So it's only 3 pm here, and I've already accomplished quite a bit for my first full day in the city.
Among the most significant accomplishments:
- I found a place to stay for the month of my course! It's called KC Apartments, and it's basically a pretty nice hotel room for 12,000 baht/month (about $365). It's a fifteen minute walk from my course, and the people working there seem great. I checked out ten or so different buildings and it is definitely the best deal-- even staying at the hostel I'm at would be 25,000 baht/month, which is pretty ridic considering the room from my window (sorry, I'm kind of bitter)
- I mingled with the locals! Or, actually, I was approached by four rando's who were REALLY excited to speak english. One old man even took me to two of the buildings I visited looking for apartments, asking the people at the front desk for me. Another guy gave me advice on where I should look for teaching jobs, and one lady was really excited that I was from the states, as she had a T-Shirt that was from New Haven, Connecticut. So I guess none of that really counts as "mingling", but the bottom line is that the people here are incredibly friendly, and super-excited to meet "Westerners". Maybe I really will meet the Thai man of my dreams here ;)
- I sampled the local cuisine! Well... yeah, here's how it actually went down: after trekking for five hours in the 90-degree heat looking for apartments, I realized I was STARVING. I decided to be adventurous and try some of the street-side dishes that had looked so tantalizing during my walk yesterday.
Dish #1: noodles from a vendor that looked like my fave thai dish in the states. Ehhh...Not so much. They had a slimy consistency that was just awkward, and the taste reminded me a little bit of the smell of the dumpster down the block from my hostel. Not wanting to be rude, I walked three stalls down and threw them ever-so-discreetly in the trash.
Dish #2: Three stalls down by the trash can, I found the "meat on stick" dishes that had been looking interesting. Proud of myself for remembering the word for chicken (gai), I ordered up a stick. Also not a good idea. The balls were filled with rubbery pieces of fat, and the sauce I had piled on them excitedly had the tantalizing taste of sour milk. I had reached the end of the row of vendors and the last trash can and felt rude throwing the balls away in front of the lady who had cooked them, I decided to just walk away and find a trash can on the next block. Thus arises another great mystery: THERE ARE NO TRASH CANS IN BANGKOK. I literally made it the whole mile back to my hostel without finding one. Those balls were legitimately the bane of my existence for the last half hour.
Dish #3: Made it back to the hostel with dangerously low blood sugar and had a delicious plate of rice with chicken and green curry. Finally, success.
So that's been my day so far! Tomorrow is orientation for my CELTA course, so maybe I'll actually make some friends and won't write in this thing like five times a day. Love to everyone, and start making plans to visit!
-Charlotte
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It's time for Laderhosen! I'm here in Tucson with my parents, Collette, and your mother. (Gracie was ostracized to the Motel 6) We're enjoying reading your blog, and now I've bookmarked it so you have to keep up with it; otherwise I will stalk you with useless information and annoying forwards. We love you to the max and I'll send you a trash can.
ReplyDeleteewwww!!! thats the worst when you're hungry and can't get what you want. i think i've literally cried in situations like that before. congrats on finding your digs for the month, post pics! good luck with the orientation tomorrow pudding! also, i think i found you on skype, did i?? charlotte haigh 1 from los angeles? when can we do that?
ReplyDeleteYou know, If I was there with you, instead of throwing that stuff away you could've just given them to me, and I probably would've eaten them for you... I'm pretty sure I can handle anything If I can handle 7 hour old burrito in the "danger zone".. it really goes to prove all that health food stuff they trained us on means nothing... ohh balls... here's an update on the glamorous lifestyle at townhouse you've been missing... I worked Friday and Saturday night, Michael tried to do the booty shake at his tables to increase tip percentages, moments after some guy threw up enough to fill the entire walkway of the bathroom hall (this may or may not have been related to the dancing)... Friday the average walk out tip was 45 dollars...yes, Friday night... Saturday night was better not because we made money, but because there was no dancing. After telling Jared that I had a lab practical four times he still scheduled me so I traded a Monday day for a Friday and Saturday night because people that work there hate working there as much as Fat kids hate doing anything else other than eating.. The only other thing I can think of to tell you is that it's 4am here so you should be in training, but I've been thinking about you a lot. :-) hope you have a good first day, and I'm glad you found a place... oh ps... I know the street vendor thing was a failure but, some of them have this sugar stick thing.... it is AMAZING. they are red or dark brown in color and they look like little cherries that are glazed in sugar and they come on a stick... it's awesome... find one and try it. The fruit actually doesn't exist in the States. PS. Don't get AIDs.
ReplyDeleteKirby
I don't know if you've seen this youtube series about this girl in Beijing but she's basically mocking the Sex & the City tv show and finding love in China. Your comment on finding your Thai man reminded me of this clip...http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S3U5u3D2L9Q
ReplyDeleteLove the blog Char Char!! xo
miss you char char! keep up with the postings so i can vicariously live through you
ReplyDelete-matt