gigantic post number 1

I guess I can take time away from watching my DVDs of Heroes, to finally type this and update you all on what life is like in Bangkok, eh? And yes, Heroes DVDs, I'll explain that in a bit.

As I write this, it's Wednesday night, 10pm. 10am Wednesday back home in Chicago and Ripon. And I won't post this until tomorrow morning, because I STILL have no internet at my apartment. They say it's coming. I still have hope.

At this time last week, I was attempting to finish packing. I ended up taking not a whole lot of stuff, clothes, etc. And I'm proud of that. Normally I pack entirely too much. And as it turns out, I packed a few things I should have left at home, and vice versa. Ah well. I was also freaking out, due to lack of visa, and the normal OMG I'm going to live in ASIA for four months.

I got up early Thursday morning, finished packing, hugged my dog a lot, and had my mom's pancakes. It was slightly surreal, but I'm really glad I wasn't rushed. My flight was at almost 1pm, so I had a bit of time. I flew out of O'Hare once at 8:30 am, in the midst of a snowstorm that had been going on for over two days by then. Not ideal. This was much better. Mom and I got to the airport at around 9:30, 10, checked my bags, walked up and down the section of the terminal where the airline counters were, and got me some lunch. Extremely expensive stuff from corner bakery, but good mozzarella. We had a lady take our picture. Then I hugged my mom, teared up a bit, and went through security. They made me take my shoes off to be x-rayed, and take all the electronics out of my stuff, but not bad. The only really expensive things I was bringing with me- this laptop, the ipod, and the camera- were all in my carry-ons. I waited in the terminal for maybe 20 minutes. I was amused because there was a group of people from Grand Circle Travel- they do trips and tours for older people. My grandparents went to Thailand a few years ago with them, and now here was another group going! I met a girl who was going back to Japan, where she was teaching English- she was around my age.

The flight to Tokyo was LONG. 12 hours. After waiting an hour on the plane, at the terminal, for them to fix something on the plane. And it was packed. The guy next to me was named Rex. No joke, Rexford something. He was going to Japan to swim for the United States in something- Professor Katz, who knows stuff about swimming, figures it was some competition as a sort of pre-season for the people going to the Olympics next year. He was very nice, but kinda on the 'duh' side. We flew up north into Canada, over to Alaska, and then down, hugging the land as we went. I can see the logic in sticking close to land, but you'd think it would be a lot shorter just going straight across the ocean? I was kinda surprised- we got 2.5 meals on the plane, so I ate A LOT. The travel agent said we only got one meal.

We landed in Tokyo around 4pm their time. First priority was some water, as I was feeling horribly dehydrated, and a toothbrush- my mouth felt like it had been a week since I'd brushed my teeth. I went in the little duty-free shop. And they had Pocky. I LOVE pocky. And it was SO good- it was a lot fresher and better tasting than the stuff I've had at home. I ate the box of pocky in about ten minutes while I emailed my parents, grandparents, and a good friend to let them know I was alive and well in Tokyo. I was very pleased that the airport had free wireless!! I also left a facebook message for my friend Hikari who lives in Japan, saying I was there and thinking of her!

The flight to Bangkok was SO MUCH BETTER. I had a window seat, and nobody next to me in the row at all. We got one meal and one movie, and the flight attendants were really nice. There was one guy flight attendant who was just bugging me, because I couldn't figure out who he reminded me of. And then I got it. Picture an Asian Adam Krueger. Mannerisms, everything. It was uncanny. :D We landed in Bangkok around 10:30pm on Friday night- 24 hours since I'd left my house, but 36 when changing time zones. I was very nervous going through passport control, but they let me in no problem- only with a 30-day pass that's not even a tourist visa. Made Khun Miki cringe on Monday. Though she and Martin both reassured me that it's not my fault, and they'd figure it out. I got my bags, changed my money, waltzed right through customs, and then was faced with finding a taxi. I took the probably horribly expensive and touristy trap way and got a taxi in the airport- but I was so tired that I didn't care. Now I'm like, you idiot, you probably overpaid! But it was a long distance, so ah well. I got to Eakthanee, the apartment building around midnight. I proceeded to sign my life away in the form of one month rent plus 2 month deposit- 45,000 baht plus fee for the credit card transaction, got my key, paid another 500 baht for the beeper key ring to get into the building, and got to my apartment. And then I couldn't fall asleep until 3am.

Aaaaand then I woke up the next morning, Saturday, at 6am. And couldn't fall back to sleep again. I decided to get dressed and wander, see if I could find the school. They said it was really close, so I was hoping to find it and someone to tell me when I, oh, needed to be at the school! Hooray for not much communication! So I picked a direction, and started walking. And after about 20 or so minutes, I realized that I picked the wrong direction, and turned around. Bought some water, got back to the intersection, picked another direction. Another wrong direction. And so on. I went back to Eakthanee, changed my shirt as I'd sweated through the one, and picked another direction. I later learned that this was the right one, but I didn't go far enough. I was so HOT and frustrated that I went back to my apartment, put on my bathing suit, and went to the little pool on the third floor. Figured that I wasn't getting anywhere, I might as well cool off. And 15 minutes later two people walked in, and then the guy asked me if I was a new teacher at the Regent's. And I met Jen and Andrew- THANK GOD. I hadn't spoken to anyone who spoke english since I had really gotten off the plane. They also gave me Martin's number, the head, who then invited me to a get-together at his condo that evening. I went, got some food- the first real food I'd had in Thailand- and I met everyone, new and old teachers alike. It was SO wonderful to talk to people and find out what was happening, etc. And everyone was really nice, and sympathetic to the fact that I was horribly jet-lagged- and I was about ready to keel over with exhaustion by that time as well!

Most everyone of the new teachers is British, save me and a couple others. One of the guys is from New Zealand, and Kraig and I are American. Though I don't really count Kraig as the same as me because his wife, Anne, is Thai, and he's lived here for 4 years before. He speaks better Thai than anyone else besides the Thai staff! He's the new head of music, and technically my boss, I suppose. He's knows American things, but he knows all the good places in Bangkok, etc. He's very witty and this may sound bad, but I'm glad he was as clueless as to how the music department here worked as I was! Anne's really nice as well- she's a scientist, about to get her doctorate. She works on cancer drugs or something, with one of the Thai royal princesses, who I guess is also a scientist. There are also three gap students, taking a year off before they go to university. Heike and Lea are from Germany, and Natalie is from the UK. They're being kind-of teacher's aides, and I'm becoming good friends with them.

Enough narrative- time for things about Thailand I've learned.

The traffic is insane. And I thought I knew horrible traffic, having driven in Chicago in the worst of conditions. I guess people in Bangkok spend a good 2 hours in traffic every day, at least- and this is normal. The trip to the school in a taxi isn't bad, but it's only a 20-minute walk, in a straight line. And there's no real traffic . . . laws, though that's not the word. Everyone drives like maniacs. Switching lanes, going over the center line, cutting in and cutting people off- there's no such thing as right-of-way, I think- you just go. I can't watch the road when I'm in a cab, because it feels like we're going to crash every ten seconds. But we don't. And there are motorbikes and mopeds and even bicycles and bicycle-carts weaving in and out of traffic, it's insane.

A way to partially explain it- Kraig told me there are no zoning laws in Thailand. So nothing of the city was really planned- it just kind of got built, and there are big roads and little roads with no plan or rhyme or reason to it all. Makes no sense. Also, you can have really strange neighborhoods. Like, my apartment building. On one side there's a derelict gas station, I think it is. Then on the other side there's a clothing factory, a restaurant, and then a big vacant field and marshland thing. You can have a million-dollar home next to a shantytown. Again, no planning whatsoever. Some places smell really good, but then you go past the vacant field and there's dumped rubbish, smelling of rotting melon. And the canal-things smell of sewage something horrid. But you get used to it.

I was kinda freaked out when I was wandering that first day to see a dog. Loose. And then another. I asked someone that night, and they said that there are street dogs all over Bangkok. They're perfectly tame, but they don't really come up to you like a dog in America would. They're sometimes adopted by people, but they live on the streets. I was told just to ignore them, pretty much, and they wouldn't hurt me. Some of them are really cute, and they make me miss my dog, Luke.

It's really really hot. I mean hot. And I think it's more the humidity than anything else. I've never ever sweated this much in my life, not even at home when I'm outside all day or something. If I'm walking home from the school, in 20 minutes I can sweat completely through my clothes. And then you get in the air con and it's a complete shift. And the sun is really strong as well. I got so sunburnt my first day here. They said it's so strong here and westerners are so totally unprepared. I've been very good about putting sunscreen on.

Interesting thing about Thai culture- unlike Americans, it's desired to be as pale as possible here. It's the old if you're brown, you've been working in the fields like a peasant. Like it was in the US years ago. Nowadays, it's popular to be tan in the US because it means you don't work, and you spend your days lazing on the beach in the sunshine. But it's a really big thing here- almost every face lotion is whitening this, white beauty that. There's a lotion thing called Melanin- Away, or something. Seriously! 8 million products to whiten your skin!

Things here are really cheap. The baht is about 33 to the dollar. The taxi to the school is about 40 baht or less in the morning. I bought some shoes today for 200 baht a pair.

And yes, I have Heroes on DVD. I checked this morning on Amazon- around 35, 40 bucks there, 56 retail- and it's not available in the US until next week. But I got the entire season for 600 baht- around $18 bucks. Jen bought Ratatouille last night. You can get anything here- and probably cheaper than in the US. Though I'm still searching for some plain oatmeal- Kraig says you can get it here, but I've yet to find it.

It's 11pm now, so I'm off to bed. I have a lot more to write, but it's bedtime . . .