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Hey gang! I hope things are going great for everybody back in the states and thanks for checking out my blog. I've had over 150 views so far, I was really surprised about that. Anyways, so I had a really interesting and fun first week here in Thailand, thought I'd keep you updated on what's gone down so far. It's actually 3 AM here right now and I can't sleep so that’s why I'm doing this. We went to a movie tonight and one of the previews was for the scariest movie I've ever seen! There are some really weird noises in my room and now I'm all freaked out and can't sleep....urghhh. My room kind of scares me because noises come from the bathroom when I'm sleeping and I'll go in and check it out and can't find the source. Another time when I was in the shower I heard my closet door slam shut and nobody was in my room and my door was locked....super sketch but I'm going to stop talking about it because I'm just scaring myself more.
So far the typical day is wake up anywhere from 5:30 to 11, walk downtown and grab
Chang Tower
We love us our Chang Tower! some food, maybe go to class and then fill the rest of my spare time with sightseeing and hitting up the pubs around town. The group of Americans I roll with is pretty decent so far. We all get along really well and have hit it off nicely. I haven’t made any real Thai friends yet but really need to. One of the girls in our group is half Thai and speaks the language pretty well so it’s been really nice to have her to go places with and reduce the communication barrier. Her name is Rajjony which also happens to mean “queen” in Thai and we haven’t figured out if it’s offensive yet. They take their respect for the royal family real serious over here. One of our teachers actually asked her if she had another name he could use! My Thai is all right, I’m working on it and it’s getting better. I know enough to get a conversation started and make people think that I speak it better than I do. So usually they just launch into stuff that I have no clue what they are saying and I always have to say “Mai kao jai, nit
noey.” I don’t understand, only a little, is what that means. Since it’s a tonal language you can say the same word with different tones and it can mean upwards of five things. For example, the word for five and diarrhea are the same, haa, just with different tones and I’ve been really hesitant to order five of anything from any street vendors. I do not want to ask someone for diarrhea! The locals are so appreciative if you try to use the language though and almost everyone tries to teach you stuff as you go, it’s really cool and helpful.
So far I’ve gone into Bangkok three times. The first time we just took a cab to Khao San Road; it’s pretty much the most famous and touristy area in Bangkok. All the traveling backpackers stay here. It’s only a few blocks long but it is just packed with stalls selling basically anything you can think of, bars, massage huts (probably naughty ones) and anything else you could ever want. This is also where all the con artists and scams go down because so many fresh tourists go right there. You could barely walk a few steps without
Ewwwwwww
Sickest thing EVER! unscrupulous looking people trying to part you from your baht. They do it in a really nice way though, it’s the Thai way. It usually starts with a friendly smile and a “Hey friend! Where you from?”
Our second trip into Bangkok was a guided tour of the city courtesy of the University. We saw some of the bigger sights to see in Bangkok and they took us out to a really nice lunch place. We went to the Vimanmek Teak Mansion, a royal residence built in the late 1800’s and also Wat Phra Kaew (temple of the emerald Buddha) and the Royal Palace. On Sunday we went back into Bangkok to check out JJ’s Weekend Market. It’s a huge open air style market where you can literally buy whatever you want. We wandered the crowded stalls for hours and barely scratched the surface of what all they had to offer. They have everything from flying squirrels to beautiful paintings to imitation designer products. I want to go back and check it out more.
Classes
For everybody who thinks this is just one giant vacation, I am actually taking some classes while I’m here. So far the
classes seem like they are going to be a joke though so it really will be a giant vacation, Haha. All the professors have been super relaxed and really nice. They encourage us to skip classes so we can travel and see as much of Thailand as possible. Anyways, I’m taking Buddhist Philosophy - it’s taught by a monk who I guess is a pretty big deal, he was in Sweden last week doing whatever big time monks do in Sweden so I haven’t started this class yet. Then I’m taking Thai Cooking; sooo stoked for this class as I love food and Thai food is bomb. I’ll cook you all a delicious meal when I get back. Then I’m taking International Marketing; the instructor in this class is the funniest professor ever. He’s kind of crazy and makes really dirty jokes and comments but he’s really nice. All the other professors just talk about how Thailand is the greatest place ever, and I agree with them so far but this guy is super pessimistic about Thailand and how it could be way better so it’s interesting to get some differing views. Also taking Intermediate Macro Economics but haven’t been
Pool Party!
The girls getting their pool on. to it yet but it should be pretty boring. And the final class I’m taking is Thai Language for survival. I really hope I get decent with the language while I’m over here. Did I mention that classes are only once a week, three hours long? Plus I’ve only got classes on Wednesday and Thursday so I’m going to have plenty of free time for whatever. Yeah, it’s pretty tough over here let me tell you.
Well, I’m going to try and get some sleep now. I really hope nothing shanks me in the night…..still scared!!!
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Reymos
Enjoy your study and trip as well
Reading your blog, I assumed you are enrolled at AIT School of Management. It is also reflected with the place you indicated in the blog location which is Pathumthani. I graduated in AIT with MSc degree in Urban Planning. Im currently doing my PhD in Northern Ireland. I have friends working in AIT until now. Regards. Rey