My first weekend in BKK.

For this past weekend, many of my colleagues were working at one point during it so I decided it was finally time to go and explore Bangkok. The purpose for going to down to Bangkok was to explore the gay scene; a scene quite infamous in Asia let alone Thailand. It had been quite a while since I had 'let my hair down' so to speak so my friend and I decided to go down and just have some fun. Getting there was reasonably easy actually, with a 4 hour bus dropping me right into central Bangkok for less than £4. What struck me was the heat difference; Bangkok's humidity is much heavier than Korat and expectedly, everything is way more hectic with WAY more westerners! I'm surprised to see another young westerner around Korat, but they were everywhere! As I didn't get into Bangkok until mid afternoon on the Saturday, the places I could explore were limited, so we just explored some of the swanky malls and grabbed dim sum in Chinatown. Bangkok's Chinatown is the second biggest in the world and although I only saw a very small percentage of it, it genuinely felt like I was in China, not like the other Chinatowns I have previously visited where it is still very apparent that you are in a small area of a larger western city.

Chinatown Bangkok.

Later that night, my friend and I checked out some of the gay bars. We first went to a bar called Tawan which hosted a show full of muscled asians. Clearly being the youngest (and thinnest) white guy in the establishment, I felt a little uncomfortable but the show was totally worth the 350 baht I paid to see it...haha! After that, we went to perhaps the most popular gay club in the area called DJ Station. It cost around £6 to get in with 2 free drinks and typical for a Saturday night, it was rammed. The music and scene was good but with it being so crowded, it was easy to get lost. My friend became busy with some other guy, so before long I was roaming around the club alone. But, after a while I got talking to a guy called Harry from New York who was travelling around Asia alone and we really hit it off. So much in fact that we exchanged numbers and decided to hang out the next day and explore the sights. This turned out to be a really sweet deal as my friend who I came with wasn't too keen on the touristy parts of Bangkok. 

The one touristy thing I did for my entire trip in Bangkok.

After grabbing lunch at a restaurant called Cabbages and Condoms (yes...that's its name and I was very pleasantly surprised! Every meal you ordered you got a free condom...great marketing strategy I guess?) we decided to check out the house of Jim Thompson. Thompson was a famous American entrepreneur and architect who moved to Thailand in the 1940s and built this house and filled it full on Thai artwork, decoration and pieces. He also became well known for generating international interest in Thai silk and for contributing to the commercial growth in the silk industry during the mid 20th century. Following his disappearance in northern Malaysia in the 1960s, the house has now become a museum to honour his work and life in Thailand. We had a walking tour with a really sweet Thai lady and although small, the house was exquisite and the pieces scattered around the rooms and gardens were beautiful. Unfortunately due to time constraints, that was really all we managed to do touristy-wise apart from just roaming around Bangkok but I had a blast. As my friend wasn't keen on the touristy things, it was so nice to be able to explore and share the experience with someone as I don't think it would have been as fun going around alone. I will most definitely be keeping in touch with you, mate!

Trying to take a Bro pic...just look grumpy haha.

Sunday evening arrived and it was time to go back to Korat. Shame I didn't get to explore Bangkok a bit more but being here until April gives me the perfect opportunity to come back multiple times. And heck, for 200 baht I'm not exactly breaking the bank either.

Arrival

So I'm here! This is completely insane. Apart from sitting next to a fat guy who took up half my seat on the flight from London to Doha, it was actually a pretty relaxing flight. Where I failed was sleeping a bit on the flight to Bangkok meaning I hardly slept last night at all.

One thing I have been bracing myself for is the culture shock; weirdly it hasn't really hit me yet - maybe its because I'm surrounded by Westerners or because I think it's because I see a lot of comparisons with Malaysia and so I think my subconscious thinks I'm there or something I'm not too sure... A bright pink taxi (they're a thing here) took me to the hotel from the aiport. The hotel is basic but it's clean and the staff are friendly. Biggest issue is the plank of wood they like to call a mattress. It is so hard to sleep on and a big reason as to why I didn't sleep well. Let's hope that improves when I reach Nakhon Ratchasima tomorrow!

We spent the majority of today in Orientation - just running through the do's and don'ts of Thailand and expectations for when we start teaching on Monday. The excitement is still there but after meeting one of the officers from Thailand (her name was Pla which means fish in Thai), I cannot help but get a sinking feeling that things are not going to be exactly what I expected. Out of the 8 of us that are part of this orientation group, 5 are heading to Assumption; As friendly and enthusiastic as Pla was, she did make it sound like the 5 of us were going to have the hardest time - 60 kids per class (god help me!) and for me personally, an age group that is not really too interested in learning English (early teens). To make matters worse, we were told that we don't get much help with apartment hunting either - so that's going to be interesting! Hopefully I can secure a pretty nice gaff out there...
As nervous as I am feeling though, and everyone else for that matter, I was constantly reminded to keep smiling and not worry too much about it. Easier said than done if you know what I'm like. As I said though, this has honestly not deterred my excitement. I've just got to prepare myself for the challenge - it will all work out eventually.

Right now I am staying in Bangkok; I haven't really experienced much of the city yet, but from what I've seen it seems like a pretty hectic place. Some guys from the orientation group and I headed to a nearby park which felt odd to see something so pretty and calm in the hustle and bustle of an extremely busy city (A tiny central park of Bangkok if you will...). Furthermore, where do I even start on the weather?! It is so hot here! It is around 30C but because we are in rainy season, the air is extremely moist, making it feel warmer than it is and making everyone super sweaty. Not nice. What IS really nice though about it all is the fact that there are people around me who agree and are in the same boat; the orientation group are super nice and pretty much all come from the UK/Ireland. It's nice for now that I can do my typical British moaning enough to not sound grumpy if I was doing it to the locals for example.

We had lunch at a local restaurant and just ordered several dishes and tried them all out. I have to say I was really proud of myself that I tried pretty much all of it - even the catfish! (And for people who know me, I am not the biggest fan of fish). My spice tolerance seems to be working in my favour at the moment as I haven't had anything yet (and I strongly emphasise YET) that I haven't been able to handle. This will most certainly change as Nakhon Ratchasima is notoriously known for having some of the spiciest food in Thailand...thanks heavens I bought some Immodium with me!

Off out to dinner tonight with the group and leave early tomorrow morning for the 4hour journey to Nakhon Ratchasima. This has just flown by and its crazy to think I start teaching in just under 4 days.

Will update more when I reach my base for the next 6 months.