Wandering Footsteps: Wandering the World One Step at a Time » A travel journal following a family on their overland trip around the world.

My first few days – this is a long one!

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The streets of Narita. Quaint, n’est ce pas?
My hotel room in Tokyo.
One of the many classes I went to visit while at Bamrung. All the students were so nice – kind of obsessed with me actually…

Well I am in Thailand and I’m not sure what to think! I haven’t yet seen enough to be able to form even a first opinion of the place, but I can’t help but compare it to Senegal (since, as third world nations, they do share some similarities) and it kind of makes me miss Africa. Perhaps I just feel that way because they are similar but this is so much more unknown so I lack even that basic comfort that I slowly developed over those 4 months in Dakar.
Anyway, no need to feel sorry for. I’m perfectly well. Allow me to recount my trip so far. Tuesday morning I woke up at 3am and was at the airport by 5am. Flew to Chicago then to Tokyo. The 13 hour flight to Tokyo was, in one word, brutal. Way too long! The first 5 hours were pleasant because I was lucky enough not only to have an aisle seat but also to have no one sitting in the middle seat beside me. That allowed me a little more room to stretch out. But, almost halfway through the flight a man asked if he could sit in the window seat. His son wanted to sleep so he had given up his seat. Lucky me, my comfort got to be sacrificed for that of his son’s. Despite the fact that he promised to make himself “small” he took up an awful lot of space – he spread his legs out and took up the entire armrest, jabbing his elbow into my side several times. But at the same time, he was a nice man and I had an interesting conversation with him. He is from Quebec (so we spoke French) but has made his home in Bali for the last 15 years. He has done this flight countless times and it turned out that he was staying in the same hotel that I was going to be staying in that night in Tokyo. So, once in the airport, he guided me to the shuttle I needed to take to get to the hotel. I guess he wasn’t good for nothing after all!
Speaking of the hotel, I love Japan Airlines (and my travel agent)! I got to stay in the hotel for free and I was so happy the entire time. There was a comfortable bed, hot running water, and a Western toilet (some conveniences I may not always have over the next few months!). Also, I got to have a free buffet breakfast the next morning, and there was a shuttle into the town of Narita (and once again, it was free!). So, after quickly washing, I took the shuttle into town. I was originally going to go into Tokyo but found out that it was a 2 hour ride from the airport and also that it would cost me $60 to take public transportation there and back! So instead I walked around in the quaint little shopping/restaurant area of Narita. My god, it was adorable! Everything was so tiny but the shops and restaurants seemed so posh. Someone suggested I go visit their famous temple and I am so glad I did! What looked like a small temple from the street opened up into a huge village of temples once you went up a set of stairs. I saw several shrines as I walked among the Japanese garden-styled bushes and trees. As I walked up a huge set of stairs I stood before a large courtyard with a massive traditional Japanese temple at the end. I felt like I had gone back in time to Ancient Japan! Combine that with a picture perfect clear night with a lovely moon and view of the stars and the whole scene was very majestic. I think that may have convinced me to spend some time in Japan in the future. Anyway, I was hoping to try sushi for the first time but couldn’t find any for a reasonable price (and for that I mean less than $30). Plus, because my stomach felt like it was the middle of the night, I wasn’t that hungry so I actually didn’t eat anything in Japan. Kind of too bad, but I had to catch the shuttle bus back to the hotel anyway – at this point, I was so tired that I felt dizzy/drunk! Time to go to bed!
The next day I woke up and took a nice shower, had a nice breakfast, and got ready to catch my flight to Bangkok. There was a check in counter for Japan Airlines at the hotel so I waited in line for that. And waited. And waited. 45 minutes later I realized that if I didn’t get to the airport I would wait in that line all day long. I guess that despite that great and practical idea, in reality it was pretty inefficient. Happily, it was the only inefficient thing I encountered during my short stay in Japan.
On my flight to Bangkok I got to sit in the aisle again and this time, though there was someone in the middle seat, I was in the emergency exit row so I had plenty of legroom. That, combined with the flight only being 7 hours long, made for a very easy comfortable flight. I enjoyed watching the man next to me down 4 beers, three personal bottles of wine, and 2 mixed drinks within a 2 hour period. Alcohol is free on Japan Airlines flights and he definitely too advantage of that! He also definitely passed out after, and definitely snored!
I arrived in Bangkok at 4:30pm yesterday, made my way through customs, got my bags, and called Jill (the contact person for the school that I’m staying at right now). Then, I took a taxi to our meeting area, and an hour and a half later (it was very trafficky) I arrived. I started to feel unwell during the ride – I think jet lag was finally catching up to me. I met up with Jill (at a KFC, of all places!) and the treasurer of the school drove us to Nahkon Pathom (45 minutes West of Bangkok). I dropped off my bags at the room I am staying in on campus and then they took me to eat some dinner. In Thai restaurants, generally one person orders for the entire group and the food is common – people each get their own plate of rice and then each person spoons the common food onto their plate (so it’s not as “common” as the “common food bowl” in Senegal!). We had some sort of sweet and sour soup which had a really excellent flavor (probably my favorite thing so far, though I avoided the mushrooms and it was ordered sans shrimp for my benefit), a vegetable curry, and some spicy eggs with strange veggies. A tasty meal finished with a bowl of fruit. I think I would have enjoyed it even more if I hadn’t been so tired and drunk-feeling.
I had an ok night sleep. I was kind of trying to practice Thai in my sleep so it was maybe not as restful as it could have been, but at least I’m slowly catching up on my lack of sleep. Today I spent the morning visiting the school. It’s a private Christian Thai school and this morning they were celebrating the month of Christmas! I know, weird. So I got to watch the students lined up singing songs and saying prayers (all in Thai) as they lined up like soldiers. Though the celebration was supposed to be for Christmas, I think that I was the center of attention. Ever the blonde white girl!
Afterwards, I visited a few different classrooms to see what I would be doing if I came to teach here. And to be honest, I don’t know if I like it. See, they have a regular program and an English Program. The regular program is taught by Thai teachers and the students have one hour of English each day. The English program is all taught in English except for Thai Language or Culture classes. I would LOVE to teach the English Program because there are only 10 students in each class, I would get to teach all different subject matters, the rooms are air-conditioned, and there are a lot of resources to use. But, unfortunately, since I don’t have a teaching certificate, I am unqualified for it and can only teach the regular program. There, the classes have anywhere from 25-45 students, the classrooms are not air-conditioned (oh my god, DEATH!), and I would be more of a helper than a teacher. I would be going from class to class to and teaching grades 2-9. I would see each class only once a week and my main job would be to help with pronunciation and to make English seem fun. The Thai teachers would simply tell me what they are working on in English and then I would devise games and activities and other things like that to help the students. Sounds easy and maybe appealing to some, but those of you who really know me know that I am sort of a control freak and don’t like listening to authority. I would rather devise my own curriculum and teach my own class. But at the same time, I feel bad because it’s evident that the students could really benefit from my help. The Thai teachers, who teach the English class the other 4 days of the week can hardly speak English themselves (let alone pronounce it!) – in one of the classes I watched, the students were asked to answer the question “What did you go?”… huh??
Lunch was white rice, Thai potatoes in sweet liquid, noodles with pork in it, and green veggies with pork in it (yum yum I love pork!). I picked out the pork but I’m sure I swallowed some. I have made my peace with eating chicken and seafood but I am NOT there with pork yet… After lunch, I got a little tour of the town with Jill and this other girl named Angie. Angie is so nice and outgoing (and she plays ultimate Frisbee in Bangkok every weekend) that she would be a big bonus for coming to teach here. Unfortunately she is going back home in April after having been here for two years, so we would not be here at the same time at all. Anyway, the town seems quaint. We walked through the market quickly and I had some cold tea (chai tea, condensed milk, sugar – don’t ask). The town seems nice – more laidback, and less smelly that Bangkok. There is also apparently a park and a huge water fountain by the market. And also the world’s biggest chedi, which I am supposed to see tonight at dinner.
Anyway, I am off to go swimming. The school just built a pool so I am going swim with Angie. I’ll write again!

  • Chelsea Ledoux - Well, deary dear! Sounds like quite the adventure thus far, and it has only just begun. I don’t think you left a single moment out. Ha-ha. From snoring, drunk travel buddies to pork-infested cuisine…what a time, what a time! Anywho, be sure to let all of Thailand know just how fortunate they are to have you with them (b/c you are definitely and dearly missed around here). Oh, and don’t take the weather for granted either…we’re freezing our tootsies off in the chi-town. Here’s to you finding your perfectly fitting, quaint niche in Thailand! Oh, and how is your mastery of Thai coming along??? Love ya and miss ya tons. Later.
    > Chels 🙂ReplyCancel