Thailand: The Land of Smiles

                                                      Sawadee ka!  (for hello in Thai)

Today is the third day at the Home Base in Bangkok, Thailand and we have a little bit of catching up to do!  I’m going to organize this post by background information and a day by day account of what has happened so far… unfortunately there is so much to write about but I don’t want to bore you with my long winded paragraph, so I’ll do my best to try to keep it short.  So here we go!

 CCS Home Base

Background Information: I am here in Thailand thanks to Cross Cultural Solutions which is a volunteer organization that strives to integrate volunteer work with cultural learning activities.  They are a nonprofit organization with no political or religions affiliations and have home bases all around the world where volunteers stay at for an allotted amount of time.  The volunteers can come from all over the world and some of the main volunteer opportunities involve teaching English, caring for the elderly and people with disabilities, as well as reaching out to people with HIV/AIDS. Here in Thailand I will be working at a school for children with disabilities with my new friend Kati! It starts tomorrow and I am very excited for this new experience.  If you want to learn more about CCS and their programs check out their website at www.crossculturalsolutions.org!

Bangkok- huge and skyline looks like Chicago

Day 1: I arrived in Thailand at 1 AM on June 1st and was met by Jack- one of the staff members at the CCS Thailand home base after a long hectic day at the Beijing aiport.  Back in Beijing, something was incorrect with my confirmation numbers on my electronic ticket and it was the most terrifying experience because Keith had already left on his flight and I was all alone (granted very safe at an airport).  My flight was scheduled to leave at 8:15 pm and they began check in at 5:40.  Thankfully, I got there so early I was the second person to check in and then the long tumultuous journey of phone calls began.  The staff at the Beijing airport was very helpful and it took two hours to figure out my ticket situation and get me a correct electronic ticket number.  It was the scariest thing because A) I thought I was going to miss my flight because I got the ticket at 7:45 and was running around the airport like crazy trying to make it to the gate B) I had no phone/laptop was dead so no means of communication with anyone C) didn’t really know much Chinese to get around and D) I had no back up plan… I guess I would take the next flight but that wasn’t until the next day and I couldn‘t communicate with people back at CCS.  It was all very frustrating and scary but THANKFULLY I got on the plane just in time and flew into Bangkok safely.

CCS friends! yay!

Once I arrived, I got settled and went to bed.  The first day was very relaxing- getting accustomed to our beautiful home here in Thailand and watching the other volunteers trickle in.  There are 10 of us here: 8 girls and 2 guys.  It’s surprising because a lot of us are actually from the Midwest, 2 people from Canada, and one person from China.  We are all in our 20s and have been getting along great!  I love my roommates Kati, Allie, and Lexi; there are two bunk beds in each room.  It’s so great getting to know everyone and hearing their life stories.  The way I think of it as is the “Real World…. Volunteer Style” haha.  (I make myself laugh sometimes/think I cane be pretty witty at times but in reality it probably fails most of the time lol).  Anyways, so to sum up the first day- much relaxing and getting to know everyone!

Day 2:
Day two started with breakfast and a brief orientation followed by an AWESOME activity.  We were split

Baby sloth at the floating market, it grabbed my hand!!

up into pairs and had to go exploring around Bangkok. Some pairs had a destination within walking distance, but Amy and I had to go to the “wood work” street by taxi which is full of shops with intricate wood carvings, panels, etc.  The wood work was absolutely beautiful because it was so detailed and intricate- I am definitely bringing some home with me. It was so fun getting to flag down a taxi and try to explain where we were going (we have a laminated card with our home address and phone numbers just in case for the taxi drivers to know where the home base is).  We then had lunch and went to a floating market where there were so many different kinds of foods you just had to pick something and go for it.  OMGOSH I totally forgot to mention this… but on the first night I ate a scorpion!!!!!  The whole group went out to the backpackers district in Bangkok where all the travelers and tourists go to hang out and shop with all street vendors and there are several streets all with different feels.  Techno music is blasting on one side and then smaller music venues with guitar players a few steps away.  Oh and the scorpion tasted like a French fry, so if you ever want to try it… I would highly recommend it just for the experience!

Day 3:

We had orientation today as well and it was super super informative.  We learned a little bit about the history, the culture, the religion, and we have a language lesson later on during the day although my handy dandy pocket phrase book has been very helpful! Here is a picture of a spirit house.  You can find these little shrines everywhere and houses also can have their own.  It is used to make offerings to the spirits so that your house is safe and so that the spirits protect you in a way. You can find water, food, and incense is lit as well when making an offering. I also learned today that there is a swimming pool at my placement which is awesome because it is SOOOOOO humid and hot that swimming every day is going to be the greatest feeling in the world. I am also super impressed with CCS- everything is extremely well organized, we have meals cooked for us daily, and cultural activities planned.  I feel as if I am truly getting the most out of this experience already and its only day three! I literally cannot wait for every minute of every single day.

Well this has been a long post… but I also just wanted to mention the feet! Oh my goodness the feet. Because it is so hot and humid everyones feet are swollen and it’s the strangest thing because they just feel so heavy and definitely look puffy.  Ice and elevating the feet seem to be the most helpful solution though.  The food is delicious, the people so friendly.  I guess it’s true- I have arrived in the land of smiles  : )