Settling in to my new Life

As predicated, things are settling down somewhat, which is both good and bad. Good because I'm able to find my way around more easily; bad because things aren't as new anymore. There are some things I love so far---my apartment, teachers at school are really welcoming, exploring such a vast urban jungle, the prices of most things, the skytrain, the food--to name a few. There are also some things that aren't so great--the rooster that crows all day and wakes me up at 5am every morning, the pollution and geneal dirtiness of the city and it's streets, the poverty-stricken homeless and stray animals, the constant rain (it's the rainy season), the difficulty with communicating--to name a few.

I am finding that in general I feel it a bit daunting to go out, especially if I know I'm attempting something new like shopping at the grocery store when I know I'm not going to be able to read the packaging, and it's difficult to find things I am familiar enough with to eat, or when I know I'm going some place new and it's going to involve trying to communicate with people to ask directions.

Actually yesterday I was going to do this walking tour that's in my Travel Planet tourist book but when I saw that it would require the use of another form of mass transit than the skytrain (in other words, the subway system or ferry system of which I'm not yet familar) I decided against it and opted for the safer version of the weekend market which was only 1 stop away on the skytrain, but which I wasn't as interested in bc I knew I would go there with Melissa next weekend. I know I will get over this fear, and really it's not so much a fear, as it is just a daunting task that takes a lot out of me. There is so much I want to see and do, but it's very difficult when not speaking the language.

It's like I'm living in a small bubble, only staying in a safe, tiny little network of street and stores and transit - the places where I don't have to deal with trying to talk to people that don't understand me and vice versa. It's funny because I was always trying to impart the importance of learning about different cultures and peoples to my students, whom I felt many lived in small bubbles, not having seen much of the world themselves, and I genuinely wanted that for them because I know how mind-expanding it can be. If I remain trapped by my lack of understanding of the lanaguge, I will, in essence, become one of those kids trapped in a very small world. I refuse to allow my experiences here to remain small, so I must learn some Thai in order to expand my horizons and branch out! Ismail found a good online resource for me to use that repeats the phrases so I know how to pronounce. I am going to attempt to spend at least half an hour each day learning important phrases, like "How do I get to...", and such things. Right now all I know is the standard greeting: "Sawadee Kah" and the standard thank you: "Kawp-Kun-Kah", both of which I'm butchering as far as spelling!

Stay tuned for Thai language lessons! Pics Below: My first commute to the school
Picture #1: Smiling bc I got on the right bus to take me to Pathum Thani from my stop in Bangkok.
Picture #2: Frowning in the back of a cab bc I got off at the wrong stop and had to take a cab back to the right stop.
Picture #3: Smiling after I got dropped off at the school from a motocycle taxi.

Re-cap of my first week in Thailand

So I've been here a week and a day now and it's already been such an experience, unlike anything I could have imagined, and surpassing and disapointing my expectations! I've seen beautiful things like the gorgeous Koh Samet beach with aqua water and fine grain sand, breathtaking beaches and little dirt roads through the jungle littered with spirit houses where people worship. At the same time, I saw a captive elephant being led around as a tourist attraction. The eyes of this enigmatic animal looked so sad and it just about broke my heart to know that this creature spends his life not with his own kind, but as a means of attracting tourists like me.

I've seen the mysterious Bangkok with it's colorful array of fruits, and smells of strange meats and spices that drift down each street from little rolling carts, but I also have seen the worst kind of poverty imaginable with people blind and missing limbs begging for change, and stray dogs suffering from mange and itching their skins off. It leaves me with a feeling of selfishness that I cannot, or do not help them.

I've seen the Thai people, friendly and faithful, willing to lend a hand to a "farang" in need, but I've also felt lost amongst these people of which I cannot relate. I have starred smiling into faces that do not understand me, as I do not understand them.

Above all else, I have seen ME, pushing my way onto crowded trains and through dirty streets, with eyes wide to take it all in. I am proud of the small successes so far - finding an apartment, navigating my way around the skytrain, learning the transit system (somewhat), and basically scratching the surface of life in a foreign city so far from home. It seems real now, a dream I had for so long that's come true. I know there is so much more I need to learn and I'm overwhelmed, and fearful, but also full of excitement for they strange and beautiful journey ahead.

Feeling the pressure & the rain

Wow, what a day I had yesterday! 

So I went by myself to an area off the skytrain (Ari) that I was told was a good place to look for apartments. It was a beautiful area, sort of like the Thai equivalent to NYC's East Village, with a lot of tree lined streets, hip coffee shops, and what seemed to be a lot of Westerners. I thought, great, this is the place for me. So I just wandered aimlessly trying to find apartment buildings. I went in to a few lobby's and, again, through hand gestures and pointing, was able to find the office of about half of the ones I tried to find. The other half went like this:
Me:"APARTMENT.....FOOOOR......REEENT?? (slow and drawn out)
Thai person working there: Nods head while smiling and speaks to me in Thai.
Me: staring blankly and then repeating..."AAAPPPAAARRRTTMEEENNNTTT?" while smiling.
Thai person: Again nods head and smiles.
Me: Nodding head and smiling while walking away.

I can see how people that just move to the States and speak no English feel! I will be much more aware of
what immigrants go through now!  Anyway, the ones I went in were WAAAYYY out of my price range. My price range was $5,000 - $7,000 Baht per month. These apartments were $25,000/mo. and up. I pounded the pavement in the rain all day and by 5pm my shoes were soaked through and ruined, my hair was wet, I was sweaty and smelly and dirty from trudging around in the rain all day on foot. Needless to say, I was starting to get really discouraged. I thought, there is no way that someone like me, that doesn't even speak the language can find an apartment without help of some kind.

So at my darkest hour, a ray of hope descended on me when an apartment finder agreed to meet
me when he got off work to show me something around where he lived. This was amazing really because when
I called them earlier they don't have anything less than $10,000 B/mo. so he was just doing me a favor by
showing me a building that was close to where he lived on his way home. Anyway, long story short, the
apartment he showed me was absolutely amazing; more than I was every hoping for, for only $6,000 b/mo. (for
some idea as to what that is American money, it's $200 dollars a month, but you figure, I'm only making the
equivalent of $1,100 dollars a month so it's all relative.) It's furnished and even has a kitchen table, nice bathroom, hot water, fridge, tv, nice wardrobe, big balcony with great view, fast internet, brand new building, gated. I mean for what you get here, it's great to have all these amenities. A lot of places don't have hot water or a table or a nice bathroom with a western type shower and toilet so I feel blessed!

Stay tuned for pics of my new place!

Exploring Bangkok & Updates

Hello All! I know I'm writing pretty much daily which is a lot now, but I'm sure my blogs will slow down a bit once I'm settled and things are more mundane. Now there is just so many new things each day and it's very exciting and overwhelming! Since it's just me, I don't get to share each thing as it happens so this is my way of doing so! I appreciate everyone who's been reading and I hope you enjoy it and get something out of it!

So this morning I had my second meeting with BFITS. I went over my curriculum and classes with a lady that works at the particular school where I'll be teaching. It seems as though it will be pretty easy; the lessons are laid out nicely, and she said the kids are sweet (of course I'll take that with a grain of salt bc I know teenagers lol). She will take me to the school tomorrow and show me how to do the grading and I'll be training with her this week and will be in the classroom the 26th. Seems like it will go pretty smoothly.

I did some exploring around Bangkok today which was cool. What I learned today about the Thai's is that they don't seem to have any sarcasm or condenscending attitudes towards tourists or foreigners like we do in the States. Believe me, in the states I would have been laughed at all day. Picture it, I've got my camera around my neck, a subway map in my hand and every other person I'm going up to and pointing at a subway stop to try and gather information about where I'm going through hand gestures and pointing, since no one speaks English lol. I would expect to see whispers and giggling from teens, eyes rolling and snarky comments like "tourists..." all around me, but that is not the case here. I even walked up to some teens to ask directions and they gave them to me without a hint of mockery, laughter or anything except genuine polite sincerity. It was amazing.

I saw some of the bigger areas of Bangkok today and hope to see more soon. I will post some videos taken from the sky train that gives you an idea of how the city looks. Will be looking for apartments soon and working this week so things should get pretty hectic and it looks like my short time as a tourist on vacation is over. Now I'm just the immigrant who doesn't speak the language :) 

Life is Suffering - The Buddhist way of Life

The Thai people are deeply devoted to their Buddhist faith, a religion I have respected and felt somewhat drawn to for a long time. I started noticing this right away. First, these colorful, exotic mini-temples are all over – on car hoods, on every street corner, and many food stalls, in stores, etc. I have seen several occasions when people stop before the shrine, kneel and pray. Monks can be seen everywhere. In any given day I must lay my eyes on at least 15 of these bald men of all ages, with their long orange robes. At the bus station I saw a monk leading a prayer with a shop keeper, sort of like you’d see inside a church between a priest and a congregation member. What is different though is that here, the faith seems to carry into the streets and become part of the hectic day.  I noticed amongst the many market shop stalls these tables selling small wreaths of flowers. There were so many of these and at first I wondered what they were for. I finally realized that people use them as offerings to the shrine, or Buddha figure that adorns each one. What I find so cool about that is the way people seem to be rushing around through their busy day and they will take the time to stop and buy one and bring it to a shrine and take that 5 minutes out of their day to make an offering to their God. I’ve been learning little things about Buddhism, and one of them is that there are different poses that the Buddha can take and each pose has its own meaning. There are so many different statues, large and small of the Buddha image and many have these different poses. It is these little lessons that I receive through being here that is so special to me and I can’t wait to find out more and share them with you.

I'm Exotic :)

So the flight was smooth. I slept a good portion of the 25 hours I was on a plane. The flight from San Fran to Tokyo was great bc I had an entire row to myself so I laid out like I was in first class. :)  During the long layover in Narito, Japan I met some girls on their way to Thailand which was nice. Too bad they aren't spending much time in Bangkok, but it looks like now neither will I. I had my meeting with BFITS today and they want me to take the job in Pathun Thani, which is an hour north of Bangkok. Basically it's suburbia. I was pretty bummed about that because I was psyched about getting a gig here in the city, but I will try and remain positive and assume
that whatever happens is what is supposed to be...I am in the land of Karma after all, and I gotta go with what mine gives me. I will be spending the weekend and possibly most of next week here in Bangkok though and the
director of BFITS mapped out an area he thinks I should live in which is actually very close to one of the areas of Bangkok where lots of foreigners (meaning people like me lol) live.

I got up super early this morning and walked around a lot and took some pics of the area I'm currently in which I will post below. There is just so much to see and take in so it's sensory overload! The food stalls are the coolest, but I'm too afraid to order bc none of it looks familar and it's all written in Thai and no one speaks English, so it should be good for my diet. I did try some authentic Pad Thai today, but I gotta say, I wasn't too impressed. Personally I think the American version tastes better. It's around 3 in the afternoon on Thursday the 14th and I'm pretty tired. The jet lag is starting to kick in a bit and I think I may take a nap.  Will write more soon.

4 Days til takeoff!

So Ismail and I just got back from Sheriton Sand Key at Clearwater Beach where we celebrated our 2 year anniversary. It will be our last beach trip this year since I'm off on my big adventure on Tuesday!  I guess I'm as ready as I can be but it still hasn't sunk in yet. I suppose it will when I head to the airport. 

I'm excited about keeping a blog. I think it will be a good place to keep track of all the ups and downs that I experience. I want my family, friends and fiance to join in the journey with me somewhat through this blog and I hope to post often with pictures, and writing.

I hope you will all comment as I know I get lonely and homesick and this blog will serve as a way to feel connected to home. 

See you all in Thailand!