eateggs

on, no. just peachy. yeah, that’s right. just p-e-a-c-h-y.

i’m going to bed.

i hope i don’t have class in the morning.

God, blogging and email seems to take such a long time… Eesh. Oh well.

So… last night was pretty crazy. I went out with Mehran and Steven to see a Muay Thai match– Thai boxing. Boxing isn’t necessarily … “my thing,” but I’m here for the experience, and Muay Thai is a large part of Thai culture. Anyhow, being marked as tourists from the moment we stepped out of the cab, we were … escorted and talked into buying ring-side seats, which were pricey but probably worthwhile. The boxing itself is was just plain crazy (google it for some pictures–). It’s like American boxing, except the Thai fighters use their feet and knees as well. As a matter of fact, the feet and knees were probably used more than the gloved fists, although the knockouts were invariably from a well-placed punch. The fighters themselves were tiny– most of them were 18, and probably not more than 120lbs. It was also surprisingly good natured– one fighter using his technique against the other– and the fighters would often slap gloves or hug briefly after the matches. Although violent, I don’t think that anger ever entered the ring last night.

Needless to say, the boxing match was fabulous. There were actually seven matches of five rounds each, three minutes per round. Live musicians provided traditional Thai music that the boxers, more often than not, would move to– almost as though dancing.

Often, I’ve been the kid that’s been do drunk I’ve needed someone to look after me, but last night the tables turned a bit. Steven, a new acquaintance from Seattle, drank entirely too much before and during the match last night. Of course, he was hitting on everything with legs last night. Our waitress, Kung, got the worst of it– “will you go on a date with me?” “you’re beautiful…” “I love you…” and a lot of broken French that Kung, who barely spoke English, didn’t understand any better than the rest of us. As a pleasant bi-product (ha– no pun intended) of this, Mehran got to talk with Kung a little during and after the match.

I’m consistently surprised by the Thai’s generosity (not so much in terms of material goods, but with their time, friendship). To make a long story shorter, after the match we couldn’t find Steven, despite numerous cell phone calls (mostly consisting of “where are you?” “I don’t know!” “what can you see?” “I see a black car.” “Yeah. That helps. Can you see a bridge..?”). We were about to abandon Steven to his own devices, when he called my phone.

“You guys gotta help me, I’ve been arrested.”

Maybe I should preface this by telling you a little about Steven first. He’s bi, and about my height and build– a little taller and skinnier, with dark brown hair. He studied for a year in France, and is, from the little I know him, a pretty intelligent and cultured guy. Although admittedly a little dorky, he seems soft-spoken and well composed. With that in mind…

Beer makes people do strange things. Apparently, after the match, Steven had seen a bicycle on the street. It’s unclear whether the cops/area security were already chasing him at this point, but once he took the bike they after him like white after rice. It’s all a little fuzzy, but apparently he, while riding the bike, he saw a motorbike, which looked faster. He dropped the bike and jumped on the motorbike, and managed to ride it for nearly twenty feet before, having never driven a motorbike before, he crashed into the cement.

When we found him, thanks to Kung talking to one of Steven’s guards on my phone to find out where he was, he was being held by the security/police. Kung did some interpreting, and, laughingly, they gave Steven to us (who had been frantically using the ATM machine, trying to pull enough money from his bank account to bribe the security guys into not sending him to Thai prison…) and told us to make sure that he was better behaved in the future.

And that… was my adventure last night.

Yesterday was spent wandering through … more malls. I’ve ceased to be impressed, although the Paradise mall’s six-story, multi-tiered waterfall that cascaded into a pool at the bottom with six foot long catfish was pretty cool. I’ll probably go back and check out the water-park on the top of the mall before I leave.

Of more interest was an older mall that I found. It was obvious that, at one point, this mall had been as clean and prosperous as the other malls I’ve seen. At only five stories tall, it had a Ferris-wheel on top, but half its booths were empty, its fountain wasn’t running, and a large part of the mall was boarded off all together. I guess that it just serves as a good example of the seeming transient nature of Bangkok (and other big cities). The money moved to a newer part of the city, leaving behind dilapidated monuments to former affluence.

Here’re a few pictures:

This is the King Rama XIII bridge (well, you can’t see the bridge– I’ll get a picture of that later, perhaps), built in honor of the last king who reigned until 1947, Rama XIII. Taken from my apartment.

New Bangkok skyline, taken from the same place.

Josh at dinner last night:

A few blocks from our apartment, this restaurant, called Nite, is a do-it-yourself Mongolian grill, of sorts. When we were seated, an an oven (of sorts)– a pot with coals in the bottom and a cooking surface on top with a ring of water around the edge– was brought to our table (on the right). There was a large buffet table with various meats, vegetables and sauces that we filled our plates from, and then brought the food back to the table and cooked it (you can see some meat on top of the oven). It was, all at the same time, tasty, a(n?) unique experience, and a lot of fun.

Where to begin?

Today… well, wasn’t especially… productive.

As a matter of fact, my day’s accomplishments are two:

1) I managed to purchase sheets for my bed (whoo!) and 2) I was able to charge up my pre-pay cell phone for the next three and a half months (for the equivalent of ~$17).

I did make it down to the Pinklao Central Mall, which was probably about the size of the Mall of America (Bangkok has three of these, the other two of which are bigger, or so I’m told). Although it didn’t have a roller coaster inside, it was seven stories tall, and filled with clothing stores, cell phone vendors, tech stores, coffee shops on every floor (including a Starbucks– I’ve lost count of how many I’ve seen) and everything else that you find in an American mall. If you can imagine, it was just as clean, if not cleaner…

I don’t even want to think about how much time and money was spent in various busses, taxis and boats today… but it seems like that’s how most of the day was spent. Fortunately, I’m starting to get a little better acquainted with the area, so hopefully the time spent in mass-transportation will be greatly reduced in the future.

Tonight was spent with Gun, Sarah (probably misspelled, pronounced sah-raa), Takesh, Masako, and a few other of Gun’s friends. After dinner and hanging out at Gun’s apartment for a while (the squirt, squirt game strikes again! bwa ha ha!), we headed down to Siam Square, which is another affluent and well-developed part of Bangkok. Unfortunately, I was barred from the bar (yeah, pun intended… yeah, lame, I know… what-ev…) because I’m only nineteen (most of the exchange students I’ve met are 22 or 23– I’m the only sophomore exchange student… Ar. I’m really kicking myself for not bringing my fake… why I didn’t, I couldn’t tell you, other than the fact that Thailand doesn’t have a state-enforced drinking age, and I read that most foreigners aren’t carded… what-ev… But anyhow, the rest of the group stayed at the bar, and Josh and I headed off and met up with some other students who were in another part of Siam square.

Eventually we made it back to our apartment, where I met Elise and Linda– two of the French exchange students. Ha– all I can say is that they’re French, and … both wonderfully and terribly so. Of course, I can’t but agree with most of their snide and derogatory comments about Americans, and they provided me with a lot of good laughs over the hour or so we stood in the hall outside their doors.

Off of a tip from Heinrick (sp?!) and Lowry, two other students staying at my apartment (German and Finnish, respectively), Josh and I discovered the open roof on our apartment tonight. Although it’s only eight floors high, it’s fabulous– a huge, open area, with a 360 view of Bangkok’s skyline…

And oh, my goodness, was that an experience… so, I went out to go find some food and an internet card (because, apparently, someone caught on to the fact that I was stealing internet…). On my way back, I stopped off at a random street vendor, who gave me a cup of steaming soup for 20 baht. It was very tasty, but… there were large chunks of a dark, red meat in it, with a almost tofu-esque texture. In the dim light, I told myself that it was just some sort of soybean thing, like tofu. When I made it back to the Indra (my apartment), I couldn’t help but unequivocally identify what I was eating as… meat.

Of course, if I hadn’t been raised in a western country, I’m sure that I could have just enjoyed the rest of my soup, without a second thought. For the record, I did finish the rest of my soup… but not without a slight sick feeling in my stomach. =)

Speaking of experiences… Josh and I were walking by the Royal Palace around 2:00AM yesterday, and I noticed a Thai girl, presumably a hooker, making a b-line for me. What caught me off guard, however, was when I heard his voice– it was deeper than mine. Goodness.

I hate how limited my Thai is, and I can’t wait until I start taking the language class.

This post could be titled “jetlag is killing me.” Or “don’t these people ever sleep?” Or “god, this is NASTY!” Or “god, this is GOOD!” Or “wow… this is … interesting?” Or “Skype rocks.”

I guess I’ll attempt to placate the masses, and begin with a few photos (if/when I get broadband, I’ll start uploading hoards. In the mean time, this will have to do.).

This is a picture taken from the New World Lodge, where I stayed for the first two nights. It has rained off and on over the last few days, but apparently it has been unseasonably sunny.

This dog is taking a nap in a random phone booth. Stray dogs and cats are surprisingly common– some of which are friendly, some of which are skiddish, but all of which look like they’re well fed. Speaking of which, Josh (my roommate from Mansfield, Penn.) and I saw some NYC-sized rats tonight as we were walking through a poorer part of Bangkok. Not only were they huge, but they were surprisingly bold– making me wish for some good, thick shoes so I didn’t feel as though my toes were potential rat-food.

This is a picture from Thammasat. I’ll make a point of tracking down more to give you a better idea of what the campus looks like.

Approximately 31,000 students attend Thammasat, spread across four campuses. My campus is the oldest of the four, and is perhaps half the size of Montana State.

I will be wearing a uniform, consisting of a white dress shirt and black dress pants every day while on campus. On balance, Thailand is highly conservative– in dress, in mannerisms, in politics… Although not strictly “required,” the uniforms are encouraged, and many professors will not allow students to take their final exams if they are not dressed properly. Even off campus, shorts are considered only appropriate for beaches and for playing sports, which is going to kill me (assuming that I buckle down and conform). Similarly, one may be turned away from Wats (monasteries) and other tourist attractions like the Royal Palace if one isn’t dressed appropriately.

This is Josh and I moving in to our apartment. We’re on the 6th floor, have air conditioning, and a balcony. Although not much by American standards, it’s about twice the size (common room included) of what I was living in last year. Unlike the hotel we were staying at, however, this is not a tourist-y part of the city, which is nice in its own right. English is much less prevalent here, as are American brands, chains and companies. There seems to be an almost direct correlation between the number of 7-Elevens and the tourist attraction of an area– there was a 7-Eleven on every corner by the hotel I stayed at, whereas I don’t know where the nearest 7-Eleven is from my apartment.

This is looking out from my balcony. Immediately below is a private elementary school and soccer club. Unfortunately, things like open-space and green grass are not available to Bangkok’s public.

Many of the more poor areas don’t have streets– just small sidewalks like this one, winding in and out of decaying shacks. Little motorcycles are everywhere, and are driven anywhere that can be walked to.

Random vendor, stray dog.

Even the poorest of houses seem typically to have a miniature Wat with figurines inside, usually accompanied by flowers and incense.

Typical power-pole. And yet, so far, the electricity has been rather stable.

That’s all for photos, right now. Surprisingly, I haven’t taken many, but I’m in no hurry.

I bought a cellphone yesterday. It’s about the size of an iPod mini, and theoretically should only need to be charged once every week or two. God, America is SO far behind at the cell-phone game– Bangkok doesn’t have drinkable water, but their cell technology puts America to shame.

I still don’t have reliable access to the internet, but that seems forthcoming.

On a positive note, Skype seems to work just fine on my current dial-up connection, so I’ve been able to make a phone call or two. Now I just need to be awake at the same time of day as the rest of you…