Month 1: Journal Entry
First month! I can't believe that while writing these here on September 5th it had almost been an entire month since getting here August 9th. Honestly people told me that it would go quickly to be here but I wasn't really prepared for how quick it has gone. I am settling into a routine which is nice and making friends which is even nicer.
This is my one month check in journal entry as part of my requirements by OSU COB International Business Degree.
First Impressions
Yeah I certainly had a lot of first impressions, most of which were wrong. Like originally I hated walking under the bridge to get to our MRT station (max, tube, subway, etc.), I thought it was dirty, too long of a walk, and hot, and I was a bit creeped out to be walking under a bridge and so close to traffic. Now I don't mind, its actually kind of comforting some how to have the bridge above us, it's still a bit dirty but doesn't bother me nearly as much, its a nice walk, and I am more or less getting acclimated to the weather here.
Another first impression was that I was going to die of the heat. That was more or less true but over a few weeks I really did acclimate and that helped a lot.
First impression of my room was that it was nice and I could easily move in and feel at home here and I really have. Everything has a place and I am well suited to the built in storage.
As for the uniforms this would be a first impression that I don't really like uniforms even if they're cute and fun... my opinion is somewhat constant somewhat not now. I still like them simply for the ease of getting dressed in the morning and they are cute, but I hate how stiff the shirts are. I can't even lift my hands above my head without my shirt untucking partially from my skirt haha.
All in all though I think my first impressions of Thailand have all gone upwards. I am feeling more and more at home here.
How you have had to adapt/adjust
First and foremost my adaption and adjustment has been to the weather. Having to sweat my way through every day is kinda rough. Also, the AC runs your utilities bill through the roof so my roommate and I decided early on to get fans instead of using the AC. I think my fan was 500 or so baht and our utilities for the first month were 435 baht so I feel awesome about that. The lady at the desk even commented to me that usually utilities for a unit like ours was around 2,000 baht and were we using the AC? I was a bit worried because I run the fan all night so 8-10 hours a night and literally every second I'm in the room. I was afraid just that would run up the bill but it really hasn't so I'm happy.
Another thing I've had to adjust to is eating Thai food a ton. I mean I was really excited for it at first but wow I miss cheese, potatoes, spaghetti... lots of american and italian food.
I mean obviously the language has been something to adjust to... Not being able to understand public announcements and most conversations around me I suppose is an adjustment. Also taking cabs everywhere, not really having any of my own transportation abilities, etc. has been an adjustment. As far as adjustments go I really haven't felt like I needed to adjust too much. I think perhaps I'll think more on this because I would categorize most of my experiences as problems to solve or challenges to overcome rather than adjustments...
Ah I mean one of the biggest adjustments is really unreliable service and wifi haha.
One last thing, I've adjusted to really taking exclusively cold showers. I don't even turn on my water heater. It's both expensive and useless since it's so hot here that all I want is a cold shower.
Problems you had to solve
Some of our biggest problems of course came upon arrival. How do you say "thank you", where do you buy groceries, what water is safe or unsafe to drink, how do I get a cab, etc.
I think some of my biggest problems probably were just initially figuring out where I could buy food and how to set up the basics here for my life.
Figuring out the MRT system was interesting and certainly a challenge at the very first to buy our MRT cards but after that subway systems are the same from Portland to Hungary to Thailand. These things, like airports, are the same everywhere because once they found the most efficient and easy way to make them work I feel like that simply became a global standard that stuck.
One thing that I would consider both a challenge and an adjustment is that a lot more people are trying to rip you off here on a more regular basis that I think I'm used to in the USA. Especially transportation. Cab drivers and took-took drivers try to rob you blind. And by blind I mean charging like 200 baht for a 70 baht cab rids ($6 for a $2). I guess this counts as an adjustment but I am not really willing to pay more than $3 for like any meal (unless its special) and I know exactly what a cab should be costing me.