Welcome to Bangkok

After agonizing over whether or not I should create a blog (they can be pretentious, are work to keep up, and are overall pretty unsexy), I decided it would be a great way to stay connected with my friends and family while I spend the next year here in amazing Thailand! I have now been in Bangkok for 9 days, and I feel like I have already seen and experienced so much. I still haven’t decided which is more overwhelming: the intense humidity or the overpowering smells. However, one thing is certain. The people here are the kindest, most welcoming people I have met, and their smiles are infectious. As we learned in orientation, Thais smile when they are happy, sad, angry, apologizing, or if they don’t know the answer to something. It is absolutely wonderful. One of the most important mindsets I'm working on adopting is that you can’t compare your experience living in a foreign country as “better” or “worse,” it is only different. When I move to my rural rice-farming village in a few weeks, (which is sure to be very different, even from Bangkok!) I will go by "Kruu Emmy" (Teacher Emmy), because Emmy is easier for my students to pronounce than Emily. 

Due to the fact that I’ve already taken lots of pictures, I think that I’m going to dedicate this first post to photos I’ve taken from my first week in Thailand. I hope that you enjoy them! 

 Goodbye dinner the night before I left with Mom, Ellen, Ari, and Sarah! The best last night I could have asked for.

 O'Hare Airport. Ironic that, out of every possible destination, AA ticket envelopes have pictures of Thailand on them?! Pretty cool.

Dragon fruit at an open-air market. Yum!

Seaweed-flavored Lays

One of Thailand's many strays 

Dance show outside of MBK mall. The shortest skirts I've seen in almost a week!

Eating pomegranate, papaya, and pineapple from an open-air market with Megan, Kelly, Gracie, and Jane

Young monks at Chatuchak market, supposedly the largest outdoor market in the world. Monks often go barefoot because this way they are closer to the ground (spirits), and they are very humble.

Some fluffy puppies at Chatuchak

View of the SkyTrain rail and busy streets in bustling Bangkok

Kempinski Hotel, Bangkok. The way the other half lives in Bangkok! (Met my friend visiting from college, Sam, here for a drink)

First day of Fulbright ETA Orientation. This is where I spend my weekdays

USA and Thailand

My dorm room at Chulalongkorn University, where I am an "International Student"(!)

A fairly common sight in Bangkok: Trees wrapped with ribbon, Buddhas, and flowers from people hoping that it will bring them luck in winning the lottery.

Sign on the SkyTrain: "Please Offer Your Seat to Monks." Dorothy, I don't think we're in Kansas anymore

Jane and I went to get our Japanese Encephalitis and Rabies vaccines at a private hospital in Bangkok. With its leather chairs, complementary drinks, and pianist playing in the lobby, going to a private hospital was an experience in itself!

Andrea, Gina, Ari, and me. 2010 Ubon Fulbrighters in the middle, with their 2011 successors 

Now this is what a throne should look like. National Museum, Bangkok.

Getting ready to enter the National Museum's Buddhist temple, and dressed for the part!

Inside a Buddhist temple. Shoes must be taken off at the entrance, and you must sit on the floor in front of Buddha to show respect. This picture does not come close to showing how MAGNIFICENT the inside of a temple is...

Gorgeous golden doors at the entrance of the temple

A royal elephant saddle, or "howdah"

Pond people that I thought were sweet and so very Thai

The royal chariot. Sorry Will and Kate, this trumps your wedding carriage!

Some of the poorest people in Bangkok live along the river. Still, notice that they have potted plants on their window sills. No matter where you live, everyone wants to create the same thing: a home.

Is it a crocodile? A giant water-snake? No, this is "water monitor" 

Gracie, me, Jane, and Kelly aboard the long-tailed boat we rented. The Grand Palace is in the background. Life jackets anyone?

Famed Khao San Road

Tuk Tuk! Seatbelts anyone?

Spirit House outside of Jim Thompson's house. Spirit houses are created anytime there is new construction to appease the spirits in the ground who have been disturbed. Food, drink, and flowers are common offerings.

It's not everyday that Ronald McDonald will "wai" you! Wai-ing shows respect and gratitude. It is one of my favorite pieces of Thai culture.