Weekend Update

On Thursday some of our friends from AIT invited us to a barbeque they were putting on. None of us really knew what to expect but I couldn’t have been more impressed. The food was amazing! There was pork that had been marinated with something that tasted like it had a lot of black pepper and citrus and also these big fish that were pretty much cooked whole. There was also a sauce made from lemon juice, cilantro, and a ton of spices that was incredible. To drink there was beer and whiskey, which as far as I can tell are the only drinks of choice in Thailand, ha ha. And I mean like, good whiskey too. Everyone here drinks Johnny Walker Black Label with club soda. After everyone had a few of those, I started picking up some pretty interesting Thai phrases, to say the least.

On Friday I was pretty beat from all the craziness so I went to bed really early to prepare for the coming weekend. The combination of adjusting to being in a new country and sitting through six hours of lectures everyday really took its toll. On a typical day, I have a class from 10am to 12pm, then a break for lunch, followed by another class from 1:30 to 3:30, another short break, and then Thai class from 4 to 6. That’s way more class than I’ve ever had at MSU, for sure. The classroom they stuck us in doesn’t have any windows and it gets pretty stuffy too, so I start to go a little crazy by the end of the day. This is pretty much how the next two weeks will go until I start my internship.

Saturday we had a field trip to the Grand Palace in downtown Bangkok. It was the most ornate set of buildings I’ve ever seen. Everything is covered in colored glass and gold leaf, with the most intricate and minute details covering every surface. There was this huge golden stupa (a kind of shrine) that supposedly contained some ashes from Buddha himself. Another temple had this small Buddha statue that was carved completely out of jade, called the Emerald Buddha. It’s one of the holiest shrines in Thailand. They even dress the Buddha in a different outfit according to what season it is. He had the equivalent of a Thai winter coat, made of gold of course, while we were there. After that I went to the Bangkok Museum, which is housed in a former palace, with Lauren, Kaitlyn, and At (one of our Thai friends). It gave an overview of Thai history and had lots of artifacts associated with the kings of Thailand. It’s very strange how it mostly centered on the Thai monarchs, even though Thailand has officially been a constitutional monarchy since 1932. There was hardly any mention of the political disturbances that have plagued Thailand for the past seventy-five years. It was all very odd.

After the museum, we met up with everyone else and At took us to his house for to have food and drinks. He even invited his neighbor, who is a music teacher, to bring some of his students over so we could here some traditional Thai music. After we had had some whiskey we decided it was time for some karaoke, which At actually had a specific room for in his house. They really love their karaoke here, ha ha. It was a really fun time. I can’t mention enough how hospitable and friendly our Thai friends are to us.

In the morning we went to Chatuchak Market, which is the biggest one I’ve been to yet. It sold everything, from clothes and souvenirs to live animals and produce. It was so big and crowded that it was almost oppressive. I pretty much just wanted to get out of there. We made it back to AIT early enough for a swim (the university has a really nice outdoor pool) which felt amazing after trekking around in the Bangkok heat all day. It was quite an eventful weekend overall. Hopefully I’ll be able to top it next weekend. Some of us want to spend the weekend in Bangkok and hit up Khao San Road, which is a huge hangout for backpackers from all over the world. It’s like a crazy outdoor party there every day after the sun goes down.

I feel like I’ve just started to scratch the surface of this place. Every day is more interesting and weird than the last.