Friday adventures

On Friday.... everything reminded me of home.

Thai language class was great, although I feel like we waste a lot of time in that class. Anyways, I learned a few more thai phrases, and I tried to use them as often as possible today. I needed to meet with someone about a volunteer opportunity in Bangkok after lunch, so I asked the TA how to get to the BTS (the sky train line). She told me to go across the field by school and take bus 47. I looked at the bus list on the sign and didnt see 47, so I decided to cross the street and before I could read the sign, here comes bus 47. Great work, Jennifer!

Wrong. The lady asked me where I was trying to go, and when I said BTS... she laughed. Then she told me that I should have taken bus 47 on the other side of the road. I know you are probably thinking... Jennifer, why dont you just pick up a bus map? Im sure a map would solve this issue. Well... Right you are, my friend. Except that I have been in BKK for 12 days now, and still havent found a bus map. No, there is not a map online either. So I have been forced to just hop on a random bus, follow the path on our my map with my finger, and get off the bus after it makes a turn opposite of the direction I want to go, and then proceed to get on another bus. rinse. repeat.

But no worries... Dia (my TA) has told me #47, and Im sticking with it. I get on 47, and it takes me right to the BTS. I tell the man behind the counter that I want to go to the Queen Sirikit center, so he tells me to get off the BTS at Asok. Deal. I pay for the pass and get off the BTS at Asok. There is no Queen Sirikit Convention Center here. I wander around for a while, grab some lunch (while watching people interact with a spirit house), then ask someone how to get to QSCC. Oh, you have to hop on the metro and ride it to the QSCC stop. UGH! So I get on the metro and ride it another stop and make it there safely.

You see, I was quite preoccupied this morning with waking up later than I wanted, skyping, getting ready for the day, etc. and I forgot to write down exactly how to get to QSCC. Turns out, she said take the MRT (subway) instead of the BTS (sky train). whoops. Oh well. By this point it is 2pm, and I left the university at 12pm.

Then we meet for 7 minutes. seven minutes? SEVEN minutes! I took 2 hours of travel time to meet with this woman for seven minutes? (Did I shave my legs for this?) Anyways, no problem. The project I am going to be working with sounds like it could be right up my alley. I will get to use my technical background and love for children together in one project called IN-STEP. See below for the description.

The Inquiry-based Science and Technology Education Program (IN-STEP)
IN-STEP is a unique instructional improvement program designed to enhance school leadership and teachers’ skills in basic science concepts and pedagogy in order to better implement inquiry-based learning in middle school classrooms. With US $500,000 in funding from MSD Thailand (a wholly - owned subsidiary of Merck Inc.), IN-STEP developed Thai language instructional materials on science concepts, holds training workshops for teachers, provides support for school principals, engages corporate volunteers and evaluates the effectiveness of these activities. The program involves 50 schools and will cover 135 science teachers from grades 7 through 9 in Phang-nga over its initial three years. Once completed in 2009, the project will directly benefit over 12,000 students per year...

After the seven minutes is up, Kessara rushes me out of her office (after introducing me to a few people), because she must attend an office bowling party. The entire office is meeting to go bowling (as a competition), and she said she would ride the metro with me until her stop. Her co-worker met us at the metro and invited me to come. I didnt have anything to do for the rest of the day (and was really honored to be included on the first day I visited the office), so I went along to bowl. I met a few people in the office during my bowling time, but I honestly felt like an inconvenience the ENTIRE session. A few people openly accepted me, and I cant be thankful enough for those wonderful hosts. I guess by the end of the day I had at the least met a few of the people I will be working with during the next few months.

This was probably the worst part of the day for me, because all I could think about was HOME. You see, I participated in a bowling competition in December (and had an awesome time, although I did get a bit competitive), and all I could do the entire time during the bowling session was compare it to the Charlotte session I had just a few weeks earlier. The bowling alley in BKK played all the popular music from the states and just sent me into a whirlwind of homesickness. Not to mention that I was being slightly overwhelmed by the 'cuteness' of Asian women. I have put off writing about their cuteness for some time now... because I know I really cant do it justice (and you all might think that Im just sitting around all day judging people over here). So Im going to do my best to describe Asian women (from about 18-40 years old--cause those are the only age groups Ive interacted with).

Asian women: hello kitty meets PINK AWESOMENESS with a side of 10 year old slumber party screams, giggles, and silliness. Everything must be cute, cuddly and some cotton candy color-- no matter what. Each girl in EVERY single one of my Thai classes has a pencil pouch, with more colors in it than a pastel rainbow. And they use all of those colors while they take notes. You know the place on a cell phone where you can attach a wrist strap (more commonly seen on cameras)... well that must be decorated with some type of beady chain and a fuzzy animal charm. Scrunchies and other colorful hair clips are popular. At the bowling party, each team had a 'cute' name. The ones in this picture are the Incredibowls and the Pin Panthers. seriously. Notice the bowling ball colors. All pictures must include a peace sign hand gesture. (WHAT IS UP WITH THAT?) You can see Steph and I showing off the peace sign in the bowling photo above-just for grins and giggles. I wasnt raised to be silly. scratch that... I wasnt allowed to be silly growing up, and this is probably the biggest culture shock for me. I cant believe grown women act like this over here! So this is a warning: If I come back giggly and cute and cuddly... just slap me until I wake up, cause Im being brainwashed into submission.



I finally left the office party and got on a bus to go home. This 8 baht bus ride lasted over an hour and a half, and I got to see a little bit of Bangkok in the meantime. The picture to the left shows the bus driver that night. Im pretty sure that none of the gauges worked on the bus (such as speedometer, RPM, etc). You cant really see it, but the gearshift goes right through a hole in the floor to the engine. Sometimes the bus would be shaking so bad that I thought we were going to have to stop and let her cool down. But the driver was really cute (his son was on the bus too), and every now and then his son would get up and give his dad a back massage, or offer him some of his drink, or just put his arms around his neck. Cutest thing ever... beats every Asian woman I have met here.





To those of you back at NCSU: I know my secret is out, and Im sorry I wasnt the one to tell you personally. Believe me that this 'secret' is the absolute best thing that has happened to me for as long as I can remember. I hope you are happy and supportive. I miss you, bunches.