Home Away from Home

I finalized my search and payed my deposit for my new apartment today.  I signed the 1 year contract with the American owner of the condo and did the fingerprint and palm print for security.  The condo is located right next to (red X on Map) the world renown international hospital, Bumrungrad. Bumrungrad has some of the best medical staff in all of Asia as well as a nice food court and gym.  I timed a 10 minute walk from my apartment to the BTS.

There is also a canal which has boat taxis is right next door.  I haven’t explored my area which is called Ploen Chit yet but I will blog about it soon. I’ve been living at a serviced apartment for the first couple months that I’ve been here called Patumwan House.  The location is great right in the middle of the one of the biggest shopping areas in the world and a 5 minute stroll to BTS which is the skytrain which is probably the cleanest and coolest (air conditioned)  subway I’ve ever been on. Without the BTS which has only been around since 1999 getting around in Bangkok would be hell as some say Bangkok is in the top 10 for world’s worst traffic.

The first time I came to Bangkok I remember the BTS skytrain was significantly slower and didn’t travel as far but now it is lightening fast and includes an extensive subway system as well. For a Farang (foreigner) in Bangkok it is essential to be within walking distance to a BTS station and Patumwan House couldn’t be more convenient.  Walking 5 minutes in high heat and humidity is just about enough time to not start sweating too profusely.

I read reviews about Patumwan house on Lonely Planet and they said exactly what I felt. The reviews said that Patumwan House was a great place to stay for a short duration while you get used to Bangkok and find an apartment to your liking.  It just didn’t feel like a home to me but I would recommend it for anybody wants to have a nice place to stay while exploring the city.  It has nice hardwood floors, is extremely clean (I never saw a single roach, gecko or even ant for 2 months) and that’s with a messy guy who eats all the time. I was paying 15,000 baht ($440) a month plus electricity for a 40sq meter (409 sq. feet) studio (compared to my 1 bedroom of 350sq. feet in San Francisco for $1200).  Unfortunately for me, my first month’s electricity (air conditioning) bill was 6,000 baht ($176) which is probably what most Thai people pay for the rent itself.

I am now paying 11,000 baht ($323) a month for a smaller 30 sq. meter (322 sq. feet) studio.  More space for me equals more clutter,  bigger mess and more spending money on crap I don’t need which were all issues at my San Francisco apartment.  The place is small but has western style hardwood/marble floors, a nice modern granite bathroom and some cool bells and whistles. Many places I looked at were pretty Thai to me, meaning they had things that I wouldn’t expect being an American.

Things included non-glass open windows, curtain instead of front door, and stone slab floor.  When it came down to it though the location was most important which is a 15 minute walk to my Thai language school which is the only time I need to be a place while I’m here for the 4 hours a week or so I thought…

Settling In, or so I thought

Just when I thought I was settling in and getting into a normal routine my language school called me and let me know that I could not get an Education visa without leaving Thailand.  This is bad because 1.  I’m lazy, and 2.  I’m freaked by the  lightening which is around all the time here) after the recent horrible Air France disaster, 3.  A 12-24 hour train or bus ride is completely out of the question. It is also good because it gives me a chance to book at least a 3 day excursion.  I have tons of options but have narrowed it down to 5 flights under 3 hours for the time being.

1. Fly to Penang, Milaysia which is famous for incredible street food and decent beaches.
2. Fly to Saigon (Ho Chi Minh City), Vietnam where my crazy friend Zeus has been living for a year+
3. Fly to Penom Penh because it’s only a 90 minute cheap flight and cheap hotel.
4. Fly to Calcutta, India because I’ve never been to India.
5. Fly to Hong Kong because Hong Kong is badass.

I will definitely blog when I decide.  I need to research visa agents because standing in a crowded embassy is not my idea of a vacation.  To my knowledge the visa agent takes your passport and does the dirty work going to the embassy and getting the paperwork done.  The major thing I need is the stamp on the visa when I arrive back at BKK.

View out Apartment Window during Day

Sawatdee Khrab! Today was one of the very few days in the past 2 months where I actually had to be somewhere at a specific time.  I had to go look at apartments (read about apartment) then I had my first Thai language class which takes place Monday and Wednesday from 5-7 pm at Thai Language Express and gives me the all-important 1 year Education visa.

First of all, it felt kind of wierd actually having to be somewhere.  Keep in mind that for the last 5+ years I’ve been running around from workouts to personal training appointments 6 days a week.  I went from a schedule heavy in appointments to a schedule heavy in sleep. I managed to arrive to both appointments last minute.

To get to my language class I even considered running  the wrong way down two escalators from the BTS skytrain but I decided I didn’t feel like spending the night in a Thai jail so I took the long way around.

Tonal Languages are Difficult

You can see the Thai alphabet is very different from the letters you are reading but that is only half of the story.  Each word can have 1 or more tones.  There are 5 different tones in Thai, mid, low, falling, high and rising.  Each letter which has a little mark on the top right signifies a different way to pronounce the word.

As we learned there are different tones in English but they do not completely change the meaning of the word.  In Thai they do which makes it extremely difficult for me to grasp on the first day of class   For example you can say mai 5 different ways.  Each tone completely chances the word which could either mean, mile, new, no, right? or silk but western ears won’t likely be able to tell the difference.

How the First Thai Class Went

Anyone that knows me can pretty much see how my first class went.  Of course I was staring at the pretty girls walking by and spacing out while I got my ass handed to me in group activities.  Evidentally, like most Thai things, the cirricululm was not put together with strict rules in mind as some members of my class of 8 or so have been taking Thai for weeks and others have just started like me. The first half of the 2 hour class was tought in English, explaining some rules, etc. while the second half was the total immersion style with the teacher Nana speaking all Thai.

I have heard the immersion method of learning a language is the best but I cannot see how.  I am in living in Bangkok, Thailand and would think that living my day to day life would enable me to become immersed in the Thai language enough. I will leave it at that as it is 5am (my usual bedtime) and have more on Thai language very soon.