A Golden Jubilee Indeed :)

      I started my internship at the Golden Jubilee hospital yesterday! It was amazing everybody was really nice and helpful. I was surprised how much they let me do unsupervised on my first day, but I think that they are really short staffed, especially when it comes to physical/occupational therapists. Which is bad for the patients but good for me because I get to do so much more! I checked patients blood pressure when they came in and coached them through their exercises after. You can bet I learned how to count to 100 in Thai pretty fast, since that is how many reps many of them had to do. When my shift was finished a few of the physical therapists took me out for lunch at a restaurant near my apartment. It was good but really spicy! I turned bright red, started sweating, and sniffling a lot from it...they found it mildly amusing but were really sweet about it!

    Today while walking through the campus to the hospital we strolled upon this little guy.

Apparently the first one that I saw was only a baby. 

These are the full grown lizards. Look at how big his back half is compared to the bike!

This is a traditional Thai house that is on Mahidol campus

     Earlier today we went to the park in our town, it was beautiful!

At Buddhamonthon park 

turtle crossing

The KEI group at the park

Buddha

drinking my first coconut before feeding the fish :)

A map of the park

   

Hamburger Crisis

     Today in Southeast Asian Women we were talking about global financial issues. In 1997 Thailand had a financial crisis which they called the tom yum goong (a staple thai soup) crisis. When America had its own financial crisis in 2008 (that is still going on as I am sure you know) they dubbed it the hamburger crisis. I thought this was pretty funny.
    I am in the middle of solidifying my internship at the Golden Jubilee hospital. While there I will be working within the Neurologic Rehabilitation Center helping patients with their exercises and whatnot. I'm super excited about it :)
   I have also noticed that although Thailand is a very humid tropical climate that is perfect for frogs I haven't seen any frogs since I got here. There are rivers and creeks going all through campus yet not a single frog. I think that it is because of the pollution :(
   Also all freshman students have to wear bow ties with their uniforms (including girls) and I think that it is hillarious!
 

Thai version of "The Last Lecture"

   Oh and one other thing. If you are ever traveling abroad and want to watch a dvd so you think, "Hey I'll just buy one at a local mall to play on my laptop," think again. It turns out most dvd drives are regional (to help prevent pirating). I was switching back and forth between season two of "How I Met Your Mother" and a workout video that I brought from home, and now my dvd region code is locked on America. It turns out there is a lifetime limit of five times that you can change it back and forth before it is locked for good. Silly Hollywood and their deals, poor unfinished season two, alright I'm almost over it now. I hope that everybody is having a pleasant day!

first day of classes

      Today was the first day of classes at Mahidol University. I had a class called Southeast Asian Women as well as a Thai language and culture class. There was also a yoga class today but I think that I am going to drop it once I get my internship setup. During Southeast Asian Women the professor (who was Thai) made a joke about people who live in West Virginia. So yes they are the butt of all jokes around the world. 

     Last night we ordered a veggie pizza, it was really good even though they put corn and pineapple on it. Other than that I haven't really been doing much besides watching a "How I Met Your Mother" dvd from the mall the other day. I hope that everybody is having a nice day :)

offerings like this are often seen in streets and on sidewalks, I pass at least three on my way to campus. Thai people often buy flowers and food that they put on the tables.

First day of classes :)

The day before the first day of classes on the 4th floor of the learning center.

Chatuchak Market

They have bubble tea everywhere and I LOVE it :)

They also have a lot of corn milk....I haven't quite worked up the courage to try it yet

Girl Scouts!

Eating lunch at Chatuchak market in Bangkok 

    Today View took us to Chatuchak Market! It was so overwhelming that I forgot to take any pictures while there but it is the largest outdoor market in the world! They had everything that you could imagine. Tierra and I had a lot of fun browsing the stalls and bargaining with the sellers. Although they were persistent with trying to get you to buy stuff it was always a satisfying feeling when you knew that you had snagged a great deal. To get their from the apartments we took the bus and the sky train. While waiting for the sky train I started eating a granola bar which is apparently a big no-no. One time somebody put a bomb in a trashcan near this area, so they got rid of all the trashcans. Since there aren't any trashcans eating and drinking is prohibited. At least that is what I got out of it.

pineapple and corn pie at McDonalds

spinach pie at McDonalds?

This lady bought a tiny monkey at the Chatuchak market

Even though it is cute, this monkey is an example of illegal exotic animal trafficking.

We spotted one of the "small crocodiles" aka monitor lizards at our university.

These pictures are from an art exhibit at the Bangkok Arts and Culture Center

This series is depicting the loss of childhood that results from child prostitution

Thai's have a very thin ideal body image. 

This often results in dangerous eating disorders

Inspiring quote painted by Thai students :)

Looking Around

Sunset :)

     It was absolutely beautiful outside today! I went exploring with some of my KEI friends this morning and am starting to really feel more rooted here.

The bridge that I cross to get from the apartment to the University.

    I got my first Thai massage today and it was amazing. Rebecca, Shannon, and I walked down to a parlor near us that advertised massages, hair, and nails. When we got there though they said that they knew a place better than theirs and that they would take us to it. This really surprised me but I guess it was nice. When I got to the new massage parlor they gave me some really comfy silk pants and a shirt to change into. It was an amazing massage! My masseuse used this heating lotion that was nice. She also stretched me out a lot, which was nice but kind of surprising. Afterwards they served me herbal tea and talked about my experience in Thailand so far. They kept talking about how pretty my hair was and asking what type of dye I use. When I told them that I didn't dye it they were astonished and went into a little frenzy over it. I didn't really know why, it looked about the same color as their hair to me! The massage took over an hour and only cost 150 baht which is about $5! I think I will definitely be going back there again!

The Mandarin Oriental, pparently this is the hotel from the Hangover 2

This is from the river boat cruise, unfortunately the guy spoke Thai so I'm not sure what it is but it's pretty right?

ditto

  Apparently Thailand is not very onboard with American television and music. I wanted to put on a show while I ate crab rangoons/worked on the blog and to my surprise Netflix, HBO go, Pandora, Fox, and ABC did not work here. I rented a movie on i-tunes before I left America but it has also disappeared so maybe it's the same thing. Its a good thing that there is a lot of stuff to do here otherwise I would really miss a lot of those shows (I still might lol). I think that we are going to head down to the 7-11 and buy a few movies soon :)

Rebecca found Thai Harry Potter!

more Thai Harry Potter :)

Orientation Time

     This morning we had orientation with the rest of the MUIC (Mahidol University International College) students. It was really cool getting to meet so many students from all over the world who were going to be our classmates for the rest of the trimester. I was already pretty close with the students from my KEI group so at lunch I decided to eat with these two other girls who were sitting by themselves. They were French and it was nice getting to talk to them at first, but it quickly became apparent that they just wanted to be on their own. After a few minutes of introductions they returned to their fast paced french conversation. A few minutes later they moved to another empty table. Oppps my bad. Maybe some French stereotypes are kinda true lol.

Tierra, Shannon, Rebecca, and I about to leave for orientation

Looking down from my balcony at night

At orientation getting our uniforms and IDs made

Last night I decided to be adventurous and buy some pickled mango. The adventure ended quickly. It was nasty. They dipped it in the spicy sugar. blah

The view when looking left on the balcony

I've still been struggling with jet lag so last night when I was having trouble sleeping I went and got some of my new milk out of the fridge. It tasted kind of sour so I looked at the date and it said 7-1-13 (except I thought the 7 was a 1 in my sleepy state). So I freaked out and dumped it down the drain on the balcony. When I was telling my friends about how sad I was that I bought expired milk they pointed out to me that in Thailand the date goes day-month-year. So my milk wasn't expired after all. Sad times for Amanda :(

my bed :)

bathroom

shower

kitchen lol

closet, tv, dresser, desk, and getting ready station

Tonight we are going on a fancy riverboat dinner cruise!!! Yay I'm so excited. I hope that everybody is having a lovely day and I appreciate you taking time to read my blog!

Day 1 in Salaya

Tierra and I exploring Mahidol University

     This morning I arrived at my apartment in Salaya at 2 am. I found out that I don't have a roommate for  now and probably won't for the rest of the trip, which is nice I guess since I could definitely use the extra storage space. Six girls from my program with KEI are on the hall with me and they are all super sweet. Tierra (in the picture above) is one of the girls that I was lucky enough to get to know some ahead of time. 

     After unpacking and skyping family and friends back home it was time to hunt down some food. For breakfast Tierra and I got some amazing crab rangoons and fried minnows. We then met up with some of the other girls from our program and continued exploring the area. Everybody is so nice here, especially compared to the Chinese in the Beijing airport! They were pretty mean there and nobody spoke English. 

     Our advisor View took us out for a traditional Thai lunch and it was delicious! I got pad thai with shrimp. While walking there we passed two police officers on motorcycles who had AK-47s strapped to their backs. We were slightly concerned about this and it seemed to surprise her as well so I do not think it was normal. The people at the restaurant were very nice and helpful. A few minutes after we got there they even put on the movie  Step Up 4 in English!

A flower that fell from a tree at the University

     After lunch we met with a few administrators at the International College (where we will be taking classes). While walking the campus View told us that there are a good amount of "small crocodiles" around the campus that are about two feet long...but they usually don't bite people so it's okay.

There were signs like this promoting the uniform all over campus. I thought they were pretty funny :)

     

The courtyard in the middle of the library

A feature meal at a KFC

    After a much needed nap we went took the bus to a grocery store/shopping center. There wasn't a lot of diversity in food but it was interesting to see and nice to stock up on a few staple groceries. Although most Thai people dress very conservatively it appears that this might not reflect personal values as much as it may appear. In the middle of the grocery store/food court place there was a giant lingerie store. Throughout the store they also had lots of condoms and items such as KY jellies at the end of aisles and by the checkout where we usually have candy.

   It has been a long day but I am loving it here so far! Once I finish unpacking I will put up pictures of the apartment. I hope everybody had a happy New Year!