Alright, so living in Bangkok, a post needs to be devoted to traffic. It is quite normal to have an hour, hour and a half, even two hours or more commute simply to get to the suburbs. I read in one of my guidebooks that the average city has 25% surface area of roads, sidewalks, etc. Bangkok's layout including 10% roads, sidewalks, etc. And new cars are rolling out onto the streets every day.
Students rarely go to visit their friend's homes, instead they hang out in the school yard before and after school because traffic makes it nearly impossible to hang out anywhere else.
The commute from my host's home to school also goes directly by the royal palace, the current palace where the royals actually live. Cool, right?
Well, actually, since it is surrounded by a huge white washed wall, and every member of the royal family gets the royal treatment (as in, traffic stops to let them pass), in practice it simply means the traffic jam is worse and time spent on the bus is extended.
The presence of motorcycles and motorbikes is high here, and for good reason. It can seriously cut down on the commute time if you can weave in and out of the larger vehicles. Personally, I'm planning on being a pedestrian for the foreseeable future once I have an apartment close to school. Speaking of, I'm off to get that sorted out. Hopefully successfully this time.
Showing posts with label traffic. Show all posts
Showing posts with label traffic. Show all posts
Friday, November 5, 2010
Thursday, November 4, 2010
Farang Follies
The Thai word for westerner (or basically, any white person) is "farang." This is also what Thais call guava fruit. So they think it is very funny to see "farang eat farang," cannibalism! It's a joke they never get tired of.
Fresh mango and fresh guava (farang), are SO different than what we have in the cans in the U.S. They are a lot drier, and not as sweet. They have a slightly grainy texture, almost like a pear, but not juicy, just crisp.
Street food or fast food is actually cheaper than cooking at home yourself. In fact, finding an apartment with a kitchen in Bangkok is downright impossible. As the British teacher said when I inquired about a place with a kitchen, "you're in the wrong country." However there is quite an abundance of fresh fruit and vegetables. Other than that, pretty much everything is fried. Avoiding allergens like peanuts, eggs, and gluten would prove very difficult in Thailand I think. Thankfully avoiding lactose isn't too hard. Also good I don't keep kosher. I would imagine avoiding these things is doable, but requires a better grasp on the language than I've currently got. Also at places that cook everything in one pan probably still impossible. Though rice is such a staple, I'm sure there are some places that cook that separately - it's the cross contamination that would get you there.
I am looking forward to getting my own place, soon. My host lives in a suburb that is far from school. My host's hospitality is wonderful, but with the Bangkok commute I spend 3 hours on a bus or in a taxi every day. Between school time and commute time, my day is totally shot. The South African teacher is helping me out a lot, she's the other female farang English teacher. I'm getting an apartment in the same building she lives in, much closer to school and right by the farang backpacker haven. Walking down some of the streets of Banglamphu (the name of the backpacker haven neighborhood) I feel like I'm actually in the majority. And since it's the area for broke backpackers, things aren't sold at too much of a markup. I can go a few soi (lanes) over and go some place less touristy any way.
I'm getting the hang of the Thai buses, at least I can handle paying my own fare (12 baht). I'm still learning the bus routes, but that will be different when I move as well. I do know yellow buses are air conditioned, other buses are "warm buses," as my host says. You can hail a taxi if the red light in the windshield is on - it indicates the taxi is empty.
More updates later.
Fresh mango and fresh guava (farang), are SO different than what we have in the cans in the U.S. They are a lot drier, and not as sweet. They have a slightly grainy texture, almost like a pear, but not juicy, just crisp.
Street food or fast food is actually cheaper than cooking at home yourself. In fact, finding an apartment with a kitchen in Bangkok is downright impossible. As the British teacher said when I inquired about a place with a kitchen, "you're in the wrong country." However there is quite an abundance of fresh fruit and vegetables. Other than that, pretty much everything is fried. Avoiding allergens like peanuts, eggs, and gluten would prove very difficult in Thailand I think. Thankfully avoiding lactose isn't too hard. Also good I don't keep kosher. I would imagine avoiding these things is doable, but requires a better grasp on the language than I've currently got. Also at places that cook everything in one pan probably still impossible. Though rice is such a staple, I'm sure there are some places that cook that separately - it's the cross contamination that would get you there.
I am looking forward to getting my own place, soon. My host lives in a suburb that is far from school. My host's hospitality is wonderful, but with the Bangkok commute I spend 3 hours on a bus or in a taxi every day. Between school time and commute time, my day is totally shot. The South African teacher is helping me out a lot, she's the other female farang English teacher. I'm getting an apartment in the same building she lives in, much closer to school and right by the farang backpacker haven. Walking down some of the streets of Banglamphu (the name of the backpacker haven neighborhood) I feel like I'm actually in the majority. And since it's the area for broke backpackers, things aren't sold at too much of a markup. I can go a few soi (lanes) over and go some place less touristy any way.
I'm getting the hang of the Thai buses, at least I can handle paying my own fare (12 baht). I'm still learning the bus routes, but that will be different when I move as well. I do know yellow buses are air conditioned, other buses are "warm buses," as my host says. You can hail a taxi if the red light in the windshield is on - it indicates the taxi is empty.
More updates later.
Sunday, October 31, 2010
I'm here!
So, I have arrived safely in Bangkok. I slept a lot. My host met me at the airport, and we climbed into a Malibu Barbie pink taxi for the trip to her home. I ended up with two checked suitcases, a carry on suitcase and my laptop bag. All within weight of course. Winks, looks left, looks right...phew. No one double checking bag weight.
Upon seeing my bags, which I must say yes I packed too much, but not bad all things considered, my host proclaimed, "Why you bring so much clothes? Clothes are cheap in Thailand!" Oh well. Maybe at some point I can take the traveler's advice I read somewhere for lightening the load: sell your jeans.
I tried some new fruit - longkong. The outside skin looks like very small potatoes, you cut the skin and peel it off. Inside are 5 or 6 clear white citrus sections. It is sweet, not sour, and has seeds you need to spit out - about one seed per section.
I am staying with my host, and I feel very spoiled because she had air conditioning installed in my bedroom (and her bedroom also, less guilt) before I arrived to make sure I would be comfortable. She was worried about Americans not being used to the heat in Bangkok. I must say, I greatly appreciate it. I think that also means I'll just stay here for awhile, sounds good to me. The bathroom is a lot like the one in my apartment in Italy - water gets everywhere when you shower. Also excited - western toilet. You cannot flush toilet paper, you place it in the trash.
This morning we went to my host's temple to make merit. On the way she purchased food from a vendor to give to the monks. Apparently, the vendor was surprised that I was American - they expected Americans to be more fat. At the temple we took off our shoes and placed the food in bowls the monks had. We placed the bowls on a towel (you can't hand things to monks directly as a female), and poured water from a silver vessel into a silver bowl while the monk prayed. My host then took the water in the bowl and threw it on a tree outside. She explained the food and throwing the water on the tree was to honor deceased relatives.
On our walk to and from the temple there were many dogs. Apparently stray dogs are quite a problem, and my host sometimes carries a stick to hit them if they try to attack her. Noted. Near the temple there were also several roosters roaming about, I think they belong to the temple and don't roam the city quite as freely as dogs. I saw one Siamese kitten begging by the food stand. I refrained from petting her, but she was cute. The food vendor said she is hungry. I suppose if I were a street kitten in Bangkok, I'd hang out by the grilling fish and chicken too.
My host has given me the text books for the classes I will be teaching. I'll look over them some more, but it seems pretty straight forward. Apparently a different foreign teacher taught computers last semester and didn't like it. I'm to talk with him about what the students learned last semester.
I've learned that this school has several foreign teachers, from the following countries: Germany, Holland, South Africa and England. I will be the token American. According to my host, some of these teachers are quite interested to meet me. My impression is that all of the foreign teachers are in their 20s, three are male and one is female. I suppose if nothing else, I can help the gender balance.
I will have about 32 students in my classes, which is a little better than the source I read that said I could have 40 students. Classes are 50 minutes long. School begins at 8 am. My host lives far from the school, and Bangkok traffic is terrible. She says we will wake up at 5 am to get ready, and leave at 6 am to get to school on time. I'm definitely glad I brought my travel alarm clock. I may have to develop a coffee habit - or at least a strong tea habit.
My host helped, and basically did a load of laundry for me. The washing machine is definitely different - it has two tanks, one for wash and one for spin. It has text in Arabic on it as well as Thai and English. A pipe for draining broke some time back, so water just drains across the floor. As I expected we hang laundry to dry in the sun.
We've watched a little TV, including some Korean pop music videos, a Thai Zodiac game show, and a fair bit of some sort of Christian sermon and Christian kids show in English. I have to say I liked what I can only compare to MTV featuring Asian pop best. I think they call it 'Bang.'
I have plenty more stories already, but I need to go and eat. I think we are also going to a mall later. Not sure. Tomorrow I will be opening a Thai bank account so the school can pay me. Sometime in the next week or so I will get a Thai cell phone. My host said she might have a student take me to go get it - I'm not sure if she means middle school student or a university student, since this school is affiliated with a university. I think maybe university student? I guess I'll find out.
My host has also mentioned inviting my students' families to host me for a weekend outing-advertising my help with English in exchange for sight seeing. Sounds good to me. OK, I'm off to try roti - which is Indian and her neighbor just brought home with her from her vacation. Also is mentioned in the book Sold. I'll report back on what it is like.
Upon seeing my bags, which I must say yes I packed too much, but not bad all things considered, my host proclaimed, "Why you bring so much clothes? Clothes are cheap in Thailand!" Oh well. Maybe at some point I can take the traveler's advice I read somewhere for lightening the load: sell your jeans.
I tried some new fruit - longkong. The outside skin looks like very small potatoes, you cut the skin and peel it off. Inside are 5 or 6 clear white citrus sections. It is sweet, not sour, and has seeds you need to spit out - about one seed per section.
I am staying with my host, and I feel very spoiled because she had air conditioning installed in my bedroom (and her bedroom also, less guilt) before I arrived to make sure I would be comfortable. She was worried about Americans not being used to the heat in Bangkok. I must say, I greatly appreciate it. I think that also means I'll just stay here for awhile, sounds good to me. The bathroom is a lot like the one in my apartment in Italy - water gets everywhere when you shower. Also excited - western toilet. You cannot flush toilet paper, you place it in the trash.
This morning we went to my host's temple to make merit. On the way she purchased food from a vendor to give to the monks. Apparently, the vendor was surprised that I was American - they expected Americans to be more fat. At the temple we took off our shoes and placed the food in bowls the monks had. We placed the bowls on a towel (you can't hand things to monks directly as a female), and poured water from a silver vessel into a silver bowl while the monk prayed. My host then took the water in the bowl and threw it on a tree outside. She explained the food and throwing the water on the tree was to honor deceased relatives.
On our walk to and from the temple there were many dogs. Apparently stray dogs are quite a problem, and my host sometimes carries a stick to hit them if they try to attack her. Noted. Near the temple there were also several roosters roaming about, I think they belong to the temple and don't roam the city quite as freely as dogs. I saw one Siamese kitten begging by the food stand. I refrained from petting her, but she was cute. The food vendor said she is hungry. I suppose if I were a street kitten in Bangkok, I'd hang out by the grilling fish and chicken too.
My host has given me the text books for the classes I will be teaching. I'll look over them some more, but it seems pretty straight forward. Apparently a different foreign teacher taught computers last semester and didn't like it. I'm to talk with him about what the students learned last semester.
I've learned that this school has several foreign teachers, from the following countries: Germany, Holland, South Africa and England. I will be the token American. According to my host, some of these teachers are quite interested to meet me. My impression is that all of the foreign teachers are in their 20s, three are male and one is female. I suppose if nothing else, I can help the gender balance.
I will have about 32 students in my classes, which is a little better than the source I read that said I could have 40 students. Classes are 50 minutes long. School begins at 8 am. My host lives far from the school, and Bangkok traffic is terrible. She says we will wake up at 5 am to get ready, and leave at 6 am to get to school on time. I'm definitely glad I brought my travel alarm clock. I may have to develop a coffee habit - or at least a strong tea habit.
My host helped, and basically did a load of laundry for me. The washing machine is definitely different - it has two tanks, one for wash and one for spin. It has text in Arabic on it as well as Thai and English. A pipe for draining broke some time back, so water just drains across the floor. As I expected we hang laundry to dry in the sun.
We've watched a little TV, including some Korean pop music videos, a Thai Zodiac game show, and a fair bit of some sort of Christian sermon and Christian kids show in English. I have to say I liked what I can only compare to MTV featuring Asian pop best. I think they call it 'Bang.'
I have plenty more stories already, but I need to go and eat. I think we are also going to a mall later. Not sure. Tomorrow I will be opening a Thai bank account so the school can pay me. Sometime in the next week or so I will get a Thai cell phone. My host said she might have a student take me to go get it - I'm not sure if she means middle school student or a university student, since this school is affiliated with a university. I think maybe university student? I guess I'll find out.
My host has also mentioned inviting my students' families to host me for a weekend outing-advertising my help with English in exchange for sight seeing. Sounds good to me. OK, I'm off to try roti - which is Indian and her neighbor just brought home with her from her vacation. Also is mentioned in the book Sold. I'll report back on what it is like.
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