Bangkok Chillin'

“One does not simply walk into Mordor” – Boromir, The Fellowship of the Ring/Hong Kong International Airport Staff

This story begins at the Hong Kong International Airport.

International flights are awesome. I had a window seat and no one was sitting next to me, so I was set. I had a personal video set in front of me- touch screen bay! It literally had about 50 movies and 50 TV shows to choose from. All new releases too. I want on a Brian Larsen- movie binge and watched 4 movies in a row.

The service was impeccable. They kept coming by to offer more drinks and food. I half expected Kanye West to pop out of the overhead compartment and start shooting a video. Sadly he didn’t so there was no Ciroc or foreign models on the plane. Oh well, everyone can improve I guess.

When I arrived in Hong Kong I really had no idea what was happening or where to go. I noticed that a couple levels above me there were some restaurants and shops. I asked a woman the desk how to get there. She said to take a left and an elevator was just around the corner. I do that and see a few benches – no elevator. Hmmm. I go to another security guard and ask him how I would get to my next flight and the above area. He said I would have to go through immigration. I go through immigration. In front of my lies the baggage claim. I don’t want this. I ask yet another woman and she says that I shouldn’t have come through immigration; the checkpoint to the upper levels was where I just was. I now have to go back through security. AHHHHHHH! SERIOUSLY GUYS?

I probably would have been more frustrated but I had a 12-hour layover. Also, they don’t speak English so it’s really no one’s fault but my own for not knowing Chinese. Anyway the airport is HUGE. Each concourse is at least half a mile. They also have an IMAX and a 9-hole golf course. Crazy.

So I went back through security. I got a quizzical look from the guard as he reminded me that my flight didn’t leave until tomorrow and didn’t even have a gate yet. Yeah yeah buddy, I’m a dumb American tourist, I get it. I spend some more time walking around and grabbed some Hong Kong McDonald’s not surprisingly, it tastes about the same as the America. I slept on a bench and got about 4 hours of sleep and got on my plane in the morning.

I had previously talked on facebook with two other girls in the program about splitting a cab to the hotel. We met in the baggage area and found a cab to take us to there. Thus begins my observations of Thailand.

Thai Traffic

If you ever want to rob a bank and need a getaway driver, just grab any Thai person with a driver’s license. The driving here is totally insane. People merge on a whim without any signals. You pretty much just have to get out the way if someone decides to merge. Speed limits are also ignored. Our cab driver drove on the shoulder for a good two miles on our way there. To top it off, mopeds weave in and out of lanes like it’s their job. Surprisingly, everyone on the road is very good about avoiding each other.

Also, the traffic in rush hour is awful. It can turn hour drives into three hour drives, as I later found out.

CIEE Teach Abroad

All roughly 200 people in the program were split between two hotels in Bangkok. The hotels are within a five minute walk of each other. Meg, Kyle, and myself were struck by how similar the orientation was to ASP. It featured lots of blocking training sessions that were probably fairly overwhelming for most. The sessions were on teacher training, language lesson, and cultural adaptations. It was pretty useful for getting some knowledge about Thailand and the environment I’ll be in.

The people on the program are also super cool. Almost everyone is within three years of graduating college. About half have never been abroad and want to do it while they can, the other half have been abroad a lot and love doing it. I’ve met some incredibly interesting people and made some friends that will be fun to visit on weekends.

Sanuk

“Sanuk” means “fun” in Thai. It’s an integral part of their way of life and they love to celebrate. Everything Thai’s do should have some form of Sanuk in it. A few examples:

-        We had a welcome dinner for everyone in the program. We had a nice dinner and saw some traditional Thai dancing. After it ended, “Gangnam Style” began blasting and huge dance party/conga line/Thai dancing ensued. I somehow ended up in the middle of the stage as the conga line stopped so keep your eye out for the terrible white person dancing when the promotional video comes out.

-        Later in the week we visited Kanchanaburi, which is famous for the Bridge over the River Kwai. We saw the bridge and had dinner afterwards. The dinner was held on a floating restaurant that was pulled down the river by boat. It was awesome. Again, after the dinner ended electronic music started blasting and a dance party erupted on this floating restaurant. And then it started pouring rain which pumped up everyone else even more. Thank god no alcohol was served or we would probably be down five teachers.

-        People have dessert at every meal. Ice cream with noodles and rice? It happens.

-        A couple times we went out to the big tourist hotspot, Kao San Road. This is essentially the Bourbon St. of Bangkok. It’s full of restaurants, bars, clubs, street vendors, and merchants. It’s really fun to go to and packed with people from all over the world. Also, late at night street dance-offs break out. Basically a huge circle will form and people will jump in and bust moves. It’s pretty cool.

Land of the Smiles

Smiling is huge in Thailand. Thais smile when they’re happy. They also smile when they are sad, angry, or upset. They smile in these difficult situations to try to remove the comfortableness. Overall everyone I’ve meet has been super friendly and helpful. That being said…

Farang/Baht

“Farang” means “foreigner.” Most merchants and cab drivers will try to rip off Farang and charge them extra. It’s not that they are really trying to be mean– they just assume that they are rich and can afford paying extra because the worth of the Baht is so low. That being said the Baht is incredibly cheap. Most meals I can get for $2-4.

Stray Observations

-        The power lines here are ridiculous. They are just stacked one on top of the other.

-        It’s really hot. It’s easy to sweat through your shirt around 3 PM if you’re walking around aimlessly. Speaking of walking aimlessly, my first day there walking around we stumbled upon what appeared to be a black market motor yard. There were literally thousands of motors piled up through this alley. I wanted to take a picture but I’ve seen the Fast and the Furious enough times to know that it probably wasn’t a good idea.

-        Visiting Kanchanaburi was really fun. We went to an elephant camp and I rode an elephant. One also picked me up with its truck. Dude can lift.

      Seeing the Grand Palace was really neat. They also played "The Hangover Part II" on the bus on the way there. Good sense of humor CIEE.

Anyway, I’m in my apartment in Nakhon Pathom now. I’ll post more photos tomorrow when I finish uploading them. Watch for another post about Nakhon Pathom in about week before I start teaching!

Sawatdee-Krap!

Mark