Riding Home From School

A tuk-tuk, as it is called, is a unheard-of mode of transportation in the U.S., but extremely common in Thailand. Although, it is widely-known that you are risking your life by riding tuk tuks through Bangkok traffic, I had to experience it anyway. Check it out my video clip of my ride home from school.

Fulbright Orientation Off to a Great Start

Fulbright training began yesterday. I am excited to report that things are going fantastic. The Executive Director of Fulbright Thailand, our Thai mother, Porntip, is an incredible lady –very funny, with a charismatic charm, and a kind heart. We learned the first morning how to address her and the other faculty members. “Pi” in Thai refers to an older brother or sister. We call her Pi Tip. Kate and I were joking that it sounds like we are calling the woman by her rapper name, but ultimately it is a more polite and preferable name to call her. Lectures the first day introduced us to Thai culture and history, the Fulbright mission and its role in Thailand and across the globe, and expectations for our stay in Thailand. We spent an hour or so hanging out in the dorm before we met Pi Tip and other Fulbrighters staying in Thailand (professors from the U.S.) at Marina HK, a hip little restaurant twenty minutes walk from the dorm. I included a picture of P-Tip and I at Marina. Dinner was great. I walked out of the restaurant charged, excited, and feeling empowered from the discussions at dinner. I am so grateful for the people here enjoying this experience with me. Dinner ended with passionate and intellectual conversations about our government and the upcoming November 4th election –this is what charged me. JR, Karen, Caryn (we call them Karen squared because their names are pronounced the same), Brad, Zoe, and I talked about politics; we talked about religion, healthcare, energy, education, international policy. We spoke openly and informatively. We discussed, talked about change, inferred, we talked about the future and the past. It is actually rare to find a group of people so well-educated that conversations like these are not a stretch, but in fact desired ideas and emotions needed to be spoken and shared with peers. I am thankful.

Pi Tip and I at dinner. Outside the Education Building where Orientation is held.
The classroom at Chulalongkorn University where Orientation is held.
My name in Thai.
Lunch. Rice and veggies with wa wa juice. About 30THB in total. Less than $1 USD. I'm getting spoiled here. The little bowl is full of spices...phet maak (very spicy).

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Day two of training included a great presentation from a former Fulbrighter (a Thai woman who spent time in Oklahoma on a grant). The presentation was on Teaching English in Thailand, and it was really rewarding, confirming my excitement to teach. Ideas are flowing, that’s for sure. We have a break right now, and are planning to go to the night market this evening. Also, great news: we should be receiving log-ins for the internet here at the dorm by the end of this week.

Miss everyone! Much love to all.

Oh, and before I forget… Today we talked about our role as teachers/Fulbrighters to share information about American culture. Someone asked how much we should focus on sharing things about our culture. I couldn’t help but ignore all of the universally generalized American culture concepts that people mentioned (i.e. thanksgiving, New York, fast food). For me, my students will learn about my home, Louisville. It’s only been a week, but the others here already know how much I love my city, how much I represent my hometown. I feel as though I represent it well, and I can’t wait to share what I love about Louisville with my Thai students.

More Pictures

Chike, myself, Kate, and Audra at Saxaphone Pub in Bangkok, listening to live music and eating spicy foods.

Photos of my room at Suskit Nives International Dorm. Notice the Louisville IronMan poster, the 1950's style green fridge, and my awesome world map (thanks again Slim!).

Chatuchak Market and Other Adventures

Day Two in Thailand: Today we went to the Chatuchak market, commonly called the JJ market. It is insanely large. There are perhaps 2000 or more shops, selling everything imaginable including dried fish, knock-off clothing, furniture, textiles, jewelry, puppies, and even flying squirrels (sugar gliders). We spent about four hours at the market –quite a long time in the heat. For lunch we enjoyed Pad Thai in the center of the market. Amazingly enough we ran into our new friend Carla from Austria at a small food shop.

Me, Carla, Ahna, Audra

The chaos that is JJ market.

View of the city from the skytrain.

Carla and Timmy, friends we met at the dorm, have brought us to dinner tonight in the center of town. Timmy is from Germany and Carla from Austria.

All day has been great, as all ten of us have been willing to come out together. The place we are eating at now is so very interesting. Every place in sight is on the streets and open to the elements. They cook the food in front of you and hundreds of people sit at tables which line the streets. Traffic is heavy and practically on all sides of us. Fulbright has provided us with a book on “Thai Street Food”. I must read it soon, for it is common to eat on the streets around the area where we are staying. Ordering food here is incredibly difficult for non-Thai speakers. Most of the time, a lot of pointing, saying “mai ao nueua ka” (no meat please) and gesturing results in an adequate meal –it actually makes me feel a bit like a child again, not able to read the menu, although this time without a parent to read me my options.

Well, life is good.

Some of the crew: (from top left) Brad, Zoe, Karen, JR's forehead, Timmy, Chike, Ahna, and Nim.
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Oh, by the way…
After dinner, Kate and I fed an elephant, a baby elephant. Ha, only in Thailand!

Chula Soi 6...The Street Impossible to Find on a Map

Today Kate, my new roommate, and I woke up around 8am. We walked about two miles or so to a local park, Lumphini Park, and went for a jog. Kate is from Seattle and we seem to have a lot in common. We were both college athletes and are both extremely open-minded and non-judgmental toward others. I enjoyed the park. There were plenty of runners, but it was not overcrowded. On our way back, Kate and I got lost for about a half hour, as we walked in squares around the area of the dorm at Chulalongkorn University where we are staying. The map we had is perhaps the least detailed map of all time. In fact, we decided we would burn it upon return to the dorm. When we finally found the dorm, we decided that getting lost our first morning in Bangkok was actually a good thing. We now understand a bit more about the numbering system of the nearby streets and alleys. As it turned out, neither of us possessed matches or a desire to set perfectly good paper on fire –so, the map lives on.