The first "Week" : A Recap

14.08.2018 - 22.08.2018

"Oh damn it's hot!", I thought to myself while we were leaving the plane. To be honest I know that that's not the most articulate sentence to start a Blog with, but those words are the first things I remember. I was very relieved that we finally had arrived and even more so, when our Visas got us officially into the long awaited country. We even got picked up from the airport, by two very friendly people who paitently answered all our questions that had been building up for the last few Months. 

Bangkok turned out way bigger, hotter and more chaotic that I thought it would be, but I loved it and I still do. I expected a big culture shock. And I indeed experienced some forms of it, for instance, walking around the city and feeling like a small child, because you can't read anything and obviously don't understand what anyone around you is talking about. Or beeing on the 63rd Floor of a skyscraper and it doesn't matter in which direction you look, all you can see is a big pulsating City filled with Life. This was on the one hand a very intimidating feeling, because all I'm used to is the view from the Schlossberg in Graz (where you can see exactly where the City ends) but I was on the other hand very surprised to find, that with this sense of smallness also came a sentiment of namelessness that made me feel unattached and excited for whats coming next.

The hospitality we experienced in Thailand was something I didn't expect. Really everyone we met was kind. I'm not trying to exaggerate or to say that the people in Austria are ill-mannered, but this type of helpfullness that came from every side we turned to, was something new to us. For every activity we had in our scedule, we received help and it really helped with settling into this new environment. 

Another thing that made us also feel like we fit in, is our Uniform. We never had something like this and I appreciate it a lot, because it helps me to blend in a bit more. 

We also already had the chance to visit a lot of exciting monuments and places (which is very important to me, and I still have more of them left on my to-do list). We went to the beautiful Wat Pho, which was way bigger and more overwhelming than I thought it would be. After that we took a boat to the impressing Wat Arun and ended the excursion with a super tasty papaya salad at Khao San Road. I discovered that I really need to work on my tolerance for spicy foods and that Jacob didn't even blink, when he ate a salad five chilis spicier than mine. 

Another thing I really appreciate are our cooking and our language classes. Both of them help me to understand Thai Culture a bit more and it's so awesome that I will be able to cook for my Family and Friends back at home. 

I really look forward to share classes with the other students, to get to know them and how it is to live a day to day life in Bangkok, when I'm still blown away by everything that's different from home.