Bye America, Hi Thailand!

Hello everyone! As I’m writing this, our plane is cruising over the rural mountains of northern Japan. Originally, the flight plan was over the North Pole and Siberia, but turbulence forced us south over Alaska and Japan.

This detour added some time to our flight, so I spent the time (kind of) learning the full name for Bangkok and thought about Thai language. At the moment, I’m writing my posts in English then translating them to Thai, but by the end of the year, I’ve decided, my goal will be to write a post entirely in Thai, then translate that to English. How coherent the translation sounds will be a good bench mark of my ability.

Also, side note, Korean Air is such a cool airline. We got served four(!) meals, and for airplane food they were actually quite delicious. My favorite meal was octopus tentacle kimchi with rice and hot soup, which included a wet towel, real metal silverware, a drink, salad, and a desert. Wow! I imagine flying like this is what airlines in the US might have felt like 20 years ago. The flight attendants even wore scarves and everything.

But enough details about the flight, sitting in an airport is fun but not the most exciting part of my trip, or for that matter my summer. Since my last update in June, a lot of things have happened.

Best Thai II

From early June until late July, I didn’t have a reliable job. That was frustrating to me, as I was trying to save up money for the year ahead, and maybe get some hospitality experience too. But after two separate jobs fell through, I got desperate enough to apply to work at L.L. Bean. The interview went well, only to find out they only hired people who could work for at least six weeks. I had five and a half.

That same afternoon, I printed three copies of my resume at the library and walked into Best Thai II, the only Thai restaurant in downtown Bath. Two servers were sitting at a back table. Thirty minutes and a conversation later, I had a text from Job, the owner: “Can you start tonight?” he asked me.

Working at Best Thai II turned out to be one of the best decisions I made this summer.

• Mind, one of the servers, was fun and determined to teach me Thai. She quizzed me on the days of the week, the words for bubble tea, spoons, forks, and colors.
• Jira, the other server, spoke the best English. She had a practical streak. One afternoon, with one of those little electric fans, warned me. “It’s gonna be so hot,” she said. I feel like that summed up a lot of July too.

In the kitchen, I met three more people:

• Poly, the appetizer chef, who spoke solid English and helped me find my place with the job.
• Onn, the quieter cook, always respectful and kind, and did a lot of the stir-frying.
• Chef, the head cook, who made greetings into kind of a game, switching up what he asked to see if he could catch me off guard.

The food was also great—I could pick anything I wanted off of the menu and bring it home. Each day we would increase the amount of spice in the dish. After a week or two we worked our way up to eating a level five spiciness, the most spice they serve customers in the restaurant. The next day, I ate a six, then a few days later a seven. Just once, for fun, I ordered a pad thai with level ten spiciness, using the fresh chilies. They must have been a mild batch, because somehow I survived it, but hey, I guess that puts me slightly above the average American customer.

Part Two: Thailand

From this point on, I think there might be a lot more to cover than I expected. My initial plan was to finish writing this post after a few days in Thailand, but, without exaggeration, from the minute we touched down at Suvarnabhumi Airport, until the last day in August, I quite literally did not have the time to open my laptop, or even write anything at all for that matter. My family at home has been anxiously waiting for updates, so I apologize for the delay, but I think the entire program has been so much more then I expected. For that matter, I think nothing in the US could have prepared me for my experience in Thailand. It sounds somewhat dramatic to say, but I wasn’t ready. And I mean that in the absolute best way possible.

Bangkok

My brothers in Thailand, Ken and Kim are both students at Kasetsart University. As it turns out, my host parents had actually moved to Chiang Rai, one of the northernmost towns in Thailand, before I got there. It seems stunning; Chiang Rai is where Mae Yui has a rubber plantation, and it’s forested and mountainous. Chiang Rai is also a twelve hour drive from Bangkok, so right now I’m staying with Mae Yui’s friend, Mae Phet. Ken, Kim, and Rotary picked me up at the airport, then we drove an uber to Ken Kim’s condo near the university. Actually, I think this moment, getting in the car, was culture shock number one. Somehow, in all my reading about Thailand, I missed the fact that they drive on the right hand side of the road. I sat down in the back seat and started processing like that little spinning beach ball. Ken and Kim looked at me. By this point it was around 1:00 in the morning so maybe I really was just starting to lag a little bit but… Oh my goodness. That was a suprise !!

The next morning, I slept in until around 12:30 in the afternoon. And actually, I was the first one awake. Ken and Kim like to enjoy their rest on the weekends, I think. I took a quick shower. and we packed up for the day. Right outside the building for the condos, we walked through the parking garage and security guards, and out onto the street. Here, I note from an American perspective of having strict health codes and property laws, just how hard it is hard to imagine the sheer number of street vendors in Bangkok. We ate somme fried rice and then it was off, and perhaps this was culture shock number two.

From day one it was clear: Thai people love malls, maybe like I imagine Americans did in the 80s. And honestly, I have to say that personally, I don’t hate it. Let me explain. The malls in Thailand are stunningly gorgeous, often with six or more floors and elegant architecture and light everywhere. Day one, we stopped at Central Ladprao, one of the most famous malls in Bangkok. They have a whole floor dedicated to phones and technology. So, Ken went there and got a SIM card for my phone. Then it was back down to the restaurant on floor one, where we met Joseph, one of Ken’s friends from university. Joseph had worked in America for a few months, so he had pretty great English. Out on the parking garage, the roof of the mall, a Toyota Tacoma and some small SUV had parked Joseph’s sedan in. So the four of us took turns and we just rolled the two cars away from the parking spots. Did we know the people? No. But this is Thailand, apparently.

And if that example was alarming, before any parents or grandparents worry: getting around in Thailand really is quite safe. I mean, I should say this is, in some aspects, the public version of events, but all of the cars have seat belts, and as Rotary exchange students no one is riding motorcycles. In many ways, especially in Bangkok, it’s felt like a very safe place to start.

Things like this are also just kind of the feeling here. I think of the Thai people that I’ve met so far, (my host brothers, Joseph, everyone in Rotary) I think Thai people are really quite chill. On day three, we met up with another friend named Pooca, and just like everyone else, Thai people like to hang out, but it’s surprisingly relaxed. For example Ken, Pooca and I just went to the park and sat down on the side of the lake and talked for maybe an hour. When Joseph was there, we went to the condo and played pool. It’s chill. Sabai sabai, I suppose you could say.

Nakhonsawan

So, if you’ll remember from earlier, Mae Yui we does not live in Nakhonsawan. That leaves me to stay with Mae Phet as my first host family. Only problem: Mae Phet and my youngest host brother were down bad sick. So now I’m staying with Mae Por for a week, someone else from Rotary. Confused with all the names haha?

The night before we headed up to Nakhonsawan, Mae Yui and the family flew down from Chiang Rai to Bangkok. We met for lunch at a mall in Siam. The restaurant was modeled after a San Francisco pier; I ordered pho with fresh vegetables and shrimp, then mango for dessert. For context, the bill was just over fifty cents USD. As someone who’s had pho from back home, I’m certain it wasn’t this good. The food here is insane.

Next morning breakfast was at a 7/11 and I slept on the bus to Nakhonsawan. The ride was long, maybe three hours or more, and the bus made two stops to get gas and another stop to let people use the bathroom. Like I said earlier… sabai sabai. Pulling up at the house, I dropped my bags and we went to one of the smaller malls in Nakhonsawan for lunch. Mae Por has a son named Tonwan. He didn’t talk much to me but we played Othello and foosball together one night, and seems like a pretty nice kid.

As for the town itself, Nakhonsawan is really interesting. It’s not small, but it definitely feels distinctly rural compared to the days I spent in Bangkok. there’s a lot of people with older homes, and on the streets it seems like there’s several stories of businesses that stack up. You can really see the telephone wires too. There’s probably hundreds of wires onn each pole, they kind of wind down and going to the roads and up into businesses. It’s really funny. Through the center of town is the Chao Phraya River. It’s an interesting sight, but quite dirty, I think. I don’t know of anyone who swims in it. Speaking of water, you can’t drink anything from the taps here in Thailand. That was really a suprise. If I’m being honest, I’ve slipped up a few times, so fingers crossed I don’t die. It’s certainly a dramatic shift, drinking only bottled water, especially compared to the US where where there’s more of an environmental concern with it.

This first week in the Nakhonsawan was slightly more relaxed. I went to the market with Mae Por and we got fermented peanuts and some chicken for the dog. On Friday, we went to the school and met our classmates, teachers, and the director. we didn’t visit long but it was a nice introduction to what much of the next year is going to feel like.

Ayuttaya

While officially at the time of writing this I’ve just finished my first real week of school, I think I will leave my discussion of class and my friends in Nakhonsawan for a future post. To wrap up here though, it’s hard to miss Rotary orientation. Let’s imagine the backdrop. Ayutthaya is is the ancient capital of Thailand. Even in people’s backyards, you can see ancient temple ruins. Everything just feels lush and old. It’s a hard feeling to describe, but an astute one. For the first day of orientation, Rotary rented out a hotel and conference center. we spent the morning talking about the program Thai culture Then in the afternoon, we met with past exchange students and expats to talk about what it’s like living as a foreigner in Thailand.

The other exchange students left a distinct impression, for sure. I think the Rotary Council on youth exchange certiantly put things… delicately at times, if you know what I’m saying. We’ll see how things go this year, though. Everyone I met seemed dedicated and enamored with Thailand. I mean, how could you not be? It’s a cool group. Day two, we went out to actually see the ruins of Ayutthaya. I could describe in more detail, but I’ll let the pictures here do the speaking for themselves.

As always, I feel like I have a lot more to say. But looking back at what I’ve written so far, I think I will call it here for now. I think at the moment I keep coming back to the idea that I came up with in the beginning: This is not what I expected. And maybe, perhaps, the same goes for everyone here. One of my friends from school was surprised the first time I met him “I thought you would be like a gangster,” he told me. Is that really what we imagine American teens are like? Haha, I don’t know.

It’s still early, and I’m not close to ‘settled in,’ but these have already been some of the most exciting weeks I can remember. If the rest of the year is anything like this, I know I’ll have plenty more stories to share.

Until next time,

Declan

P.S. Actually, as it turns out, there were a few things I wanted to include but forgot to add to this post. So here they are, quick fire.

1. The rain here is really crazy. Like, it rains so hard. I thought I’d seen storms in the US But once the sky opens up in Thailand, there can literally be like half a foot of water on the ground, just in like puddles and things from how quickly it’s raining. It’s like standing under a hose at full blast, but everywhere, all at once.
2. My language has gotten me infinitely further than I expected it to. I’m by no means fluent, but I think I know enough words that I can understand prabably 80% of the time when people are talking. After introducing ourselves in front of the whole school, one of the teachers at school suppsedly grumbling about the exchange students this year. “Except for that American kid,” he said. “That was actually kind of impressive.”
3. As someone who follows phones and mobile technology, there’s so many cool things here. I’d say by far the most common phones are Vivo. Like they’re incredibly popular. Sometimes in America I get looks for having an unusual phone, but here no one has looked at all. Maybe 1 in 10 have the same as me.
4. And finally, I don’t think it’s actually that hot here at all. Most days we just spend a lot of the time going between different air conditioned buildings, which is how you manage it. but even outside I think, yeah, sure, this is hot. but ehh I don’t think it lives up to the hype. “Oh just you wait, this is only the rainy season,” one of my friends’ moms told me. Bring it on, I say.