Step right up, and take a few moments to view my glorious pictures from the past week!
Ayuthaya - an ancient city and enough Buddha for everyone!
Ayuthaya: Part 2 - even more of the ancient city and Buddha!
Bangkok: Part 2 - more exciting pictures from around Bangkok!
Sunday, January 25, 2009
Thursday, January 15, 2009
One more post today...
Here's a link to the Ko Samet album on my Facebook profile:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2595458&l=ec543&id=7957544
And here's a link to my Bangkok album:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2595456&l=2bd9b&id=7957544
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2595458&l=ec543&id=7957544
And here's a link to my Bangkok album:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2595456&l=2bd9b&id=7957544
Contact me!
If you're interested in sending me anything by mail, here's my Bangkok address:
171/210 Rattanakosin Island Condominium
Somdejphrapinklao Road
Arunamarin
Bangkok-Noi
Bangkok 10700
THAILAND
Room phone is:
+662-886-0151 ext. 1210
Also, you can call my cell phone -at your own peril! It only costs me 2 baht per minute (about $0.06), but it might cost you upwards of $2.00.
+6689-014-3309
171/210 Rattanakosin Island Condominium
Somdejphrapinklao Road
Arunamarin
Bangkok-Noi
Bangkok 10700
THAILAND
Room phone is:
+662-886-0151 ext. 1210
Also, you can call my cell phone -at your own peril! It only costs me 2 baht per minute (about $0.06), but it might cost you upwards of $2.00.
+6689-014-3309
Week to Date: the Cliff's Notes Version
It's about time I told you about my weekend and my first few days of school.
Let's start with my weekend, where I last left off. As you know, I went to Ko Samet - a nice island about 4 hours south/southeast of Bangkok - with some of the other exchange students. It was absolutely BEAUTIFUL. We arrived in Ban Phe, the mainland town that the ferry to Ko Samet leaves from, around 6pm, so we were on the ferry around sunset. By the time we got to the island, it was dark, so we first found a cheap bungalow just off the beach and then headed to the beach to check out the water and have some dinner. The little stretch of beach we were on had quite a few dining bars lining it - we sat at a low table with some cushions around it and had some positively delicious food - I myself went for the shrimp since we were in prime territory for something fresh! There was live entertainment during dinner - fireworks going off, wish lanterns being sent up into the sky, and even a firetwirler showing us his skills. Afterward, we went back to the bungalow for the night - one bungalow, two large beds, two blankets, and six people. Yes, we're cheap, but it was worth it, considering we paid about 120 baht each for the night (less than $4). The next morning was interesting - apparently, the bungalows we had chosen were doing construction literally RIGHT NEXT TO OUR CABIN. And they started at 6am. Needless to say, that was NOT pleasant. Good news is, though, the beach was absolutely beautiful! White sand, bluish-green sea, vendors accosting you every five seconds... wait, that wasn't as exciting. But the weather was great during the day - not too hot, the water wasn't too cold - the only problem with the weather we had was at night, because the bungalow would get REALLY COLD, and we only had the two blankets - I ended up using towels to cover up the 3rd night, just because there was hardly enough blanket for three people. We met up with another group of exchange students the second day and ended up going to a seaside dance club that night. It was a wild club, so many people there, Thais and tourists alike. I think one of the exchange students ended up having an "authentic Thai experience" with one of the Thai girls, if you know what I mean *wink*. Here's where I break to tell you a funny story:
So the people I was with were Danielle (my roommate), Alex (a girl from NC), Greg (a guy from Canada), Martin and Michael (two guys from Austria). Danielle and Alex decided to go to bed early that night, and didn't go clubbing. Greg and Michael went back to the bungalow a couple hours later. Martin and I decided to stay with the other group of exchange students at the club for a while longer. Well, a while later, I started to look for Martin, because I didn't know how to get back to our bungalow from the club; he was nowhere to be found. So I called Alex and got directions. Unfortunately, I got lost and ended up spending 15 minutes just trying to find my way back to the main road. Eventually, Martin calls me: "Hey, come back to the club, and we'll go back to the bungalow then!" Ok, so I head back to the club. Alex calls, and I tell her I'm going to meet Martin. About 5 minutes later, Alex calls again: "Um, yeah. Martin just walked in the bungalow." Ok, so now I'm SOL. Barb (another exchange student), offers a place in their bungalow for the night if I couldn't get back to mine. But Alex sends Martin out to find me. Later, I hear that Martin "tried" to find me (he was a little drunk), and came back 2 minutes later, forgetting what he was supposed to be doing in the first place. They send him out again, and he finds me, and I eventually get back to the bungalow, safe and sound. About 5 minutes after getting back, Martin bolts up from where he laid down, looks around the cabin, and asks: "Hey, did Denise ever find her way back?" Uh, yeah Martin. You're the one that brought me back...
Anyway, the rest of the trip went off without a hitch, and we made it back to Bangkok in time to prepare for the first day of school.
The first day of school was... much different than first days at UT. I kinda felt like I was back in high school; the Thai students tend to form cliques and sit in their respective groups in class, and they also all know each other. They all had the lecture notes for every class already, printed out and ready to go - or else one person would print them out and then make copies for everyone else. Being exchange students, we had no clue we were supposed to already have the notes before class... the first day of Finance was excrutiating without those notes. Finance is the only class I have with a Thai professor, or ajarn, as they call them. (Of course, I also have a Thai teacher for Beginning Thai, but I'm talking about strictly academic courses.) My marketing professor is extremely cool; he owns a couple Mazda dealerships here in Thailand, but since he isn't needed constantly for that job, he works as a teacher at Thammasat also. I think Humanities will be my favorite class, just because the material is more interesting to me than the "Time Value of Money" or "the 4 Ps"... our first homework assignment in humanities is to watch Troy (yes, the one with Brad Pitt) and The Odyssey; the professor's reasoning is that it's more fun to watch these movies than read Homer to learn about them. Beginner Thai was quite a trip. There are letters I've never seen before and sounds I've never made that I'm now trying to learn. The way the class is structured, we're lectured for 1-1/2 hours and then we have a 1 hour practice session with a TA. Yesterday, we learned useful words like "eat", "go", and "rice", and phrases like "What is your name?"; and of course, "rhinocerous". No lie.
Anyway, that's my week so far. I would put up some pictures, but I'm having issues with Flickr at the moment (I can't upload more than a certain number of pictures per month?). I might see if I can get a link to my Facebook photo albums, and just show you from there. I'll let you know.
Let's start with my weekend, where I last left off. As you know, I went to Ko Samet - a nice island about 4 hours south/southeast of Bangkok - with some of the other exchange students. It was absolutely BEAUTIFUL. We arrived in Ban Phe, the mainland town that the ferry to Ko Samet leaves from, around 6pm, so we were on the ferry around sunset. By the time we got to the island, it was dark, so we first found a cheap bungalow just off the beach and then headed to the beach to check out the water and have some dinner. The little stretch of beach we were on had quite a few dining bars lining it - we sat at a low table with some cushions around it and had some positively delicious food - I myself went for the shrimp since we were in prime territory for something fresh! There was live entertainment during dinner - fireworks going off, wish lanterns being sent up into the sky, and even a firetwirler showing us his skills. Afterward, we went back to the bungalow for the night - one bungalow, two large beds, two blankets, and six people. Yes, we're cheap, but it was worth it, considering we paid about 120 baht each for the night (less than $4). The next morning was interesting - apparently, the bungalows we had chosen were doing construction literally RIGHT NEXT TO OUR CABIN. And they started at 6am. Needless to say, that was NOT pleasant. Good news is, though, the beach was absolutely beautiful! White sand, bluish-green sea, vendors accosting you every five seconds... wait, that wasn't as exciting. But the weather was great during the day - not too hot, the water wasn't too cold - the only problem with the weather we had was at night, because the bungalow would get REALLY COLD, and we only had the two blankets - I ended up using towels to cover up the 3rd night, just because there was hardly enough blanket for three people. We met up with another group of exchange students the second day and ended up going to a seaside dance club that night. It was a wild club, so many people there, Thais and tourists alike. I think one of the exchange students ended up having an "authentic Thai experience" with one of the Thai girls, if you know what I mean *wink*. Here's where I break to tell you a funny story:
So the people I was with were Danielle (my roommate), Alex (a girl from NC), Greg (a guy from Canada), Martin and Michael (two guys from Austria). Danielle and Alex decided to go to bed early that night, and didn't go clubbing. Greg and Michael went back to the bungalow a couple hours later. Martin and I decided to stay with the other group of exchange students at the club for a while longer. Well, a while later, I started to look for Martin, because I didn't know how to get back to our bungalow from the club; he was nowhere to be found. So I called Alex and got directions. Unfortunately, I got lost and ended up spending 15 minutes just trying to find my way back to the main road. Eventually, Martin calls me: "Hey, come back to the club, and we'll go back to the bungalow then!" Ok, so I head back to the club. Alex calls, and I tell her I'm going to meet Martin. About 5 minutes later, Alex calls again: "Um, yeah. Martin just walked in the bungalow." Ok, so now I'm SOL. Barb (another exchange student), offers a place in their bungalow for the night if I couldn't get back to mine. But Alex sends Martin out to find me. Later, I hear that Martin "tried" to find me (he was a little drunk), and came back 2 minutes later, forgetting what he was supposed to be doing in the first place. They send him out again, and he finds me, and I eventually get back to the bungalow, safe and sound. About 5 minutes after getting back, Martin bolts up from where he laid down, looks around the cabin, and asks: "Hey, did Denise ever find her way back?" Uh, yeah Martin. You're the one that brought me back...
Anyway, the rest of the trip went off without a hitch, and we made it back to Bangkok in time to prepare for the first day of school.
The first day of school was... much different than first days at UT. I kinda felt like I was back in high school; the Thai students tend to form cliques and sit in their respective groups in class, and they also all know each other. They all had the lecture notes for every class already, printed out and ready to go - or else one person would print them out and then make copies for everyone else. Being exchange students, we had no clue we were supposed to already have the notes before class... the first day of Finance was excrutiating without those notes. Finance is the only class I have with a Thai professor, or ajarn, as they call them. (Of course, I also have a Thai teacher for Beginning Thai, but I'm talking about strictly academic courses.) My marketing professor is extremely cool; he owns a couple Mazda dealerships here in Thailand, but since he isn't needed constantly for that job, he works as a teacher at Thammasat also. I think Humanities will be my favorite class, just because the material is more interesting to me than the "Time Value of Money" or "the 4 Ps"... our first homework assignment in humanities is to watch Troy (yes, the one with Brad Pitt) and The Odyssey; the professor's reasoning is that it's more fun to watch these movies than read Homer to learn about them. Beginner Thai was quite a trip. There are letters I've never seen before and sounds I've never made that I'm now trying to learn. The way the class is structured, we're lectured for 1-1/2 hours and then we have a 1 hour practice session with a TA. Yesterday, we learned useful words like "eat", "go", and "rice", and phrases like "What is your name?"; and of course, "rhinocerous". No lie.
Anyway, that's my week so far. I would put up some pictures, but I'm having issues with Flickr at the moment (I can't upload more than a certain number of pictures per month?). I might see if I can get a link to my Facebook photo albums, and just show you from there. I'll let you know.
Thursday, January 8, 2009
"Get amongst it."
And so it begins...
The past few days have been AMAZING. If I haven't already mentioned this, Rattanakosin (the place I'm staying here in Bangkok) is where a LOT of other exchange students are staying. On Monday, we coordinated via Facebook and all went out for dinner. There were around 20 of us...? Something like that. And since Monday, even more students have moved in here. I've met people from all over the world; Canada, France, Germany, Austria, Sweden, Italy, Thailand (of course), Australia... and quite a few from the U.S. (California, Minnesota, Montana, Pennsylvania, North Carolina, New York, and probably some I'm forgetting).
Anyway, on Monday we had dinner on Khao San, which is a tourist hot-spot of Bangkok but definitely worth the visit. You'll be accosted by a host of people advertising everything from tailor-made suits to popular clubs, "very strong cocktails" to "ping-pong shows". After dinner, we headed to a bar that was just off of Khao San called Gazebo - it looked swanky and the drinks weren't very cheap, but hearing a Thai band play songs we all know and love was kinda funny because we'd all start singing along. They played Blur and Snow Patrol and Green Day and (I actually called this one before it was played) Oasis. They even played some oldies. After that (yes, the night went on!), we headed back to the apartments and went up to hang out and chat for a bit in the penthouse, where 5 exchange students are staying.
On Tuesday, Danielle, Greg from Canada (originally from... Philly?), Martin from Austria, and I walked around a while - we walked through Thammasat campus and down by the Grand Palace. We were going to visit the Grand Palace, but we weren't dressed for the occasion; one thing Thais take VERY seriously is the king, and you can't enter the Grand Palace without being dressed nicely enough (I could get in wearing my uniform).
Yesterday, us four plus Michael from Austria, Alexandra from North Carolina, and Warren from here in Thailand went to this Indian restaurant called Bombay Blues or something for dinner. It was really good - we even played Jenga while waiting for our food! We also got complimentary shots of tequila sunrise after the meal, haha. We talked to a travel agent after dinner, and we're taking a trip to Ko Samet today! Figure, we've got some time before school starts, why not go to the beach now? I'll be sure to take lots of picture, don't worry.
I also went to orientation yesterday. It was for all the exchange students: BBA, BE, Thai Studies... which translates to "business", "economics", and "other". There were about 60 of us there, and that's not including the people who still haven't arrived in Bangkok! We talked about classes and how teachers would be more lenient on absences in our class because, as always, international students like to take weekend trips. I'm taking four classes while I'm here:
Principles of Marketing
Business Finance
Integrated Humanities
Beginner Thai
I would've taken really awesome classes like Thai Massage and Thai Cuisine, but sadly, they wouldn't fit into my schedule.
Anyway, time for another fun-filled day in Thailand! I'll try to get some more pictures up before I leave for Ko Samet today.
The past few days have been AMAZING. If I haven't already mentioned this, Rattanakosin (the place I'm staying here in Bangkok) is where a LOT of other exchange students are staying. On Monday, we coordinated via Facebook and all went out for dinner. There were around 20 of us...? Something like that. And since Monday, even more students have moved in here. I've met people from all over the world; Canada, France, Germany, Austria, Sweden, Italy, Thailand (of course), Australia... and quite a few from the U.S. (California, Minnesota, Montana, Pennsylvania, North Carolina, New York, and probably some I'm forgetting).
Anyway, on Monday we had dinner on Khao San, which is a tourist hot-spot of Bangkok but definitely worth the visit. You'll be accosted by a host of people advertising everything from tailor-made suits to popular clubs, "very strong cocktails" to "ping-pong shows". After dinner, we headed to a bar that was just off of Khao San called Gazebo - it looked swanky and the drinks weren't very cheap, but hearing a Thai band play songs we all know and love was kinda funny because we'd all start singing along. They played Blur and Snow Patrol and Green Day and (I actually called this one before it was played) Oasis. They even played some oldies. After that (yes, the night went on!), we headed back to the apartments and went up to hang out and chat for a bit in the penthouse, where 5 exchange students are staying.
On Tuesday, Danielle, Greg from Canada (originally from... Philly?), Martin from Austria, and I walked around a while - we walked through Thammasat campus and down by the Grand Palace. We were going to visit the Grand Palace, but we weren't dressed for the occasion; one thing Thais take VERY seriously is the king, and you can't enter the Grand Palace without being dressed nicely enough (I could get in wearing my uniform).
Yesterday, us four plus Michael from Austria, Alexandra from North Carolina, and Warren from here in Thailand went to this Indian restaurant called Bombay Blues or something for dinner. It was really good - we even played Jenga while waiting for our food! We also got complimentary shots of tequila sunrise after the meal, haha. We talked to a travel agent after dinner, and we're taking a trip to Ko Samet today! Figure, we've got some time before school starts, why not go to the beach now? I'll be sure to take lots of picture, don't worry.
I also went to orientation yesterday. It was for all the exchange students: BBA, BE, Thai Studies... which translates to "business", "economics", and "other". There were about 60 of us there, and that's not including the people who still haven't arrived in Bangkok! We talked about classes and how teachers would be more lenient on absences in our class because, as always, international students like to take weekend trips. I'm taking four classes while I'm here:
Principles of Marketing
Business Finance
Integrated Humanities
Beginner Thai
I would've taken really awesome classes like Thai Massage and Thai Cuisine, but sadly, they wouldn't fit into my schedule.
Anyway, time for another fun-filled day in Thailand! I'll try to get some more pictures up before I leave for Ko Samet today.
Saturday, January 3, 2009
I have arrived!
Hello from Bangkok, everyone!
Well, the past - oh, I don't know, 48 hours, give or take? - has been interesting, exciting, nerve-racking, and surprising. And that's just the beginnging.
My flights sucked. I hate flying, for one, but that wasn't what was so awful about it. It was the fact that I was cooped up on a plane from Dallas to Tokyo for about 13 hours, and then on a plane from Tokyo to Bangkok for another 6. That's not including layovers, which (all-in-all), made my trip about 28 hours long. I did get some sleep on the planes, the food wasn't too awful, and the movies were entertaining at least. If it gives you any idea how much time I wasted on the plane, I watched the movies City of Ember, Bottle Shock, Snow Angels, part of Appaloosa (the plane was too noisy for me to hear anything they said on that movie), two episodes of The Office, three episodes of Scrubs, and one episode of Friday Night Lights. I would've read more, but I discovered that a previous disposition to motion-sickness combined with reading during turbulence is not a good combination.
Funny story: my first experience in Bangkok was being lost at the airport. The apartment manager, Justin, kindly agreed to pick up me and my roommate, Danielle (we were on the same flight from Tokyo) from the airport and take us to the apartment complex. The only thing is, him and I had a little miscommunication on where to meet - I thought he wanted me to meet him at "gate 3" once I got off the plane, but he really wanted me to meet him at "exit 3". That caused about a 45-minute delay in my getting through customs and baggage claim before I found him. It was lovely, let me tell ya.
After that, we headed to the apartments. It's a pretty decent apartment for the price we're paying - I'll be paying 11,000 baht per month, or about $300. We're right down the street from a department store. Danielle and I walked down there today.
It. Is. Crazy.
Most of the signs were in Thai, so we couldn't read anything. Justin had told us that there was a food court/supermarket on the bottom floor, so we grabbed some food. Chicken and rice, my first meal in Thailand! It was delicious, especially with the chilis and chili powder added on top (although the chilis were very very very spicy!). That paired with a coke, and all for less than $2! I have a feeling I'm going to love the pricing here in Thailand...
After that, I picked up some basic stuff I forgot/didn't know to bring: shampoo and conditioner, loofah, towel... good stuff like that. I'm gonna head down to a 7/11 pretty soon to find toilet paper and some instant noodles to keep here at the apartment.
My favorite part of the trip so far has to be this, though: quoting my roommate, we are "part of the world" here in Thailand because they have Law and Order on TV. Haha.
Anyway, that's about all for now. Check Flickr for some pictures of me along my trip to Thailand and my apartment!
Well, the past - oh, I don't know, 48 hours, give or take? - has been interesting, exciting, nerve-racking, and surprising. And that's just the beginnging.
My flights sucked. I hate flying, for one, but that wasn't what was so awful about it. It was the fact that I was cooped up on a plane from Dallas to Tokyo for about 13 hours, and then on a plane from Tokyo to Bangkok for another 6. That's not including layovers, which (all-in-all), made my trip about 28 hours long. I did get some sleep on the planes, the food wasn't too awful, and the movies were entertaining at least. If it gives you any idea how much time I wasted on the plane, I watched the movies City of Ember, Bottle Shock, Snow Angels, part of Appaloosa (the plane was too noisy for me to hear anything they said on that movie), two episodes of The Office, three episodes of Scrubs, and one episode of Friday Night Lights. I would've read more, but I discovered that a previous disposition to motion-sickness combined with reading during turbulence is not a good combination.
Funny story: my first experience in Bangkok was being lost at the airport. The apartment manager, Justin, kindly agreed to pick up me and my roommate, Danielle (we were on the same flight from Tokyo) from the airport and take us to the apartment complex. The only thing is, him and I had a little miscommunication on where to meet - I thought he wanted me to meet him at "gate 3" once I got off the plane, but he really wanted me to meet him at "exit 3". That caused about a 45-minute delay in my getting through customs and baggage claim before I found him. It was lovely, let me tell ya.
After that, we headed to the apartments. It's a pretty decent apartment for the price we're paying - I'll be paying 11,000 baht per month, or about $300. We're right down the street from a department store. Danielle and I walked down there today.
It. Is. Crazy.
Most of the signs were in Thai, so we couldn't read anything. Justin had told us that there was a food court/supermarket on the bottom floor, so we grabbed some food. Chicken and rice, my first meal in Thailand! It was delicious, especially with the chilis and chili powder added on top (although the chilis were very very very spicy!). That paired with a coke, and all for less than $2! I have a feeling I'm going to love the pricing here in Thailand...
After that, I picked up some basic stuff I forgot/didn't know to bring: shampoo and conditioner, loofah, towel... good stuff like that. I'm gonna head down to a 7/11 pretty soon to find toilet paper and some instant noodles to keep here at the apartment.
My favorite part of the trip so far has to be this, though: quoting my roommate, we are "part of the world" here in Thailand because they have Law and Order on TV. Haha.
Anyway, that's about all for now. Check Flickr for some pictures of me along my trip to Thailand and my apartment!
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