Day One

Upon arriving at my apartment, I was greeted by Ms. On. She was very sweet and showed me my room right away. She gave me a corner room, so I get an extra window! It is small, but it is bigger than a dorm room so I cannot complain. I also get my own bathroom and balcony!

I have to pay a 10,000 baht deposit ($325) plus the first month’s rent 6,000 baht ($215). As I was filling out my lease, I discovered that the man at customs stamped my passport to expire in less than one month when it is supposed to expire in three…

Nevertheless, Ms. On told me not to worry and to sort things out later so I went back to my room and unpacked what little I have. After unpacking, I took my first shower in over 48 hours (gross, I know) and it was delightful. Then I got in bed and told myself I would only take a short nap, but ended up sleeping for 5 hours and did not do any errands.

When I woke up, I went down stairs to get food. My apartment has a kitchen with a menu that is open from 7am-7pm. I ordered two large bottles of water (one for dinner and one for later), and vegetables with fried rice. It cost about $1.50 USD and was ready in less than 5 minutes. It was delicious. McDonald’s dollar menu will never come close to the cheap and quick meals I will be eating this semester.

At dinner I met a few students who live in the building next door. They were from the Netherlands and they go home in two weeks. They were nice and said hello, but they went back to their dining room and I ate alone (which was probably best because I ate the meal so fast, it could not have been pleasant to watch).

After dinner, I read two chapters of my current book: Wild by Cheryl Strayed. I am a lot like the protagonist of the book, Cheryl, who has zero hiking experience and decides to hike one of the most challenging trails in the United States. I am similar to her because I don’t know anything about Thailand. I don’t speak the language or know the customs. I barely even know where I am right now. But, like Cheryl, I will push on.