i think last night was the first time i felt somewhat at home here. emily and sam hosted a dinner at their house. sam is a vegan chef so all the food was vegetarian. it was the best meal i've had since i've been here, i think. it was like the whole foods market buffet, only better.
so we all ate, as much or more than we would eat at thanksgiving, and drank wine and pineapple rum smoothies. then we all just sat around and talked for a couple hours and then got a taxi, large enough to fit 11 people, and went back to VIP.


as fun as the dinner was, it made me miss my friends a lot. i'm getting more comfortable with my friends here and it felt great hanging out with them in a relaxed setting. but seeing emily and sam together made me miss brian. i've been getting headaches lately and i don't know if it's because i'm getting sick or maybe my headband's too tight? haha. i don't know. i've been snapping at people more. i've been on the edge. i don't like it. i'm finally able to fix my hair now. when i got to thailand, i accidentally fried my hair straightener. but i bought a new, cheap one the other day and it works well.

but happy things. let's think about happy things.

the other day, anne and i went to watch jamie at his muoy thai practice.

i came up with a pretty clever nickname for him. Million Dollar Jamie. get it?


that same day, a bunch of us went out for Tristen's birthday dinner at Taj Mahal, a little indian restaurant in town. after dinner, a few of us wanted to make phone calls back home. the international phones are located at 711's in town, and there is one on every other corner or so. anne and jamie and everyone else was at one 711. i decided to walk by myself to another one nearby so we could spend half as much time using the phones. and also so we could make the 10pm bus on time. i pointed to the 711 i was going to, and they told me they would meet me there. after a couple phone calls, one which was to beth (it was so nice to talk to her), i realized that the bus was about to leave and the rest of my "group" hadn't come to retrieve me. so i went out looking for them. i was sweating and tired, the humidity in the air felt worse because i was around tons of people and vendors and skillets and hot food. i figured that they just couldn't find me so they had just taken the bus back. i thought, "oh they probably think i'm alright. they know i can take a taxi back to VIP." so after i decided that they had left me, i went looking for a taxi. they are EVERYWHERE, so it was easy. but as soon as i said "yes" to one driver who offered me a ride, i found my group. they were shocked to see me (they were convinced i was kidnapped), and relieved that we could finally go home. they did wait for me after all :)

i'm reading a book called Kafka on the Shore by Haruki Murakami. it's really good.

tonight i think i'm going to emily's again. her and sam invited everyone over to eat the leftovers.

i think i'll probably go read my book on the beach tonight.

have a nice day, everyone.

last night was alex from norway's birthday party. 26 years old. him and his friend, joe, lived in one of the most expensive cities in the world - Oslo - before coming to Thailand. so while they're here, they buy whatever they want at whatever cost. they moved out of VIP and into a house a few blocks down from VIP. it's a nice place, but very small. they bought a whole new living room set, a big flat screen tv, stereo system, and god knows what else. they are also getting a maid. i think they said they spent 300,000 baht on decorating the house.

anyway, they had the party there. it was kind of fun.

alex is the one with the beer in his hand. the girl he has his arm around is who he took on a date today.


this is the girl alex was sleeping with before he took the above girl on a date. and my beautiful roommate, anne.


this is xavier (aka "X"), nino (the owner of the restaurant the webster kids go to all the time), and Jeff. nino bought alex a birthday present. 2 ladyboys. they were supposed to hit on alex and see how alex responded. unfortunately, as soon as alex took a look at them, he knew they were not female. unfortunately, i do not have a picture of this.


this is anne and juan (aka "Spanky"). juan says that if he wasn't gay, he would want to date me. he's a great dance partner.


this is jamie and i being stupid.



anne and i danced sooooo much. and it was just the two of us. and then juan showed up and he danced with us. i'll post those pictures later because they are hilarious.


on thursday, there was another party. an "icebreaker". at nino's.

this is an awkward picture of my awesome new canadian friend, emily, and me. at the party. she's really gorgeous.


on friday, a bunch of us went to a "beach bar" called Relax. it was probably one of the most fun times i've had since i've been here. it was dark and the weather was perfect. it was just our little group. foo-foo drinks and digging our feet into the sand.






today has been completely pointless. anne and i didn't leave the room until about 2pm. we are going swimming later, and i'll probably watch 1-2 movies.

oh, forgot to say. i got some cool bootleg dvds. and they all work.

i got:
Final Destination 2
Final Destination 3
a movie for Beth which will be a surprise
and...
The Devil Wears Prada, which i got for FREE b/c the guy who sells them just loves me so much.

tonight i began my research of Thai cinema. ann and i went to the "Major Cineplex" in the Hua Hin market village and saw Koy Ter Yuem (See How They Run). it's about a little ghost boy who haunts people in the markets because he was aborted by mother. he goes out looking for his father, who turns out to be a monk. it was ridiculous and silly and creepy as hell. which made me want to see more and more thai movies. the opening scene is a bloody abortion. the film was trying to make a statement on how abortion is wrong and it ends with a thai boy telling the audience to not choose abortion as an option. really odd. and before the film began, there was a song and a video of the King and everyone in the theatre stood up like you do during the national anthem.


here is the view from the room

there is a large population of stray dogs in thailand.

some of them are cute and clean and hang out on the webster campus.

(actually this one isn't a stray, but it just roams free all day long)


and then some of them are like this..

i'm not really sure what to do about this. there is nothing really i can do.

:(

i haven't really introduced anyone yet.

this is ann

she's my roommate and she's great. an english lit major at the st.louis campus. she's sarcastic, fun, and great to talk to.

this is jamie

he's as funny as seth cohen (from the OC) and looks slightly like nick lachey, but he doesn't like it when i say that. he's a photo major from the st. louis campus. awesome guy. he constantly says, "hey guys, we're in thailand" just to remind himself.


this is nisa.

she's the RA. she is one hyper girl. she's lived in thailand her whole life and has never been to the states. this picture is her waiting for her food to come. she was hungry.


this is vicky.

she is hilarious. and she gets a lot of attention from thai people because of her skin color. they're not used to seeing black people so sometimes the thais stop in the middle of the street and just watch her. sometimes they crack up laughing. it can be insulting.

this is an old man and his prostitute friend.


today i had my first class. Thai Ways. it is about the culture, the economy, the government, etc. my teacher's name is Pascale and she's french. tomorrow i have Introduction to Buddhist Studies.

last night ann and i went swimming in the VIP pool. it had just finished raining and the air was really cool. i wanted to swim in the ocean but i have to buy water shoes first. the bottom is full of rocks and who knows what else. jellyfish.

i think i'm just going to take it easy today.

this, my friends, is my new boyfriend.

he sold me sex and the city.

some monks at Khao Tao




the Hua-Hin night market




should i be over homesickness by now? i'm missing everyone a lot. EVEN TYLER. everyone goes out drinking at night. i have no desire to. all i want to do is go to the room and watch a movie and fall asleep. i didn't even experience jet lag. i've had so many great experiences so far and it's only the first week. i hope i'm not missing out on much. since i'm not going out as much as everyone else. this is the experience of a lifetime, i can't forget that.

When we arrived at VIP, we were awestruck by the size of the building. When we got closer, we realized it was nothing to be excited about. The building looks about to fall apart. Our room had mold growing on the ceiling and inside the refrigerator. But it is tolerable. Especially since we have a view of the ocean from our balcony.

our room:









I was fortunate enough to room with Ann. She’s from the st. louis campus. We both have similar views on cleanliness and once we saw our room all we thought was “WE HAVE TO FIND BLEACH.. LOTS OF BLEACH.” Easy enough? No. we went to the little store in VIP where they sell snacks and cleaning supplies. Finding antibacterial cleaner was tough and we ended up accidentally buying toilet bowl cleaner. I still used it to clean the shelves in the room.

i'm here!

first time i've really been able to use the internet.

i don't even know where to begin. a week has gone by and already so much has happened.


first off - i miss my 3 B's - Beth, Brooke, and Brian.

i miss everyone else too.


the plane rides were rough. we went from stl to chicago, not bad at all. chicago airport sucks. then from chicago to japan. 12 hours. crappy horrible movies. not much sleep. narita japan airport. very weird. futuristic. cutesy and brightly colored. quiet.

japan airport:





from japan to bangkok. the worst flight yet. only 7 hours but i fell into an uncomfortable sleep within minutes of getting seated on the plane and woke up a few times to the nasty smells of the plane food that the girl next to me was eating.

when we arrived in bangkok, everyone was beat. but we had to go through immigration and then load all of our luggage onto a bus.

who is we?



me, ann, jamie, vicky, robin, tristen, maria, pamela, daniella, jeff. emily. sam. i will go in to more detail on these people later. but all of them except for emily and sam are webster students.

our housing is not in Bangkok, it is in Hua-Hin. but we had to stay in Bangkok the first night in a Comfort Suite hotel. our guides were Dennis, Jamie, and some other guy.. I forget his name.

the guides:



we arrived in thailand around 11pm and it was too late to head over to the condominiums where we'd be living.

when we got to the hotel, most everyone started drinking. i washed my face and passed out. i would have slept anywhere i was so tired.

the hotel:





in the morning, we had breakfast which consisted of rice, noodles, and fruit. then me and 4 others took a little bus to Bangkok. it was probably the most exciting car ride ever for me, and for everyone else i was riding with. 2 and a half hours of seeing things we had never seen before. things that were not familiar at all. motorbikes holding families of 4 driving on the highway. the roads are opposite. ferile dogs and cats. pictures of the king EVERYWHERE. and i mean everywhere. and don't insult the king or else you'll go to jail.

king everywhere:




it feels as though there are no traffic rules in thailand. crossing the street is like risking your life. i am surprised nobody has gotten run over yet. very surprised. it is very dangerous. the guy driving the car that took us to the condominums spoke no english at all, so whenever we would try to speak thai to him, he would laugh at us. one time during the 2.5 hour trip, he stopped off at a gas station because he was thirsty. he ended up going to a street vendor that was selling liquid in plastic bags with a straw. we had no idea what he was drinking. we thought it was alcohol. turns out, it was soda.

i'm already tired of typing. MORE LATER.

wednesday, one of the last times i got to hang out with my friends until next year.










cb's, upstairs lounge

well, it's less than a week til i leave. one of the things i am most worried about is which camera i am going to primarily use to take pictures.

i am taking a few different cameras.

leica d-lux 2 digital - to use for my international photojournalism class

holga

35mm canon rebel 2000

lomo fisheye

polaroid

i think i am going a little crazy. am i really going to use all these cameras? and if i do, where can i buy the film for them? should i wait to buy the film from somewhere in thailand, or should i stock up now and go through all the annoying airport security of having them hand-check my film? AHH!

also, is there a scanner at the webster u campus?

this is ridiculous. i just need to calm down.