First Impressions!

I arrived in Thailand two weeks ago and it already seems like a lifetime. I am currently sitting in the English department faculty lounge, where I am finding some time to finally start writing this blog.
I arrived in sweltering Bangkok mid afternoon on Saturday October 18. On the flight over here, for the first time in the 3 months of planning, I started to feel a minor panic attack coming on. I nearly missed my connecting flight at Heathrow airport and arrived at the gate in a sweat. I was already sweating before even getting on that plane! All these anxious thoughts started racing through my head: what was I thinking when I decided to go to the other side of the world without knowing anyone? Luckily, I was able to distract myself with "Forgetting Sarah Marshall," which quickly relaxed me.
During the first week in Bangkok, my program organized a very intense orientation/training schedule, where we were expected to wake up every morning at 7AM. After week of orientation coupled with the intense jet lag, I was exhausted. I managed to meet some interesting people who I hope to keep up with. We then spent the last 2 days in the Kanchanaburi province, where we went elephant trekking and rafting.
I then went back to Bangkok where I met my fellow fareng (foreign) teaching partner and roommate Jen. We took the overnight bus with a Thai English teacher. The Thai bus was an experience in itself. We were awakened at 1AM with cheesy Thai music videos, which are always the same story: Thai girl falls in love with Thai man at work, Thai man provides umbrella for Thai girl during monsoon, they stare lovingly into each others' eyes, Thai girl finds out Thai boy has a girlfriends, she is devasted, music video abruptly ends. At 1 AM we were expected to go outside for a food break, even though I had already had dinner before getting on the bus. I don't think it's feasible to ever go hungry in this country. There is food everywhere and people are very concerned about whether I'm hungry or not. In fact, Thai people often ask whether I'm hungry or not when they first meet me, not that they care what I answer, it's just part of making easy conversation.
We arrived in Chiang Rai, where I will be teaching, exhausted. The Thai teacher took us to the supermarket to buy what we needed for our house. The things she found important were not that important to us. We made sure to get the necessities: Nutella and cheese. And by cheese I mean kraft singles... Let me just take a moment here to clarify: Wine and cheese are not only very expensive in Thailand, but when found are terrible, unless you go to a special store. Sigh, I guess my Frenchness will have to deal for the next 6 months....
Our house is quite nice actually, newly built, hardwood floors. I live with the chickens and the roosters and God knows what other sorts of animals there are out there. I sort of feel like Heidi, Thai-style. Every morning, we have a rooster crow. This morning at 3:30 AM. Needless to say, I have not been sleeping very well.
We had a week of vacation before starting to teach, so my roommate and I decided to spend a few days in Chiang Mai. The latter is the 2nd biggest city in Thailand and is 40 times smaller than Bangkok. After having spent a few days in Chiang Rai, where there are virtually no foreigners, it was a shock to my system to see Westerners everywhere. I think Chiang Mai will be a fun get away, only a 3hour bus ride from here.
Jen and I walked around Chiang Rai a bit. Usually I stay away from the touristy street, but in this case, we flocked to the touristy street in search of the bars. Sadly, I don't think Chiang Rai is hopping spot on the weekends. I have yet to meet some interesting foreigners who will be living here. I have a few girlfriends from the program who are teaching in a boarding school 15 minutes away... So far that's it!
Today was my first day at school. Important note: Thai English teachers speak the most appalling English. I met one of the "Engrish" teachers when in Bangkok, after two hours of awkward silence and smiling, I found out she was an English teacher. These people desperately need help in English, and I feel that no matter what I do, I cannot go wrong. Awkward side note about the English teacher I met in Bangkok: She came to meet me at the hotel (this was organized by the program as an introduction to our school), and after realizing she hardly understood me, I was desperate for some sort of conversation. So I asked about her family. She told me that she was a widow, which made me feel uncomfortable, but quickly added : I single! A few hours later, she walked out of the elevator of the very same hotel with an older Western man, saw me and said : wooooooowwwww. No comment. I saw her the next morning at breakfast. Things are very different here.
Back to school, we arrived at the school, and apparently our schedules are not ready, so we spent the entire day walking around the school, awkwardly sitting in the faculty lounge, having the longest lunch possible. The head of the English department who has been taking care of us (and who also barely understands a word we tell him), out of nowhere threw us both in his class and asked us to talk to the students. Things are just done very strangely here, unlike anything I have ever experienced.
We are expected to wai (clasp our hands together and bow our heads) to everyone and the students wai us first. The students take their shoes off before going into rooms, but we as teachers do not.
Everyone is very kind, but no one can really say anything to us.
There are two Filipino boys who are also teaching here who speak remarkable English (anything at this point seems amazing after seeing how well the Thai teacher speak).
This is a very long entry and there is so much more to say, but now that this has been started, I will write more soon... tomorrow probably! Print this post