The flights to Thailand weren't too bad. I mean, I'm not a fan of 6 hour layovers, but it could have been worse. With the exception of our first leg (from SLC to LAX), we were flying completely at night. I guess the way the earth turned while we were in the air, kept us in the dark the whole time! Which was great - helped us sleep some. And when we didn't sleep, we watched a stream of endless movies - they had a seriously legitimate selection.
We flew into Bangkok at about 11:00 AM Tuesday morning and met up with our program (OEG) at the airport. And here is where I start my list of things that I've learned about living in Thailand.
1. Thailand is known to be the 'Land of Smiles.' And it's true!
I was talking with one of our fellow Thai teachers and she said that the reason Thais smile and laugh so much is that they don't know how to respond to foreigners (or "Farang"). They see us, weird Westerners and they get shy, so they just start to smile and giggle. Super funny when you think about it :) Even the airport security personnel at Customs and Immigration were smiling and chuckling when we told them we were coming as teachers... Not sure if that was a good sign or not.
Once OEG drove us to the orientation hotel, we turned right back around and got some vaccinations in downtown Bangkok.
2. Health care is SO CHEAP here!
Well I can't speak for other things, but the vaccinations were ridiculously cheaper than in the States. The American travel clinics wanted us to pay $600 (per person, per dose - 2 total) for Japanese Encephalitis. Oh, and insurance wouldn't cover any of it. And guess how much it was in Bangkok - $16! And only one dose! So that was awesome, however the ride home was not so much.
3. Bangkok traffic can be horrendous.
The ride to the travel clinic was about 20 minutes from our hotel... and it took us over 3 hours to get back. Not even kidding. And that was after it took us about 15-20 minutes to find a taxi that would even take us. They were either full, or would say that our hotel was too far away. But we were grateful to have some shelter in the taxi considering it started to downpour.
So this picture is from the internet, but this is pretty much what it's like during rush hour every day in Bangkok. In my opinion, the traffic patterns are a giant mess. There are a million of these forks where 3-4 lanes of traffic have to merge. We were stuck basically where that yellow cab is (in the middle of the picture) for at least a half an hour - wedged between all these lanes of traffic trying to merge, but really everyone was at a dead stop. I think there were some protests going on around our hotel as we were trying to get home; nothing violent, just another thing to contribute to the traffic chaos.
4. You don't tip here.
The taxi only charges using the meter, so naturally, we gave our driver a little tip (especially because of how long the drive was) and he absolutely lit up! I attempted to say "khawb khun kha" (thank you) and he busted up laughing. Haha, I hope that made up for the couple of hours he pretty much wasted. Anyways, apparently you don't tip in Thailand! At restaurants they already include the service charge, and everywhere else, you just don't do it. It makes things easy.
5. The Thais are so welcoming and endearing!
Our orientation in Bangkok was about a week long and mostly consisted of classes - some that taught the Thai language, and other that gave us tips on teaching English here. When we met up with our program, the Thai OEG staff conducted the traditional Thai Welcome Ceremony. I forget what it's called, but they wrap basically some string around your wrist and give you a blessing. It was so cool and everyone was so sweet :) I guess you are supposed to keep it around your wrist for the whole duration of your visit? But you don't have to - just if you want to keep the blessing, which we will. We can use all the help we can get!
6. There are like NO bugs! Thanks to you, Mr. Gecko.
Seriously. There were NO spiders, flies, even ants in any of our hotel rooms. Not ONE! (And here in our house in Saraburi, only one cockroach sighting). And it's all because of those amazing little lizards :) They are super common here - and we love them because they eat all the bugs and mosquitos! So as far as I'm concerned, Mr. Gecko will be our permanent roommate.
7. This country is literally dripping with humidity.
Multiple showers a day is a MUST. Like I said, we mostly stayed in the hotel during the first few days of orientation, but they did take us to The Grand Palace. And wow, was it beautiful! But mostly sweaty. Like a LOT of sweat. Every person was completely drenched, and we were only there for a couple hours in the morning! It is so humid, that when I leave our air-conditioned bedroom and enter the hallway of our house, my glasses fog up! Haha, that has never happened to me before.
Here are some pictures of us at the Grand Palace:
8. The Thai people LOVE their King.
People speak so highly and personally about the King and the Queen. Their pictures are everywhere and they are fervently worshipped. It's pretty crazy to find that kind of loyalty nowadays. Their King has been in service for like 65 years now, so for many people, this is the only King they've known! Thailand's Father's Day Holiday is actually on the King's birthday - and same with Mother's day for the Queen's birthday. It's interesting how reverent the Thai people are towards the royal family... it's cool.
9. Do NOT drink water from the tap.
Luckily, neither of us learned this the hard way. We were definitely forewarned. When Jonathan filled up the sink to shave, the water was brown. Ew, gross. Though you're ok to brush your teeth and wash your dishes in it. Just whatever you do, DON'T SWALLOW. Every Thai person only drinks bottled water. In fact, there is a joke that there's a water fountain somewhere in Bangkok that actually IS safe to drink, but its never been used. Better to be safe than sorry!
10. Rise and shine - get ready for some rice.
That's what Thais have for breakfast! The same food they eat all day... chicken, seafood, eggs, and rice. However we've caved and bought some cereal and milk. We've gotta start our American tummies off right in the mornings!
11. Phad Thai is NOT spicy.
Yup. It's not. A lot of other Thai food is really spicy (that's kind of what they are famous for), but not Phad Thai. Which is great because I can actually eat it!
12. Westerners have been mis-pronouncing "The Bridge over the River Kwai" for decades!
Let's set the record straight. It's NOT the River Kwai (like in 'high'), but the River Kwae (like in 'quack'). You learn something new everyday! So that's how its supposed to be pronounced. The cool thing is, that we actually got to visit it! Here are some pictures:
As you can tell, it's still a functioning railway. So when you hear the horn, all the tourists scurry away and then follow right behind it. It's funny because we were taking pictures of the train, while the people on the train were taking pictures of us!
After we visited the bridge, we were taken to this place called the Rafting Restaurant. We walked on and there were tables and chairs set up and we were like, cool! Eating dinner, floating on the River Kwae. But then a little tugboat came, strapped our raft to his and then he pulled us down the river! The sun was setting and it was gorgeous! Just look at these sweet pictures that Jonathan got. Oh, and side note, the raft then turned into a raving dance party - complete with colored strobe lights and a disco ball. Haha, only in Thailand.
13. 7-Eleven runs this country!
There are more 7-Elevens in town than there are bathrooms. Ok, maybe not (including the bathrooms in houses). But you can look down the street and see three 7-Elevens within walking distance. It's the bees knees here.
14. Fruit is considered dessert.
Don't get me wrong, I LOVE fruit! It's just funny that after every meal, they usually have 'dessert.' But it's fruit. So instead of thinking that I'm being healthy, I guess I am really just consuming treats all day.
And I saved the BEST for last....
15. Elephants have a great sense of humor.
On our last day of orientation, they took us to an elephant camp in the Kanchanaburi province (about 3 hours away from Bangkok). It was amazing! They brought out these baby elephants that put on a little show for us. There was a part where they asked for volunteers to receive an elephant massage. Some girls went up there and proceeded to get their 'backside' worked on, if you know what I mean haha. It was pretty funny. Since Jonathan has really wanted to get an elephant massage, I told him to volunteer! Well, I think you can guess what happened by the picture...
Got slapped in the family jewels by an elephant. I guess that's crossed off on his bucket list now. I just hope that we can still have children! Hahaha, poor guy. Had no idea it was coming. And neither did all the other guys who volunteered to go up later (that was fun to watch hah). But then things got a little better because then we got to feed and play with the baby elephants :)
And of course, finished up with taking a quiet stroll atop our very own mama elephant.
More to come about our new home in Saraburi.....
Natalie that was a fun read. Sounds like all is well with you guys. What a fun adventure!!!
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