Hi everybody!

My name’s Fai and I’m a new BananaLoft member. This is my first post and I’m excited to share my stories (and other random stuff) with you. I decided I’m going to focus this post on giving an introduction about myself and my column just so you’ll be more familiar with me.

I’m a female 19-year-old Thai student studying at the University of Toronto (Mississauga campus). I’m a sophomore majoring in English (yes, it’s hard to find an Asian in my program) and double minoring in professional writing & communications and philosophy. As for my background, I was born and raised in Thailand, then I moved to New Zealand (I won’t deny I still have a hint of New Zealand accent in me) where I attended primary and most of high school. Then I moved back to Thailand to finish high school and decided to move to Canada for university. So here I am as a UTM student writing my first BananaLoft post.

Because I’ve been an international student for almost my whole life, parts of my column will focus on international student life and living away from home. I have an interest in arts and travelling so I’ll also be writing about these topics (this is the reason why my column is called ‘Traces & Trail Marks’). But my column isn’t limited to these, you’ll likely see me writing about some random (and sometimes irrelevant) stuff here and there.

13 random facts about me:

1. My full name is Passawee Udomkaewkanjana, and nobody outside Thailand have ever gotten it correct the first time.

2. Because I move around a lot, I’ve attended almost 10 different schools.

3. Most of the schools I’ve attended are christian girls boarding schools (although I’m not a christian).

4. I played the piano for 10 years and the violin for 7 years (then I stopped for a while and I don’t think I can remember how to play them anymore *sob*)

5. I’m teaching myself how to play guitar.

6. I used to do ballet, swimming, tennis, hockey, and figure skating, and I currently play badminton.

7. I love to read, visit art galleries, and watch performing arts (especially musicals).

8. I love indie music.

9. I want to enter the publishing industry after I graduate.

10. I once passed for a 13 year old (when I was 18).

11. I once slept outside in the snow.

12. I just bought 2 new betta fish 2 days ago (I don’t keep them in the same tank, but I admit I enjoy watching them puff up and swim and hit their heads on their tank when they see each other).

13. My first time drinking. I didn’t know vodka is supposed to be served in shots, so I poured it into a regular sized glass til it almost reaches the brim… (you know the results) I never want to drink again…

Questions I often receive from people who just met me and random misunderstandings of my ‘New Zealand’ vocabulary slips

Me: *Smiles*
Person: “Can your eyes still see when you smile?”

Me: “I’m Thai.”
Person: “You’re sure you’re a female right?”

(FYI, not every Thai person changes their gender like a person changes their hairstyle!)

Me: “I used to live in New Zealand”
Person: “Omg, have you ever seen Lord of the Rings? Did you grow up with hobbits?”

(Note: I really did grow up in the region where they filmed the movie)


I grew up in a town named Christchurch, which is in the Canterbury region where they filmed scenes in Lord of the Rings, including ‘Edoras’, the capital of Rohan.

Me: “Where’s the rubbish bin?”
Person: “Wtf is that?”
Me: “… the rubbish bin. You know, where you throw your rubbish in.”
Person: “You mean the garbage can?”
Me: “I guess.”
Person: “Haha, sounds like you just walked out of Harry Potter”

Me: “I’ll give him a ring.”
Person: “You’re too young.”

(In New Zealand it means “I’ll give him a call”)

Me: “Where’s my hottie?”
Person: “Your hottie?!?!”

(‘Hottie’ in New Zealand language refers to a hot water bottle)

A hot water bottle. New Zealand people fill it with boiling water and hug it to keep themselves warm.

Me: “You’re my mate.”
Person: “……….”

(‘Mate’ in New Zealand language refers to a friend)

Anyways, thank you for reading my first post. I’m looking forward to submitting more posts in my column (and perhaps pitching in to other BananaLofties’ columns). If you have any comments or ideas, feel free to post them. You can also add me on facebook or follow me on twitter.

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