First Days of School – Monday/Tuesday, August 22&23, 2011

Today was only my second day at school.  I honestly can’t believe it. I feel like I have been at school for at least a week and that I have been in Thailand for weeks, if not months (I learned how to say that in Thai today!). I haven’t even been in the country for a full week! WHAAAAAAAAA??

Anyways, yesterday I woke up at about 4:30 in the morning and couldn’t fall back asleep…AGAIN! I have major sleep problems here because my room doesn’t have AC or a fan and there are mosquitoes biting me throughout the night! AND there are tons of animals outside making ridiculously loud, obnoxious noises. Tonight I asked Paw for a fan so HOPEFULLY I’ll sleep through the night! I have a new appreciation for fans.

So, I get up for school at 6am, take a quick shower (Paw makes me shower twice a day…Thais shower at least 2x a day), put on my uniform, and go to the kitchen to help Meh make/set up breakfast. Yesterday we had our standard bowl of rice and a WHOLE fish, sushi, and vegetables. Breakfast here is a little overwhelming. So, Paw Peap and I eat breakfast and head off to ISDSI. When we get there, we had some orientation and then split into small groups for our 4 hour long Thai class. For the first week, we will be in these groups and the professors rotate by day. I am not sure what will happen next week but I know the groups switch up. We learn numbers and some phrases on Monday. OVERWHELMING! Then we had orientation, which was pretty standard…nothing too exciting. Finally, at 4pm it was time to go home. Me and about 7 others (THANKFULLY) walked to the superhighway to wave down a taxi/bus. We got home about an hour and a half later. My only issue with the long commute is the exhaust from all the vehicles and the resulting headache. But, we have a great group so it is a fun ride! Today (day 2), we had a study session on the taxi, which was really helpful!

Today was a little different than yesterday. Today, we had crossfit training. Crossfit is worldwide and very cool (look it up). We train at least twice a week but are allowed everyday which I will definitely take advantage of. Anyways, I wake up at 6am and follow the routine. We had finished breakfast at 7am (on my watch) so I asked Paw if we should go since we were just sitting there. He said, ‘no…we have 5 minit.’ I showed him my watch, which said 7am, and he says ‘ayyyyy, my time wrong’…so we get in the car. Since day one, everytime we drive anywhere, Paw says the license plate numbers out loud and makes me repeat them…for every car. Today, I actually understood! So I get to school. Thai class was even more overwhelming today. We started learning the alphabet. I can’t even begin to explain how complicated it is. It isn’t just “letters”…I am trying to think of a short way to explain it and I just cant. Maybe once I understand it better myself I will try again. We also learned even MORE phrases and words. This is why is feels like I have been taking the class for a week! We had more orientation and then crossfit training! I LOVE CROSSFIT! It’s really intense but definitely fun. Today, we didn’t get done until 5:30 and by the time I got home, it was about 7pm! My poor family waited for me for dinner…I felt so bad! But, this is going to become a routine I think.

Last night at dinner, I found out my uncle is a taxi/bus driver! Paw said that he could pick us up from ISDSI today (since we ended late) and take us directly home, instead of having to connect at the market. But he would charge us the regular amount and everyone had to be in for it to be worth it. It didn’t really work out because some people wanted to go to the market anyways and one’s parent picked him up. So, that was a little awkward for me because I had to call and tell Paw no thanks and have dinner with Lung (uncle) Tong tonight. Good thing he doesn’t speak English!

Tonight, after dinner, was really great. Nong Not (my sister) helped me with my Thai! She was sooooooo sweet!! She is also learning English now so we kind of helped each other. It was a great family moment. Nong Not, Paw, Meh, and I all sat on the floor talking and helping each other out!

Well it’s 11pm and I have to go to sleep! Gotta wake up bright and early…except maybe I wont have to shower because the running water isn’t working tonight.

Oh speaking of water…it is NOT that bad here! Everyone who told me it was so deadly was WRONG…haha. Technically it is chlorinated in Chiang Mai so we could drink it. Although the pipes are kind of gross so everyone drinks bottled water. But, the head of the program said that people drink it all the time and are fine! But, there are plenty of other weird health things that Mark told us about today in orientation…definitely an amusing/interesting/disturbing talk.