So, I've been in Thailand for a while now, but this weekend was my first travel weekend.
Anthony and I headed to Koh Chang, which as I understand it is the second largest island in the magnificent Kingdom of Thailand. It's a massive island that is reasonably underdeveloped. There are a few touristy areas, but no where near to the scale of Virginia Beach or even Lake George. The island is mostly mountains, jungles, and a few scattered beaches.
Anthony and I left Bangkok on Thursday at 4:00. We thought the bus to Trat, a province in Thailand, left at 5:30, but there was another bus that left at 4:00. We actually had no idea where the bus was going, but we trusted the Thai bus people enough to get on and go. After about 5 hours of mixed review (the bus was old and there was a little Thai girl with a nasty habit of kicking the seats of people that were sleeping and no one stopped her, father included), we arrived at the Trat bus terminal.
After using the bathroom, we found a lady who took us in her truck to "her place," which was a nice enough bungalow place for only about $7 a night. It rained harder than I've ever seen that night. The next morning, her staff drove us to the ferry along with a lot of French tourists and we went off to Koh Chang. On the boat, some Thai lady sold us rooms on the island, which for two nights cost us about $19.
It had rained a lot on Koh Chang too that night, because everything was wet and many roads were flooded. Right after we got off the ferry, I convinced Anthony that it was a good idea for the two of us to rent motorbikes and travel to the hotel, despite the fact that we had no idea where we were going. He eventually listened to me and we rented motorbikes for two days for $7 each. They were old, but they moved well and got us around the island quickly, as walking was not an option and public transportation was incredibly limited.
We drove around Koh Chang for a while until we found our hotel. We ate at the restaurant there, were a nice ladyboy served us our meal. Then we explored a bit of the beach and relaxed in the room for a while. The accommodations weren't all that spectacular. Let's just say, Anthony and I need to be taught how to flush a toilet without a handle on it.
We decided to explore Koh Chang. We found a road with a sign that said "Jungle Way," which we figured meant there were a scenic jungle road to explore. We road our motorbikes down the road, which gradually became less of a road and more of a "work in progress," so to speak. The road would be very nice, and then a stream, and then road again. We tried to get through, but eventually Anthony crashed his bike in the mud and I got mine stuck in a ditch and had to pull it out. Inevitably, we both ended up barefooted as we lost our shoes to the mud of the jungle. It was a horrendously hilarious situation. Anthony ended up having to buy new sandals and I had to buy a new shirt, as mine was covered in mud. Somewhere during this experience, I popped my tire, but continued to drive on it anyway for the rest of the trip.
That night, we tried to find a mythical "party beach" that we never actually ended up on. Anthony's light broke on his motorbike, so we looked around for a shop for a while, but everything was closed. Except bars. We drove by a couple of them and ignored the ladies yelling at us to come in, but finally we were suckered in to the Ting Tong bar (appropriately named, Ting Tong means crazy in Thailand).
We stayed there for a long time, until they closed actually. We talked with the girls there, drank a lot of Thai beer, and played board games. I especially enjoyed the Thai version of Jenga and playing Connect 4. Whenever conversation subsided (which was surprisingly infrequent as Meaw, the girl I was talking to for most of the night, spoke very fluent English), we'd play a game. It was a lot less boring than quiet bars in the states. Meaw tried to teach me Thai, but I couldn't remember any of it because Thai is (a) one of the most confusing languages on the planet and (b) Thai beer has more alcohol in it than American beer, and I got very drunk that night. I made the rather poor decision of riding my motorbike while intoxicated back to the hotel. I didn't get hurt and nothing bad happened, but blacking out and not remembering driving home is scary enough that I'll never do that again. See, I am learning in Thailand. I also have now gotten sick in two oceans, the Pacific and the Atlantic. It is my goal to one day throw up in every ocean.
The next day, Anthony and I went to this wonderfully impressive waterfall that the island is known for. It must have been a fifty foot drop into a crystal-clear pool of water below. I was incredibly hungover, and maybe still drunk as I didn't really sleep all that well, but sitting at the waterfall and just listening to nature and the sound of water crashing down was really nice.
After the waterfall, we met up with our bar friends and went swimming in the ocean. Meaw bought all of us beers and we sat by the Pacific Ocean, watching the sun move through the sky, listening to the waves, and discussing life in Thailand and America.
That night, we went back to the Ting Tong bar and I drank more again. Anthony and his friend, who's name neither of us remember because it was very Thai, went off to go to the ocean. Meaw decided to show me around Koh Chang and give me a taste of the nightlife, which meant hand me a beer while she drives me around Koh Chang and I drink. She took me to a nightclub where we danced for a while, and then we went back to the ocean.
The next morning, Meaw came to say goodbye and welcome me back to the island. I'll be taking her up on the offer. I liked Thailand while I've been here so far, but I fell in love with it last weekend. Koh Chang was one of the best experiences that I have ever had. It was honestly a paradise and if I had to envision a heaven right now, Koh Chang was very close to it. It was so laid back, relaxed, and carefree. Never in my life have I ever felt more comfortable somewhere. If I had had more money with me, I'm honestly not sure if I'd be in my room typing this post right now, I probably would have stayed in Koh Chang for another day or two. I've been to a lot of places, but I've honestly can't recall a time in my life when I felt so at peace with myself and my surroundings. Every worry and fear that I have seemingly evaporated as soon as I stepped foot onto that island.
And what now? I don't know.
Now, as for the rest of my Thai life, I realized the one thing that I am missing besides all of my friends and family while I'm in this crazy country: food.
I have not yet found a single Thai dish that I love. Granted, I haven't tried nearly everything, but I've had a lot of varieties of chicken and noodles and rice and pork, and nothing is mouth-watering for me. Anthony has his favorites, but I just don't feel it, and that makes me miss food from home all the more. I'm also out of my favorite candies until the package from home arrives.
The day I get home, I am having an enormous feast. I am going to eat a ridiculous amount of food as soon as I get back.
Planned consumption:
- Wendy's Chicken Nuggets, Fries, and Chili
- Mr. B's Roast Beef Sandwich and Potato Nuggets
- A big turkey sandwich with cheddar cheese, bacon, and mayo
- Spaghetti with Hunt's Meat Sauce and meatballs
- Domino's Pizza, only pepperoni and sauce
- Pizza Hut bread sticks
- Outback Stakehouse's ribs and garlic mashed potatoes
- Taco Bell potato burrito with beans, beef, and spicy chicken
- Cereal with milk on it. Lots of it.
And more. A lot of people give me shit here because I order Western dishes when we go out, but for some reason they seem to forget that when they're home, they eat a variety of dishes, not just the same type of food every day of the week. I mean, yeah, when I was broke at the end of the summer (financially and otherwise, summer-issues included), I lived off spaghetti and pizza, but those were hard times. When you have options, why would you eat the same spicy chicken dishes every day? It gets boring.
So, while I'm firmly in love with Thailand now and am already dreading going back to the cold misery of the barren and isolated Oswego, a big part of me (my stomach) wishes every day that it were back in the states.
Sunday, September 23, 2007
Thursday, September 20, 2007
Classes at the illustrious Mahidol University International College
Believe it or not, I'm actually in Thailand to study. I know that sounds positively ridiculous that when studying abroad, you have to do work, but the sad truth is, you have to go to class. It's incredibly disappointing.
I did come to Thailand to study though. I mean, I don't really like it, but I do it. I find that it's very hard to study here, though. There are so many potential distractions. In literally 15 minutes, I can be in the middle of one of the most populated cities in Asia and the possibilities of entertainment there are absolutely endless, not to mention the rest of this very distracting country.
My first class, which is at 8:00 on Monday/Wednesday, is Poverty and Rural Development in Southeast Asia and is, by far, one of the most boring classes I have ever attended. I like the teacher, he seems to have a lot of experience in the region and I think if we can get him to open up he'll have some bizarre stories to tell us, but instead he spends the entire class trying to understand how to use PowerPoint. Once he figures that out, he reads the slides to us (that he already printed for us) for two hours. I have never doodled so much. If he didn't have an attendance policy, I would honestly not go and just teach myself through the slides, because after three classes now, he has not told us a single relevant fact that wasn't listed on the slides.
My second class, which is at 10:00 on Monday/Wednesday, is Economic Problems in Southeast Asia. I like the teacher in this class too. Not that she could ever replace him, but she reminds me a bit of Dr. Warkentin in her teaching style, emphasizing discussions on readings more than lecturing, though she does lecture a lot more than Dr. W ever has in the four classes I've taken with him. The readings are very interesting, if not a little redundant. We talk a lot about the causes of problems, like corruption and culture, which I find to be an interesting angle. We spent a great deal of time talking about farming techniques and deforestation and I actually found myself a lot more interested than I ever thought I would be in either.
My third and final class is a Tuesday/Thursday class at 12:00, Political Systems of Southeast Asia. The professor is an American and has the best ability I have ever seen of a college professor in nearly four years of schooling at getting people to talk in class. It's not even awkward, "well, no one else is talking so I should say something or we're sitting here in silence for five minutes talking" like I found a lot in some of my other political science classes (particularly History of Political Thought, which I absolutely loved but apparently no one wanted to ever talk about it). Everyone seems generally enthused and he likes to pose a lot of hypothetical questions that push people to think about things. I mean, I've been asked "what is citizenship really mean" before, but for some reason it's exciting to hear other people respond to what they think about it, especially because the class is mostly Thai and they all have very different outlooks than I do.
One thing that I have noticed that I'm not particularly enthused about myself is the fact that Thai people in my classes often make casual references about the evils of America, but I don't feel that I can politely say anything about Thailand's ills. I mean, I love this country, but there are problems here too, just like in America. I'm not going to be rude about it or anything, but I just honestly don't feel comfortable at all voicing my opinion on Thai politics and culture, which is quite a change for me. I mean, half of the discussion in most of my political science classes thus far is generally a current events critique framed around whatever we're studying. But, because of the laws here, I think more people are apt to keep their mouth shut about the problems. I don't really have all that many observations anyhow, but I would like to feel more comfortable voicing my opinion as an outsider.
I thought the reason that people went to other countries was to give their input, but apparently not in Thailand. In Oswego, I would have no problems having a friendly discussion with an exchange student about American political life and I think I would enjoy hearing their opinions on politics in the states. It's almost like at work at the movie theater: if I have a problem with a projector or a film build, I call in an outsider to point out what I'm doing wrong and offer suggestions. Maybe things are different on other foreign exchange programs, but I'm not sure. I read in one of my travel guides to Peru that it's also considered very rude for foreigners to comment on politics in Peru.
I don't know if that's really true or not, but it makes me appreciate the high levels of freedom of speech that we do have in the United States. A lot of people may disagree with me, but at least in the United States you can say you hate George W. Bush's politics and not have to worry about being kicked out of the country. I know that I'm probably biased in saying that and I'm sure there are lots of Thai's that would love to discuss things with me, but I feel like I can't with the average person. I even had a discussion with a Thai girl I met on Koh Chang saying how much I respected His Majesty The King of Thailand, and she told me that I shouldn't talk about him (I was saying that I wanted to get a yellow shirt to show my respect for the country, as millions of Thai people wear yellow shirts to celebrate him). It's strange.
But, I guess that perhaps one of the best reasons for studying abroad is gaining a new appreciation of where you come from and who that has made you. I feel like I have a stronger love for life in America now that I have seen another part of the world that is very different. And that doesn't even relate to the simple things like toilets that all work the same way or food that I miss, just daily life in general. I mean, I don't ever stop and think about how incredible it is that, in America, there are thousands of nice, reliable roads to drive across. That there is electricity everywhere. Clean water is abundant. I can literally go anywhere and find high-speed Internet access. Yeah, America isn't perfect, but there are a lot of great things there too.
One thing that I have decided from this whole experience is that I want to be more friendly to foreign exchange students in Oswego. I don't know how I'm going to go about that, but I want to make a positive effort to at least say hello to them. I mean, I have Anthony here and that's a tremendous help at getting past homesickeness (one girl already left and went back to the states), but there are a lot of foreign exchange students who come to Oswego that have no one, no transportation, just their dorms and their (probably) American roommates that probably don't spend all that much time with them.
I used to joke that they all the foreign exchange students clustered around each other and didn't seem to get involved with Americans, but I do the same now and it's simply because it's incredibly intimidating to go up to someone and say hello when you're 12,000 miles away from home and probably don't speak the other person's language very well. Considering all I can say in Thai is "hello," "thank you," "yes," "no," "kiss," "Thailand," "Thai person," and "too expensive," I have a hard time imagining that I'll have a whole lot to say to the average Thai person. But, I suppose all of this is more incentive to learn some more Thai (which I can't remember as each word can be said five different ways, depending on the tone of your voice) and get out there and meet people.
I did come to Thailand to study though. I mean, I don't really like it, but I do it. I find that it's very hard to study here, though. There are so many potential distractions. In literally 15 minutes, I can be in the middle of one of the most populated cities in Asia and the possibilities of entertainment there are absolutely endless, not to mention the rest of this very distracting country.
My first class, which is at 8:00 on Monday/Wednesday, is Poverty and Rural Development in Southeast Asia and is, by far, one of the most boring classes I have ever attended. I like the teacher, he seems to have a lot of experience in the region and I think if we can get him to open up he'll have some bizarre stories to tell us, but instead he spends the entire class trying to understand how to use PowerPoint. Once he figures that out, he reads the slides to us (that he already printed for us) for two hours. I have never doodled so much. If he didn't have an attendance policy, I would honestly not go and just teach myself through the slides, because after three classes now, he has not told us a single relevant fact that wasn't listed on the slides.
My second class, which is at 10:00 on Monday/Wednesday, is Economic Problems in Southeast Asia. I like the teacher in this class too. Not that she could ever replace him, but she reminds me a bit of Dr. Warkentin in her teaching style, emphasizing discussions on readings more than lecturing, though she does lecture a lot more than Dr. W ever has in the four classes I've taken with him. The readings are very interesting, if not a little redundant. We talk a lot about the causes of problems, like corruption and culture, which I find to be an interesting angle. We spent a great deal of time talking about farming techniques and deforestation and I actually found myself a lot more interested than I ever thought I would be in either.
My third and final class is a Tuesday/Thursday class at 12:00, Political Systems of Southeast Asia. The professor is an American and has the best ability I have ever seen of a college professor in nearly four years of schooling at getting people to talk in class. It's not even awkward, "well, no one else is talking so I should say something or we're sitting here in silence for five minutes talking" like I found a lot in some of my other political science classes (particularly History of Political Thought, which I absolutely loved but apparently no one wanted to ever talk about it). Everyone seems generally enthused and he likes to pose a lot of hypothetical questions that push people to think about things. I mean, I've been asked "what is citizenship really mean" before, but for some reason it's exciting to hear other people respond to what they think about it, especially because the class is mostly Thai and they all have very different outlooks than I do.
One thing that I have noticed that I'm not particularly enthused about myself is the fact that Thai people in my classes often make casual references about the evils of America, but I don't feel that I can politely say anything about Thailand's ills. I mean, I love this country, but there are problems here too, just like in America. I'm not going to be rude about it or anything, but I just honestly don't feel comfortable at all voicing my opinion on Thai politics and culture, which is quite a change for me. I mean, half of the discussion in most of my political science classes thus far is generally a current events critique framed around whatever we're studying. But, because of the laws here, I think more people are apt to keep their mouth shut about the problems. I don't really have all that many observations anyhow, but I would like to feel more comfortable voicing my opinion as an outsider.
I thought the reason that people went to other countries was to give their input, but apparently not in Thailand. In Oswego, I would have no problems having a friendly discussion with an exchange student about American political life and I think I would enjoy hearing their opinions on politics in the states. It's almost like at work at the movie theater: if I have a problem with a projector or a film build, I call in an outsider to point out what I'm doing wrong and offer suggestions. Maybe things are different on other foreign exchange programs, but I'm not sure. I read in one of my travel guides to Peru that it's also considered very rude for foreigners to comment on politics in Peru.
I don't know if that's really true or not, but it makes me appreciate the high levels of freedom of speech that we do have in the United States. A lot of people may disagree with me, but at least in the United States you can say you hate George W. Bush's politics and not have to worry about being kicked out of the country. I know that I'm probably biased in saying that and I'm sure there are lots of Thai's that would love to discuss things with me, but I feel like I can't with the average person. I even had a discussion with a Thai girl I met on Koh Chang saying how much I respected His Majesty The King of Thailand, and she told me that I shouldn't talk about him (I was saying that I wanted to get a yellow shirt to show my respect for the country, as millions of Thai people wear yellow shirts to celebrate him). It's strange.
But, I guess that perhaps one of the best reasons for studying abroad is gaining a new appreciation of where you come from and who that has made you. I feel like I have a stronger love for life in America now that I have seen another part of the world that is very different. And that doesn't even relate to the simple things like toilets that all work the same way or food that I miss, just daily life in general. I mean, I don't ever stop and think about how incredible it is that, in America, there are thousands of nice, reliable roads to drive across. That there is electricity everywhere. Clean water is abundant. I can literally go anywhere and find high-speed Internet access. Yeah, America isn't perfect, but there are a lot of great things there too.
One thing that I have decided from this whole experience is that I want to be more friendly to foreign exchange students in Oswego. I don't know how I'm going to go about that, but I want to make a positive effort to at least say hello to them. I mean, I have Anthony here and that's a tremendous help at getting past homesickeness (one girl already left and went back to the states), but there are a lot of foreign exchange students who come to Oswego that have no one, no transportation, just their dorms and their (probably) American roommates that probably don't spend all that much time with them.
I used to joke that they all the foreign exchange students clustered around each other and didn't seem to get involved with Americans, but I do the same now and it's simply because it's incredibly intimidating to go up to someone and say hello when you're 12,000 miles away from home and probably don't speak the other person's language very well. Considering all I can say in Thai is "hello," "thank you," "yes," "no," "kiss," "Thailand," "Thai person," and "too expensive," I have a hard time imagining that I'll have a whole lot to say to the average Thai person. But, I suppose all of this is more incentive to learn some more Thai (which I can't remember as each word can be said five different ways, depending on the tone of your voice) and get out there and meet people.
Tuesday, September 11, 2007
One of the things about Bangkok that's important to note to all travelers considering coming here is this: intense heat and humidity takes a lot out of you very quickly, especially if you come from places like upstate NY where you rarely have to deal with it. Even on days when I don't do too much I'm still exhausted and I mostly blame the intense, sweltering heat.
Anyhow, Anthony, Dennis and I all went into Bangkok to watch some sweet Thai boxing. First we decided to find dinner some where and we stumbled across a random deck with some white people eating on it, so we figured it was a safe, farang friendly place to eat, so we decided to go there. However, this place was not that friendly. The people of course were nice (as all people are in the Land of Smiles), but the meal itself was not "normal" to our Western sensibilities.
The restaurant was a raw-meat buffet. Instead of cooking the food for us, they gave us this strange iron stove thing that we cooked the meat on and boiled our noodles in. We were allowed to take plates up and gather the meat we were interested in and then cook it ourselves. We had no idea what we were doing. At first, they handed us chopsticks to manipulate our meat with, but after failing with those, they gave us forks, and after still not doing very well, they finally handed us tongs. The employees literally babysat us silly foreigners. It was kind of embarrassing. The food itself wasn't bad. We had lots of noodles until Dennis ruined them by adding in spicy noodles that made everything way too spicy. The chicken and pork were great too. I also tried Thai bacon, but I'll fill you in on that story a bit later in this entry.
After that, we decided to take in some Thai boxing. At the doorway, we were harassed by an employee to buy first-class tickets, but we insisted on the third-class tickets where the Thai people get rowdy and gamble. We got good places to stand and watched for five or so matches as jacked Thai people beat the crap out of one another. The crowd was going absolutely nuts, flipping out and screaming and betting. The matches were much more interesting than American boxing because instead of just punching once and then hugging each other for five minutes until the bell rings, the boxers here punch, kick, knee, and elbow each other. Hard. In every match, someone bled. It was great.
The next morning I woke up in intense stomach distress. I'm pretty certain the Thai bacon ruined my stomach, because no one else here had stomach issues and that was the only thing I ate that they didn't. I took some antibiotics that the doctors gave me just in case I had issues and everything resolved itself after a day of rest and lots of fluids. Besides the frequent bathroom stops, it was actually kind of nice just to sit around the room and relax for a day.
However, one day was enough. The very next day, Anthony and Dennis and I traveled into Bangkok to visit a giant mall and get me some good-old-fashioned American cuisine - McDonalds. The McDonalds was rather bland. I'm not sure if it was because I'm so used to spicy food now or what, but I was disinterested in my nuggets. The fry serving was bigger than an American serving, which I found rather interesting.
Next we headed into a massive mall so Anthony and Dennis could buy cellphones. This mall was five stories tall and full of Hello Kitty stores and cell phone shops. I want to explore it one day, but we were getting tired and decided we needed massages, so we went to Khao San Road and found some shady Thai massage parlor and got an hour long massage for about $6. They kept offering us hot oil massages, which is slang for "the massage with the happy-ending" but we weren't buying it. After that, we got dinner and barely escaped Bangkok before monsoon rains poured down from the heavens.
The next day, I loafed around with health issues once again. The Bangkok air destroys my lungs. I've used my inhaler here more than I have at home in a year and I've only been here a week. I was up most of the night coughing, as the caustic Thai air irritated my lungs, so I spent most of the next day sleeping and drinking more. I never wanted cough drops more in my life.
But, much like Jesus, I rose again. Today, Dennis and I woke up early and he bought one of the sweet Thai bikes that Anthony and I already purchased. Then we rode our hogs down to Western Union and I picked up the money my parents sent me and also received a sweet bowl as a lovely parting gift. After that, the three of us got lunch at the pool and then rode bikes everywhere. We first checked a random train station to see if we could get to a boss temple where they filmed Mortal Kombat at, but we couldn't get there from there. Then we rode out bikes to Buddha Monthon, the sweetest park I've ever been to in my life.
This park is absolutely huge. It would take hours to walk from one end to the other. The park was absolutely beautiful and peaceful, despite there being a huge highway just nearby. There were tons of ponds and streams and animals abound. At one part of the lake/river that runs through the park, a Thai man was tossing food into the water and hundreds of catfish were fighting for bits of it. It was incredible. I can't wait to go there to read my coursework in just a few days. Pictures cannot do this place justice.
Anyhow, Anthony, Dennis and I all went into Bangkok to watch some sweet Thai boxing. First we decided to find dinner some where and we stumbled across a random deck with some white people eating on it, so we figured it was a safe, farang friendly place to eat, so we decided to go there. However, this place was not that friendly. The people of course were nice (as all people are in the Land of Smiles), but the meal itself was not "normal" to our Western sensibilities.
The restaurant was a raw-meat buffet. Instead of cooking the food for us, they gave us this strange iron stove thing that we cooked the meat on and boiled our noodles in. We were allowed to take plates up and gather the meat we were interested in and then cook it ourselves. We had no idea what we were doing. At first, they handed us chopsticks to manipulate our meat with, but after failing with those, they gave us forks, and after still not doing very well, they finally handed us tongs. The employees literally babysat us silly foreigners. It was kind of embarrassing. The food itself wasn't bad. We had lots of noodles until Dennis ruined them by adding in spicy noodles that made everything way too spicy. The chicken and pork were great too. I also tried Thai bacon, but I'll fill you in on that story a bit later in this entry.
After that, we decided to take in some Thai boxing. At the doorway, we were harassed by an employee to buy first-class tickets, but we insisted on the third-class tickets where the Thai people get rowdy and gamble. We got good places to stand and watched for five or so matches as jacked Thai people beat the crap out of one another. The crowd was going absolutely nuts, flipping out and screaming and betting. The matches were much more interesting than American boxing because instead of just punching once and then hugging each other for five minutes until the bell rings, the boxers here punch, kick, knee, and elbow each other. Hard. In every match, someone bled. It was great.The next morning I woke up in intense stomach distress. I'm pretty certain the Thai bacon ruined my stomach, because no one else here had stomach issues and that was the only thing I ate that they didn't. I took some antibiotics that the doctors gave me just in case I had issues and everything resolved itself after a day of rest and lots of fluids. Besides the frequent bathroom stops, it was actually kind of nice just to sit around the room and relax for a day.
However, one day was enough. The very next day, Anthony and Dennis and I traveled into Bangkok to visit a giant mall and get me some good-old-fashioned American cuisine - McDonalds. The McDonalds was rather bland. I'm not sure if it was because I'm so used to spicy food now or what, but I was disinterested in my nuggets. The fry serving was bigger than an American serving, which I found rather interesting.
Next we headed into a massive mall so Anthony and Dennis could buy cellphones. This mall was five stories tall and full of Hello Kitty stores and cell phone shops. I want to explore it one day, but we were getting tired and decided we needed massages, so we went to Khao San Road and found some shady Thai massage parlor and got an hour long massage for about $6. They kept offering us hot oil massages, which is slang for "the massage with the happy-ending" but we weren't buying it. After that, we got dinner and barely escaped Bangkok before monsoon rains poured down from the heavens.
The next day, I loafed around with health issues once again. The Bangkok air destroys my lungs. I've used my inhaler here more than I have at home in a year and I've only been here a week. I was up most of the night coughing, as the caustic Thai air irritated my lungs, so I spent most of the next day sleeping and drinking more. I never wanted cough drops more in my life.
But, much like Jesus, I rose again. Today, Dennis and I woke up early and he bought one of the sweet Thai bikes that Anthony and I already purchased. Then we rode our hogs down to Western Union and I picked up the money my parents sent me and also received a sweet bowl as a lovely parting gift. After that, the three of us got lunch at the pool and then rode bikes everywhere. We first checked a random train station to see if we could get to a boss temple where they filmed Mortal Kombat at, but we couldn't get there from there. Then we rode out bikes to Buddha Monthon, the sweetest park I've ever been to in my life.
This park is absolutely huge. It would take hours to walk from one end to the other. The park was absolutely beautiful and peaceful, despite there being a huge highway just nearby. There were tons of ponds and streams and animals abound. At one part of the lake/river that runs through the park, a Thai man was tossing food into the water and hundreds of catfish were fighting for bits of it. It was incredible. I can't wait to go there to read my coursework in just a few days. Pictures cannot do this place justice.
Friday, September 7, 2007
Thai Rose Garden and other Thai happenings
Well, we had orientation. They bombarded us in typical education-industry style with too much
information all at once and no one could retain anything. I got some information out of the session, but not all that much that was really helpful. I picked out my classes and hopefully I get what I want. Three political science classes, just like back home. I'm going to take (again, hopefully) Political Systems of Southeast Asia, Economic Problems in Southeast Asia, and Poverty and Rural Development in Southeast Asia. All depressing classes, all about Southeast Asia. Hopefully by the end of this semester I'll know something or another about Southeast Asia. At least the bad parts.
We went to this giant park yesterday known as the Rose Garden Country Resort. It was a lot like the American Indian cultural displays back in the USA. I'm sure the presentation on rural Thailand was probably offensive and stereotypical. Still, I got to ride an elephant with Ninja, a German girl that lives with us, and I haggled down a sweet box that I now store all my baht laundry coins in from 150bh to 120bh! It was my first time haggling and I enjoyed it. I got a lot of cool pictures there. One of the best sites in the park was the "butterfly garden" where swarms of butterflies were chilling out on flowers. When you walked near them, they all flew away. It was a lot like the pigeons in Bangkok, but less scary and shitty.
I was exceptionally tired (I figure the intense heat of this place combined with walking around and generally eating less food makes me more sleepy) and fell asleep rather awkwardly at 9:30, spread out sideways on my bed with my legs on my chair and my laptop on my stomach. After Anthony kindly woke me up, I went to bed early.
Anthony and I keep waking up really early, but today was through no fault of our own. Our air conditioner stopped cooling in the middle of the night and we woke up HOT. We're doing great with the time zone change, but man, the heat is something else here. Today, it must be like, 95. And humid. For a place that supposidly is in a rainy season, this shit is not raining. I haven't even seen the scattered thunderstorms that are predicted everyday in the weather report except for our first night in Bangkok. I even have tan lines on my feet from my sandals.
Last night, we went down to the pool and hung out there drinking again for a long time. Pools in this heat are exceptional and it's a great way to get to know everyone. Just making jokes, telling stories about life at home. We all come from different places and mesh together really, really well. Some of the guys are crazy and it's great. I really like everyone and my biggest fear, that I would be surrounded by assholes is gone.
Today we had to walk into town to run some errands. It was exceptionally hot and there are no shortcuts to campus to make the walk any faster. We walked through the blazing heat (mind you, it was only 9:00) into Salaya. We went to a Kodak shop to get pictures taken and some photocopies made. They made sure we looked exceptional in the pictures. I have cleaner, clearer skin than I had when I was born in these pictures. Anthony said if I ever put up a personal ad that I have to use these pictures. After we got our pictures, we dropped them off to Coco Pan, the Chinese lady on our campus who keeps track of us and then explored the "Friday Market," a weekly shopping event on our campus where tons of vendors come out and sell goods. We bought bike locks and a power adapter for US appliances, but couldn't haggle the prices down.
After that, we went to a bike shop and bought sweet Thai bikes. These things are incredible and only cost 1900bh ($60 USD). It didn't feel nearly as hot as we were peddling through the streets of Salaya on the Blue Rocket (Anthony's) and the Black Dragon (mine). They even have bells. I'm going to be sad to leave it behind. I'm going to look for a way to get it home, it's totally sweet.
The power adapter didn't work, so Anthony and I are still without our DSs. We keep looking for things and people keep trying to sell us or give us the wrong things, despite what we ask for. We're going to look in Bangkok this weekend hopefully and get the right converters. Then hopefully on Monday we'll be able to get to an island and spend a few days on the beach before our classes start. It's weird to be on a vacation of sorts while all of our friends are doing homework.
Oh, and I ate an egg on a hamburger today. That was an interesting experience.
Anthony and I are off to Bangkok with Dennis, a German, to watch some Thai boxing and get some dinner. It's going to be great. Hopefully someone gets kicked in the head and it isn't me.
information all at once and no one could retain anything. I got some information out of the session, but not all that much that was really helpful. I picked out my classes and hopefully I get what I want. Three political science classes, just like back home. I'm going to take (again, hopefully) Political Systems of Southeast Asia, Economic Problems in Southeast Asia, and Poverty and Rural Development in Southeast Asia. All depressing classes, all about Southeast Asia. Hopefully by the end of this semester I'll know something or another about Southeast Asia. At least the bad parts.
We went to this giant park yesterday known as the Rose Garden Country Resort. It was a lot like the American Indian cultural displays back in the USA. I'm sure the presentation on rural Thailand was probably offensive and stereotypical. Still, I got to ride an elephant with Ninja, a German girl that lives with us, and I haggled down a sweet box that I now store all my baht laundry coins in from 150bh to 120bh! It was my first time haggling and I enjoyed it. I got a lot of cool pictures there. One of the best sites in the park was the "butterfly garden" where swarms of butterflies were chilling out on flowers. When you walked near them, they all flew away. It was a lot like the pigeons in Bangkok, but less scary and shitty.I was exceptionally tired (I figure the intense heat of this place combined with walking around and generally eating less food makes me more sleepy) and fell asleep rather awkwardly at 9:30, spread out sideways on my bed with my legs on my chair and my laptop on my stomach. After Anthony kindly woke me up, I went to bed early.
Anthony and I keep waking up really early, but today was through no fault of our own. Our air conditioner stopped cooling in the middle of the night and we woke up HOT. We're doing great with the time zone change, but man, the heat is something else here. Today, it must be like, 95. And humid. For a place that supposidly is in a rainy season, this shit is not raining. I haven't even seen the scattered thunderstorms that are predicted everyday in the weather report except for our first night in Bangkok. I even have tan lines on my feet from my sandals.
Last night, we went down to the pool and hung out there drinking again for a long time. Pools in this heat are exceptional and it's a great way to get to know everyone. Just making jokes, telling stories about life at home. We all come from different places and mesh together really, really well. Some of the guys are crazy and it's great. I really like everyone and my biggest fear, that I would be surrounded by assholes is gone.Today we had to walk into town to run some errands. It was exceptionally hot and there are no shortcuts to campus to make the walk any faster. We walked through the blazing heat (mind you, it was only 9:00) into Salaya. We went to a Kodak shop to get pictures taken and some photocopies made. They made sure we looked exceptional in the pictures. I have cleaner, clearer skin than I had when I was born in these pictures. Anthony said if I ever put up a personal ad that I have to use these pictures. After we got our pictures, we dropped them off to Coco Pan, the Chinese lady on our campus who keeps track of us and then explored the "Friday Market," a weekly shopping event on our campus where tons of vendors come out and sell goods. We bought bike locks and a power adapter for US appliances, but couldn't haggle the prices down.
After that, we went to a bike shop and bought sweet Thai bikes. These things are incredible and only cost 1900bh ($60 USD). It didn't feel nearly as hot as we were peddling through the streets of Salaya on the Blue Rocket (Anthony's) and the Black Dragon (mine). They even have bells. I'm going to be sad to leave it behind. I'm going to look for a way to get it home, it's totally sweet.
The power adapter didn't work, so Anthony and I are still without our DSs. We keep looking for things and people keep trying to sell us or give us the wrong things, despite what we ask for. We're going to look in Bangkok this weekend hopefully and get the right converters. Then hopefully on Monday we'll be able to get to an island and spend a few days on the beach before our classes start. It's weird to be on a vacation of sorts while all of our friends are doing homework.
Oh, and I ate an egg on a hamburger today. That was an interesting experience.
Anthony and I are off to Bangkok with Dennis, a German, to watch some Thai boxing and get some dinner. It's going to be great. Hopefully someone gets kicked in the head and it isn't me.
Tuesday, September 4, 2007
Today, we went everywhere in Bangkok. Anthony and I are on a mostly Thai schedule already. We woke up at 6:30 today, but only by accident because we thought we had orientation and had set a clock wrong.
We met a lot of the kids in our house. Most of them are pretty cool. There are two or three people from Germany, a handful of Americans, one Brit, and a few Canadians, plus some others that I don't really know. One girl was more familiar than us with the city, so she showed us around the immediate area of Salaya, the town we're living in, plus showed us which bus to take into Bangkok. Bangkok is an amazing city, with magnificent temples juxtaposed with slums.
We went to breakfast at a European style restaurant that also served Thai food. I got French Fries and also Stir-Fried Chicken with Cashews and Peppers. The food is not bad at all. The chicken was very good and so were the cooked cashews. The peppers weren't even bad at first, but the forth one that I ate was extraordinarily hot and ruined my mouth. I literally started sweating and my mouth felt like I had ate something that was too hot (temperature wise) and burned my tounge. Fortunately, the ginger ale I had cooled my mouth enough to finish the meal.
Then we went off an explored some amazing temples. There was one with a giant Buddha that was known as the "Reclining Buddha." He was 50 feet long and laying down. It was neat. Then we saw another couple of Buddhas, then we got Thai Massages. It was $8 for 1/2 hour and it was intense. The massages aren't like ours. They dig their fingers into your muscles and they do it hard. They also help crack your back and your fingers and toes. It hurt sometimes, enough to make me recoil. But it was nice afterwards, I felt very refreshed.
Then we visited some more temples, but to get there we had to cross the main river that Bangkok is situated around. Never in my life have I seen a river so brown. It looked like chocolate milk. At the temple, we had to climb up some nastily steep stairs to get to the top, but the view was gorgeous. It was a shame that I forgot my memory card for my camera and couldn't take any pictures.
By then we were tired, so we all decided to head back to Salaya. We had to walk through these pigeons. Thai people sell bird feed to people, but to slow them down so you don't ignore them, they throw feed to scores of pigeons and then basically put the feed in your hand, and then chase you insisting that you pay.
We got on the bus, which was super crowded and very hot. This whole place is incredibly hot, but made worse by constant humidity. I did get a seat on the bus though, eventually, which is nice because it's a 45 minute ride. We finally made it to Salaya and went to this giant, super outdoor open-air market that sold all kinds of stuff. I bought some chicken and Pringles potato chips there. Anthony bought a weird fruit with like, green hairy arms coming off it. They sold everything you can imagine there, all sorts of weird fruits and bizarre meats. You could even buy live snakes.
I've never been happier though to get back to the room. It was freshly cleaned by our maid person and nice and cool thanks to the gargantuan air conditioner. Now, I'm just eating this chicken and contemplating a shower. It was a good day, but I'm tired. So far, the food hasn't made me need to use the bathroom, but I might just be hesitant to because you can't just throw your toilet paper in the toilet, you have to wipe and then put it in a garbage can. It's silly and confusing and kind of gross that a bag of poop rags sits in our bathroom. Oh well. When in Thailand, do as the Thai do.
We met a lot of the kids in our house. Most of them are pretty cool. There are two or three people from Germany, a handful of Americans, one Brit, and a few Canadians, plus some others that I don't really know. One girl was more familiar than us with the city, so she showed us around the immediate area of Salaya, the town we're living in, plus showed us which bus to take into Bangkok. Bangkok is an amazing city, with magnificent temples juxtaposed with slums.
We went to breakfast at a European style restaurant that also served Thai food. I got French Fries and also Stir-Fried Chicken with Cashews and Peppers. The food is not bad at all. The chicken was very good and so were the cooked cashews. The peppers weren't even bad at first, but the forth one that I ate was extraordinarily hot and ruined my mouth. I literally started sweating and my mouth felt like I had ate something that was too hot (temperature wise) and burned my tounge. Fortunately, the ginger ale I had cooled my mouth enough to finish the meal.
Then we went off an explored some amazing temples. There was one with a giant Buddha that was known as the "Reclining Buddha." He was 50 feet long and laying down. It was neat. Then we saw another couple of Buddhas, then we got Thai Massages. It was $8 for 1/2 hour and it was intense. The massages aren't like ours. They dig their fingers into your muscles and they do it hard. They also help crack your back and your fingers and toes. It hurt sometimes, enough to make me recoil. But it was nice afterwards, I felt very refreshed.
Then we visited some more temples, but to get there we had to cross the main river that Bangkok is situated around. Never in my life have I seen a river so brown. It looked like chocolate milk. At the temple, we had to climb up some nastily steep stairs to get to the top, but the view was gorgeous. It was a shame that I forgot my memory card for my camera and couldn't take any pictures.
By then we were tired, so we all decided to head back to Salaya. We had to walk through these pigeons. Thai people sell bird feed to people, but to slow them down so you don't ignore them, they throw feed to scores of pigeons and then basically put the feed in your hand, and then chase you insisting that you pay.
We got on the bus, which was super crowded and very hot. This whole place is incredibly hot, but made worse by constant humidity. I did get a seat on the bus though, eventually, which is nice because it's a 45 minute ride. We finally made it to Salaya and went to this giant, super outdoor open-air market that sold all kinds of stuff. I bought some chicken and Pringles potato chips there. Anthony bought a weird fruit with like, green hairy arms coming off it. They sold everything you can imagine there, all sorts of weird fruits and bizarre meats. You could even buy live snakes.
I've never been happier though to get back to the room. It was freshly cleaned by our maid person and nice and cool thanks to the gargantuan air conditioner. Now, I'm just eating this chicken and contemplating a shower. It was a good day, but I'm tired. So far, the food hasn't made me need to use the bathroom, but I might just be hesitant to because you can't just throw your toilet paper in the toilet, you have to wipe and then put it in a garbage can. It's silly and confusing and kind of gross that a bag of poop rags sits in our bathroom. Oh well. When in Thailand, do as the Thai do.
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