Observations and thoughts

In all of my years traveling I've stumbled across countless people who rave endlessly about Asia. They all claim they fell for Bangkok the second they got out of the airport. I've met others that use Bangkok as their home base for every trip to Asia, some who have visited over eight times throughout the years. Most people that have been to Asia fall hard for this continent, they're excited about the people, the cities, the experiences and the food. 

So far that is not me. I did not fall hard for Bangkok, in fact some of my first thoughts were "oh my gosh, I'm not an Asia person. Why am I here?" Bangkok is terrifying. The streets are five, six or seven lanes wide with no cross walks. The taxi drivers sometimes will refuse to turn on the meter, or won't give you a ride if you're trying to go somewhere they don't want to go. They jack up the prices for westerners and try to get you to buy everything in site. The alphabet is insane, and even after a semester of Thai I still have zero understanding of a single letter. I previously thought that I would take every weekend to travel, I pictured myself having short vacations to the islands of Thailand or to the caves of Vietnam. I can guarantee that will not be happening anytime soon, it's enough of an adventure stepping out the front door. So no, right now I am not an Asia person, I have not fallen hard for this continent. But that does not mean that I won't change, and it in no way means that I'm not enjoying myself. This city is so far outside of my comfort zone that I really can't even bother to question or worry about anything anymore. I've made myself a fool endless times this week, and will continue to do so until I figure it all out. I'm so grateful that the other teachers are around to help each other out and together we've all gained a lot of confidence even in the smallest of situations. I now confidently say "hello" and "thank you", and I've even managed to cross the street a few times. I know how to take a taxi, and know to refuse the driver if they try to make up a price instead of turn on the meter. It's all of these little things combined that already make me so much more confident than when I first arrived, and I'm excited for each new thing that I'm going to learn in my time here.

For every scary thing there's also a good thing to make up for it. As annoying as the taxis can be, they're incredibly cheap. We're staying about 45 minutes outside the heart of Bangkok, but go into the city for night life. An hour taxi ride through the city costs less than $10, which we then split four ways. I've had a huge filling meal of pad thai and curry for $3. I recently got a cell phone plan which is going to cost me a whopping $9 a month. Their currency is still extremely confusing to me and the conversion is hard to do in my head. Their $500 bill is equivalent to about $15 USD, so all these large bills make me feel rich until I spend 500 stocking up on chocolate and candy. 

Observations/Info

- The tap water in Thailand is not drinkable, and that's something that I was rather concerned about before arriving. In the states I drink plenty of water each day and most people can recognize my water bottle in a room and know that I've got to be somewhere nearby. I was delighted to find that there are numerous options for hydrating in Thailand. I'm learning that most hostels, hotels and schools have filtered water tanks available to everyone around, so while I'm in my school I'll be able to fill up my water bottle all day for free. The store offers bottles in a range of sizes which we stocked up on before finding the free water in the hotel. A small bottle of water is usually around 6 or 7 baht, which is about 20 cents. A larger bottle of 6 liters (1.5 gallons) is about 43 baht which is around $1.22. But wait, there's cheaper! Stationed on just about every block is a water refilling machine, where you pay 1 baht to get 1 liter. That's less than a penny! The only downside to these machines is that the instructions are all in Thai, so add that to the list of tasks I still have to conquer. For now I think I can handle paying $1.22 for 6 liters. 

- Thailand is 95% Buddhist so in my short six days here I've already managed to learn a lot about this culture. I've discovered that the majority of westerners who buy a Buddha as a symbol of peace or good luck are actual being extremely disrespectful towards the Buddhist religion without even knowing. ABuddha is never meant to be used as any form of display in your home. It should be kept above head level and should never be placed near anything that you use on a daily basis. Flaunting your Buddha by having it out in plain view is disrespectful and bad luck, instead it should be kept in a room/location that isn't visited often. Being a true Buddhist takes a lot of effort and basically requires you to always have a positive thought about every single situation. It's a very strenuous and serious religion for those who practice it.

- Although we're far away from the main center of Bangkok we're still staying in a decent sized region where we interact with plenty of different people throughout the day, but we're still outsiders. I spend the majority of my time with the six other girls who are at orientation with me and many Thais that we come across know what hotel we're staying at, and they know how long we've been here. Even in what I thought was a large town we still stand out and are known as the westerners. After this week ends we'll each be moving to our new teaching location, which will be cities and villages much smaller than Bangkok. If they already know us here, imagine the amount of people that will know exactly who we are in our tiny towns throughout the country. The idea is a little daunting and makes me nervous for the impression I'll make on my new home.

- By the time I get out of bed each morning the day is already soaring into the mid 80s with humidity even higher. This weather not only brings dehydration and a strong need for deodorant, but it also brings the mosquitos. I'm being eaten alive every time I step outside and have already gone through so much bug spray. Another issue that I'm fighting is the constant change from AC to the heat. Our hotel rooms and the classroom for orientation both have AC blasting throughout the day, keeping the room at a chilly temperature. But then we go outside to eat lunch, where I'm hit dead on by a heat wave. The change back and forth has given me some sort of cold/flu situation which has been slowing me down a bit. I'm hoping my body will get used to these drastic temperature changes and I'm also hoping that at some point I'll become immune to the constant itch of bug bites. Until then, I've loaded up on some of the best remedies I could find. Tiger Balm is an ointment developed in Burma which uses menthol and essential oils to sooth bug bites, headaches and sore muscles. With this new cold I've developed I've practically been rubbing my entire head and neck with tiger balm and it's making a huge difference. I also brought Bag Balm from home which can be used for just about anything, but I use it on bug bites and scrapes because it's an antiseptic which helps everything heal faster.

Our hostel has an awesome roof patio where we've caught some lovely sunsets

The first of many of my delicious Thai meals. Today was green
curry with rice and a Chang beer

Ronald McDonald doing the traditional Thai "wai" greeting