Tyler Jones: TO THAI OR NOT TO THAI....THAT IS THE QUESTION!!

What an incredible 5 months of Thailand I have ahead of me. The sights! The sounds! The people! How could I not be excited? But ah! The people! I'll need to make friends, won't I? Not only do I need to make friends, but I need to travel around Thailand and take in ALL of the sights and sounds.

The brilliantly, mesmerizing landscape calls my name!

It's almost too much to even think about right now; my head will explode from anticipation.

Is this when I pray to the patron saint of traveling?

BUT I DIGRESS!

It seems the question is how will I live when I'm over there? How will I get connected with not only the people, but the culture, the atmosphere, the essence of Thailand...

After last week's class, Kara Loveday's tips were an immense amount of help. She told me (this makes sense after some thought, but it wasn't something I had thought about previously) that I should absolutely get connected with a native Thai. I should get connected with someone from the school who is my age and speaks a lot of English. From what I've read on ISEP, I do believe that the school sort of assigns me a "Thai buddy", but I'm not entirely sure if that will actually happen.

But regardless of that, I need to connect with people! Whether or not, I actually find a Thai person to travel around with, it would only help to have a local point me to places to visit. I want to visit places that tourists probably wouldn't go, somewhere off the beaten path.

I'm not there on vacation.

I have a job!

My God, to learn!!!!

I'm not referring to class, by any means.

I'm talking about true, genuine, untainted experience! I want to blend in (as a white, bearded, American, this will hardly be easy). I want to have this overwhelming sense that Thailand is paradoxical. On one side, it becomes familiar to me; it becomes an extension of myself. The sights, sounds, and people have become well acquainted to my Western body and soul. However, on the other side of the coin, I want to be constantly surprised by what Thailand reveals to me. A constant state of disbelief and awe in a familiar space sounds just about right. My hopes in achieving this would to dive under the superficial surface of tourism, and truly breathe in the authenticity of Thailand.

So if that is my goal, then how do I get to that?

Well for one, Kara has said she has lists and lists of places to go, so that will be a vital resource that I have before I go. And like I said previously, I really need to connect with native Thai students. As well, since I will be a part of the foreign exchange program, there will be numerous trips to be a part of that are associated with the school. Another Kara tidbit is that I should definitely enroll in some classes within the BBA program, because according to her, they go on incredible excursions for free, and the program is apparently considerably more organized than the Thai Studies program.

After talking to Kara and PJ, they both gave me good tips on local tips, such as eating at all the street vendors (they tend to have the freshest food), and they told me about certain banks, restaurants, and places to go.

(and I can't wait to get that list from Kara!)