Sawatee
from Bangkok, Thailand!!!!!
I
am officially in Bangkok, Thailand! I am
writing this from True Coffee on ABAC Hua Mak campus since we still don't have Internet
connection in our dorm. The first 5 days have felt like 3 weeks to say
the least. I can now say that I have survived a 15 hour pane ride, a one hour
layover, a delayed connecting flight and finally arriving halfway around the
world. To give you all an idea, I left my house at 10AM on Monday, July
20th and officially arrived at my new home at Midnight on Tuesday July 21st.
I have never felt so gross, tired, and relieved in my whole life.
For anyone that cares, Cathay Pacific coach does not have a lot of leg
room!! My knees were not happy, and after three airplane meals, all I was
wanted was some real food.
After
arriving at Assumption University Hua Mak campus we all headed to C building
that is our home for the next 5 months, named C since the official name is
Coronation Hall. With my whole "family" of luggage, I found my
room on the 13th floor. After walking in, the first thing I saw in my
bathroom was a dead cockroach. Immediately, I knew I wasn't in America
anymore. I freaked out to say the least. After finally getting to
sleep, I had to wake up early the next day to get on a bus to go see the
"new campus" of Assumption University. The new campus is
unlike any university in America. It is opulent, over the top, and out of
this world beautiful. The architecture is grand. There is marble
and gold used all over the campus. We walked all over the campus in the
heat in our white blouse and black skirt uniform. Every part of my body
was sweating. Though it is only 85 to 90 degrees, the type of heat is
completely different then the US.
The
second full day we were here was a completely full day. We woke up and
took a two-hour bus ride to Pattaya, Thailand. Pattaya is a big ex-pat
community southeast of Bangkok. Pattaya is a big Russian community.
Many of the signs in Pattaya are in Thai, English, and Russian. We
took the bus to Nongnooch Botanical Garden & Resort. Nongnooch was a
very bizarre place. It felt almost like an amusement park meets a
cultural education center. There were easily 300 school kids there on
summer camp/school trips. We arrived and watched a cultural show that
included Thai dancing, boxing, and elephants. The costumes were stunning,
and showed parts of the Thai culture, and just how different it is then
American culture. We then went to see an elephant show. I was able
to pay 100Baht to have an elephant pick me up. 100baht is about $3.50
American dollars!! The elephants were so strong, and hairy. Part of
me felt uncomfortable watching the elephant show. It included elephants
playing soccer, painting, and riding a bicycle. All of it was a little
strange an out of the ordinary, but welcome to Thailand, nothing is similar to
the US. We then were able to walk around the gardens. There weren't
as many flowers as I was hoping, nothing like the Bronx botanical gardens.
The gardens were mostly palm trees and hundreds of different types of
animal figurines.
Yesterday
we ventured into the downtown of Bangkok. The traffic in Bangkok makes NYC
traffic look like nothing, there are motorcycles, taxis, and buses all
going very fast and making turns at anytime. We all got into taxis and
got onto the skytrain that took us to the biggest shopping mall in Thailand,
Central World and Siam Paragon, two extremely upscale malls that are close
together. To experience the city, we ventured to a sky bar at the top of
a hotel connected to Central World. The view of the city was unreal!!!!
Going back to campus, a group of us navigated the sky train, and I hailed
a cab and told the cab driver where we were going, I finally felt like I knew
how to do something on my own.
The
first few days have been non-stop! We have been able to sleep in one day
but I am loving each moment as it comes. Everything is still so new, and
I am missing home and my parents, but I know that I still have some much time
to feel more comfortable and normal in a place that is so different.
The
money is so different, and I still need to get a better grip on how to spend
smart. The banking is confusing, my
phone is confusing, and I don’t have Wi-Fi, which is disruptive, but I am absorbing
everything as it comes. All of the food
has been good and slightly different. I
have been eating lots of rice, but last night we all went to a fancy dinner at
a local restaurant that served mostly Laos food, lots and lots of spicy meats
and vegetables. I have been eating lots
of new fruits and vegetables, and experiencing food that is so completely
different then the food in America.
Hopefully
I will have another update soon, and I will be writing from my bed, not a café!
Love
from the other side of the world,
Kate
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