The flight here was was long, cramped, and filled with bad action movie sequels (Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen is AWESOME). Once I got to Thailand, though, things got much better. I was picked up from the airport by several of my CSB (Charansanitwong School of Business) co-workers. They graciously bought me some of the most delicious Thai food I've had since I've been here, and showed me to my apartment. My bedroom is almost twice as big as any I had in my college apartments, and for the first time in my life I have my own queen size bed to sleep in. I feel like royalty. My apartment only has air conditioning in the bedrooms, so needless to say, I have spent most of my time in my place in my bedroom, basking in the freezing cold air.
It's hot in Bangkok. I mean, duh, it's hot. But it is like, really actually very hot. The ten minute walk to the CSB puts those annoying spots of sweat underneath your chest and on your back. Also, Thailand is rampant with homeless dogs. There are dozens on every street. I was told about this before I got to Bangkok, but there are even more than I imagined. They're all so calm. They just laze around outside, and sleep under cars during the day when it is too hot. Sometimes when I see a group of five or six walking together I get a little nervous, like they're all going to synchronize and tear me to shreds, but they don't. They just mind their business. I haven't pet any yet though, because I don't know how they'll react. Sorry Thai dogs.
Liu and Ploy, two of my coworkers, have been wonderful in that they are showing me around, taking me to markets, and bringing me out so I can socialize like a normal person. The first day I was here they took me to the music shops where I found a left-handed acoustic guitar. Having that in my bedroom feels good, comforting. I'm learning how to play some of my favorite Kinks songs.
Most everyone here speaks at least a little English. Since I've been here I've learned how to say a few things in Thai. Mostly "thank you" and "good afternoon," but I made sure to learn how to say "very beautiful" so I can make sure the Thai girls I will be hitting on understand me.
Each day I have had some activity or something planned out for me. I've gone to some very big markets and done some shopping, went out to a bar and met plenty of Ploy's friends, where I happily taught them some important swear words that every English speaker should know.
On Halloween Liu and I went to Koushan Road, a famous Thai bar scene filled with foreigners and westerners. There were thousands of people walking through the street, laughing, drinking, listening to bad American rap music. Many people dressed up, which I did not expect them to do, but it was great. It reminded me of America. It was also nice to see that Halloween is just an excuse to go out and get smashed in other countries too, and not just America. It's an important Holiday I think.
I start teaching pretty soon, and as of right now, I'm a little nervous. I haven't really been told very much on how to actually teach these kids. Mostly what I have heard is that they are all pretty badly behaved and don't really care about learning English. That's good. I was once that the best way to succeed in this job is learn from your mistakes, so I am going to start making a whole bunch of them and just see what happens. I have a vague idea of what I am going to talk about tomorrow (greetings, introductions, learning about yourself) but nothing absolute. Perhaps it's not the best way to approach teaching, but I am just going to play it by ear. Hey, if the school isn't worried about my abilities as an educator, why should I be?
The most difficult part about being here so far, for me, is that I just don't know where anything is. If I want to go to a bar, or to a particular part of town, I have no idea how to get there. Of course I can take a taxi, but what if he doesn't speak English well enough to know what I am talking about? And I am not really sure what my address is, so how am I going to tell him how to get back to my place? Any of the going out I have done has been with someone who knows these things. Of course, it's only been four days and I didn't expect to know the entire map of Bangkok or anything like that. Today I walked around for a few hours just looking around at stuff. It felt good getting a chance to just experience things as I saw them. It took my much longer than it should have, but I found the Central Shopping Mall that is pretty close to my house. I was proud of myself for finding it by myself, without needing the help of a taxi or experienced Thai resident. The rest will come with time, and soon I won't need Liu to go get drunk in Koushan road (even though it would be more fun if he was there, because he is a super nice, cute little Chinese guy).
I really guess things are going as well as they possibly can be. I have some really nice friends, a good apartment (with a nice, but scarcely present roommate), eaten some great food, seen some awesome places in the city, and haven't gotten sold into sex slavery (yet). Of course, everything is going to change once I become Adjarn Nick, and the responsibility starts for real. I'm not too worried though, I think these Thai kids will like me. I'm pretty laid back and plan on playing them some Beatles tunes the first day. I mean, who the hell wouldn't like a teacher who did that?
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