Around the World in 330 Days: Brian's Fulbright Journey in China and Elsewhere: Days 197-198: Bangkok--Days 1 and 2

We didn't have to get up too early to leave for the airport to go to Bangkok, which was nice, and we didn't have any drama getting there. The bad thing, though, is that I couldn't get a window seat, and they stuck us way back in the plane again: last row. So every time someone had to go to the bathroom, they'd brush past me, and pretty much everyone on the plane went to the bathroom during the flight. One lady went back to my area four times, twice with a thermos of hot water in her hand. And the food wasn't great--just a seafood dish. When we got there, we couldn't find the young woman who was supposed to pick us up at first, but eventually we located her, holding a sign that said "Dr. Brian Lewis." She introduced herself as Dari, and we followed her into the school van, which, thank goodness, nicely air conditioned--it was about 85 degrees when we arrived around 6 pm (their time...we lost an hour). The ride to the CU International dorm was long, and we were hungry when we got there. We noticed that they didn't have regular bar soap, and only two pillows were provided. We complained about this, and they just provided more body wash (which I guess was supposed to be hand soap), and Kerry was told that it was "against the rules" to provide more than two pillows. So I went and made more of a fuss, explaining about my sleep disorder. Soon, not one, but two pillows materialized, from a female security guard who glared at us the entire time, but I still smiled brightly and said "Thank you!" After all this, Kerry was in the mood for good ol' Dominos at the nearby mall, so we indulged. We got two medium pizzas, chicken wings, and soda all for only about $16. PRICES HERE ARE INSANELY CHEAP. The cost of living is only about one-third of what things are in the USA. We got a 1.5 liter bottle of Aquafina at 7-Eleven, for example, for 16 baht, or about 50 cents.

Pics from our arrival day:

Art from the airport.

Very strange toilet--and bathroom--in our dorm. Reminded me of a hospital bathroom.

The next day went better, but there was still a snafu at the beginning. We got up early because we thought Dari told us to be ready at 11:15 to have the car pick us up. She didn't show, so I emailed her. It turns out she meant 11:50, and she just didn't understand...so we just waited longer. Dari (Suradech's assistant), the Assistant Dean (Nirada, who studied in Wisconsin for a bit), and the Associate Dean (Suradech) all showed up to greet me, and they took me and Kerry to lunch with genuine Thai food before my lecture--it was fanstastic! We had pad thai, fish, catfish, lemongrass soup, chicken satay with peanut sauce, and an ice cream cake. Wonderful! Then they took me to the room to lecture on online learning (the same lecture I gave at Soochow U and Jilin U)--I had an audience of about 20, mostly teachers, and it went well. They asked good questions afterwards. I was then driven back to the dorm, and Kerry and I relaxed a bit. We later checked out the local mall and the night market nearby, where we bought some things. I like shopping in open markets--it's so much fun to haggle and get interesting things! One noteworthy purchase was a faux-vintage photo that we had taken of ourselves with royal objects--I wore a crown and held a sceptre. It was just for fun, but I enjoyed it. We had a bite at McDonald's (again, blame Kerry!), but we noticed that they had ordering machines and place to pick up the food. It was all very systematic. There were all kinds of people speaking all kinds of languages there. Nicely organized--very different from Chinese fast food restaurants. There's really not much need for the cashiers to speak English because we've punched in our orders, so it makes everything easy for everyone. Nirada told us that "No one will expect you to know Thai," but it's really true. Everyone speaks to us in English, pretty much, or doesn't speak at all. Whenever we make a purchase, they give a slight bow with their palms pressed together. It's amusing to us to see the cultural differences between China (where a mere "Xie xie" works), Japan (deep bow), and here.

Pics from our first full day: