Figured I should update this now that I'm semi-settled in. The flight was long and brutal, but could've been much worse. My friends Tim, Jordan, and Matt all met me at the airport and helped get me home. I haven't been sleeping too much since I've been here, I think maybe it's the excitement factor plus having a lot on my mind. The first day was an information overload. I was trying to figure out where to eat, set up my phone, unpack, communicate with Thai's, and a whole mess of other things. I wasn't able to go anywhere w/o my friends. Don't feel too bad for me though. My day consisted of getting a thai massage for $5, swimming, sonna session, and eating great food.
Yesterday was much better. I woke up around 9am when everyone was still sleeping. I decided I needed to do some exploring and find my language school. After walking around aimlessly for 2 hrs I finally found it and settled all the paperwork/money etc. I got back to Tim's apartment (where I'm staying) and he had just woke up. He took me out to set up my bank account, and to go to the mall.
The only thing I have left to do is look for my own place. I won't be doing that until tomorrow though since it's Sunday. I start language class on Wednesday which I'm pretty excited for. I really want to learn Thai, so it's easier to get around. Most people speak english, but it's still difficult to understand sometimes. I'm going to stop writing now and just post some pics. I'll update again soon.
in the back of red truck taxi. ~.65c gets u anywhere
the mall
sitting in the tuk tuk. more expensive then red truck, but faster/better
Well, a few lines of that song apply. I'm leaving, not sure when I'll be back, bags are packed blah blah. I'll miss a lot of things about the U.S. and A. Most of all will be friends and family, but I think overall this was a solid life decision. Also, time goes by quick, and I'll be back eventually.
I set off for the airport tomorrow circa 8am. I have 2 checked bags, a carry-on, and my laptop. I've devised a pretty good strategy on how to carry them all at once. My phone (well more of a ipod touch now since it has no service) is loaded up with movies, music, and games for the plane ride. I get my own monitor on the plane loaded with other entertainment, as well as a usb port so I can charge my devices. So it sounds like my plane ride shouldn't be too bad.
I land Thursday night at 10:20pm Thailand time. I imagine by the time I get back to my friend's apartment, I will just want to crash and go to sleep. Friday, I have to figure out cell phone, bank account, school, locations of places etc. I also have to go apartment hunting, and hope to find a place within two weeks. It looks like I'll be pretty busy for a while.
After all the travel madness is settled, I don't have any firm plans of what to do. I have language classes twice a week for three hours. Other than that I'm going to do a lot of exploring and networking. I think I'll be in Thailand from 3 months to a year, but that's not really set in stone. If I like it a lot, I might stay longer. My goal is to get enough money to come back for 3-4 weeks next summer. However, I might be back in a month if I absolutely hate it (can't imagine that happening).
My next destination is also undetermined. I don't really want to start planning anything until I know I can do it. Otherwise, I just get really excited for something, and it might fall through and disappointment creeps in. Honestly, I had so much stress getting ready for this trip, I don't even want to think about doing paperwork for somewhere new.
Once I settle in a little bit, I will post some pictures of my new place etc. This blog might actually become about something interesting, rather than a guy talking about something interesting happening in the future. If you've read this far, thanks. I will update again soon.
Today was my last day of work! I think I mentioned I would be quitting on the 9th, but I have enough money and didn't really feel like working any longer, so I left a week earlier than anticipated. I had more vacation time left than I thought I would so that'll be an extra couple hundos. We also got a small raise before I left, so my last check had some extra money in it. Had a nice going away lunch, and was let out one hour early with a full days pay, so overall pretty good times.
I'm nearly done with everything I need to take care of. I finally got my Education Visa yesterday. That was a big hassle, and I had been working on that since late June. I think I had about twenty emails back and forth with the language school trying to make sure everything was right. Translated Thai isn't always clear :) . All that's left is throwing a bunch of clothes in a suitcase. I guess the last two weeks I'm just going to hang around and say good bye to people.
That's pretty much it, I'll keep this short and sweet. My phone will work until September 18th, after that I'll only have email, google+, facebook, aim, msn, and skype. So if you don't have one of those, I will not talk to you.
