First week in Thailand + Weekend Trip to Ko Samed

Sawatsee Ka!

I have been in Thailand for about 6 days now, but I feel like it has already been several weeks! The slow-paced lifestyle in Thailand makes the time go by very slowly, but I like it. More time to savor this experience. Today is the Queen's birthday, which is a national holiday here in Thailand. There should be fireworks and a big celebration later tonight, so I will try to take some pictures and post them soon.

To chronicle my journey thus far:

-Monday, August 4th: Flew out of Austin, heading to Bangkok!

- Wednesday, August 6th: 30 hours later, I arrived in Bangkok, Thailand, a very confused person. I got a taxi and made my way to Kao San Road, a famous road frequented by backpackers and farungs (foreigners). Kao San Road also had a debut performance in the movie "The Beach", check out some pictures: http://www.khaosanroad.com/khao_san_road_photo_gallery/displayimage.php?album=random&cat=9&pos=-28I Once I arrived at Kao San Road, I found a small room to spend the night in, and walked over to a 24 hour internet cafe to let everyone know I've safely arrived. I eventually went to bed at about 5am and woke up at 9am. I got in touch with a fellow exchange student who was staying in an apartment complex across the river from Kao San Road. I took a taxi to him, and met some 3 other exchange students on the way there. We all got to know each other for a few minutes and then we went to go buy cell phones and grab lunch. Afterwards, a few of the other exchange students and myself went apartment hunting. Spent the entire day walking around the city, completely lost! Spent the night crashing on a friend's futon. Day one in Thailand complete!

-Thursday, August 7th. Had orientation at school today and met tons of other exchange students. Went on another endless housing tour, trying to find an apartment! This city is HOTT!! Walking outside for a few minutes will leave you drenched in sweat.

-Friday, August 8th. Finally moved into my studio apartment at the Rattanakosin, near Pata shopping center. It's such a cute little place, on the 35th floor of the building. Standing on the balcony (where the rail reaches waist high) scares the hell out of me...don't think I will be doing much of that. After moving in, I went to the grocery store to get some essentials. I'm not actually sure what I got, everything is written in Thai! Went to sleep at 8pm, woke up at midnight, went to a friends place for about 15 minutes, and went back to sleep at 1am. Woke up around 6am, then went back to sleep until I was woken up by a friend at 9am....time to leave for the Islands!!

-Saturday, August 9th. Went to Ko Samed (my spelling on everything is probably wrong by the way), an island about 1 hr cab ride+ 3 hour bus+ 45 minute ferry away, in southern Thailand. So much fun! We arrived and met up with about 10 other exchange students, and had lunch and just relaxed on the beach. Had a nice dinner right on the beach, as it lightly drizzled, then proceeded to go to a club which had been taken over by gay asian men....gaysians!! It was a lot of fun, letting loose and dancing till the wee hours of the morning. Woke up at 5:30 am, and went to the beach to watch the sun rise. While lying there, a few thais approached me and we started chatting. Well, more like playing charades, since they dont know english and I definitely do not understand much Thai. Then, one of their friends who knows english joined us and we all hung out on the beach for a few minutes, as they took pictures with me. I went back and ate breakfast (a rice and chicken dish....too spicy though! It was a painful meal...), and then went back to the beach, where the sun was now blaring down on us! Got a 1 hour long massage right on the beach for 200 baht= about $6! It was AMAZING! Spent some more time splashing around in the ocean, then went home at about 3 or 4 pm. Arrived back in BKK (Bangkok) at around 9 pm, and crashed out a few hours later!

-Monday, August 10. Actually, August 11th, I missed a day somewhere! Anyway, first day of classes!! I had Marketing- Consumer Behavior. It was a really good class, only about 10 exchange students and everyone else was Thai. We went around introducing ourselves and all the Thais gave their nicknames, since their real names are very long. Basically sounded something like this: "Hi, I am "e". I am "Je" I am "Ju" I am "Ping" I am "cake" I am "ooh" I am "moo" I am "ee"....lol, I love it! After class was over (9am-noon), the other exchange students and myself ate lunch. Once again, my meal was painfully spicy! To help reduce the painful feeling on my tongue, I left campus and found a fruit vendor outside. The fruit vendors are amazing, they sell fresh pineapple, hichama, papaya, coconut, mango, and more! It is delicious. I actually ate from the fruit vendor 3 times today. Then, I went to Bunglampoo Road (near Kao San) to find a uniform vendor. After about 1.5 hours of wandering around with another friend, we finally found it! Before I could try on the uniform (black skirt and white button down top. SO cute!), I had to pee. After 5 minutes of playing charades with the women who owns the shop, she finally took me to the "bathroom", ie, squatter toilet. I then proceeded to pee all over my feet, since I dont think I have quite grasped the squatter toilet concept. It is basically a toilet that is little more than a whole in the ground. There are rigged sides on the edge, where you are supposed to stand (I think), and then you squat ALL the way down, till you are practically sitting on the ground. Toilet paper= non-existent, ugh! It's all good though. Mai ben rai....thai motto meaning, "no problem, it's okay".
After I got my uniform, we went back to campus and I had a bba orientation from 4-6pm. Met some really cool Swedes and went to their apartment a few hours later to have a few drinks, which turned into an exchange student party! Then, we went to a hookah and dance club on Kao San Road....everyone stayed until 6am, but I had to cut out at 3 am...these kids are party animals!

-Tuesday, August 12 (today)-- Finally met Warren, a Thai student Abby (UT student who studied here last semester) introduced me to....he is super cool! I can tell we are going to be good friends; I'm excited to get to know him better. He and I went to a couple gyms in the area to try to get a membership, but they were so rude to us! So much for the land of smiles...they saw my white face and were just trying to rip me off! Mai ben rai..... I will figure out some other way to exercise while here...maybe Muy thai at school? There are also squash courts at my apartment complex, so maybe I will try to learn how to play squash! I am going to be way out of shape after this semester, oh goodness. I'll have to hit gregory gym with a vengeance when I get back to UT! Tonight, I think I will go up to the penthouse suite (top floor of the apartment complex) to hang out with other exchange students and watch a fireworks show to celebrate the Queen's birthday.... I think that is happening, I actually think I may have just made the fireworks show up in my head....they should do that though.

Until next time!