4/1 Checking In

4/1/2013: This is my first post after 6 days in Thailand. The main reason for this is that I've been spending most of my time catching up on work, and when I'm not working, I don't feel like sitting at my computer some more and typing up a blog post. Although I still need to get caught up for work, I feel a little more settled in and I'm currently happily soaking up some air conditioning after too much time spent outside in the 100 deg F heat. Since I've been working a lot, I'm not going to thoroughly cover the past 5.5 days since it hasn't been very exciting so far. Instead, I'll do a cursory review of my non-work events and then put down some thoughts on my first impressions and interesting people I've met.

I arrived at the Chiang Mai airport in the morning of March 27 after 27 hours of traveling. I slept a lot on my flights but did not at all feel rested upon landing. I got a cab to my hotel (Thapae Boutique House), checked in around 11am, and accidentally  took a 7 hour nap. That wasn't part of my plan, since I intended to make it until a reasonable bedtime and then get a fantastic night's sleep and be fully transitioned to Thai time by the next day. Instead, it was dark when I woke up and I was extremely disoriented. I stumbled over towards the Thapae gate, which is a very touristy spot but also has lots of streetfood. I went a little farther south and grabbed a table outdoors and ordered some pork green curry from a vendor. It was very tasty, and I survived my first meal of street food without getting horribly sick. Not much else happened that day.

The next few days I worked a lot and did a little bit of exploring around town. I had a mix of street food as well as some meals in restaurants, since it's nice to have air conditioning. Working has been a little difficult since there is no desk in my hotel room, so during the mornings and evenings I work in the covered patio of the hotel, but when it gets too hot I have to work in my bed in my room. I also visited a few different coffee shops nearby for a change of scenery. Ok oops I said I'd avoid talking about work stuff.

So my days have so far been mostly work and a little bit of walking around whenever possible. My game plan coming in here was to not worry about finding an apartment and getting settled in until after the end of March, since I had to get a lot of work done. It is much harder to execute that plan because it sucks living in a hotel room and not having a more permanent residence. So in my free time I've been looking online for housing options. What I quickly learned is that there aren't many options besides studio apartments. And many housing options are just actually hotel rooms that the hotel owner calls "serviced apartments." They're typically less than 30 sq. meters (320ish sq. ft) and have a small bathroom where you can sit on the toilet and shower at the same time (if you want). However, housing is cheap. Housing prices for foreigners appear to be inflated (we only look at the postings that are in English), but even the inflated prices are cheap by American standards. The cheapest apartments I've looked at that are barely livable (and already furnished) are around 6,000 Baht ($200/month). Granted these are very small places, but $200/month is still a steal. Mention that price to a Thai, though, and their eyes bug out.

I've been hanging out some with the night-shift guy at my hotel. His name is John, a nice 22 year-old that's taking evening classes at a local university. He's excited to practice his English, so I've spent some time picking his brain about nice areas to live in and other Thai-related things (also he owns a rooster for cock-fighting). Yesterday morning (3/31) he even drove me around on his motorcycle to check out some apartments. I think he new about some different places because he had recently helped his friend search for an apartment. The first place was 2000B/month ($68/month), but the building was full. He took me to another spot that was 1600B/month ($55/month), but it was a room the size of a bed. I told him it was too small, so the next place he took me to was pretty much a house - 2 stories, a small kitchen, 2 bedrooms (very small ones), an office, and a nice living room at the entrance. That was 10,000B/month ($342/month), which appeared to be incomprehensible for him but I was considering it. It wasn't in a great location, though. We tried a few more places but they all said they were full, although I wonder if they just didn't want any foreigners living there. No success with John, but riding around on the back of his motorcycle was fun.

That afternoon, I went out on my own to check out some places. I caught a tuk-tuk (picture) to the "Loft Residence" on the north side of the old city. Their rooms were kind of nice but also depressing, so I moved on. I got a crappy guidebook (e-book) about Chiang Mai, which recommended a crappy guesthouse for cheap accommodations (which I was considering moving to while doing my apartment search since my hotel isn't incredibly cheap), so I caught a songthaew (picture) to the place and discovered that the rooms were depressingly crappy. Like jail cells. I moved on. I stopped in at a place called "Seven Suns" to ask about monthly rates, but the American owner told me it was probably out of my price range. I was half offended but also figured he was right (he was...25,000 Baht/month), but he recommended "Life in Town Condos" which was more reasonably priced. He said "Life in town, life is good." That helped me remember, not that it's a difficult name to remember. I didn't find any more good options and was very sweaty and gross, so I returned to my hotel and took a cold shower.

Before heading to Thailand, I had been emailing with some Bucknell alums who live in Bangkok. I had initially emailed Pam (class of '08, same as me) through the Bucknell alumni network to see if she knew of any job opportunities in Chiang Mai. She directed me to her father, Prechai, who also went to Bucknell (class of '76 I think) and is now a retired general from the Royal Thai Air Force. They've both been incredibly helpful and welcoming (even though I haven't met them yet). Ariel and I are no longer in need of jobs, but I told Prechai I was still interesting in volunteering some to teach English, so he set up a meeting for me with Group Captain Prayoon at Wing 41 headquarters in Chiang Mai at 9:30am today. I decided I should look somewhat presentable despite the heat, so I put on some nice clothes and caught a tuk-tuk out to the base near the airport. There were some puzzled looks from the guards as I tried to enter, but my tuk-tuk driver switched to translator and I was given a "visitor" badge and was met outside the building by an officer who walked me upstairs where I met Nok, the English teacher at the base. She was very friendly and I talked to her for a while about what I was doing in Thailand and what I had in mind for helping at the base. I told her that I had never taught English before and that I didn't really have much of a plan, but I thought a native speaker might be somehow useful. She agreed and said that she really needed help both teaching and developing lesson plans. After about 30 minutes, another officer led us into a waiting area outside of GC Prayoon's office and I was given coffee and water. GC Prayoon briefly came out of his office to get something off of the table, and Nok stood up quickly at attention. I was busy sipping my coffee and he disappeared back into his office before I had a chance to do the same, so hopefully I didn't offend him. Every time another officer entered GC Prayoon's office, he stopped and bowed his head before entering (and did the same while exiting). With all the formalities and the obvious fact that GC Prayoon is a big deal, I was glad I didn't wear shorts and flip flops. Next, the chief of staff came in and talked to Nok and me for a while. He also spoke some English and had spent some time in Alabama during college (for some reason it seems like all the people I've met in Asia that have traveled to the US have been duped into going to obscure locations that turned out to be disappointing experiences for them. One girl in Japan had done a foreign exchange program in Ellensburg, WA, which is really in the middle of nowhere. Another  Korean girl had done an exchange program in middle-of-nowhere Minnesota, but she actually claimed she really liked it). The chief of staff and Nok grilled me about everything while taking notes - where I went to school, my job, where I had volunteered in the past, where I applied for grad school, family background, etc. Nok told me later that the main obstacle in getting GC Prayoon to agree to let me into the base to help with the English program is my security clearance. I guess they were just interrogating me to make sure I'm not a spy. They asked if I wanted anything in return for my volunteering (accommodation, transportation, etc.) and I didn't really know how to respond - yes obviously all of that would be great, but I didn't want them to turn me away now if there were some strings attached. They said maybe sometimes the pilots could pick me up and drive me to the base. I said that would be nice. I also asked for a visa that lasted longer, but they said that would be complicated. Finally, GC Prayoon emerged from his office and we chatted a little. He said his 13 year old son wants to learn English and that I should go to his house sometime to talk and play with him and his other kids. I'm not sure how I feel about being a babysitter, but it could be interesting. After I told him I'm from the US, he said he meets with the US consulate in Chiang Mai regularly. They have a "sports day" occasionally, where his staff plays the US staff in sports. From what I could gather, they beat up on the Americans in soccer and some sport I didn't recognize that sounds like basketball but people carry the baskets (I found this description of it in an inferior blog)... I repeated what I had said to Nok and the chief of staff, and GC Prayoon explained to me that he had to get me cleared to enter the base. He also said that he'd invite me to the next "pilot party" so I can speak English with the pilots then, since they'd be more comfortable in such an informal setting. I said I'd be there if there was beer, which is actually really what I'm looking for - the opportunity to hang out with Thais and drink beer. Unfortunately I think they're still going to try to get me clearance and get me involved with actual teaching. I do think beer-based informal English practice would attract a lot of students. We finished the meeting, shook hands, and Nok walked me out of the base after scanning my passport and exchanging contact info. She hailed a songthaew for me (she insisted to stay with me to make sure I got a fair price), and I got a 40 Baht ride back to my hotel. My tuk-tuk to the base that morning had cost 150 B, so I guess Nok saved me some cash. It was a pretty fun experience, hopefully I can spend more time at the base.

After returning to my hotel, I changed into more practical clothes for 100 deg heat and continued my search for an apartment. I'd made up my mind that I would just find a place for 1 month, then when Ariel arrives we can decide if we want to find a different apartment (or city or country for that matter). I checked out a few places near Thapae gate. The first was very small, and the second was ok but probably not suitable for 2 people. I walked south to Life in Town which was much nicer than the other places. The girl showed me the standard room, the deluxe room, and the deluxe corner room. I liked all of the rooms, but she offered me a discount on the deluxe room so I decided to end my search and put down a deposit on that room. It's 34 square meters (366 square feet), with a little couch, a king-sized bed, a table and chairs, and a balcony that doesn't appear to be accessible from anywhere. The cost is 7,500 B/month. I move in tomorrow (4/2). After paying the deposit, I walked around the neighborhood and enjoyed a nice spicy pork sausage noodle dish. I think it will be a good spot.

So some observations of Thailand and other things I've learned so far:
1. Everything is very cheap. Meals are typically $1-$3, taxis are cheap, beer is cheap, lodging is cheap.
2. It is very hot here. High of 100 every day so far, lows in the low-70s. This is the hot season, with April getting even hotter apparently. Not too humid though.
3. Surprisingly lots of tourists. I didn't expect to see so many...
4. Tons of massage parlors. These women are aggressive too. The "masseusses" hang out in the front of the building and shout at foreigners as they walk by. ("Sawahdee Kraaaaaaaaap! Hellooooo! Massagggggeeee!"). I've been yelled at from across a busy street - I don't know how I'd get to their store even if I wanted a massage. Sadly, I suspect these women might be offering more than just foot massages, since I can't comprehend how so many massage parlors can survive on the number of tourists I've seen.
5. Generally the culture here is scuzzier than what I'm used to. I've seen many creepy older white men with younger Thai "girlfriends." Many of the bars around the old city have Thai women in skanky clothes hanging out. I initially assumed they were all prostitutes (which they still might be), but read online that most bars have "hostesses" which, if I understand correctly, are just there to flirt with the patrons and generally push drinks. While that isn't extremely reassuring, I do feel more inclined to actually enter a bar now, since I was previously afraid that I'd be naively stumbling into a seedy brothel that was just showing soccer on TV as a facade.
6. I'm excited to explore Chiang Mai's surrounding areas - Chiang Mai is known for its natural beauty, so I'm looking forward to getting out of the city and doing some hikes and bike rides. I'll try to wait until Ariel comes.
7. The touristy things look pretty fun - there's "Tiger Kingdom," where, from what I can gather from the advertisements, you can lounge around and baby tigers crawl all over you (playfully). There are also lots of elephant-based activities, like feeding elephants, riding elephants, bathing elephants, and watching them play soccer. There is a "flight of the gibbon experience," which appears to be ziplining through the forest. I'm not sure if you ever actually see any gibbons. Also the same advertisement for the flight of the gibbon that appears everywhere around the city features a white woman with cat-eyes (slits for pupils), which makes no sense to me. I'll see if someone can explain it to me.
8. Feb-March is "crop-burning season," where all the farmers in the surrounding areas burn stuff. The air quality is apparently dangerous during this time, and many foreigners who live here actually leave Chiang Mai during this period. I try not to think about it too much.
9. Thailand has a reputation of having some odd gender-related quirks - namely ladyboys. Apparently it isn't a myth - my crappy guidebook says that because Thailand is largely Buddhist, which teaches tolerance, there is a significant number of "transgender" individuals in Thailand (ladyboys and "toms") and it apparently is generally tolerated. I don't think I've seen any yet, but maybe I have and didn't realize it...
10. Thailand loves its royal family. There are pictures of the family (mostly the King) all over, and laws against disrespecting the royal family are strictly enforced.


Ok, I think that's all for now. I haven't taken any pictures yet, but I'll try to go exploring soon and take my camera along.