Thailand

             Aside from the pressure to graduate as efficiently as possible many people do not study abroad because the idea of abandoning our daily routines makes a lot of us uncomfortable. When I was packing I had no idea what to bring because I had no idea of what to prepare for. This compounded by the very limited space in my backpack made the packing process stressfully critical. I love the feeling of putting everything you need for a few months into a backpack, makes me feel like a self-sufficient little hermit crab that’s out to see the world. It’s empowering and humbling at the same time because when I backpack I feel simultaneously free to go anywhere and small in comparison to the world I live in. But not everyone experiences this kind of energy from restricting their possessions to what they can carry and not everyone is excited by the mystery of traveling to a place where they don’t know anything or anybody. Here’s how my mystery is unfolded.       

     I wake up around 7 AM when the birds that live in the lily pad covered canal bordering the golf course at Muang Ake announce that the sun is shining. I put on my running shoes and head out to the water station to fill up my water bottle. I meet the guys at the track and we run a route around campus before traffic gets heavy. If I don’t feel like running I’ll do yoga on my rooftop. Then I shower in the water room and put on my uniform. Students in Thailand are proud to wear a uniform because looking clean and professional is a top priority and the uniform distinguishes students. The girls here have found ways of spicing up the uniform, but we all have black skirts and white button up shirts. I thought that the uniform would make me feel oppressed but it makes getting ready for school a lot easier and I have plenty of ways of expressing myself regardless of wardrobe.            

 For breakfast I stop by a street vendor for a yogurt and some fruit. Then I have classes taught in English. Unlike classes at MTU these classes last for 3 hours and meet only once a week. This format does not work for my language class but everyday is like a language class anyways. For my other classes 3 hours is not so bad because for the first 2 and a half I am able to get thoroughly absorbed in the material. By the last half hour I’m usually ready to change the subject. One thing that is tricky about classes, or any event, is knowing when to arrive. If the instructor is Thai don’t bother getting there until a half hour past when class is scheduled to start. If the instructor is originally from the U.S. I get there five minutes early.    

After school I might play Frisbee, use internet, swim, paint, or do homework for a while. When I’m ready for a meal I just go out to the street and wander around until I see someone I recognize and then sit down with them and order. The entire street is full of vendors and people from the international college are always around so finding a dinner date is pretty easy. After dinner a few of my friends and I usually go to the tea stand and exchange new Thai vocab words and phrases. Depending on the night, after tea we might go into Bangkok for some recreation, or up to my roof to jam, or maybe we stay in and watch a movie. Sometimes we stay at the tea stand all night and wait for the omelet guy. After a couple weeks here I’ve gotten to know a few of the vendors and I feel a twinge of loyalty to the friendly ones and I’m developing an idea of which stands serve the best version of my favorite foods. At 10 PM the omelet guy sets up his cart on the corner next to the tea stand. This guy makes the best Thai style omelet on the street. You pick out the vegetables you want in the egg and then he scrambles, deep fries it, and serves it over rice. The ice cream stands are fun too. An ice cream sandwich here is three scoops of ice cream in a hot dog bun with sprinkles on top. The sundaes are even funnier because you can get breadcrumbs, cereal, gummy bears, and Jell-O on your ice cream—and people love it! Besides the funky foods and slightly altered version of the living accommodations that I had, life here is not drastically different. I have a new set of friends (of course I miss the old ones) and a new set of social norms, but I’m still going about my life in the same fashion. I feel small, free, empowered, and humbled everyday and I’ve been reminded that even on the other side of the world the sky is still blue and there are still people that will do their best to help you even if you don’t share any formal language.

The weekends are a whole other story! There are still hospitable people everywhere but on the weekend life in Thailand is a far cry from life in Michigan. First of all, it’s hot and sunny here while in the mitten state my poor buddies are bundled up tight. Bangkok is so much bigger than Houghton I’m not sure I even comprehend the size of this city. When my professors ask me if I’ve been into Bangkok yet I actually have a hard time saying how many times I’ve been or where in the city I went because I can’t tell when Bangkok begins and ends. It’s just so big and unfamiliar. In Houghton and Buena Vista, the two places I spend the most of my time, there are really obvious natural landscape features (like mountain ranges or lakes) that indicate cardinal directions, in Bangkok there’s just neon and crumbling concrete, and taxis, and new buildings being built, and statues, and parks, and canals, and temples, and then more neon, more concrete, more taxis, more temples and it just never ends. My mental map is taking shape but I’m sure it needs edits that I’m not yet aware of. My first weekend here I went to the weekend market and got lost in the maze of hidden treasures. Second weekend I went to an island for a full moon party. This past weekend I explored a few temples around Bangkok and went on a tour of Ayudthaya. My favorite temple has been the temple with the reclining Buddha. It is important to always point your feet away from people especially an important person like Buddha. In a temple everyone sits like a mermaid with his or her legs to one side. It’s not very comfortable because it tilts your hips and crunches one side of your spine. I much prefer to sit cross-legged but women have to wear skirts in temples and sitting cross-legged in a skirt would take some strategy, better just to follow the lead of the locals. I learned how to properly show your respect to Buddha by bowing your head to the ground three times, lighting incense, adding oil to the lamps, and sounding the gong. Looking up at an 80 foot Buddha is a…. well it’s like….your just going to have to try it. 

Ayudthaya is the ancient capitol of Thailand and it’s name means “Venice of the orient” in reference to the canals. The ruins of Ayudthaya remind me of Monkey City from the Jungle Book, but there are no monkeys. Just the beautiful remains of a glorious city. Thais are proud of their country and rightfully so. It is naturally beautiful, boasting beaches and mountains, as well as historically unique. Thailand is the only country in Asia that was never colonized by a European country and Thailand has remained politically neutral. Thais have a Buddhist motto when it comes to politics, they believe it is best to be like the bamboo plants and bend with the wind until the wind is finished, then go back to standing straight. This is how they adapt to unfavorable political situations with peaceful integrity.

 Empowered, free, small, humble, hospitable, helpful and funky.

 Peaceful integrity.

Much respect.