One month overseas: Some thoughts.

Lo and behold! I have survived a full calendar month in Thailand, as of today (assuming I don't get taken out by a motorbike on the way to class, which is a very real and constant possibility here.)

As I walked to the gym yesterday, I had thoughts scurrying about the old cranium from the day prior. I am very predisposed to not dwelling on events, not getting wrapped up in silliness, and generally keeping cool under a wide range of stressful, foreign and/or complicated circumstances. I have been accused of being a robot in the past, for my lack of emotional response, to put it in that perspective. And it's not to say that I was necessarily dwelling on the day before; I was just having a realization that I had really unrealistic expectations about this place when I was leaving the USA.

It turns out, I was completely naive, and not just about Thailand, but about anything outside my home country really. I had not considered that I might be making some comfort concessions, giving up some "luxuries" to which I am accustomed (potable tap water anyone and private laundry services, anyone?) and that I could, just possibly, have a less-than-100% positive experience here. Turns out, those things are all very real.

I had, in my thoughts on my walk to the gym, the disappointing realization that, the day before, in this country where "the people are so friendly," I had experienced no less than four completely negative interactions with a variety of people. Be they randoms I passed on the street, classmates or even the student with whom I was supposed to be working on a group project that devolved into a shitstorm in about ten minutes, I just had a shitty day when it came down to the people I had to deal with.  As it turns out, people are just people wherever you go, and no matter how many times others try to tell you "oh they are just so nice!" you are going to deal with real people who have real problems and real lives, that might not want to give you the time of day, or they might be sick of your poor attempts to speak their language, or your work ethic that you think isn't very good actually scares them because you work too hard in their eyes. Or, locals might peg you as some idiot tourist (happens once an hour) and then they laugh about you as you walk past, and while you can't understand them, you know they are talking about you. (An aside to that thought, is that it is sort of comical, because I am keenly aware of the power of my inability to understand at that moment. They can say anything on earth, and you just keep walking with a smile.)

So anyway, I just had a dose of reality bouncing around in my mind on my way to move some iron. I considered how stupid it was to have come here expecting nothing but AMAZING ALL THE TIME. Well, even Disneyworld will get boring to a 6 year old eventually. Duh, I am in a developing country where I witness, first hand, all the same stuff that happens back home; pollution, poverty, politics and people just trying to make it another day.

Still, I am generally having a great time. Yes, the food is wonderful, but I miss my gigantic, savory-flavored American portions. I see pictures of the mountains and rivers of Idaho and would just rather be home fishing right then and there. Homesick? Nah. But damn, I would kill for a rare tri-tip and a sixer of a good IPA.

 - Nick

Random photo dump Sunday 4

 Aint no amateur gum, son.

I like where this is going.

Just a little food entry (AKA I FOUND BEEF SALAD)

There are a few things on this Earth for which my palette screams. One is a great cup of coffee. One is a high grade IPA. And one amalgamation of many perfectly balanced, simple flavors, just so happens to be served at a street restaurant just a block from my apartment...

I would prefer to go on living, but I suppose I could die happy if I had little other choice.

A glance around the apartment.

LAUNDRY!

Yeah, I now wash my clothes in a bucket in my bathroom and hang them to dry on the roof when it's sunny.  No, you can't compete with that. I also use the butt sprayer that comes standard-issue with every Thai toilet to do some filling of the bucket, and a little rinsing of the soapy clothes (among other things har har har.)

This is high class livin', son.

So here's a little video from the roof, where it was deceptively blinding outside, and then a shot of a ridiculous downpour from my window. Ah, the fun times indeed.

Oh and, now I know, it's the BAIYOKE tower. No T involved.

Checkin' out Chatuchak

I had really nothing to do today, after successfully procuring a bucket in which to do my own laundry. So, I scrubbed down a bucket of clothes, hung them out on the roof balcony, and hoofed it to the Victory Monument BTS terminal to catch a ride to Chatuchak park, where one can find the Chatuchak weekend market.

If ever you need to kill a day, or more, this is one great way to do it. Food, drinks, and 35 acres of vendor stalls selling everything from horrid touristy trinkets, to really cool authentic Thai trinkets and jewelry, to stuff made from entire alligators, high end furniture, shoes, and tons more.

Random photo dump Sunday 3

LOL Mongolian BBQ

I have been to two of these places now. Many more trips are in my future. About $5 USD well spent.

SCHOOL: Teetering on a dream-come-true.

For architectural design studio, the big 6 credit class which will be the main focus of my semester, Chulalongkorn runs an interesting selection system. We were presented, as a whole class of 75 students, 6 different sections within the studio, each run by different teams of professors. We all then filled out ballots with our top 4 of 6 choices, in order of preference 1 through 4, had those dumped into an algorithm that finds the studio selection which appeases some 98% of the class with their top 2 choices.

Blah blah blah...I got my top choice is what matters. I will be working with a team to develop a community center for a small township within Bangkok, of about 1,000 people. This project is to be heavily technical, aimed at being as focused on passive systems, employing climatic and site-specific conditions to reduce energy expenditures such as cooling, ventilation, water use, electricity use etc etc...AKA it's right up my alley. And to top it off: WE HAVE A REAL BUDGET. This project is going to be built.

In addition, I have been encouraged to endeavor on a semester of independent study, and I hope to develop some acoustic control strategies and material combinations that will not only serve the studio project, but carry over into my business back in the United States.

STOKED. To put it lightly.

First Thai holiday: Fried crab curry and female face punching.

Met up with a classmate of mine, Gabriel, from Singapore, the only other inbound exchange student in the program, the night before classes started. We ate this exact dish:
http://blogs.wsj.com/searealtime/2013/07/05/food-fridays-in-bangkok-fried-curry-crabs-that-dont-disappoint/
It was so good, I was sort of laughing while eating it, in a state of disbelief.

Then took a tuk-tuk to the Grand Palace, where festivities of all manner were happening. Street music, mingling, ceremonies etc etc. As we meandered in and out of traffic and people, we finally found a place to grab up two spots and spend about half an hour - ring side at a muay thai bout!

The intro show:

                                       

Notice the sparks from the swords. CLANG!

One full round of the women's title fight. France vs Thailand. France (in blue) came out victorious.

The fight was delayed right before the first bell, when a downpour opened up on the event. It rained the rest of the evening, including some especially hard bursts of a few minutes duration, as we tried hailing a taxi, that sent Gabriel and I for shelter in a small park underneath an umbrella we had to fold out. We ended up riding back in a tuk-tuk, rain and all, I finished off my journey from his place to mine alone, landed in bed and awoke to my alarm hours later for the first day of class..

Walkabout

Walked to the Big C, a supermarket somewhat akin to Walmart, with a whole level of groceries and a whole level of household stuff. Bought a coffee maker, THE essential of life. Come along for the ride.

Random photo dump Sunday 2

Mmmmm...Africa

The Chao Phraya river at Wat Yannawa.

I traveled through the city a fair amount yesterday after dropping an unprecedented 130 baht on a day pass for the transit system called the BTS Skytrain. Think of a subway, only it goes over everything. Pretty cool way to see the surroundings.

I made the Chao Phraya one of my destinations, just to see how big it really is and because water is cool. Pretty big! It's no Columbia River like us Northwesterners know, but it's not exactly dainty.

 - Nick

Bangkok Youth Centre (Thai-Japan)

So, I have access to the Chulalongkorn gym on campus, which seems pretty decent. But, I couldn't pass up the deal they give at this major sports complex down the street. Now, Fitness 19 and even the deplorable Planet Fitness back in the states have one thing going: They are cheap. Though, for the $10 a month for PF, you might as well fill a $2 burlap sack with $8 of rocks, because you'll have a better chance of getting a good workout in with that setup. Anyhow, I win the cheap gym contest, and I get a power rack.

40 baht per year.

40 baht. Per year. 

30 baht = $1.

40 baht/12 months = 3.333 baht per month

$1/30 = $0.0333 or 3 1/3 cents per baht.

$0.0333 (3.333 baht per month) = $0.111, or 

ELEVEN CENTS PER MONTH

Yeah buddy. Also, the milk here is kinda icky, but the chocolate milk destroys, so I am currently crushing a huge bowl of corn flakes in chocolate milk before I go move some weight. Nummers.

Quickie

I like quickies.

So, here's a quickie. I threw on the GoPro at 3 different spots near my apartment today, while out on the prowl for a freakin' hair/beard trimmer and a towel, which I successfully obtained, thank you very much. I'll get a better one/series of these soon enough. All I can say is, the more you care to dig in here, the more there is to see/eat/do/etc. etc.

TOO FAR NO TAKE

7:30pm, my alarm goes off. I had packed up everything in my guest house an hour prior, and was ready to move to my own apartment in central Bangkok. A short nap cleared up the extra few minutes I had until 8pm, when I was to meet the landlord, hand over a pile of Thai baht and get my keys. And so, off I went, every one of my worldly possessions in two backpacks, strapped to my back and front, including some expensive electronics I need for school and about 25,000 baht in cash. In short, I had a lot to lose if something went wrong on my cross-city trek, in a place where I can hardly communicate and can easily get lost. So, of course....

...after standing at a busy corner on Nakohn Chaisi for about 20 minutes, sweat beginning to build up, the uncharacteristic lack of taxis finally gave way to an available cabby that pulled over for me.

“Where you go?”

“Ratchaprarop, Si Ayutthaya.”

“No, too far. No take.”

And away went the taxi. Well then...

The next three taxis, all about five to seven minutes apart, did the exact same thing, while I continued to stand there with 60lbs of stuff on my body, worth way too much money, in freaking Bangkok, sweating like a guy in a track suit on a stationary bike, inside a sauna, drinking hot coffee.

Finally I said screw it and decided that, even though I was currently the size of two people, I would grab the 14 bus that heads straight to Victory Monument and trucks on through to my exact intersection. What other option did I really have?

That plan started to smell sour pretty quickly as well. Once at the bus stop, I noticed two conspicuous 14 buses, parked at the stop across the street, dark and vacant. Shift change? Out of service? It was only 8:25 or so by this time, so I couldn't fathom a busy route being shut down for the night. Ah ha! A 14 bus approaches on the right side of the street. And. Then. It. Parks. It's empty, the lights go out and the driver exits, locking the door.

WTF

By this time I was absolutely dripping with sweat. I had opted to set down my travel pack and just wear my backpack, keeping a hawk eye on my stuff, even though it was the size of an average Thai woman and sat right at my foot on the sidewalk. I had started having thoughts like “if anyone even looks at me sideways I am swinging” and “I could get my knife out.” I'm not one to stress out. Anyone who knows me in person would attest to that, but it truly seemed like a city-wide conspiracy to block my attempt to move, and to grab my valuables. An edge of paranoia was creeping in for sure.

Thankfully, a running 14 bus arrived at the stop perhaps five minutes later. I scooped up my bag and flew from the curb to the entry steps of the bus, tossing my cargo in an empty space on the floor near the exit, out of the way and secure. I plopped down in the seat next to my stuff and instantly felt eyes on me like I was an idiot, and this was not a cargo ship, but the change jockey took my money and gave me my ride ticket. I looked like I had stuck my head under a shower and let my shirt absorb the aftermath. At least I was done carrying my stuff to my destination.

When the bus pulled into the Victory Monument stop, several kilometers down the road, my glowing sense of victory to accompany the monument got slapped in the face, as I and everyone on the bus was excused from their seat. Last stop of the night? Whatever it was, I was again screwed, not to mention encumbered by a heavy load of expensive stuff. I knew my way from the monument by this point, having walked the area several times over the preceding days, getting squared away with school and how to get around and all that. So, after my brutal rejections from taxi drivers, and my sudden ejection from my temporary savior, the 14 bus, I was a little angry, to make an understatement. It was at that moment that I decided I was walking the last 3k or whatever it was. I guess something like 2 miles, through stupid-busy downtown BKK streets full of gawkers, shoppers, and pedestrians who have an uncanny ability to stay in your way no matter the evasive maneuvers you attempt.

There was a steady stream of profanity coursing through my head, pretty frequently making its way into the air, though the odds of it being understood were low. A certain movie scene comes to mind...

I managed to trudge through the BS and the people, and got some clear sidewalk in front of me, finally. I hit the gas, hit my stride and cleared some ground in a hurry just to reach my destination. At last, I arrived, was invited inside, got a set of keys, traded a huge sum of cash (locally huge anyway, in my American reality it was about $600), took a shower with my sweat-soaked shorts on and went to bed in my own private room, several thousand miles from home.

And I still have a week of free time before class starts.

Oh and, this awaited me in the apartment, printed all over the sheets. Granted, there are no stars to be seen at night in such an electrified metropolis, but that's missing the point.