We haven't done too much the last couple days. We have just been hanging out and seeing some of the city. But I will put some of apartment pictures up. There are no dryers in Bangkok so we have to hang dry our stuff. Also some thai girl called me fat today. I think that may be the first time someone has called me fat. I have lost 5 pounds since I've been here; it's not like I haven't gained alot of weight. The bathroom is all in one. You can literally do the 3 S's (shave, shower, and poop) all at once. It was kinda weird at first, but now I like it. Except everything gets wet when you have to go in there later. I also now know why Asians have been stereotyped as bad drivers. Here there are no such things as driving lanes. It's just an approximate line. People just drive wherever they want to, it's crazy....
We got offered another job today. An islamic school is going to pay us 6x what we would make at the other camp. We are going to work the camp for four days and then head to the south. I can't wait to be on the beach for a few days.
Thursday, February 26, 2009
Monday, February 23, 2009
Feb. 23 2009
Yesterday we got up and went to this big market. Alot of people selling alot of stuff. Then there was a second hand section. All kind of stuff like polos, shoes, and even jerseys on sale. I found 2 Titans Jerseys, Lendale and Griffin. I was really surprised. Wherever you go there are alot of street performers. At this market we found a bluegrass group, dressed in western clothes and everything, but they weren't very popular. I tried to get people to line dance and hoe down with me but no one would. They had another street performer that was a little kid playing soccer. He was probably 11 years old. He was just juggling; I didn't see the ball bounce once. He was doing all kinds of things. Balancing it on his head, then on his neck and do pushups. Then he balance on his head on top of a water bottle. It was all pretty amazing. Everyone is doing whatever they can to make man. We went back and went to play basketball with some of the locals. We went to this "park". It was under the train tracks and had a couple of basketball courts, a footsal court, and Takrow courts. Takrow is an awesome game to watch. It's volleyball with your feet and takes incredible skill. The basketball goals were a few inches short so it was easy to dunk. The thais thought it was cool cause none of them can do it. The people were all very friendly and offered me water even though they didn't have alot of money to buy it for themselves. Even without being able to speak, it is fun to communicate with them.....
Today we went to another interview. This one is for enlgish camps. It is like a normal camp in the states except here you will teach enlgish an hour each day. They are three day long camps throughout thailand. You go with the kids to a hotel or national park and run a camp. It sounds like fun. We only make 900 bot (around $25) a day but all food and housing is paid for. We start in a week. We will work alot of these in March and then take a trip to the islands on the south and on to Malaysia and Singapore.....
There are no trashcans here. It's crazy cause there's not a big trash problem but there are no trashcans. We walk around forever and there is only one before you go into the trainstation. If I eat or drink something I have to carry around the wrapper or bottle for a long time. Also the city has smells that change from block to block. Every few steps I take I will smell something incredible, like fruit or fried chicken, or terrible like the smells in the airport. I have also hit my head on so many things. I have to duck everywhere I go. I see people stare at me all the time. I walked around by myself some and people stare more when I am alone. It's cool to expierence what a minority expierences. Some people love and are intrigued by you and others are scared of you. And I know some people were wondering about ladyboys. I have seen many. Some are very obvious and some look somewhat pretty until you get close enough or hear them talk. I try to stay from them though. I'm starting to get to the town and be comfortable with walking around furthur and furthur from my apartment.
Today we went to another interview. This one is for enlgish camps. It is like a normal camp in the states except here you will teach enlgish an hour each day. They are three day long camps throughout thailand. You go with the kids to a hotel or national park and run a camp. It sounds like fun. We only make 900 bot (around $25) a day but all food and housing is paid for. We start in a week. We will work alot of these in March and then take a trip to the islands on the south and on to Malaysia and Singapore.....
There are no trashcans here. It's crazy cause there's not a big trash problem but there are no trashcans. We walk around forever and there is only one before you go into the trainstation. If I eat or drink something I have to carry around the wrapper or bottle for a long time. Also the city has smells that change from block to block. Every few steps I take I will smell something incredible, like fruit or fried chicken, or terrible like the smells in the airport. I have also hit my head on so many things. I have to duck everywhere I go. I see people stare at me all the time. I walked around by myself some and people stare more when I am alone. It's cool to expierence what a minority expierences. Some people love and are intrigued by you and others are scared of you. And I know some people were wondering about ladyboys. I have seen many. Some are very obvious and some look somewhat pretty until you get close enough or hear them talk. I try to stay from them though. I'm starting to get to the town and be comfortable with walking around furthur and furthur from my apartment.
Saturday, February 21, 2009
Feb. 21 2009
The flight was awful. I basically traveled for 48 hours. I am so tired. I did watch movies and play video games on my personal tv but it was terrible, so much worse than driving to california. Japan and Taiwan's airport smelled terrible. I'm just glad it's over....
We got picked up at the airport at 2 a.m. local time and went back to Shaun's apartment. We dropped off our stuff and went to eat some food of the street. I think it was wanton soup; it was ok but i really didn't like it. There were tons of people on the street selling food and all kinds of stuff. People were selling frog legs, locusts, and fried scorpion. It's kinda like mexico but it has a vibe where you feel safe. I think you have to be here to know how it feels.....
We then went to check out some of Bangkok. We road the skytrain. Bangkok is really wierd. There is tons and tons of shopping, mall after mall, but not many people by stuff. You feel like your in America. There are all the shops we have plus like market type vendors where you can negotiate prices. We went and played video games for like an hour for a couple of dollars. Then I hate at Mcdonalds and it's just as good as back home. Then we went to get a thai massage, 1 hour for $6. It was my first massage. Some stuff was cool and some hurt bad. They stretched me out though and were making fun of us cause we were to tight....
We went to the interview and it's in a very shady place. But the guy was really nice and had alot of good information. He basically offered us our pick of 3 teaching jobs. I will make $1000 a month with housing paid for. I will only need around 600 a month to live here comfortably. I can also make money tutoring and working english camps on weekends. When we came back from the interview we got an apartment for 3 months. It cost $500 for all 3 months split between me and Joey. We then went and saw a movie. It is just like an american movie theater except it was $6 for a movie ticket and popcorn and drink. At the beginning of the movie there king had a video and everyone stood when it was showed til the end which was about 3 minutes. Then we just came back and arranged our room which is like a college dorm room. 2 beds, bathroom and a couple of dressers. It's small but all we need...
Today we went and played some basketball at the outdoor courts with a bunch of americans and then all went to subway. It was very hot and i got sunburnt. We then went to Khao San Road. It was a cool expierence. People from all over the world all in one area eating, drinking, shopping and hanging out together And alot of thais offering us alot of "shows and services". We came back late and ordered Mcdonald's 24 hour delivery, absoultley amazing...
Bangkok is such a cool city. The people here like americans and like to try out there english. They are also very non confrontational. Everything is so relaxed, but they are very unorganized. There is tons of public transportation and people everywhere at all times of the day. There are no sidewalks really so there are all kinds of taxis and bikes coming all the time that you have to watch for. Everyone is on the grind. Not alot of beggers, but alot of people living in poor housing and selling anything they can on the street. Very safe, police are everywhere and not much crime or drugs. It's so hard to explain the vibe here but it's awesome. It's very sureal cause I don't comprehend that I'm in Asia. Being a minority and having people always stare is different, but kind of fun. So far it's an incredible experience.
We got picked up at the airport at 2 a.m. local time and went back to Shaun's apartment. We dropped off our stuff and went to eat some food of the street. I think it was wanton soup; it was ok but i really didn't like it. There were tons of people on the street selling food and all kinds of stuff. People were selling frog legs, locusts, and fried scorpion. It's kinda like mexico but it has a vibe where you feel safe. I think you have to be here to know how it feels.....
We then went to check out some of Bangkok. We road the skytrain. Bangkok is really wierd. There is tons and tons of shopping, mall after mall, but not many people by stuff. You feel like your in America. There are all the shops we have plus like market type vendors where you can negotiate prices. We went and played video games for like an hour for a couple of dollars. Then I hate at Mcdonalds and it's just as good as back home. Then we went to get a thai massage, 1 hour for $6. It was my first massage. Some stuff was cool and some hurt bad. They stretched me out though and were making fun of us cause we were to tight....
We went to the interview and it's in a very shady place. But the guy was really nice and had alot of good information. He basically offered us our pick of 3 teaching jobs. I will make $1000 a month with housing paid for. I will only need around 600 a month to live here comfortably. I can also make money tutoring and working english camps on weekends. When we came back from the interview we got an apartment for 3 months. It cost $500 for all 3 months split between me and Joey. We then went and saw a movie. It is just like an american movie theater except it was $6 for a movie ticket and popcorn and drink. At the beginning of the movie there king had a video and everyone stood when it was showed til the end which was about 3 minutes. Then we just came back and arranged our room which is like a college dorm room. 2 beds, bathroom and a couple of dressers. It's small but all we need...
Today we went and played some basketball at the outdoor courts with a bunch of americans and then all went to subway. It was very hot and i got sunburnt. We then went to Khao San Road. It was a cool expierence. People from all over the world all in one area eating, drinking, shopping and hanging out together And alot of thais offering us alot of "shows and services". We came back late and ordered Mcdonald's 24 hour delivery, absoultley amazing...
Bangkok is such a cool city. The people here like americans and like to try out there english. They are also very non confrontational. Everything is so relaxed, but they are very unorganized. There is tons of public transportation and people everywhere at all times of the day. There are no sidewalks really so there are all kinds of taxis and bikes coming all the time that you have to watch for. Everyone is on the grind. Not alot of beggers, but alot of people living in poor housing and selling anything they can on the street. Very safe, police are everywhere and not much crime or drugs. It's so hard to explain the vibe here but it's awesome. It's very sureal cause I don't comprehend that I'm in Asia. Being a minority and having people always stare is different, but kind of fun. So far it's an incredible experience.
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