Introduction to Bangkok

Hi everyone!

My name is Ana Andrade, and I am originally from Baltimore, MD. This semester, I am studying abroad in Bangkok, Thailand (otherwise known as the City of Angels), and I'll be here for the next 4 months. I am a Global Studies major and I am currently studying at Assumption University Bangkok. 

Firstly, I'm going to start by talking about my favorite thing here so far...THE FOOD!! The food is absolutely delicious, and I'm a huge sucker for rice, so I try to get it with all my meals. Rice and pork, rice and chicken, rice and curry, rice with seafood...the list could go on and on. So far, all the food I have eaten has been pretty casual and "normal," except for that one time I ate a scorpion on the iconic Khao San Road (a.k.a backpacker central). I only had a claw (which was sweet) so I couldn't fully savor the scorpion, however, my friend and fellow student, Ava Haag, ate part of the body and she said it tasted like a sweet sauce on a crunchy chicken. 

I consider myself to be able to eat anything, except spicy food. Thai people love their spice, so a large majority of the food here is spicy, however, I usually have no problem if I just say "mai phet" or "not spicy." Other than that, I usually eat anything here including seafood. Some things which I haven't been brave enough to try yet though include bugs (like spiders, larvae, etc.) and crocodiles. You can once again get these delicacies in Khao San Road, and my friends and I have promised each other that we will try them before we leave.

In addition to the food, I am proud to say that I am one of the few people in our group who hasn't had food poisoning or a problem with her stomach yet, however, we will be here for the upcoming four months so I don't want to jinx it. 

In continuation, I know this is strange, but funnily enough, my biggest culture shock moment here so far has been with the bathrooms. Here in Thailand, (and I'm sure in other parts of Southeast Asia) most people use squat toilets, and they clean themselves using a little hose. Most public places in Bangkok have toilet paper, however, if you go to more remote places outside of the city, it can be hard to find toilet paper even there, and you should bring your own roll. So far I haven't been brave enough to use the squat toilets, but this will probably change throughout the semester (!!). 

On a separate note, another thing that absolutely amazes me is the architecture of the temples and traditional buildings. They have such intricate and colorful designs that it is hard to believe that some were done and painted by hand. An example of these would be the temples in Wat Pho (some are tombs of royalty or of people with money), which I know for sure are hand-painted. Even the traditional buildings here called salas, are a beautiful red and gold color, and they have amazing gold designs. 

One thing that I feel I should point out about Bangkok, is that the traffic is absolutely insane! One time when my friends and I were returning to our dorms from downtown Bangkok, we got stuck in traffic for over half an hour! Thankfully, there are many other forms of transportation in Bangkok that do not include the typical taxi. You can use the BTS train ("sky train"), water taxis, tuk-tuk's (basically open-air taxis), the metro, and of course, motorbikes. Motorbikes are the form of transportation that most Thailanders use, they have overtaken Bangkok. 

Speaking of the motorbikes, walking in Bangkok is actually quite difficult, precisely because of the congested traffic and motorbikes. The motorbikes are allowed to use both the road AND the sidewalks as they please, so you always have to be very careful of them no matter where you are walking. Additionally, a lot of streets in Bangkok actually don't have proper sidewalks or street rules, so a lot of the times you have to weave through cars and walk in the street. Bangkok honestly isn't a very "walkable" city like a lot of cities in Europe for example, but we make it work! The drivers are used to people crossing the street at random times, so thankfully we really haven't had any problems or accidents yet.

To end off my intro to Bangkok, I will talk about the people. The people here are incredibly nice and respectful, and usually curious to know more about you. They get excited when you try to speak Thai, and unlike Americans who I personally feel get easily annoyed when foreigners try to speak English, they encourage you to keep trying to speak Thai. They also kindly respond when you greet them ("sawadee ka" for girls, means hello), and they try their best to help you if you have any questions. Their hospitality is top-notch.

Anyways, this concludes my intro to Bangkok, I hope it was interesting and that you learned something new! 

See you next week!