Third full day in Bangkok

I apologize for some of these posts being so disjointed. There are a lot of things to remember and write down and it doesn’t really come to me in order.

I got my first mega mosquito bite and started my period on the third day of my stay here and Thailand. I would like to point out what a relief it is to already have tampons and pads on hand. It’s far too early for me to negotiate the purchase of these kind of items. The reason I have such a large mosquito bite is because I didn’t spray before leaving the house. I didn’t spray before leaving the house because I got my spray taken away from me at the airport on the way here. Damn the FAA and their stupid fluid ounce regulations! I am prepared today, however. I went to a Thai pharmacy and bought repellent lotion. I also bought bug spray for the roaches who live in my house. Why are the geckos eating them!! Probably because the roaches are bigger than the geckos. Far too intimidating.

My first impressions of Bangkok? Noah was absolutely right, the city does smell like cooked hot dogs. I noticed this the moment I stepped off the plane. The people are extremely friendly. Even when I was getting through immigration. I didn’t know my address so the officer and I went back over the fact that I could be entering illegally. I did a lot of shrugging and slow talking--- I didn’t raise my voice; and he continued to point at the missing information on my immigration form. Finally I put down the name of the school I’d be teaching at, misspelled of course and after careful deliberation, he sent me through to get my baggage. I know for a fact that we wouldn’t do that in America.

I live in a fairly nice neighbor just a few blocks away from the school. I’ve gotten lost on the way there. Ploy, one of the Thai teachers that was assigned to be my babysitter, had to write me a map to be back to my home. Ploy is very helpful. She’s a lovely girl, 25 years old, who is the Thai equivalent to my library co-worker Holly Pantle, she’s extremely efficient, works on a tight schedule and excels with large amounts of responsibility.

My house is a rather spacious townhouse or a condo. I share it with a Thai teacher named Nam (water). She’s nice, doesn’t speak much English and I rarely see her. The only air-conditioned areas of the house are our bedrooms so the rest of place is unbearable to walk around. Getting the television on was really difficult, the school has paid for a digital satellite and I didn’t know how to operate it. Nam showed me with plenty of gestures. Now I can watch CNN and the Lifetime Network. That’s all I really need. I’m still trying to get the internet, that even harder. For the moment, I’m using the school’s LAN.

I’ve done a lot of shopping, mostly for home essentials. I went to the Thai equivalent of Wal-Mart, called the Tesco Lotus. It’s very large with escalators made for shopping carts and a food court. I saw KFC and Dunkin’ Donuts. I did some clothes shopping in the local markets, but it proved to be difficult as well. Although clothing is very cheap, it can also be very small. The women here are 1-2 feet shorter than I am and much skinnier. Everything I buy must be L or XL. I haven’t even bothered buying shoes because I’m taller that most men. I can’t imagine finding a size 11 with either sex.

Today, I start my first teaching assignment. It’s a substitute gig with about 10 students. It will last about twenty minutes and it should be fun, said Ploy. Okay. I think I will start off with some “Hi, how are you, my name is” exercises.