I’ve had half of a blog written and saved on my desktop for over three days now. I’m not sure why I haven’t gotten the motivation to finish it, but by now, what I wrote about is outdated, so I’m starting all over.
Here’s the quick re-cap:
My internship interview was last Friday and it went well. Since then I’ve received more information and it looks like I’ll be spending at least 3-4 weeks in another province in a village called Lam plai mat. It’s about a four hour bus ride east of Bangkok. I’m not sure how remote the village is, but I’m assuming that it’s going to be fairly primitive compared to what I’ve been used to here at AIT.
Specifically, I’ll be assisting a project manager, Anita, with conducting 8 business-skills training sessions. A couple summers ago two students from Stanford came to Thailand to start implementing their curriculum “Barefoot MBA” in rural villages with the help of PDA. They were successful in the three modules that they taught to the villagers, and now Anita and I are going to implement the next 8 modules. Here’s the link to give you more of an idea of what I’ll be doing: http://barefootmba.wordpress.com/
At the end of the internship I am supposed to submit the adapted curriculum in English, some marketing material, and a report that documents my activities and suggestions for the program in the future.
I’m excited to get some experience in the field, but I am also concerned because I am going to be out in the village for an extend period of time. I’ve grown to like the AIT campus and the people here, and it’ll be hard to leave here. I’m also kind of bummed that we are required to pay for our own accommodations. I am able to live at the PDA staff housing, but it’s going to be another added expense that I was not planning on. Hopefully, the life experience that I gain from working in the field will pay off in the future.
Continuing with the quick re-cap…this weekend I spend Friday night in Bangkok, and then came back on Saturday because we found out that the Chinese New Year celebrations were not starting until Monday and not on Saturday as we had originally thought. I was okay with that though. It was nice to be able to relax for the rest of the weekend. Kelly and I also made some tentative plans for our post-program travels.
It’s looking like we’ll visit Phenom Pehn, Cambodia for a couple of days, and then fly to Kuala Lampur, Malaysia. We’ll stay there for a few days and then start to make our way back up north to Bangkok. There’s a train that travels all the way from Singapore to the northern part of Thailand that we’re going to ride. We’ll be able to get off and on at whichever stops we want, and we can stay however long in whatever cities we choose. The southern part of Thailand is full of beaches and islands that will be good for relaxing and beach-bumming on.
This week was the last week of classes for us. The lectures were pretty draining. There were only a couple of them that were interesting. For Thai class on Tuesday we went to Kuhn Sue’s and she taught us how to make Spicy Papaya Salad. My thoughts on papaya salad: I would appreciate it more if it wasn’t so spicy. I thought about leaving out the chili pepper when I was making mine, but I tried it anyways, and I couldn’t finish my portion.**I’m sorry bryce. my goal for this post was to leave food out, but I had to add this one note. I guess a post excluding food will have to come another time.**
I think I had my first bout with homesickness the other day. I felt really tired and I took a very long nap. I haven’t really had an appetite for a few days now. I make sure that I still eat some food, but my stomach isn’t really my best friend right now.
I did get an email today that I’ve been looking forward to for months now. Women at Risk International, an organization based out of Grand Rapids, has a ministry here in Bangkok that provides safe-houses for prostitutes. I emailed them before I left and then again last weekend, asking them about volunteer opportunities. A woman names Heidi emailed me back and said that Becky, the president, wants to meet with me when she’s here in February! I’ve met Becky before but it was a LouAnn Wieland’s house for a lunch with a group of other women. I’m excited to learn more about the ministry and get involved with more things “Thailand.”
Saturday we’re leaving for a week long trip to the northern part of Thailand. I’m most excited about the elephant hospital that we’re going to be visiting. I’ll be sure to take a bunch of pictures, but it’ll probably be another week before I can post another blog. So until then…enjoy some Mexican food for me because that’s what I’ve been craving for a while now and I have yet to see a place that serves it.
Hope to hear from you all soon! Love you!
Thursday, January 29, 2009
Thursday, January 22, 2009
a little bit of Thai for you and more
The past few days have been pretty uneventful. We’ve just had class and one field trip on Wednesday morning. Classes have been good. The topics are interesting and it’s nice having a new topic and new instructor for each lecture. It keeps things fresh.
The field trip yesterday was to the Duang Prateep Foundation which is an organization that is centered in, and services, those in the area slums. Their focus is specifically children and adolescents, but they also assist adults because they believe that it is important to support the whole family.
We got a chance to walk around the school and see the children. They were so happy and wanted us to take pictures of them. After that we took a walk around the slum community, and I was able to witness poverty like I’ve never seen it before.
Thai class is getting better. I bought some note cards and a marker so I can make some flash cards. I’ve been able to recognize some words when I hear people speaking, but my vocabulary still consists of the numbers 1-10, hello, thank you, “you’re welcome/don’t worry about it,” and “I don’t understand.” I figure that’s not so bad for only having six classes, and only being here for a week and a half.
Here’s your Thai lesson for the day:
One nuung
Two song
Three saam
Four sii
Five haa
Six hok
Seven jet
Eight pet
Nine kaaw
Ten sip
“My name is ___________” “Chan chuu _________”
Today (Thursday) we had a free day because there were a few people who had interviews with their intern organizations, so Lauren, Kelly, and I went into Bangkok to see the city. We took the bus and the BTS and made it into the middle of the madness. There’s a huge mall, I think 6 stories high, filled with a bunch of designer stores that none of us could afford, so we quickly found our way out. We spotted a Hard Rock Café, and ate lunch there. I had my first cheeseburger in Asia, and it was good. Many times when you order food here, you don’t quite know what you’re getting until you see it in front of you, and even then there are always questions. It was nice to know that when I ordered the cheeseburger with fries, I could expect a cheeseburger and fries. No questions.
Tomorrow I have my interview with the Population and Development Association where I’m supposed to be doing my internship. I’m really not sure what I’ll be doing, but I’ll have more information for you all soon. I’m not sure when I’ll be able to update next because we’ve booked a hostel for the weekend in Bangkok. It’s the Chinese New Year, and we want to celebrate in the city. Hopefully Chinatown will not be too out of control.
I hope you all are doing well!
The field trip yesterday was to the Duang Prateep Foundation which is an organization that is centered in, and services, those in the area slums. Their focus is specifically children and adolescents, but they also assist adults because they believe that it is important to support the whole family.
We got a chance to walk around the school and see the children. They were so happy and wanted us to take pictures of them. After that we took a walk around the slum community, and I was able to witness poverty like I’ve never seen it before.
Thai class is getting better. I bought some note cards and a marker so I can make some flash cards. I’ve been able to recognize some words when I hear people speaking, but my vocabulary still consists of the numbers 1-10, hello, thank you, “you’re welcome/don’t worry about it,” and “I don’t understand.” I figure that’s not so bad for only having six classes, and only being here for a week and a half.
Here’s your Thai lesson for the day:
One nuung
Two song
Three saam
Four sii
Five haa
Six hok
Seven jet
Eight pet
Nine kaaw
Ten sip
“My name is ___________” “Chan chuu _________”
Today (Thursday) we had a free day because there were a few people who had interviews with their intern organizations, so Lauren, Kelly, and I went into Bangkok to see the city. We took the bus and the BTS and made it into the middle of the madness. There’s a huge mall, I think 6 stories high, filled with a bunch of designer stores that none of us could afford, so we quickly found our way out. We spotted a Hard Rock Café, and ate lunch there. I had my first cheeseburger in Asia, and it was good. Many times when you order food here, you don’t quite know what you’re getting until you see it in front of you, and even then there are always questions. It was nice to know that when I ordered the cheeseburger with fries, I could expect a cheeseburger and fries. No questions.
Tomorrow I have my interview with the Population and Development Association where I’m supposed to be doing my internship. I’m really not sure what I’ll be doing, but I’ll have more information for you all soon. I’m not sure when I’ll be able to update next because we’ve booked a hostel for the weekend in Bangkok. It’s the Chinese New Year, and we want to celebrate in the city. Hopefully Chinatown will not be too out of control.
I hope you all are doing well!
Monday, January 19, 2009
some good news~!
good news!
my blanket was returned on friday. i'm sorry it took me a few days to post an update, but my weekend was pretty busy.
on saturday we made our way into Bangkok for the first time, and toured the Grand Palace. it was very beautiful. all of the buildings were very elaborate, and covered in gold mirrors and tons of jewels. our tour guide was very informative so that was helpful. we ate at a navy pier restuarant which was yummy, and than after that some of us went to Khao San Rd. the road, which is really an area made up of a group of roads, is full of backpackers galore and merchants trying to sell everything from clothes to food to fake ids. it was pretty packed.
after a couple of hours we made our way back to join the rest of the group who had gone to the national museum, and from there we drove out to our new Thai friend, Ott's house. his family was gracious enough to feed us and put all nine of us up for the night. dinner was fantastic, and we even enjoyed a Thai musical performace from four kids who take music lessons from Ott's neighbor. these people went all out.
if there's one thing i could say to describe my view of Thai people so far it would be incredibly hospitable. we've only been here one week, and we've made several friends all of whom will go out of their way to help us and make sure we are taken care of.
on sunday we went to a market in bangkok. it is the largest one in Thailand, and i'm pretty sure i was only able to make it through a very small fraction. i ate the most amazing blueberry waffle. the market had an animal/pet section, and they were selling puppies and rabbits and other animals. the funniest one though, were the baby squirrels that were on a leash. haha! i didn't get a picture, but i'm sure you can use your imagination.
after we were exhausted from the market, we headed back to campus and took naps. i downloaded the newest one tree hill episode and lauren and i watched that. we also were craving american food, so we went to the hotel and i ordered some cornflake chicken with french fries, and topped it off with a chocolate milkshake. it was amazing! and just what i needed.
today we had class all day, and then lauren and i went on our first adventure. we took a taxi to the local grocery store--tesco lotus--and we found peanut butter! and some other things, but i was mostly excited about the peanut butter.
now we're back, and about to watch The Office, so this is where the update must end.
keep warm!!
my blanket was returned on friday. i'm sorry it took me a few days to post an update, but my weekend was pretty busy.
on saturday we made our way into Bangkok for the first time, and toured the Grand Palace. it was very beautiful. all of the buildings were very elaborate, and covered in gold mirrors and tons of jewels. our tour guide was very informative so that was helpful. we ate at a navy pier restuarant which was yummy, and than after that some of us went to Khao San Rd. the road, which is really an area made up of a group of roads, is full of backpackers galore and merchants trying to sell everything from clothes to food to fake ids. it was pretty packed.
after a couple of hours we made our way back to join the rest of the group who had gone to the national museum, and from there we drove out to our new Thai friend, Ott's house. his family was gracious enough to feed us and put all nine of us up for the night. dinner was fantastic, and we even enjoyed a Thai musical performace from four kids who take music lessons from Ott's neighbor. these people went all out.
if there's one thing i could say to describe my view of Thai people so far it would be incredibly hospitable. we've only been here one week, and we've made several friends all of whom will go out of their way to help us and make sure we are taken care of.
on sunday we went to a market in bangkok. it is the largest one in Thailand, and i'm pretty sure i was only able to make it through a very small fraction. i ate the most amazing blueberry waffle. the market had an animal/pet section, and they were selling puppies and rabbits and other animals. the funniest one though, were the baby squirrels that were on a leash. haha! i didn't get a picture, but i'm sure you can use your imagination.
after we were exhausted from the market, we headed back to campus and took naps. i downloaded the newest one tree hill episode and lauren and i watched that. we also were craving american food, so we went to the hotel and i ordered some cornflake chicken with french fries, and topped it off with a chocolate milkshake. it was amazing! and just what i needed.
today we had class all day, and then lauren and i went on our first adventure. we took a taxi to the local grocery store--tesco lotus--and we found peanut butter! and some other things, but i was mostly excited about the peanut butter.
now we're back, and about to watch The Office, so this is where the update must end.
keep warm!!
Thursday, January 15, 2009
Blankie is MIA
The cleaning person who comes to our dorms for our turn down service took my blanket (aka blankie). I’m not sure if it was on purpose. I understand that after 22 years it does look more like a rag than a blanket, but I was very disappointed when I climbed into bed last night and it was not there. And I was even more upset when I found every other one of my possessions that normally stays on my bed, replaced to its original position except Blankie. I brought a pillow from home—still at the head of the bed. My $2 fleece blanket I purchased at Future Mall—folded at the end of my bed. Matt’s t-shirt folded on Lauren’s bed?? That kind of puzzled me too? But anyways…everything else was accounted for. Everything but my Blankie.
POA (Plan of Action)
Contact Peace. She’s one of the AIT students that help with our program and our go-to person if we have any questions. My hope is that, while the person was stripping my sheets from my bed, Blankie was mixed up in the crowd and got taken away by accident. If that’s the case, I will appreciate the free wash and they will hear no complaints from me, although, I will probably stow Blankie away in my closet every cleaning day from now on.
Case #2: Blankie has been taken accidentally, and they will find it when they are folding the laundry. Look at it. see that it’s not much of a blanket anymore. Not know which out of the 2,000 students here at school it belongs to. And decide to throw it away. In the event that this happens I will be highly disappointed. Probably be sad for a while. Shed a tear—Blankie and I have been inseparable for the past 22 years, and then I will start down the long path towards forgiveness.
Case #3: Blankie was stolen. I don’t even want to think about such a thing. A person who would even consider abducting another person’s blankie is sick minded and practices the cruelest measures of torture.
I know many of you may not have a Blankie of your own, but you may have once upon a time, and you can understand what I’m going through right now. Others of you, who have never cared for such a thing, have been missing out.
Thank you all for your prayers and encouragement. I’m having a great time here, well besides the events as of late, and I’m getting settled in quite nicely. I hope to hear from you all soon.
P.S. I’m sooo sorry about the weather. Stay warm!
POA (Plan of Action)
Contact Peace. She’s one of the AIT students that help with our program and our go-to person if we have any questions. My hope is that, while the person was stripping my sheets from my bed, Blankie was mixed up in the crowd and got taken away by accident. If that’s the case, I will appreciate the free wash and they will hear no complaints from me, although, I will probably stow Blankie away in my closet every cleaning day from now on.
Case #2: Blankie has been taken accidentally, and they will find it when they are folding the laundry. Look at it. see that it’s not much of a blanket anymore. Not know which out of the 2,000 students here at school it belongs to. And decide to throw it away. In the event that this happens I will be highly disappointed. Probably be sad for a while. Shed a tear—Blankie and I have been inseparable for the past 22 years, and then I will start down the long path towards forgiveness.
Case #3: Blankie was stolen. I don’t even want to think about such a thing. A person who would even consider abducting another person’s blankie is sick minded and practices the cruelest measures of torture.
I know many of you may not have a Blankie of your own, but you may have once upon a time, and you can understand what I’m going through right now. Others of you, who have never cared for such a thing, have been missing out.
Thank you all for your prayers and encouragement. I’m having a great time here, well besides the events as of late, and I’m getting settled in quite nicely. I hope to hear from you all soon.
P.S. I’m sooo sorry about the weather. Stay warm!
monday, tuesday, wednesday, thursday
I’ve started my classes. On Monday I registered and did a bunch of paper work. We had a lecture on natural resource management and our first Thai survival class. It was intense. There was a welcome party for the new students here, but I tried taking a nap when I got back from Thai class, and I didn’t wake up until 8 pm, so I stayed in bed. Jet lag creeps up on you around 6:30, and once you lay down, you’re done for the night.
Tuesday we had our first field trip that explores Thai lifestyle. We went to a floating market about an hour and a half away. It was pretty touristy, but still fun. We rented a boat for the morning. It was more like a covered gondola with a driver who directed the boat from the back. The market was made up of extensive waterways filled with vendors in boats and along the sides hawking souvenirs and local food.
We stopped at a temple and walked around and took pictures. The temple was also pretty touristy, at least compared to the ones I visited in China. After that we made our way back to the main shopping area and ate some lunch. Lunch was noodle soup with fish balls. Yumm…I ate one of them before I learned what it was. I don’t think I’ll ever do it again.
After the floating market we returned to campus for another Thai survival class where we learned how to count to ten. Our professor is a cute little lady named Ying. She’s always smiling. I love it. Dislike the class. Like her.
For dinner we went to find a restaurant Khun Sue’s. It’s on the outskirts of campus and there are signs to get there, so we followed the signs, but they took us to a country club, so we ended up eating there. It was really nice, well, by Thai standards anyway, and I had my first taste of authentic Pad Thai Gai. It was really good. I’ve finally got my appetite back which is good to have when you’re in a country with such amazing cuisine. After dinner we came back to our dorms and went to bed because we haven’t really found other things to do yet. lol.
Wednesday we had another lecture in the morning and the rest of the day was free because two of the students had their interviews with their internship organizations in Bangkok. The rest of us stayed behind and found the pool to lie out by. For dinner we finally found Khun Sue’s, and it was AMAZING! It’s a little place on the side of the service road that is run by a woman who I had an urge to call “mama” because that’s exactly what she acted like. She pretty much ordered our entire meal because we had no idea what we wanted. We all shared the dishes and it was a great time. We’ll definitely go back.
Last night I was determined to stay awake until at least 11. I’m sick of jet lag. We ended up going out to a night club called PHAT which stands for “Pretty Highly Attractive.” Haha! And we were definitely not dressed attractively. Most of us girls were in sweatshirts and some were in flip flops. When we pulled up to the club, we knew we were definitely not dressed right. All of the asian girls were wearing heels and dressy tops. We pulled the culture card and claimed that sweatshirts and flip flops were our custom bar apparel, and we still got in. It pays to be a girl sometimes.
The club was actually really nice, but it was really loud inside. There was a live band playing for a while, and when they stopped, the dj had a playlist full of American artists, so we could actually recognize the songs. After a while I was tired, and a couple of us went outside to wait to leave. We finally ended up leaving an hour later and I crashed as soon as I got back to the dorm. My mission was a success! I stayed up till 1 am!
And now for today…my favorite day since we got here. We had class this morning and after that we went on another field trip. This time it was to the old capital of Thailand, Ayuthaya. It was only about a 45 minute van ride, and our first stop was a temple that held the largest Buddha I’ve ever seen in my life. This field trip was my favorite so far because our instructor from this morning’s lecture came along with us, and spoke to us about Thai history and provided us with other information about Buddhism.
We visited another temple after that, and then the third stop was my absolute favorite—the old temple ruins of Ayuthaya. The temple was built back in the 17th century by the king as a tribute to his mother and as a sign of his victory over…umm..i don’t really remember…but it was a victory over someone. So if you get a chance to check out any of my pics make sure you see the ones from the ruins.
And now we’re back here at the dorms killing time before we go off to a bbq. I’m not sure what they’re bbqing, but I don’t know if I’m going to ask either. As long as it’s not fish balls.
One thing I have been on the look out for that I need to find…peanut butter! I’ve got the bread, and I’ve got the jelly, but I am missing one vital ingredient. I’m going to check for it when we go in to Bangkok this weekend because neither of the stores here have it.
One thing I already know that I’ll miss about Thailand…the fresh fruit and fresh fruit juice. In our cafeteria, there is a juice station where you can pick from a variety of fruits, and the woman makes a glass of juice for you while you wait. It’s awesome! And the even sweeter thing about it is…it costs about 50 cents. I tried mango yesterday, and it was delicious.
Okay, I think that’s enough for now. I’m sorry for unloading all of that out at once. I think I’ve learned my lesson about waiting four days to post. I’ll try to do it more often it’s just hard finding time some days. Be sure to check out the pics I’ve taken so far. I think i'm going to put up a link for them. There are some of my dorm room and the floating market as well as from the field trip we took today.
Enjoy!
P.S. Here’s my address for those of you who have asked me for it:
NRM Department
Asian Institute of Technology
PO Box 4, Klong Luang
Pathumthani, Thailand 12120
P.P.S. Matt: skypeage tonight? Well night for you anyways. Anytime between 7 and 9:30, or I can do your Friday morning. Let me know :)
Tuesday we had our first field trip that explores Thai lifestyle. We went to a floating market about an hour and a half away. It was pretty touristy, but still fun. We rented a boat for the morning. It was more like a covered gondola with a driver who directed the boat from the back. The market was made up of extensive waterways filled with vendors in boats and along the sides hawking souvenirs and local food.
We stopped at a temple and walked around and took pictures. The temple was also pretty touristy, at least compared to the ones I visited in China. After that we made our way back to the main shopping area and ate some lunch. Lunch was noodle soup with fish balls. Yumm…I ate one of them before I learned what it was. I don’t think I’ll ever do it again.
After the floating market we returned to campus for another Thai survival class where we learned how to count to ten. Our professor is a cute little lady named Ying. She’s always smiling. I love it. Dislike the class. Like her.
For dinner we went to find a restaurant Khun Sue’s. It’s on the outskirts of campus and there are signs to get there, so we followed the signs, but they took us to a country club, so we ended up eating there. It was really nice, well, by Thai standards anyway, and I had my first taste of authentic Pad Thai Gai. It was really good. I’ve finally got my appetite back which is good to have when you’re in a country with such amazing cuisine. After dinner we came back to our dorms and went to bed because we haven’t really found other things to do yet. lol.
Wednesday we had another lecture in the morning and the rest of the day was free because two of the students had their interviews with their internship organizations in Bangkok. The rest of us stayed behind and found the pool to lie out by. For dinner we finally found Khun Sue’s, and it was AMAZING! It’s a little place on the side of the service road that is run by a woman who I had an urge to call “mama” because that’s exactly what she acted like. She pretty much ordered our entire meal because we had no idea what we wanted. We all shared the dishes and it was a great time. We’ll definitely go back.
Last night I was determined to stay awake until at least 11. I’m sick of jet lag. We ended up going out to a night club called PHAT which stands for “Pretty Highly Attractive.” Haha! And we were definitely not dressed attractively. Most of us girls were in sweatshirts and some were in flip flops. When we pulled up to the club, we knew we were definitely not dressed right. All of the asian girls were wearing heels and dressy tops. We pulled the culture card and claimed that sweatshirts and flip flops were our custom bar apparel, and we still got in. It pays to be a girl sometimes.
The club was actually really nice, but it was really loud inside. There was a live band playing for a while, and when they stopped, the dj had a playlist full of American artists, so we could actually recognize the songs. After a while I was tired, and a couple of us went outside to wait to leave. We finally ended up leaving an hour later and I crashed as soon as I got back to the dorm. My mission was a success! I stayed up till 1 am!
And now for today…my favorite day since we got here. We had class this morning and after that we went on another field trip. This time it was to the old capital of Thailand, Ayuthaya. It was only about a 45 minute van ride, and our first stop was a temple that held the largest Buddha I’ve ever seen in my life. This field trip was my favorite so far because our instructor from this morning’s lecture came along with us, and spoke to us about Thai history and provided us with other information about Buddhism.
We visited another temple after that, and then the third stop was my absolute favorite—the old temple ruins of Ayuthaya. The temple was built back in the 17th century by the king as a tribute to his mother and as a sign of his victory over…umm..i don’t really remember…but it was a victory over someone. So if you get a chance to check out any of my pics make sure you see the ones from the ruins.
And now we’re back here at the dorms killing time before we go off to a bbq. I’m not sure what they’re bbqing, but I don’t know if I’m going to ask either. As long as it’s not fish balls.
One thing I have been on the look out for that I need to find…peanut butter! I’ve got the bread, and I’ve got the jelly, but I am missing one vital ingredient. I’m going to check for it when we go in to Bangkok this weekend because neither of the stores here have it.
One thing I already know that I’ll miss about Thailand…the fresh fruit and fresh fruit juice. In our cafeteria, there is a juice station where you can pick from a variety of fruits, and the woman makes a glass of juice for you while you wait. It’s awesome! And the even sweeter thing about it is…it costs about 50 cents. I tried mango yesterday, and it was delicious.
Okay, I think that’s enough for now. I’m sorry for unloading all of that out at once. I think I’ve learned my lesson about waiting four days to post. I’ll try to do it more often it’s just hard finding time some days. Be sure to check out the pics I’ve taken so far. I think i'm going to put up a link for them. There are some of my dorm room and the floating market as well as from the field trip we took today.
Enjoy!
P.S. Here’s my address for those of you who have asked me for it:
NRM Department
Asian Institute of Technology
PO Box 4, Klong Luang
Pathumthani, Thailand 12120
P.P.S. Matt: skypeage tonight? Well night for you anyways. Anytime between 7 and 9:30, or I can do your Friday morning. Let me know :)
Sunday, January 11, 2009
day one +
the journey here took forever! after arriving in tokyo i didn't want to keep going on to bangkok. i guess a 14 hour flight will do that to a person. but after an hour and a half lay over, we boarded the plane for another long flight. both flights had their perks, and no, it wasn't the meals.
the first flight i sat next to Kira. i'm guessing she was about 3 years old, but i never asked. we played doctor with her baby doll who suffered from uncontrollable hiccups. and she made me a birthday cake out of playdoh. Kira was adopted from China, and after talking to her mom, i learned that Kira was traveling back to China with her mom and her two other sisters to bring back a new adopted sister. she was pretty excited.
the perk of the second flight: it was a A330 which means personal tv screens. yes! i watched three movies. and i got to choose which ones!
it took us another 8 hours to get to bangkok, and another hour drive to get to campus. we arrived to AIT at 3 am, but it felt like 3 pm because of the time change. so i unpacked all of my stuff in my dorm room. i took some pictures, but being the genius i am, i did not pack my camera's usb cord, and the memory chip is too small to insert into my laptop. all that to say...pictures are going to have to wait until later.
-------------------now it's day one---------------------
we woke up and ate breakfast. then we took a tour around campus. it's pretty here. there are tropical plants and water channels. many of the sidewalks are covered. there is a badmiton court and a pool. and several shops that sell things like ice cream, flowers, there's even a salon and a couple of resturants here on campus.
this afternoon we tried out the bus system on our way to Future Park which is the massive mall a couple of miles away. this mall is 6 stories and has like 3 wings. i don't even know if that's right. i was so overwhelmed walking around in there. there were people everywhere! and so many stores! there was a whole wing devoted to cell phones which is where we headed first. we all got our phones and grabbed some food then split up to get the rest of the stuff we needed.
Funny story for the day:
while checking out at Robinson's (the department store where i picked up some towels and stuff), i used my credit card to pay. i signed the receipt, and the cashier took the slip to compare my signature to the one on the back of my card. now, the signature on back of both of my cards, is not my signature at all. it's says "see id :)" after checking my signed receipt she tore it in half and printed out a new one for me to sign. she motioned as if to say that they didn't match. i smiled because i knew what she wanted. i took the new receipt, and signed "see id :)" on the dotted line. she picked up the new receipt, compared the two again, smiled and handed me my bags. oh the joys of being a foreigner!
tomorrow's going to be a long day. i've got orientation and my first Thai survival class.
i don't know my address yet, but i'll post that as soon as i do.
later--
see id :)
the first flight i sat next to Kira. i'm guessing she was about 3 years old, but i never asked. we played doctor with her baby doll who suffered from uncontrollable hiccups. and she made me a birthday cake out of playdoh. Kira was adopted from China, and after talking to her mom, i learned that Kira was traveling back to China with her mom and her two other sisters to bring back a new adopted sister. she was pretty excited.
the perk of the second flight: it was a A330 which means personal tv screens. yes! i watched three movies. and i got to choose which ones!
it took us another 8 hours to get to bangkok, and another hour drive to get to campus. we arrived to AIT at 3 am, but it felt like 3 pm because of the time change. so i unpacked all of my stuff in my dorm room. i took some pictures, but being the genius i am, i did not pack my camera's usb cord, and the memory chip is too small to insert into my laptop. all that to say...pictures are going to have to wait until later.
-------------------now it's day one---------------------
we woke up and ate breakfast. then we took a tour around campus. it's pretty here. there are tropical plants and water channels. many of the sidewalks are covered. there is a badmiton court and a pool. and several shops that sell things like ice cream, flowers, there's even a salon and a couple of resturants here on campus.
this afternoon we tried out the bus system on our way to Future Park which is the massive mall a couple of miles away. this mall is 6 stories and has like 3 wings. i don't even know if that's right. i was so overwhelmed walking around in there. there were people everywhere! and so many stores! there was a whole wing devoted to cell phones which is where we headed first. we all got our phones and grabbed some food then split up to get the rest of the stuff we needed.
Funny story for the day:
while checking out at Robinson's (the department store where i picked up some towels and stuff), i used my credit card to pay. i signed the receipt, and the cashier took the slip to compare my signature to the one on the back of my card. now, the signature on back of both of my cards, is not my signature at all. it's says "see id :)" after checking my signed receipt she tore it in half and printed out a new one for me to sign. she motioned as if to say that they didn't match. i smiled because i knew what she wanted. i took the new receipt, and signed "see id :)" on the dotted line. she picked up the new receipt, compared the two again, smiled and handed me my bags. oh the joys of being a foreigner!
tomorrow's going to be a long day. i've got orientation and my first Thai survival class.
i don't know my address yet, but i'll post that as soon as i do.
later--
see id :)
Wednesday, January 7, 2009
my possible internship assignment was emailed to me today. it's still considered "possible" because we have to have an interview once we are in Thailand, but i checked out the website, and i'm pretty excited.
the organization is the Population and Community Development Association (PDA) in Thailand. it was founded in 1974, and is one of the most widely developed NGOs throughout the country. the focus began with family planning and contraceptive distribution, but has now expanded to provide assistance in many other areas including rural microcredit, disaster relief, and education.
the email said that the internship would be located in Bangkok as well as another province, so i'm looking forward to possibly being able to get some hands on experience as well as working in the central office.
so that's all the information i know. i'm not sure what i am going to be doing, or if PDA is even where i'll be working for sure. i'll definitely post more info once i find out. i'm not going to be starting my internship for another few weeks, but knowing a possible assignment gives me a little peace for now.
here's the website if you want to check it out for yourself:
http://www.pda.or.th/eng/index.asp
the organization is the Population and Community Development Association (PDA) in Thailand. it was founded in 1974, and is one of the most widely developed NGOs throughout the country. the focus began with family planning and contraceptive distribution, but has now expanded to provide assistance in many other areas including rural microcredit, disaster relief, and education.
the email said that the internship would be located in Bangkok as well as another province, so i'm looking forward to possibly being able to get some hands on experience as well as working in the central office.
so that's all the information i know. i'm not sure what i am going to be doing, or if PDA is even where i'll be working for sure. i'll definitely post more info once i find out. i'm not going to be starting my internship for another few weeks, but knowing a possible assignment gives me a little peace for now.
here's the website if you want to check it out for yourself:
http://www.pda.or.th/eng/index.asp
Monday, January 5, 2009
T-minus 5 days...
i started to pack tonight. i told myself i wasn't going to pack too much, but as i was picking out clothes my suitcase filled up pretty quickly. it's kind of difficult packing for a four month trip especially when i don't know what kind of internship i'm going to be doing. oh well...i think i'm going to do the old trick of packing everything i need, and then leaving half of it at home. i'm sure i don't really need everything i think i do, and i'm going to need room for everything else like shoes. and toiletries and stuff...
alright, enough packing for tonight. tomorrow is the start of a busy week, and i'm kicking it off with the dentist tomorrow morning! yay! new toothbrushes are awesome
alright, enough packing for tonight. tomorrow is the start of a busy week, and i'm kicking it off with the dentist tomorrow morning! yay! new toothbrushes are awesome
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