First Week in Nakhon Pathom!

"I happen to know everything there is to know about maple syrup! I love maple syrup! I love maple syrup on pancakes. I love it on pizza. And I take maple syrup and put a little bit in my hair when I've had a rough week. What do you think holds it up slick?" - Vince Vaughn, Wedding Crashers

Well I made it through my first week on my own being a semi-real person! Here’s what’s been going on in Thailand:

I made it to my apartment in Nakhon Pathom a week from last Friday. I was driven here from Bangkok by my coordinator, who is essentially my boss while I’m here. In Bangkok traffic our hour drive turned into three and half.  That being said, it gave use some good time to get to know each other.

Now for a little bit about the area. Nakhon Pathom has a pretty huge landmass. It takes about an hour to drive from border to border. That being said, it’s much less developed than Bangkok. There are lots of highways with green fields and rivers around it. My apartment is about 10 minutes from the Bangkok border. It’s rather ideal because I get the quietness of the town but also can go into the city on weekends. Most major buses run through Nakhon Pathom so travel should be relatively easy.

The apartment itself is a big studio room, furnished with a double bed, TV, Desk and dresser. It connects to a bathroom on the balcony, which is kind of wild. The sink is open air on the balcony, so I’ve got a great view of Bangkok while I brush my teeth. From what I've gathered from other people, I totally hit the jackpot with my accommodations. The apartment is right off the main highway so there’s not a ton around it. There’s a mall with a food court that’s a five minute walk away which is super convenient. A few street vendors are within walking distance so I’ve been able to get some cheap meals and attempt to build up my spice tolerance.

The Bachelor Pad

Here’s how I’ve spent my first week:

Wandering around:

Each day I’ve picked a random street around me and walked down it for a half hour and then turned around. I’ve found some cool little shops and also some beautiful areas as well. I’ve also gotten used to taxis honking at me as I walk down the street. I guess I must look lost.

Another note about most Thais- they never walk anywhere. They use some type of motorized vehicle to get wherever they need to go. The sidewalks are usually barren and not in great shape because they appear to be a low priority. That explains why you’ll sometimes find holes in the ground like this.

Hanging with my Co-workers.

I’ve had the chance to meet a few of the other English teachers at the school which has been great. I’ve been kicking it with two other teachers that have really good English.

One is half-English, half-Nigerian. He’s hilarious to hang out with. He’s quiet but we’ve had a great time eating pizza, watching movies off of youtube, and singing to James Brown in his car.

The other is from England and lives right down the hall from my in my apartment. Also a blast to hang out with and has helped me out a lot with Thai related questions. He can read and speak Thai very well- something I can’t do too well yet.

Creating my personal gym

I haven’t found a gym/don’t have the money for a membership yet so I created my own. I’ve got a yoga mat and couple big jugs of water to function as a weight set. Creativity yo.

Killing Ants

Ants somehow have easily climbed four stories of concrete into my room. It’s forcing me to keep it clean which is good but those bugs are the devil.

There seems to be a little bit of a downtown in Nakhon Pathom that I have yet to see. It features several Wats (large Buddhist temples) and some markets. I’ll make it down there eventually but I don’t feel rushed to do everything at once. There doesn’t seem to be much of a nightlife but Bangkok should be able to fill that void.

I start work next Tuesday which I’m pretty excited for. As of now I’ll have 20 sections of 10^th graders and 11^th graders. Still trying to figure out how I’ll do names but 700 isn’t that many right?

Here’s a few more photos from around Nakhon Pathom: 

WAAAAHHHHH

It rained for about 20 minutes and completely flooded the street. I guess that's pretty normal.

Sorry I’ve been slow with other photos- the blogger website is now half in Thai for me so I’m trying to figure out the most effective way to post them. I’ll actually figure that out tomorrow and post about my weekend trip back to Kanchanaburi!

Mark

P.S. Also, I noticed Davis hasn’t posted in a while. Don’t let the Slytherins get you down bud!