It’s been a little under two weeks since I arrived in Bangkok, Thailand to live here and work as an English Teacher at Sarasas Ektra Bilingual School.
The weather has been surprisingly cool for Thailand summer-standards – generally in the 80’s to low 90’s and overcast. Generally April is the season for scorching hot temperatures and random monsoon-style rainstorms, but so far we’ve seen not much of either.
My workdays are short for the summer session. I get to campus around 7:30am and teach two different classes at various times throughout the day (different schedule daily). In between classes I work on my lesson plans and activities for the kids, and mingle with other teachers in the staff rooms. Workday’s over by 2:00pm, and the rest of the afternoon is mine to do with what I please!
I like to spend as much time as possible exploring the city in my free-time, but when I’m not catching taxis or the SkyTrain into town I meander through my own neighborhood, work out at the gym in the apartment, and relax in my apartment.
So far, I’ve spent several days checking out the various commercial areas and shopping districts in the city. I can take a taxi from my place to the BTS (Bangkok Transit Station) for only 50Baht (less than $2) and hop on the SkyTrain to avoid the traffic. The SkyTrain is cheap (20Baht each way) and fun to ride, so I take it often. The other day I took it to the Siam station, where the Paragon, the Explorium, and MBK, some of the largest shopping centers in Bangkok, are located.
These are shopping MECCAS honestly – at least 7 stories tall each and LOADED with everything from insanely high-tech technologies to massive department stores, a massive multi-ethnic food court, and more. In the Paragon there is an entire floors of Lamborghini, BMW and other car dealerships, and a bowling alley/IMAX movie theatre combo on the top floor, just to name a couple highlights. Pretty daunting.
Dozens of these bakeries are around the city, and in places like The Paragon. Sooo cheap and delicious.
There is also a huge aquarium attached to the Siam Centre, which I haven’t checked out yet, but really want to! There is a Gourmet Market, which specializes in “falang” (foreigner) foods, too – pretty much anything international food-wise can be bought (for a pretty penny) there.
MBK and the Central Rama III are two other MASSIVE shopping malls in the area. Wandering the various floors of each is a sensory overload, but pretty fun if you have the time (which I do) and the money (which I don’t) to explore and spend at your leisure. I happened to show up at Central amidst their annual Ice Cream Festival –score!—which meant the entire plaza on the ground floor was stuffed with Ice Cream vendors from all over Bangkok, selling every possible flavor of gelato (mango, toblerone, green tea, beer, etc!). I even got to watch a pretty amusing Thai-version of an ice-cream eating competition.
The language barrier can be frustrating here, especially because even if I took Thai language classes, I’d still be miles away from learning how to read or write it. Thankfully, the Thai people I have met have been gracious and patient, and though most don’t speak any English, they’re willing to laugh off any miscommunication and send you on your way with a smile.
Aside from the huge shopping areas, I’ve discovered some other cool local places to hang out. Two of the Filipinos on the Foreign Staff invited me to play badminton with them after work. Hungry for social interaction and some exercise, I gladly accepted the offer! They play for two hours every Tuesday and Thursday and they are CRAZY good. Sabas, who teaches the same grade I do, can stand in one place with his hand on his hip and still hit the shuttlecock so fast and so hard it makes your head spin! Needless to say, I got my ass kicked repeatedly for two hours, but at least by the end of it I was only losing by two points per game, rather than 9! It was a blast, and a good way to work off some steam after work – definitely something I’ll start joining in on regularly.
There is a driving range right next door to the school that’s got a cute little shaded set-up, and they sell ice-cold beer and a bucket of balls for 100Baht. They have two macaws in cages at the entrance that speak Thai and even say “hello teacher” when you walk up – how fantastic is that?!
I found a billiards hall down an alleyway that I probably won’t go into alone and a nice café that sells English and American-style breakfasts for cheap all-day long. There’s even a pizza joint right down the road that delivers pizza on motorbikes and makes a pretty mean Hawaiian!
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| My favorite place to relax after school -- the local Driving Range |
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| Dan and Thomas chatting over some brews |
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| This lovely bird is bilingual. Rad. |
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| Tasty pizza joint and their delivery bikes. |
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Overall my neighborhood is pretty bustling, and the people are friendly. Though I have to admit, I do get a bit lonely with so few “falangs” to keep me company. Majority of the staff my age are here with significant others, and don’t have much room for a third-wheel tagalong.
Today, especially, I was feeling just kind of bummed-out about not knowing people here. Though I know there will be a big influx of staff come next semester, it feels strange not to be able to call up some of my closest Semester at Sea travel buddies to go out and take on the town together. But just as I was starting to feel particularly sorry for myself, I spent an hour with my second group of students and couldn’t help but feel better. Even my rowdier, less-focused students are just so damn adorable and genuinely sweet!
They were eager and energized in class today (we were working on memorizing a poem they’ll be performing individually in front of the class), and many of them are determined to give me hugs and offer me some of their snacks after class. Hard not to feel happy when you’ve got the eternal optimism of 7 yr-olds around.
Next week is Songkran, which is celebrated all over Thailand by splashing water on Buddha figures, monks, elders-- and tourists --to honor the Thai New Year. It’s a weeklong celebration, so I have the entire week off of work next week! Pretty great, except for with no one to enjoy the festivities with, I’m a bit stumped.
However, I’ve been researching information on a tiny island south of here called Kho Samet. Kho Samet is only a 3 hour bus-ride and short ferry ride from Bangkok, and should only cost me about $25 in roundtrip transportation. From what I’ve heard and read, the island is small but beautiful and full of cheap places to stay, fun nightlife, and delicious beachside diners that serve fresh fish every day. Okay, okay, so I don’t have anyone to go WITH to this pretty little piece of paradise, but I’m thinking of just going by myself anyway. Spend just a couple nights away from the city, seeing what the island life has to offer for as cheap as possible – not a shabby idea, I think.
Here’s a link to some more info on the island I want to go to.
Anyway, I’m about to settle in and make some dinner (sautéed chicken and asparagus), so I’ll leave you with some photos I took around the neighborhood I live in. Just a short pictorial of the things I see on a daily basis. Hope you enjoy!
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| A walkway outside the massive Siam Paragon |
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| Dogs are pets here, not food. ;) |
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| View from the corner across from the wat near my apartment. |
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My local wat, or Buddhist temple
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| The cute coffee stand I stop by most mornings on my walk to school -- This woman makes amazing, fresh Iced Green Tea for only 25Baht. |
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Street-vendors are all over, cooking a variety of tasty things to snack on, like fried chicken.
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It's mango season -- Mango with sticky rice is a common dessert here, tastes like candy.
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| Tehehe |
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A spirit-house, a small Buddhist altar where people leave offerings to various spirits.
There are tons of these around my neighborhood. |
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| There is also this gorgeous Catholic church just a couple blocks from the wat. |
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...And a Cantonese Burial Ground. Some days, you can hear the
firecrackers going off at a Cantonese memorial (sending them off with
good luck and good blessings). This sound if then followed by the distinctive
smell of something burning... as it is tradition that all Cantonese are cremated
before they are buried. Quite the sensory experience. |
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| Corner of Soi 27 and Thanon Chan |
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| View from the top floor of my apartment. |
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| View from Building A of my apartment, looking onto Building B and the pool. |
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| This one's for mom -- Recognize the label? It's your favorite yogurt! |
With Love,
--S
After a couple hours exploring my beach and the surrounding areas, I settled in for lunch (chicken red curry with rice and a cocktail – delicious) with a pretty spectacular view. After lunch I made my way to Had Sai Kaew (Thai for Diamond Beach), the popular, rowdier beach of the island. More water fights, more painting of the face, etc., were found here, except nowhere to the Bangkok’s level of intensity. The island’s water is a precious commodity here, and any resident who wants to participate in the water festivities has to purchase a barrel to have imported onto the island. 
I relaxed a bit with a 100Baht pedicure and found a local bar playing great music to sit and sip some Chang and people-watch for a while. It was there I made friends with Craig, an older Englishman who was babysitting the pub for his friend while they were on holiday. His friend Jack came by and the three of us chatted for a while, trading travel stories from India (breathtaking) and opinions on the fate of England’s futbol team this year (heartbreaking). 7pm came around and I headed back to my side of the island in search for a fire dancing show.
My ferry left at 11:30 the next day. One iced coffee and THE best banana pancake of my life later, I was headed back to Ban Phe. Every seat was full for the trip back, which ended up taking close to 5 hours, instead of the expected 3. Mai pen rai though, I was in no rush and was feeling quite content from my little getaway. Not everyone, however, shared my sense of Thai contentment. A French couple, who sat in front of me on the bus, started to panic as we got closer and closer to our drop-off point on Khao San. 
