Sounds, sight, smells, and taste; a play on senses.

A word worth noting: A foreigner here is a "farang", and this is a term that my ears have become attuned to picking out in conversations around me. Especially when I'm attempting to buy something or order food. My missteps in this area of daily life are often the source of giggles and out and out laughter. I am starting to learn my numbers, which I'm told is sort of the key to the way the whole language works. I've also discovered that in order to pronounce anything in this language properly, one must give up the notion that you sound ridiculous, because you will. The language is completely tonal and while the English language is much akin to playing a piano--the correct hammers at the correct strings in the proper chord--the Thai language is much closer to a slide trombone--it doesn't really matter how hard you blow so long as you sustain the note and bend it in the right place. I have a long way to go.

The weather is threatening again, but as before it seems to be backing off just when it seemed like it was getting set to rain for a month straight. We're supposed to go to the beach this weekend, so we'll see if this weather holds. Though, for me personally, a good thunderstorm at the beach isn't such an awful thing.

I've now had two classes with each section of english that I'm teaching, and I feel confident enough to say that things are going well and that these kids might actually learn a thing or two from me in the next couple of months. I was amazed at how many of their nicknames I was able to retain after just a single meeting. There are several students in each class that I have discovered to be the ones bright enough and willing enough to really help me out when I get stuck on something. These often tend to be the ringleaders/troublemakers in each class, but the saying "Keep your friends close but your enemies closer." seems to apply well to the classroom politics. In some cases i have already gone so far as to re-nickname a few students. One in particular, whose nickname is Nut (which is pronounced Nat) is so often cracking jokes and laughing to herself that I have just taken to calling her Smiley in class, which I'm fairly sure she doesn't understand, but it has not diminished her grin in the slightest. Another student in a different class, whose nickname is Tor (but you have to roll the R) has the only mildly annoying habit of asking me the most random questions ("Do you like hip hop music and can you dance for us?") at the most random times. I have re-nicknamed him Q, but he remains undeterred and continues to ask questions that have nothing to do with English.
There is one depressing note, and it's something I have not yet figured out how to handle. In my third class I have a utterly withdrawn girl who also happens to be almost completely blind. I have not yet figured out how to communicate with her on any useful level, as she basically refuses to talk to me or her fellow students, and is incapable of reading the board, the book, and as far as I can tell, cannot easily write. I am going to do my best to accommodate her, but I get the impression from her classmates that she is usually left to herself in the corner of the classroom regardless of the subject or teacher.
All in all, things continue to go well, and though I still have a great deal of grading to catch up on this weekend, I am looking forward to the beach. Last night I went to a local supermarket, or as my companions have coined it, "WalmAsia" I got some of the things I've been lacking, including a cell phone, which I was able to get with a warranty and some minutes prepaid for roughly $40. I discovered that there is no such thing as Dr. Pepper in this country, nor even any comparable knock-off, which makes my heart sink a little. They do, however, sell good beer everywhere, which after living in Maryland for four years, is a happy surprise!
As a final note, I find myself becoming rapidly addicted to street food of all kinds, and am not too surprised to report that the taste of a vendors products is usually indirectly proportional to the smell. Following my nose to the foulest smelling treats has made me immensely happy. In fact, I think I smell something awful I need to eat right now.

First Day of Class

I just finished my first day of classes, and I have to say that they went better than even I had hoped. The kids are absolutely great, though their immaturity, at least by American standards, is worse than I had imagined. I'm teaching freshman in college but they often act like 6th or 7th graders. I spent most of today learning names, and by names, I mean nicknames. The Thai first names are too long and tonal for a foreigner to easily pronounce correctly, and the differences between two names is often very subtle, with only a few tonal differences. As a result, every single Thai has a nickname by which their friends and family identify them. these nicknames are more often than not monosyllabic and very simple to remember, so I spent the first 10-20 minutes of each class asking each one of them their nickname and writing it down next to their true first name on my roster. I think I have already begun to memorize some of their names, but tomorrow will be a real test of my memory. I also got my hands on the work that still needed to be graded for these classes, so I have a good deal of mid-term exams to grade relatively quickly.
The weather here continues to be gorgeous, and while it threatens to storm every evening, as it is doing now, it seems unwilling to actually commit to a real rainstorm. Apparently it has been an unusually long time between storms, as this is the monsoon season, so this is a bit of a dryspell apparently.
The food here so far has been nothing short of excellent, most of it falling under the category of street food, which is by far one of my favorite things in the world. Variations on Fried Rice and Fried Noodles dominate the restaurant menus, and grilled meat and vegetables, usually on sticks, are available on most corners. Fresh fruit is also everywhere, including more than a few fruits I've never even seen before. For breakfast today I got a sweetbread roll, something that looked a lot like a bearclaw in form, that was stuffed with curried pork. Not the kind of breakfast I'm used to, but not bad at all! Tonight I will attempt to get a cellphone and a few other items that I need. Apparently haggling is not a lost art here, so I will have to put on my game face.

Touchdown

I've landed safely in Bangkok, and with the exception of a minor confusion at customs over where I would be living during my stay in Thailand, succseessfully navigated my way out of the airport and into the hands of a friend who knows the way to Assumption University. It was late when I arrived, but I still saw a number of the other Loyola College alumni teachers who are here. At this point though, I was practically falling asleep standing up.
My first impression of Bangkok from the back seat of a cab, is that it reminds me a good deal of parts of Mexico in terms of layout, types of buildings and establishments, and the fact that everything here, right on down to the traffic signs is in two languages, Thai and English. I had not expected this, and I think I am taking a little confidence from it. I had expected to be utterly and completely lost when it came to reading signs and navigating, not being able to read a lick of Thai.
Today I will get into my room and spend some time sitting in on some friends' classes. I will also meet the head of the English dept. here, my new boss, and hopefully get some more information about my class schedule and my transportation to and from my classes. There are still a lot of little logistical things that I don't know nearly enough about. I imagine the learning curve for me will be particularly steep. The weather since I landed has been pleasant, and this morning it is overcast and breezy, so the humidity is not bad at all.
Thus far, my favorite discovery has been the nature of the electrical wiring of the bathrooms here. The bathrooms are of the most efficient kind, combining toilet, sink, and shower into one small closet. This, to my mind, makes plenty of sense, considering the amount of time Americans (or the persons of dubious legal status they've hired) spend cleaning the bathroom. Here, it's just a matter of turning on the shower and keeping the drain in the floor from clogging. But what I don't understand is the electrical outlet built into the wall at chest height, directly opposite the shower head. Seeing this, I couldn't help but ask out loud, to no one at all, "At what point did this look like a good idea!?" I imagine this will amuse me, as the angry cat did, much more than it ought to.

Layover II

So I had thought that the thirteen hour flight from JFK to Tokyo was going to be a new expression of my own personal hell, but to be perfectly honest, I've had far worse aviation experiences on far shorter flights. Even though I slept only two hours I managed to go the whole flight without ever becoming unbearably board or trying to claw my way out. The flight wasn't full, so I had an entire row of three seats to myself. Apparently the Japanese have NOT abandoned Tom Cruise as a worthy celebrity, because of my eight movie options, three were Tom Cruise flicks, including the utterly senseless Cocktail. All in all though, I got through the nasty leg of the trip without sleeping, losing my mind, or drinking heavily. No small feat. When we finally got over Japan, my first look out the window resulted in the following thought: "It wouldn't even have to be a very tall wave." I was not prepared for how flat Japan appears to be. No wonder they've spent so much money on Tsunami warnings; it isn't going to take much. One gets the impression from the air that the entire country is floating on the water by virtue of surface tension; like a giant green oil slick.
I have to unabashedly admit that the Tokyo airport (Ok, there are three Tokyo airports, I am connecting at Narita, which I believe to be the newest of the three, located in Tokyo's northwest suburbs) is exactly as I imagined it would be: immaculate, high tech, extremely well lit, and in every way vastly superior to our American versions. One thing I had imagined which is almost conspicuously lacking is any of the cartoon figurines and advertisements that Japanese culture has become somewhat famous for. This airport is sans-Pokemon and there's not even a hint of Anime in any of the many advertisements here. Perhaps I've been caught red-handed in a generalization here, but the decor, the shops, even a lot of the food in this particular terminal anyway, is decidedly European in appearance.
My flight to Bangkok is a little under seven hours long and appears to be on another jumbo 747. If I'm doing my math correctly, I've been awake for eighteen hours now, and I have at least another eight or nine ahead of me. I imagine I will get more sleep on the flight to Bangkok.

Layover I

The flight from Logan to JFK was uninteresting. I slept through take off and most of the flight, so maybe something interesting did happen, and I just managed to sleep through it. I woke up during final descent and got an aerial view of the very wealthy beach communities just north of JFK. Someday I want a house built on stilts in a marsh where the only people who can get to you also own 100,000 dollar boats. I think that would be an excellent way of life. A bit difficult to get packages, perhaps, but I don't imagine they get too many Jehovah's Witnesses snorkeling up to their doorstep. As we waited to deplane, I idly watched the baggage handlers remove two crates with live animals from the cargo hold, and was immensely amused when a cat's paw reached out through the grating to scratch the unfortunate guy peering in to get a look at it. The victim dropped the crate and yelled while his baggage buddies laughed hysterically. Though I couldn't hear from the cabin, I imagine they then had a brief conversation about the degenerative effects of a jet engine on a cat, and how such a tragic accident might well be explained to the vicious animal's owner. It probably made me happier than it should have, but then, I haven't slept much lately.

Prologue

I've started this blog for a couple of reasons, the first of which is to keep those who might be interested (all three of you) informed on my antics and experiences in Bangkok. I also hope to have some record of my time abroad that I can consult later in life, when I write my largely self-aggrandizing memoirs. Practically speaking, a blog might hopefully keep my honest and keep me writing, if there's at least some false-impression that someone else is reading and waiting anxiously for the next installment.

The nature of my departure from the states and the events that have led me here are not really the subject of this blog--and to be fair, are more complicated and would require more analytical writing than this blog's intended tone could support--so let me cop out completely by saying that my departure was hurried and unexpected, but my desire to go was greater and overcame the inherent awkwardness and slowness of the governments and institutions involved. And that's all I have to say about that. For now.

To make a very long story short, I find myself at Logan International Airport in Boston at six am with two hours and fifty minutes to kill before my flight for JFK departs. ("Remember, Ryan, get there AT LEAST three hours before your flight leaves!") Normally at this hour I would have no trouble whatsoever passing out in an uncomfortable airport chair, but thanks to my recent travel hours and in no small part to the good folks at Dunkin' Donuts, I couldn't sleep right now if I wanted to. Besides, I managed to sit in the chair most directly in line with the sun rising through the tarmac window.


My hope is that this initial post will chronicle the roughly thirty-six hours of travel ahead of me. From here I hop south to New York, where I will sit in a likely equally uncomfortable chair for two hours before getting on a flight for Tokyo. I have two and a half hours to kill there, though I will likely find myself wandering around the terminal soaking in all the japanese I can't read, looking for sushi I can pay for in dollars, and resisting the urge to hum Mr. Roboto under my breath. From there, I catch a flight to Bangkok International Airport, the BKK. Where I will land, get off the plane, and stand there until someone I know finds me. Normally I would have more confidence in my ability to do more (like find my baggage) but given the language barrier and my projected exhaustion at that point, it is likely safer for me and the Kingdom of Thailand if I not attempt to do too much unsupervised initially.