun park. I played a lot of rides in this park. It made me almost throw up but I didn't. The light show at night was very pretty. I love that time when all exchange students were watching the light and hang out together. It was very good time. After that I went back to the hotel because my feet hurt so bad. I couldn't walk normally. The last day, we went to Animal Kingdom. I woke up early and went there with Airi and Phil. We went to Expedition Everest about 3 times. It was so much fun. I think this is my favorite ride. Unfortunately I lost my cell phone on that ride and I don't think I will be able to find it but when I went to ask at the information services, they found it and gave it to me. I was very blissful. A lot of amazing things happened in Disney World - as they say at Disney World, Dreams come true. Finally I appreciated all the Rotarians, Daytona Beach West club and everyone that made this great time happen. Thank you very much.

All right, I'm very tired now after the long typing. I think I should finish my 2nd journal here and I will send you a new one when the great thing happened. I will share my experience with you and you will realize how lucky it is to be an exchange student.

Merry Christmas everyone. "Season's Greetings -- May love and laughter fill your life at Christmas and throughout the New Year." Warmly Yok

April 17 Journal

It has been half time already that I'm being an exchange student. Well, a lot of thing going on in my life. Especially in winter because of the basketball and some other stuff. Being on the basketball team. It is so much fun. I made a lot of friends. Actually, I made family from the team. They are really nice to me. They taught me how to play basketball, and helped me improve myself. I'm so glad my host parents decided to send me to Spruce Creek High School because I met a lot of nice people here. This school also the best school in this area. I couldn't believe it at first that my mom told me that Spruce Creek is the best school in this area but now I realized that Spruce Creek isn't just the best school in this area but Spruce Creek is the best school ever.

Basketball! It was fun to play sport to be part of the team. I learned a lot from the team. All the teammates and the coaches are really kind and they help me everything. It was amazing because the first time I met them, I don't think they will be nice to me and be my family but now they are my family. I love them a lot. I will never forget this season. My last game with the lady hawks was awesome. The coach put me in the first 5 to started the game. I was anxious because I never started before. The game was pretty good. We were playing with Atlantic High School. We led them by 20 at the 3rd quarter, and the most exciting thing was in the 4th quarter of the game because all of the teammates were passing the ball to me to make me make the shot. It was amazing because all the people in the gym were calling my name out loud, and cheering me. I was impressed that my teammates, coaches, cheerleaders, and other people were doing that. I couldn't believe that one day will have that many people support me. I cried at the end of the game because all the teammates came to me and gave me hugs, and told me that they all love me. One of my teammates wrote to me that, she never understood me but she loves me anyway. And when I went home I couldn't sleep that night. I was thinking about the game all the time. At night all the teammates wrote me letters. I read them and I cried again because all of them say that 'You are my little sister.'

'Yok! You are a very special girl, and I hope this experience has made your stay here in America more enjoyable. I so remember the first day we met ;) I was like, 'This is going to be awkward because she won't understand me!' But wow! I can't believe how much your English has improved. I only wish I could speak your language as well as you speak mine. But basketball... no matter what whether it was coaches yelling at you or anything, you kept going. You have some serious determination and a strong will to look at the bright side of everything. I loved to see you smile because I knew that you were genuinely happy, unlike some of the other girls. That's what stood out to me the most- your sense of self. And that's what makes you so beautiful.' Love, Cherileigh

'awh i'm going to miss you more. make sure you keep in contact with me. i love you, your like one of my sisters. you better keep in touch with me! lol love you! no count!' Kristine

'hey dear!! you are soo welcome. You are definitely a star, so keep shining bright! it was so good to meet you.' Christen

After my last game with the J.V. team. The varsity still had a couple of games after that. They won district this year which is pretty good. I think they all did a really good job. I'm glad I get to be part of the team and I will never forget this season.

Love!
Yok

June 12 Journal

Hi everyone. It has been almost a year already. This year going by pretty fast for me. I can't believe the time has flied by.

Talking about school. It has been great fun since I attend Spruce Creek High School. I'm not saying that this is the best school in the world but this is the best school I've attended so far. How good is this school? This school has taught me a lot of things. I still remember the first day of school. I was so confused. I didn't know where to go. I didn't know where my classes are. I didn't understand my teachers very well. I walked in that school with no friends. However, after 10 months of being part of Spruce Creek High School. Oh Wow!!! I can't believe how much more I have learned. Now, I have a lot of friends. I understand what my teachers talk to me. I'm not getting lost in the hall way anymore. I know where my classrooms are. I'm glad my parents send me to this school.

I played basketball for the school team. It was the greatest experience ever. The first time I walked in the gym, I was so scared. I didn't understand what my teammates were saying. I knew I wasn't that good at basketball but I went to try out anyway. After 3 days of basketball try out. I knew it I wasn't going to make a team but I wasn't disappointed. The world of sport always comes with friendship. I told myself whether of not I will be able to be on a team but I got to know new friends. They are the nicest friends I've ever had. However, things never go the way you think. I was wrong!!! The next day the coach came to me and told me I made the J.V. team. I was so happy. Thank you coach for giving me the opportunity to be on the team. 3 months with basketball. My life was really busy but fun. I did a lot of things that I've never done before. I improved a lot of basketball skills. It's been great fun to be part of the team. We hang out, talked and learned about each other. I spent a lot of time with basketball and I realized that this is the other thing in the planet that I really enjoy. I don't know why I like it so much. I'm not even good at it. I remember the first time I met the best player of the team. I was so afraid of her. I can't even talk to her. I though she is really good and I'm not that good, so I was afraid she will make fun of me. But she didn't. She is one of the nicest persons. She talks to me, teaches me how to play basketball and then we became good friends, best friends, and sisters. I have a brother in Thailand but here I got a sister. How awesome is that? I like her a lot. She helps me pass though a lot of things. We talk and really understand each other. She always takes care of me and hugs me every day and that makes me feel so close to her like she is my real sister. No matter where the world is taking us, we both are going to be sisters forever.

My host family. Mark and Judi Halal. They are the best host family in my entire life. I love them a lot. They are really nice and kind. We spend a lot of time together. I feel really good every day when I come back to school. They are like another family for me. I feel likes I have 2 families now. One in Thailand and one in USA. I think I'm really lucky that I have them hosted me. Some of my friends didn't have a good time with their host families but I did. They take good care of me, support me in everything I want to do, teach me, help me do my homework, etc. I know I will miss them a lot when I go back home but I know that they are my family no matter where I am. Spend a year with them I learned a lot. It has been a great year and I will never forget them.

Last weekend I went to Jacksonville. It was the last weekend for exchange students to meet each other. It was really sad. I can't believe the time fly by so fast. I still remember the first time that all of us met. We couldn't communicate really well but now we all know each other and understand each other more and then we all have to go back to where we came again. It doesn't seem fair, does it? However, it is a new challenge for all of us. I don't think any of us are ready to go home but home is the place where we came from - no matter where we are today, one day we have to go back home. I know I will miss them a lot when we all go home. It has been a really good year. We spent a lot of time together. I had a lot of fun with them. Every trip that we took, it has something in it for our memories. I hope one day we all will be able to get together again. But if not I want them to know that I love them and I will never forget this year ever.

Daytona Beach West Rotary Club is the best Rotary Club ever. I really like going to the meetings and spend the time with them. They all are really nice and kind people. I feel comfortable every time I go to the meeting. They all like family. I have a great time with them. Sometimes the Rotarians in my club take me to the movies, shopping, travel, baseball game, football game, basketball game, volley ball, NASCAR, etc. I'm so lucky I get to know them. We did a lot of things together and having a really good time. Thank you very much for having me here and taking good care of me. 'Thanks a million'

About 2 months ago. I went to Chicago and Indiana with my mom. It was lot of fun. We went to Amish country. Wow it was pretty cool. I have never seen Amish people before. I learned a lot about them. We went to have dinner at the Amish's house. The food was really good but no any vegetable in it. They said that they eat a lot of carb because they have to use a lot of energy for work. They have a lot of interesting thing to learn about them. I think that was a really good experience for me. I like the way Amish people live but I don't think I will be able to fit in though. We spent about 3 days in Topeka, Indiana. I went to the horse sale. It was really interesting. The horses were really big and beautiful like the horses for the Budweiser commercial. They said that Budweiser gets the horses from them. I have never been to the horse sale before. It was really interesting for me. Thank you very much Mom. It was a great trip.

Best regard.

Yok