Thursday, October 2, 2008
Sunday, September 28, 2008
Park that baby in Neutral!
This entry is full of anecdotes and factoids that you will likely find amusing and informative!
1. As it turns out, every single person in Thailand parks in neutral. Parking lots are mobile. You see a lot of double parking and people blocking each other in down cul-de-sacs, but it doesn't matter because everyone parks in neutral so you can roll your neighbor's car out of the way and put it back once you've pulled out!
2. When it rains, it pours. No, it floods. Our neighborhood sometimes has a foot of water in the street if its been a horrible all day and night rainstorm. There are gutters but the water table is so high that they cannot sustain the floodwaters. It's monsoon season so it rains almost every night after 7pm until 4am or so, and because its so hot, evaporation takes care of most of the water before I'm out of bed.
3. Bed is a loose term. We all sleep on squishy mats on the floor. They were only like 12 dollars so they're pretty crappy, but its not bad because with our fans on the floor, we get the straight shot of air.
4. My advisor from UNC arrived last night and he will be intensely helping us with our research project. Professor McNelis is an authority on Nuclear power in the US and will be helping us with our Nuclear Feasibility report on Thailand that we will be working on until Christmas.
5. There are 5 Thai children in our house right now. They are all under the age of 8. The kids are always running around the neighborhood and now they've started to just walk right into our house. The Farang Fortress needs a moat. These kids are fun because their English is on par with our Thai. We covered our walls with paper and the children draw and paint on them when they come over. They like to listen to our music and dance around and giggle and learn words. Some of the parents want us to legitimately give them English lessons but its more fun to goof around. The ham of the group, Ken, is 8 years old and a total showboat. He puts on our high heels and dances around with hands over his head and moving his hips like an absolute stripper. He's hilarious and oblivious to the world. It's all fun and games until you try to convince them that they have to go home. Pai Baan dai mai ca? Can you please go home? Response: closing themselves into our bathroom. I wonder where they're parents are.
6. Korean influence is really popular right now in music and style. All of the Thai boys have these kind of metro mullets and spikey hair and very girly bangs. It's fun to see so many styles and whatnot especially because the undergrads where uniforms so their hair is a great way to stand out.
7. I will be going to Koh Tao in 2 weeks to go on my first legit scuba dive adventure in Thailand. I got certified right before I came on this program in May so I can't wait to check out the Gulf of Thailand's coral reef situation. YAY!
8. I am making my best friend Phillip register me for my classes in 2 weeks because I am so unfortunately going to be on a tropical island. My schedule will ideally involve:
-Political Economy of Southeast Asia
-Playwriting
-Electromagentics: Physics 117
-Statistics
-Groundwater Geology
9. Went to a really cool Iranian dinner last week and smoked Hookah for our Iranian friend Ali's birthday. He is studying with us at JGSEE and a really fun guy. He told us a lot about Iran and Persian culture. Turns out that you can still be arrested for dancing in public if you're a woman. They will take you to the police station and tell you parents are stuff but usually you won't go to jail... wild.
1. As it turns out, every single person in Thailand parks in neutral. Parking lots are mobile. You see a lot of double parking and people blocking each other in down cul-de-sacs, but it doesn't matter because everyone parks in neutral so you can roll your neighbor's car out of the way and put it back once you've pulled out!
2. When it rains, it pours. No, it floods. Our neighborhood sometimes has a foot of water in the street if its been a horrible all day and night rainstorm. There are gutters but the water table is so high that they cannot sustain the floodwaters. It's monsoon season so it rains almost every night after 7pm until 4am or so, and because its so hot, evaporation takes care of most of the water before I'm out of bed.
3. Bed is a loose term. We all sleep on squishy mats on the floor. They were only like 12 dollars so they're pretty crappy, but its not bad because with our fans on the floor, we get the straight shot of air.
4. My advisor from UNC arrived last night and he will be intensely helping us with our research project. Professor McNelis is an authority on Nuclear power in the US and will be helping us with our Nuclear Feasibility report on Thailand that we will be working on until Christmas.
5. There are 5 Thai children in our house right now. They are all under the age of 8. The kids are always running around the neighborhood and now they've started to just walk right into our house. The Farang Fortress needs a moat. These kids are fun because their English is on par with our Thai. We covered our walls with paper and the children draw and paint on them when they come over. They like to listen to our music and dance around and giggle and learn words. Some of the parents want us to legitimately give them English lessons but its more fun to goof around. The ham of the group, Ken, is 8 years old and a total showboat. He puts on our high heels and dances around with hands over his head and moving his hips like an absolute stripper. He's hilarious and oblivious to the world. It's all fun and games until you try to convince them that they have to go home. Pai Baan dai mai ca? Can you please go home? Response: closing themselves into our bathroom. I wonder where they're parents are.
6. Korean influence is really popular right now in music and style. All of the Thai boys have these kind of metro mullets and spikey hair and very girly bangs. It's fun to see so many styles and whatnot especially because the undergrads where uniforms so their hair is a great way to stand out.
7. I will be going to Koh Tao in 2 weeks to go on my first legit scuba dive adventure in Thailand. I got certified right before I came on this program in May so I can't wait to check out the Gulf of Thailand's coral reef situation. YAY!
8. I am making my best friend Phillip register me for my classes in 2 weeks because I am so unfortunately going to be on a tropical island. My schedule will ideally involve:
-Political Economy of Southeast Asia
-Playwriting
-Electromagentics: Physics 117
-Statistics
-Groundwater Geology
9. Went to a really cool Iranian dinner last week and smoked Hookah for our Iranian friend Ali's birthday. He is studying with us at JGSEE and a really fun guy. He told us a lot about Iran and Persian culture. Turns out that you can still be arrested for dancing in public if you're a woman. They will take you to the police station and tell you parents are stuff but usually you won't go to jail... wild.
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