ps. I officially met and hung out with Joren Van Der Sloot tonight. There were 2 birthdays tonight so everyone ended up at the local bar... sort of unavoidable. I felt overwhelmingly uncomfortable until I decided to leave. He was nice, though? (and if you don't know who he is, Google it and you'll find out instantly).

More photos from Kanchanaburi.

The Bridge Over River Kwai, also known as The Death Bridge. Built in the first several decades of the 1900s, over 160,000 workers died during it's construction. They were all prisoners of war, forced to work under horrific conditions.


There was a lot of touristy stuff around the bridge, including the opportunity to play with this little leopard cub (who was cleared being exploited for all the wrong reasons). This is my friend Novo from Mexico, he's on my program.



We also went to 2 caves that were filled with Buddhas and little worshipping areas.


The Erawan Waterfall at Erawan National Park. The water was perfectly clear, it was beautiful.



This sign is at the entrance of the trail to the waterfall. So funny! Unfortunately we didn't see any monkeys though...

Photos from Kanchanaburi

We had lunch on a floating pavilion that was pulled along by this little boat. As you can see, the scenery around us was beautiful! This is the River Kwai, by the way.


The next day, we rafter down the Riber Kwai on bamboo rafts.


The Taweechai Elephant Camp is located in the midst of the Pang Chang community, and there were several families living in huts like this. We rode through their neighborhood on the elephants!


You were supposed to pay 20 Baht to take a photo of this elephant, but I took this when the guy wasn't looking (obviously). Oops! But I don't feel bad... they'll do anything to suck the money out of foreigner's wallets.


The elephants that we rode! As you can see, each one has a guide/trainer and a bench for 2 people to sit on.

Today is the first day I've ever felt uncomfortable while walking around the town or campus. For some reason, I've noticed everyone staring more today, or saying things about us (quite obviously) then laughing with each other. I don't know why... it's really strange.

By the way, I'm going to interrupt myself for a second. Have I mentioned how unbearable it is to be in a classroom with Thai students? Believe it or not, their level of respect is so far below the standards we have at Goucher, it's a joke. Students talk with each other the entire time in class, refuse to talk when the teacher asks them a question, and barely take notes or pay attention. It drives me crazy! You could NEVER get away with that behavior in the United States, yet they preach about how respectful their culture is, how to be proper to those older and wise than you. If that was the case, I wouldn't have to shoot them the evil eye every time they distract me from taking notes.

For example, my friend Colin and I are in a computer lab on campus to check e-mail and whatnot, and there's several Thai students in here, doing some survey for an English class... or pretending to do the survey, rather, because all they're doing is watching movies and music videos until the teacher walks in, then they close those webpages and pull the survey back up like they've been working the whole time. Aren't they supposed to be in college? Isn't that something a high school student would do...?

It's just strange, and seems very hypocritical, that Thai students can get away with acting the way they do in an educational setting. I'm very grateful that two of my classes are all foreigners, all exchange students or people on my program, because I can actually hear everything the professor is saying without being distracted every 5 minutes.

a) I found my favorite dish, I think. All it says on the menu is "egg noodle in spicy sauce with chicken/pork/seafood". I get it with chicken, and the so-called 'egg noodles' are actually Top Ramen noodles, tossed in some amazing generic spicy sauce with sliced chilis and cut up green beans. It is sooo good.

b) Whenever you see the word "lemon" in Thailand, they actually mean "lime". I'm not sure why, but everyone here thinks limes are called lemons. My favorite smoothie is made of watermelon, ice, and lime juice, but of course, on the menu it says "watermelon and lemon". There's also a restaurant called "The Lemon Green Room"... I'm assuming they also mean 'lime'.

c) I might have already mentioned this, but every Thai person has an American nickname. I don't really know why, I haven't asked yet... but EVERY person I've met that's Thai has a strange nickname. For your reading pleasure, I'll list the people I've met so far: Nut, Ice, Jom, Jul, Rabbit, Fern, another Fern, Balls, Poom... and that's all I can remember. And yes, you read correctly: I met a guy named Balls.

I put some more pictures up on Facebook. They are of our trip to Ayutthaya, the old capital of Thailand. It was so beautiful! The rest of the pictures are from a night we all went to RCA, a street outside of Bangkok filled with really posh clubs. We went to one called Route 66 and it was a ton of fun. Usually, the cover charge is 200 Baht, which is about $6-7 in US dollars, but considered a lot of money here in Thailand... but we found out that every Thursday there's no cover charge!

Things have been good lately. School is starting to kick in-- I already have a group presentation due tomorrow (Tuesday) about contemporary Thai art. I complained at first, getting so much homework the first week, but I think it's good because it keeps us busy when we having nothing to do. We only have one Internet hook-up per apartment, and there are about 12 people in each apartment... so we can't waste time online like we do at home. Nice change of pace.

I'm still not getting used the heat. When it rains, the temperature drops about 5 degrees and the sky is very overcast-- it's still hot, but it's extremely not to have the sun beating down on you. We always talk about how we never quite feel clean here. Even after you shower and sit in the AC in your room, the second you walk out into the front room of the apartment or outside, you're sweating all over again. Laundry is quite a task, too... the machines are across the street, don't always work, and no one uses dryers here. It takes a long time to wash and dry your clothes so I don't really do it too often. I re-wear a lot of clothes until they're just downright dirty which is why I never really feel too clean.

My landlord lives in the apartment next to me with his aunt and her daughter. The aunt's name is Yupin, and I thought she was sweet and cute at first... but now she's just getting on my nerves. The Thai people have no concept of personal space or boundaries-- I'll be sitting inside on the computer, and she'll just walk in, start speaking to me in Thai, and standing over my shoulder watching what I do on the computer. She can't read any of it since she doesn't speak English, but it's still really weird and frustrating. She always calls my name and rattles of in Thai, as if I understand her... then laughs at me when I have no idea what she's saying. Yeah, she's really starting to get on my nerves. I think she's really lonely so she enjoys having us around. I've never seen her leave the house and Dan, the landlord (her nephew), is really dismissive when we talk about Yupin with him. Weird family, weird relationships.

Anyway, that's it for now. I'm going to try and find all the TV shows I watch online so I can catch up this afternoon. It's far too hot to do much this afternoon--over 90 degrees and no cloud cover whatsoever! No thank you.

Love and miss y'all! (ps. A lot of my friends have started saying "y'all" because I use it so often!)

No.. I mean, yes!!

This is the billionth time my toilet has gotten stopped up since I've been here. It's not my fault, it's the plumbing, and although they have had people come fix it at least 2 or 3 times now, it's still happening.

Not to mention that the 2nd time, they told me they would come at 4pm. But no, they woke me up at 7:30am. And today, they said they were coming at 9am, so I woke up early. It's almost 9:45 and they aren't here yet. It's really frustrating because I've only slept in once since I've been here, and I'm exhausted!

Thai culture is naturally really laid back. Laid back to a fault, if you ask me. Time means nothing to them. We've also learned that when asked a question, Thai people always respond with "Yes" even if they have no idea what you're talking about, even if they're lying (seriously, they do this on a daily basis--it's apparently disrespectful to say 'no', even if the answer really is 'no'). Perfect example: we went to a club last night. We asked the taxi driver in Thai and in English, "Can you get to Rangsit University? Pathum Thani?" He nodded vigorously. We were happy.

... Little did we know, he had no idea what we were talking about. It took almost 2 and a half hours to get home, when usually it takes 45 mins. The cab fare ran up to 800 Baht when it's usually $250. He did feel bad, so he completely waived the fare, but still... why lie in the first place?

Anyway. My point is... I'mma 'bout to smack some folks up in here if they don't fix my plumbing a.s.a.p. so I can sleep.

Photos from the Grand Palace in Bangkok:

And then my camera died.

Today we went to the mall in my province. It's called "Future Park" and it is HUGE, the biggest mall I've ever been to. It has every story you could think of, spread out through 6 stories. Nearby, there's another huge building with a movie theatre, karaoke bar, and bowling alley. So we went bowling and it was really fun! It was the nicest bowling place I've ever been to, too.... They had waiters and everything.

In other news, there's a coffee shop in our neighborhood called Sawadee Cup, owned by a Danish man named Joren. Joren Van Der Sloot, to be exact. Ring any bells? He was the prime suspect in Natalee Holloway's disappearance. He's now dating this girl named Caitie--she works at my university, cute girl from California. But how crazy is that? And scary? (Okay, so we aren't 100% sure it's him, but apparently he looks just like Joren Van Der Sloot, and the real Joren Van Der Sloot has had articles about him being in Thailand... could be a coincidence, but we're not sure).

Anyway. I'm about to post some more pictures to the album on Facebook, so check 'em out.

We had a so called "Bangkok tour" today. It wasn't much of a tour--we just went to 2 places, the first was a waste of time and the second was amazing. It was called the Grand Palace, they giant area of temples and ornate buildings that the King uses for special ceremonies.

I took a few pictures, then my camera died. But I've never seen such amazing architecture or design in my entire life. Here's a photo I found on Google:



Up close, those roofs are amazing colored shiny tiles. I can't really explain how decadent it was, so I'll try to upload some of the photos I took.

Anyway. I rode on a motorcycle tonight! Sorry mom and dad, haha. Our Thai friend Rabbit was going around the corner to the 7/11 to pick up some stuff, so I rode with her. It was a short ride, but very fun!

Um, I don't really have anything else to say right now. Bye!

We went to a club last night. It was a lot of fun. They had a live band play most of the night, and although I couldn't understand what they saying, they were REALLY good.

This morning I woke up to my landlord's aunt banging on my door, screaming things in Thai. My toilet is broken so she wanted to let the plumbers in, but it was early and I was still feeling a few drinks from last night... She's a really sweet woman though. I have no idea how to spell her name, but it's pronounced You-pin. Last night she told me that she's going to miss me when I leave Thailand, haha.

I've been meaning to tell y'all about this dessert/snack I eat every day. It's ice cream with white sticky rice at the bottom of the cup, then drizzled sweetended condensed milk on top. It sounds strange, but seriously-- it is INCREDIBLE, and you know how picky I am, haha. Pretty much all the food here is incredible, though.

We've made friends with a few Thai people. I already mentioned Rabbit, this adorable girl that is moving in across the street from us. She helps us out a lot when she's around and we're going to get dinner or something. Then there's Jom and Jul, twins who speak amazing English and come hang out at our apartments almost every afternoon.

I had my Buddhist Philosophy class yesterday. My teacher is a monk! He wears the orange robe and everything. Whenever he made a mistake during the lecture, he would say, "My bad, my bad...". It was hysterical. And monk life is very, very strict... he can't even touch a woman, for any reason at all, regardless of how old they are. For example, if I ever need to hand him something, he can't take it from my hand. I have to set it on a table for him to pick up, or give it to a male student to give to him. His name is Prisit, but we have to call him "Venerable Prisit".

K that's all. Bye.

I had my first Thai language class today. It's going to be really difficult to pick up on certain things. I think it's better for us to learn specific phrases than the alphabet and numbers, but we won't be learning phrases or words for several weeks. Looks like miming will have to do for now.

Today at lunch, there were these strange little white jelly dishes at the table. We asked one of our professors, who happened to be eating next to us, what it was, and it was some sort of lunch dessert made with coconut and flour. It was really good--it basically tasted like rice pudding, nothing like coconut at all.

Two days ago, we found this small market right near our apartments that has everything you can imagine... shoes, clothes, food, jewelry, massages, mini nail salons, underwear, ice cream... It's awesome. We've been going the past few nights to wander around and eat dinner. I bought Molly a really cute tank top that's black with a gold picture of Thailand, and it says "Thailand Stand Up". It's one of those funky graphic tanks that are really popular these days... even Thai people dress ultra hip if they aren't in their uniforms.

Speaking of uniforms... sooo unattractive! My skirt is a really awkward length below my knees, so I'm going to have my friend hem it. My shirt is giant and baggy, too, but oh well--it catches a nice breeze, haha. The Thai girls dress very... provacatively in their uniforms. They buy tiny, tight black miniskirts and white shirts that are way too small. They wear 4inch heels, make-up, designer bags, and pretty jewelry to school every day. We look so drab compared to them.

I've noticed my posts have been really disorganized... but that's because so many random things happen that I can't really make it all flow together.

Anyway, that's it for now. I have class in 10 minutes, Thai Civilization. The teacher is so adorable. She went to grad school at Temple University in Pennsylvania, then taught at Washington University for 4 years. Her English is impeccable, her name is Prinda, and she's just seriously the cutest woman in the world. K bye.

I just posted a short album on Facebook... I think most of you are my friends on there, so you should be able to see them! If not, I can try to post them here one day.

Settling in.

I'm stealing someone's Internet right now... it works on one little corner of my bed. YAY.

Anyway, things are getting better. I had orientation at school yesterday and we signed up for classes. I'm taking Thai Civilization, Art Appreciation (whatever that means!), Thai Language for Beginners, and Buddhist Philosophy. I have my first class, the one about art, later this afternoon. I'm really excited to see what classes are like... they're all 3.5 hours long!

I've also gotten to know a few people more, people that seem like someone I'd be friends with back home. So that's been nice.

I've only learned two phrases so far. "Sawadee Ka" is the traditional Thai greeting (women end sentences with Ka, men with Krup). It's pronounced exactly how it looks. Then to say 'thank you', it's "Kop khun Ka", pronounced cop-coon-ka. The Thai people really appreciate when you greet or thank them in their language, they respond with big smiles and then give you a "wai". "Wai" is what they call the slight bow of the head with your hands in front of your face like you're praying.

Last night, I went to a bar that's right around the corner from our apartment. There were two men playing guitars and singing for everyone... I was hoping I'd hear some Thai music, but don't worry, they decided to play Nirvana. So weird.

Oh, I also found out that they play the Thai National Anthem twice a day on loud speakers all over the country in public places, once at 8am and once at 6pm. When you hear it, you're supposed to stop whatever you're doing, stand very still, and when the song is over, you bow slightly and continue with whatever you were doing. It's considered VERY rude not to stop, and if you're foreign, they really appreciate it when you DO stop.

The money is really pretty. It's all colorful with pictures of the King when he was young. He was actually kind of good looking. They LOVE the King... he's the longest reigning king in monarchy history (or something cool like that), and I think he's over 80yrs old and has been king since around the age of 30. He isn't just a King that sits there and looks pretty like in the UK, but he actually get things done, spends time with the impoverished, and solves problems. It's against the law to say anything negative about him, and when you do, to prison you go.

Beth, to answer your questions:
- Haven't been to Bangkok yet, it's about 40 mins away. Others have gone a few times, but I'm spending the week getting settled before I 'travel'.
- The guy I traveled with, Tyson, lives in my building. Everyone who lives in my apartment is American, but the apartment next door has people from America, Sweden, Holland, Germany, and Finland. They have really funny names like Femke and Bjorn.
- Everybody is nice so far except this one girl who is just... mean. So I avoid her 'cause she sucks.

Speaking of names, a lot of Thai people have American first names, then some really long last name that you can't pronounce. There's one Thai girl who's been hanging around with us with a really long, impossible-to-pronounce first name, so she told us to call her "Rabbit". I also met a girl named "Rainbow". And some twins named Jul (Jewel) and Jom (pronounced how it looks).

My friends also met the Prince of Bhutan a few nights ago. He goes to my university. Weird.

Thailand!

Okay so I'm already homesick. It never really hit me that I would be SO far away until I actually got here. I'm sure that once I'm really settled in and start classes, it will get a lot easier. I mean, I guess it's just like going to college all over again, so I sort of expected feeling this way for a couple weeks.

Anyway. The food is great! I was very happy to discover that Pad Thai tastes the same in Thailand as it does in America. I'm such a picky eater that I thought eating here would be difficult, but it really isn't... lots of chicken dishes, rice, and noodle soups. So far nothing has made me feel nauseous either, let's hope it stays that way.

The apartment arrangement is very strange. There's about 10 of us in one building. When you walk in from the street, you walk into our small sitting room with a TV, which is joined to our tiny TINY kitchen (sink, fridge, microwave). There's one single bedroom on the bottom floor, which is mine! I fought hard to get my own bedroom because sharing a room with a stranger does not sound apealing to me. Anyway, then there's a very long staircase that goes up 4 stories, 2 bedrooms on each floor--they're all double rooms. Shoes aren't allowed inside, you take of your sandels before going inside. You can carry them in if you want, which is what I do because I don't wnat them to get stolen.

I'm in a province called Pathum Thani, pronounced Pah-toom Taw-nee (I think?). It's supposedly a very nice suburb, upper middle class, but that means something tooootally different in Thailand... it's dirty and smelly. The nice thing is that we are about a 5min. walk from the university, and even less of a walk from a long strip of convenient stores, internet cafes, and restaurants/food stands. Basically everything I need is VERY close!

Oh, and of course it's hotter than Hades here. You walk for 2 minutes and you're drenched in sweat. Not fun! But cold showers have proved to be amazing.

I guess that's it for now... we're getting Internet in our apartment within the week and I hope to be able to share some pictures soon.

Traveling.

So this is how my trip began:

Nashville to LA, 4.5 hour flight.
LA to San Fran, 1 hour flight.
Arrived to San Fran to find out that I completely missed my flight, but someone else on my study abroad program did, too. Very relieved!
So now we're travelling together (his name is Tyson, fyi).
San Fran to Hong Kong, 14 hour flight.

Now I'm sitting in the ultra-nice Hong Kong airport, waiting for my flight to depart to my final destination: Bangkok! And apparently the airport in Bangkok is brand new, built in 2006, and is the largest airport in the whole world. With our luck, I'm betting Tyson and I will get completely lost trying to find our way out...

ps. There's a food stand in the airport selling squids in a bag.
pps. My Google homepage is in Chinese and it's funny.