First Impressions

 (1) Okay, it’s hot. We realized this the second we stepped out of the airport at 10:00 p.m. Warm, moist, traffic-scented air wrapped itself around us and wouldn’t let go.

We have been told by several natives already that Thailand has three seasons: hot, hotter, and hottest. The sad thing is that they laugh when they say this. Like it’s a joke. I can’t imagine living here during the summer, when it routinely gets well over 100 degrees Fahrenheit. We took a walk this morning around 11 a.m. to explore the back streets around the Mission House, and turned back after ten minutes, even though it’s only 88 degrees. The humidity is stifling, the sun is relentless, and we are beginning to understand why the city comes alive once the sun goes down. I forgot to pack a hat, but we will buy one today. We bought a smoothie and collapsed on our bed when we got back.

However: we left Minneapolis in part to escape the winter. So no complaints.

(2) Traffic is relentless as well on Ladprao Road, which runs right past the Mission House. We walk along this road to get to our gym and to the stores, dodging pedestrians and bicycles and motor scooters, traffic sounds thrumming and grinding in our ears, avoiding cracked cement and construction debris, hoping we don’t get hit by a stray motorcycle or pushed into the road by congested sidewalk traffic. It feels a bit stressful. Not like walking on a beach.

(3) Most people we’ve met do not speak English. So, as English teachers at Santisuk, we feel needed.

(4) Bangkok is impressive in many ways: gleaming skyscrapers, great medical care, impressive light rail, a thriving economy. In other ways it looks like a third-world country: sewage gutters running down the streets, food shacks under rusty corrugated roofs and cobbled together with any kind of scrap lumber, dilapidated buildings. A city of contrasts.

(5) Street food is good and cheap. We ate lunch at the restaurant adjacent to Santisuk (it sounds fancy, but just a concrete floor and tin roof, open-air) for $1.20 each—a heap of fresh vegetables and chicken and a pile of rice. We’ll eat there regularly.

These are just some of the surprises and adjustments we’re experiencing. Once we start teaching (Jan. 8), we’ll be shifting perspectives once again.

Some have asked about our apartment at the Mission House. It’s up four floors (no elevator). Here are the two main rooms: bedroom (with attached bathroom/shower) and living area. Plain, but adequate.