I get to see Mom, Dan, and Molly tomorrow! Then after they leave, I have a week of midterms, then Dad and Chandelle are visiting! I'm so excited!
I guess that means I should clean my room. I haven't cleaned a single time since I've been here. Nor have I unpacked my suitcases. I hate unpacking more than anything. Almost more than loading and unloading the dishwasher, but thankfully we don't have a dishwasher (or any dishes, for that matter).
Still very itchy. I think I got bit by that bug again. More bumps are showing up.
Um. I don't really have anything to say, I'm just bored... Everyone has left for break already (Laos, Cambodia, Malaysia, Singapore, South Korea, Chang Mai, Koh Lanta--we're all over the place!) so I'm here alone. I've been watching lots of TV and I'm starting to get cabin fever. I guess I'll be productive today and clean my room, do my laundry, and go for a walk to find our smoothie lady (who makes the best watermelon and lime smoothies IN THE WORLD).
Showing posts with label Pathum Thani. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Pathum Thani. Show all posts
Saturday, October 17, 2009
Monday, October 5, 2009
It's amazing how quickly it can go from being beautiful and sunny, to pouring down rain. It's like clockwork. The rain is a blessing here, though, because it cools down the temperatures to a bearable level.
We've had a really nice relaxing weekend. The majority of the people at our apartments went to Koh Phangan this weekend to experience the Full Moon Party. They took an overnight bus (15 hrs long) last Thursday evening and are coming back on the same bus tonight (Monday night). I guarantee that if I had decided to go, I would have gotten there, regretted it, and been stuck for 4 days on a beach with crazy, drug-taking, alcoholic travelers. No thank you!
Saturday we spent the day at the Siam Center in Bangkok, a large area with 3-4 giant malls, malls so big that NOTHING in the United States could even compare. It was unreal! Each mall was at least 5 stories high, some had 7 stories, and were filled with expensive stores like Gucci and Coach. We wanted to go on a glass-bottom boat ride (yes, inside the mall!) at the Siam Ocean Aquarium, but it was really expensive, so we settled for a 4-D x-venture movie instead. It was a cute little film about turtles and how humans have invaded their habitats, like an interactive 3-D movie (water sprayer in our face, our chairs moved around--it was really fun). Then I had Subway for dinner! Real turkey and real cheese! It was so delicious.
Instead of taking a taxi back, which costs up to 300 Baht to get back home, we decided to figure out how to use Bangkok's public transportation. We rode the SkyTrain north to its last stop (35 Baht each), then rode the bus to Rangsit (the town we live in, 22 Baht each), then rode on the university's transportation until we reached campus (6 Baht each), and walked home from there. We saved around 30-40 Baht this way, which is how much a meal costs.
Oh yeah, last Thursday night was really fun, too. We went to Future Park, the huge mall in our province, to have dinner and see a movie. We watched "Pandorum", some new movie with Dennis Quaid, a sci-fi thriller. It was pretty good. The popcorn was funny, though... They had three flavors: original, sweet, and cheese. I got a mixture of original and cheese, only to discover that "cheese" isn't quite the same here as it at home. It tasted good, for sure, but it was like a weird mixture of spices on popcorn. We were so confused as to why it didn't taste like cheese, but then we remembered that they don't have cheese in Thailand, so they had no idea what it was supposed to taste like!
Last night we wanted to out for pizza because we've been craving Western food, but everything is closed here on Sundays, just like at home. Hopefully we'll try again tonight! It's expensive in terms of Baht, but cheap in terms of American dollars. About 160-200 Baht for a Large pizza (which is 5-7 bucks).
I'm really distracted now so I guess that's it. I've uploaded a few more photos on Facebook, check them out if you get a chance!
We've had a really nice relaxing weekend. The majority of the people at our apartments went to Koh Phangan this weekend to experience the Full Moon Party. They took an overnight bus (15 hrs long) last Thursday evening and are coming back on the same bus tonight (Monday night). I guarantee that if I had decided to go, I would have gotten there, regretted it, and been stuck for 4 days on a beach with crazy, drug-taking, alcoholic travelers. No thank you!
Saturday we spent the day at the Siam Center in Bangkok, a large area with 3-4 giant malls, malls so big that NOTHING in the United States could even compare. It was unreal! Each mall was at least 5 stories high, some had 7 stories, and were filled with expensive stores like Gucci and Coach. We wanted to go on a glass-bottom boat ride (yes, inside the mall!) at the Siam Ocean Aquarium, but it was really expensive, so we settled for a 4-D x-venture movie instead. It was a cute little film about turtles and how humans have invaded their habitats, like an interactive 3-D movie (water sprayer in our face, our chairs moved around--it was really fun). Then I had Subway for dinner! Real turkey and real cheese! It was so delicious.
Instead of taking a taxi back, which costs up to 300 Baht to get back home, we decided to figure out how to use Bangkok's public transportation. We rode the SkyTrain north to its last stop (35 Baht each), then rode the bus to Rangsit (the town we live in, 22 Baht each), then rode on the university's transportation until we reached campus (6 Baht each), and walked home from there. We saved around 30-40 Baht this way, which is how much a meal costs.
Oh yeah, last Thursday night was really fun, too. We went to Future Park, the huge mall in our province, to have dinner and see a movie. We watched "Pandorum", some new movie with Dennis Quaid, a sci-fi thriller. It was pretty good. The popcorn was funny, though... They had three flavors: original, sweet, and cheese. I got a mixture of original and cheese, only to discover that "cheese" isn't quite the same here as it at home. It tasted good, for sure, but it was like a weird mixture of spices on popcorn. We were so confused as to why it didn't taste like cheese, but then we remembered that they don't have cheese in Thailand, so they had no idea what it was supposed to taste like!
Last night we wanted to out for pizza because we've been craving Western food, but everything is closed here on Sundays, just like at home. Hopefully we'll try again tonight! It's expensive in terms of Baht, but cheap in terms of American dollars. About 160-200 Baht for a Large pizza (which is 5-7 bucks).
I'm really distracted now so I guess that's it. I've uploaded a few more photos on Facebook, check them out if you get a chance!
Thursday, September 24, 2009
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.
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.
Tuesday, September 22, 2009
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.
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.
Sunday, September 6, 2009
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.
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.
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