This is an 8th-grade video project with two of my classmates that we did for our Spanish Class. I did all of the editing, sound effects, music edits and props. We had a lot of fun and got an A+ on the project. Maybe one day I’ll work in a creative field. Mom says I speak Spanish like my Dad! Ha ha.
Justin Peretz 8th Grade Spanish Group Video Project
Wow, it’s hard to believe that I have been in Scouts since I was in first grade. I’m now a Boy Scout and working towards my First Class rank. I’m also working on my Communications merit badge, where we learn how to better communicate better, interview people, introduce speakers and write things that make sense. My merit badge counselor is Mrs. Pohlman. She’s pretty cool.
In Boy Scouts, you start off as a Tender Foot, then advance to Second Class Scout, then First Class. After that, you become a Star Scout, Life Scout, and if you’re lucky and stay with the program, maybe even an Eagle Scout, the highest rank you can achieve.
My Dad tells me that a lot of the things I’m learning will be valuable sometime in life. He says that things like First Aid, Emergency Prep and Fire Safety could all come in handy, or maybe even save a life. I just feel like it’s a lot of hard work right now.
This blog post will help me earn my Communication merit badge. Maybe some day I will even be a writer. Thanks for viewing this.
Wow, five and a half weeks have gone by so fast. My Dad is kind of making me do this final blog post about things I learned as a 10-year old on my trip to Thailand.
1. We are very lucky to live in America. We take so many things for granted. People in other parts of the world have it a LOT HARDER than we do, and work a lot of hours for not a lot of money.
2. We can still be pretty much be what we want to be. If we try hard and do good at school, we can be a doctor, or a policeman, or a teacher. People in Thailand have schools, but it’s just a lot harder. And if you live in a rural area, it’s really hard for them to get ahead.
3. I love tropical fruit, like mangoes, dragon fruit, papaya, coconut and pineapple. In Thailand, fruit is everywhere and very cheap.
4. Learning Thai seems hard. They use different tones of the same word to mean different things. And I thought Spanish was hard!
5. I love Chiang Mai and Koh Samui, but maybe Chiang Mai the best. It’s in the north, and very cheap and the people are really friendly.
6. There’s a lot of people with birth defects on the streets. I think it’s because we have better medical care, and insurance, and money. If you are poor in Thailand, you probably can’t afford to get things fixed. It makes me sad.
7. I want to come back to Thailand some day. It’s a really neat country and very beautiful.
8. I want to help people. Being on this trip wants me want to be less selfish.
Well, we are getting ready to head back home from San Francisco after our 5 1/2 week journey to S.E. Asia. We spent the night here in S.F. and today we went to Japantown. Now off to the airport and then back home to Steamboat Springs. What a strange, long, cool trip it’s been. I can’t wait to see everyone!
Did you ever have a long Monday? Well, my Monday is longer than your Monday! In fact, this is the longest Monday in my life! How come? Well, after our boar ride off the island, we took a bus to get on an overnight sleeper train from Southern Thailand. We got into Bangkok in the morning, then took a taxi to the Bangkok International Airport. Then, we boarded a plane to Taiwan, where we’re about to board another plane to San Francisco. But on our way from Taiwan to San Francisco, we cross the international date line in reverse. So even though we leave at 11:15 pm on Monday, we actually arrive in San Francisco almost four hours earlier than when we left! Since my Monday doesn’t end for me until it hits midnight in San Francisco, it will actually last 38 HOURS. I did the math: 23 hours today on my Monday in Asia (we gained an hour flying from Thailand to Taiwan)+ 15 hours (the time difference between Taiwan and SF) = 38 hours, the LONGEST MONDAY OF MY LIFE! Crazy huh?
I wear my favorite Packers Super Bowl shirt everywhere, even under cool Asian monsters and shrines in Bangkok. Thanks to my Uncle Billy for sending me this t-shirt. I love it!
I saw this at a Bangkok restaurant and looked at it and laughed so hard!!! I told my Dad this would never make it for a Mexican restaurant name in the U.S. By the way, my Dad’s name is John (or Juan in Spanish). My Dad is going to kill me for posting this, but I just think it’s SO FUNNY! Do you get it?
Here is one of our last pictures we took from our hotel balcony in Koh Samui. It was so pretty here and we had a great time. Now we take a mini bus to the ferry that leaves the island, then a bus to the train station an hour away, then an overnight train, then a taxi from the train station to the Bangkok airport, then a plane from Bangkok to Taiwan, then a 6-hour layover, then a 12 -hour flight to San Francisco, then an overnight hotel in SF before catching a flight to Denver, followed by a 3-hour car ride to Steamboat. That’s a lot of traveling!
My Mom and I got new hats in Thailand. I call mine Mr. Snuggles, and Mom calls hers Mr. Bongo. They’ll be perfect for the cold winter days and nights in Steamboat. Do you like them?
Everywhere we go in Koh Samui, we just hop on these motor scooters. They cost $4 a day to rent! We met this really nice woman who works at the hotel named Sue. She is from Myanmar, a country that borders Thailand. Many people still call the country Burma. We took her bowling and to dinner last night with us. It was her first time bowling, on a motor scooter and in a mall. We had so much fun together. It’s nice to meet people from other countries. It also makes me appreciate everything we have in the United States! 
