Kira (Thailand): Ap nam

I got back from my first homestay this morning, and I still can't believe how much it affected me. When my host mom asked me last night if I missed my parents, I said I only missed them a little, which is true. But when I left my host family this morning, I missed them a lot.
Since the focus of our orientation is education, we all stayed with children who went to alternative schools. My little host sister's name is Fang, and she is 10 years old. I also had a 7-year-old host brother named Fame, a really nice host mom, and host grandma and grandpa. I was actually living in luxury compared to most of my friends -our house had 2 stories and 2 bathrooms with western toilets (big flush, small flush). My host mom took me to school every morning on her motorbike, and then I either went to class with my group members, or we would do an activity with the kids. Then we'd go home, have snack, go to the park with the kids, eat dinner, and go to bed around 9:30.
I'm having a hard time thinking sequentially, so here are some random observations from the homestay:
1. The first thing the host mom told me to do when I got home was "ap nam" (take a shower). I was so happy that I knew what she was saying that I took one, even though I really didn't need to. I was told to ap nam every morning when I woke up and every evening before bed. Thais shower at LEAST twice a day, and every time they use a bowl to pour cold water over themselves (Fame often argued about this, though)
2. We ate ALL THE TIME. I don't think I went half an hour without food. There was breakfast at home (which usually consisted of sweet coffee and pork on a stick and sticky rice, donuts, fried bread with dipping sauce, cookies, or any combination), breakfast at school, morning snack, second morning snack, lunch, after lunch snacks, after school snacks at home, food from vendors at the park, dinner right after we got home from the park, and after dinner snack. I didn't want to be rude and not eat, so I did. I felt like a Hobbit.
3. Every day after school, the kids took the "farang" to the park and sat us in the corner while they played. The kids all ride bikes with seats on the back so they can drive each other around. On the first day, my host sister actually rode me to the park, and then she had me try to drive my friend Maureen around (I failed, so I drove Fang around instead).
4. My host mom and sister were really into learning English, so we'd sit around and they'd teach me Thai while I taught them English. It was kind of amazing.
5. Last night, I showed them my photo album, and I pointed out my "nongchai" (younger brother). My host mom smiled really big and pointed to Fang. I inferred from all of the laughter that she was trying to set my little 10 year old host sister up with my 16-year-old brother. The host mom also showed me a wedding invitation to her sister's wedding with a (much older) Swiss man. Then she showed me a bunch of pictures of her wedding, and of Fang and Fame as babies and toddlers. The next morning at school, Fang took my album and showed her friends pictures of my younger brother, her potential future husband. It was amazing. *sigh* 10 years old, and she's already planning a marriage to an older farang.
6. Srithan School has an amazing agriculture program. They grow their own vegetables and herbs in an organic garden, and they can pump in water from the lake via stationary bike power. I am amazed that they can do that, while schools in the US with much more money would never even consider it.
7. I was really impressed that I got so attached to people who didn't even speak the same language as me in so short of a time. I'm excited for future homestays.
Miss you guys!