So, I have been in Thailand for two days now, so it would seem a great time for an update.
Has it really only been two days? It seems like so much longer, but that could be because of Jet Leg and seriously not known what day it is...is it Saturday today, Friday? Sunday? Do I gain a day or did I loose one? (These questions are, of course, rhetorical. I am aware of which day it is, for the most part) My journey here was rather uneventful.
After spending a few days visiting friends on Vancouver Island I jumped a ferry and then a taxi to the Vancouver airport. There I boarded a plane to Manila. I had never taken this route before. Usually I take a route through South Korea or Japan, but I got a decent price flying through the Philippines, so I thought I would try it. The flight was fine, nothing really to complain about...nothing really to extol either though. 12.5 hrs to Manila, then I had a 4 hour lay-over and another 3.5 hour flight to Bangkok. The thing I would complain about is the lay over in Manila. The airport terminal they parked us in for two hours was the smallest international terminal I have every seen. I think I could count the shops and services on one hand, and not a single one was an actual restaurant. There was also no money exchanges, so if you failed to buy pesos before leaving Vancouver you either had to go with out eating or take a chance on the store accepting Canadian/American. (I decided to not take a chance and wait...needless to say, when they served us a meal on the next flight I nearly inhaled it. I ate it so fast the man beside me offered his meal as well.) Finally the seats they had for you to sit on where hard metal benches. Really, the entire airport had an unwelcoming feel, and felt like it had not been updated since the 1970's. But hey I only had to pass four hours there and I managed to succeed at that.
Getting off the plane in Thailand I had little trouble getting through customs...did have to answer a few questions as to what I was doing, (but had a letter to explain that) and pay, but it was minimal. After passing the customs and getting my bags I went out into the arrivals lobby to see if I had anyone picking me up. Unfortunately I did not have an internet connection so I could not check my email to see if the office had told me who was coming. Fortunately, I knew that it could really only be one of two people coming to get me. When I did not see them in the first meeting place I wandered to the next, and was about to give up hope when as I reached the third, but both of my friends where there to pick me up...they immediately told me that they wanted to get burger king for lunch as there was not one in our city...so my very first meal in Thailand was a cheese burger, yay!
After a two hour drive we were in SriRacha and I was being shown to my room. My friends asked me if I knew how to get to the college from the dorms, told me to come by in the morning and left me to unpack. After spending a few hours organizing my belongings I decided I was hungry, but thought I should take a nap before looking for food, this was around 6pm. When I woke up at 1am I decided that I should just stay in bed and try and sleep until the sun came up at 6am, which was quite a struggle. At 5Am I gave up trying to sleep and got up. By 7:30 I had my bags unpacked a list of things I would like to get for my room. By 8:00 I had found my way down to the mall only to discover it didn't open until 10:30. I walked over to the bible college, but no one was there either, so I went back to the area of the mall where I knew a coffee shop would be open. There I met up with one of the guys who picked me up at the airport.
I managed to fill up most of the day running errands like getting my local phone number, opening up my Thai bank account and helping another friend with shopping for a get together we had late last night, a guys night to watch the France vs. Germany soccer game.
And now it is Saturday and so far I have found my way to the mall and back home, and do not have really anything else planned for today...who knows maybe some of my friends will invite me over...oh wait I just remember, the "7 weeks in Asia" team gets in tonight.
So yes it really has only been two days since I have gotten off my plane in Thailand, and in someways I feel like I have not gotten much done, but the days definitely have felt very long.
Tomorrow starts 7 weeks in Asia. I may get a few more blog updates put in before we get to crazy with that, but it is hard to say.
The Boy Wonder.