A Sweet Start to the New Year

When I woke up this morning, I felt a lot of emotions, anxiety, excitement, happiness, and exhaustion were a few, but mostly I was incredibly hopeful for my first day of classes. My first and only class of the day started at 1. 1?! How awesome is that?! I kicked off the new semester with Thai media. I was kind of disappointed when I saw that they didn't offer any of the classes that I initially chose, but now that I have had one, I am really excited about the rest! My professor today was a lively man who had the entire class rolling with laughter. He claimed to have poor English, but I think the famous Thai modesty was coming out, because I could understand him perfectly. I can tell this will be one of my favorite classes. It will basically cover Thai media and how it influences the culture and Thai people. As an Advertising major, all I learn about is media and its influence, so the class will be interesting to compare the media here to the media that I am accustomed to at home. Also, in the syllabus we are scheduled to attend a Thai game show! As a child raised off the game show network, I felt I was embarrassingly excited for this little field trip! My teacher has a really crude sense of humor, which I really appreciate. So far, so good, I already love it! Classes here are 3 hours each, and you only have them one time a week. It is nice in a way because I only have class 3 days a week, one tuesday, one wednesday and two thursday, but in another way... I was so tired by the end of class! I am not used to a three hour lecture! I have had a few long classes at home, but this will take some getting used to!

After I finished class, I went to the Thammasat Bookstore. I found out Friday that BJM and Thai studies are not required to wear a uniform to class. (yayyy) However, I have to wear it for the trip to the grand palace, for midterms, and for finals. So, I had to buy a belt, a buckle and a TU pin. Which, normally I would be annoyed, but at 200 baht (about 6 dollars US) for all three, I can't really complain. After the trip to the bookstore, we walked down to Khao San Road and the surrounding market. A few girls that I've met here hadn't gotten a uniform yet, so I just went along for fun. I am still overwhelmed by the markets here. Making your way through a sea of people, food, and merchandise is just too much at times. I often don't know what to look at. I stumbled upon this woman in the center of the street and at first, I assumed she was just another vendor selling some kind of sketchy meat product. However, when I looked closer, she was making a dessert that is not only absolutely incredible to watch it being prepared, but AMAZING to eat! I wish I would have taken a picture or video, but it was crowded and honestly, I was in awe. She had a giant wok type pan and then had a little station with fruits in it. I can't remember the name of the dessert, but I will have to get it later. She started out with dough and stretched it around until it was paper thin. She then grabbed a banana, and I have no idea how she didn't dice her arms off, but it was like a mixture between extreme grace and magic. She peeled the banana with minimal effort and chopped it up in a matter of seconds without even moving her hand. The crepe type dough was then folded around the center like an envelope and it was fried to a golden brown. She then diced the little pocket up and glazed it with a sweet coconut milk/sugary sauce. I can't even describe the taste, it was just so good! I don't know what kind of sorcery went into it, but somehow the bananas are still cold, while the flaky crepe was golden and crunchy and warm. Best dessert I've had thus far! 

After finishing up our shopping, I found a stand selling adapters, which ironically was exactly what I needed! Before I left, I ordered two from Amazon, and was excited to have them all ready for the trip. However, they made it to my house the day after I left, so I haven't had one here. I bought one at 7-11 last night and I went to plug it in and POP! I heard a huge popping sound and then the smell, oh jeez, it smelled like burnt plastic. THANK GOD my laptop wasn't plugged into it yet. Rest in peace surge protector. I was a mess worrying about what kind of damage my faulty plug did to the apartment, because none of the outlets were working in the entire room! However, after asking the apartment manager, they said it wasn't a big deal, all we had to do was flip the breaker. Whew! (My new one works perfectly though, so cheers to that!)

On the way back to the apartment, my new friend Alicia and I sat on the top of the bridge that we have to walk across to get to our apartment. As we rested our tired feet, we saw set over the horizon. Bangkok holds all kinds of beauty and the more time I spend here, the more I see how much it really has to offer beneath its urban, dirty exterior. 

Tomorrow is the second day of class, international film! I can't wait!