My name is Jeremiah, and this semester I am participating in the Marshall International Exchange Program at Thammasat University. This blog post serves to give prospective IEP students a sense of excitement for the obstacles that the international journey may bring.
Because today marks about two months that I have been in Thailand: I find it valuable to reflect on my first day and some of the first obstacles that I faced fresh off the plane.
As I walked off the 24-hour plane ride and the 8,000-mile journey to Thailand, I instantly was overwhelmed with stress. Not only did I have to take money out of the ATM, find a way to get home, and secure a phone plan but had to do it all without knowing a lick of the Thai language. Ambitiously, before getting on to the plane, my initial plan was to do all of this before leaving the airport, little did i actually realize how draining that flight really would be.
After struggling with my money situation* for over two hours, I eventually was completely exhausted and decided it was time to head home.
I went ahead to call my first GRAB* taxi, my driver waits 25 minutes for me since I don’t have my sim card yet and can only message him when connected to the airport Wifi.
While we were texting through the GRAB app he asked me to “take my picture”, so instead of taking a picture of my surroundings, I took a selfie of myself and sent it to him. As soon as I saw the determined taxi driver, he called me handsome and we laughed.Then I walked to the right side of the car to get in, as if there was not going to be a whole steering wheel on that side. At this point, the ICE is broken. We drive for an hour or so before reaching my accommodation*. To my surprise, on the way there we had a plethora of questions to ask one another. Ranging from me asking him , “if he has ever been to the U.S. and to tell me everything i should do in Thailand. My driver asks me, “ Does English Grammar matter?” to "How does everyone feel about Trump, nothing happened in your country, right?” (in reference to the Iranian general situation).
After this being my first real encounter with a Thai person and it ending very well-I was assured that everything was going to be okay. I get to my place, I laugh and giggle with the three receptionists at the front desk because they had a hard time pronouncing my name. I said it would be easier if they gave me a nickname. They said, Teems? Almost in unison, I responded," uhhhhh no." Then the receptionsits say Jerald, I say with a smile , noooo….. we start laughing again. Then I offer JT, they repeat and then we all approve. Shortly after that they pronounce their names and then I giggle, and say , “yea that is going to be impossible for me to pronounce”. So they give themselves nicknames, right now my body still is tripping out on what’s going on so it completely forgot them. But I knew I would just ask them tomorrow.
As soon as I get to my place I drop my stuff off and try to get familiar with my surroundings. After 10 mins of walking down the Borommaratchachonnani road* I realized that I lived right next to a 24-hour grocery store, seven 7/11s, a major grocery store and three MALLS. While looking for something to eat I almost bought a whole gym membership. Then I got caught up with sim card stuff because of the language boundary, luckily the older folk sent the younger Thai people to speak with me. We all laugh throughout all the confusion. Eventually I somewhat understand what is going on, but then at the very end they say I need my passport before I pay with cash. I didn't have any Thai Baht (THB)* on me at the time. Due to anxiety, I forgot about the 7/11 that was 1 minute away from my home so I panicked and ran back to my place to get my passport to only go to a different provider just because they took MasterCard. Nevertheless, after securing a phone plan my last question to the whole group of women employees who were trying to help me is, where’s the food? Like lots of it, I’m hungry? I begin to rub my tummy and gesture a big hoop to symbolize a lot. They laugh and send me to the ground level. I got there, and of course the first thing I do is ask the next group of Thai people I see, “ where’s the biggest plates ” they clearly don’t know how to help or understand me, so one of them (she is not an employee but just some young woman probably my age if not younger) escorts me to the eateries and says, “many places to eat from, just choose”.
The first place I see that catches my eye is “Food Patio”, I go there instantly and I'm greeted with smiles and laughter. I look at them and do the same gesture I did before, but this time the dude on the other end mimics me, laughs, and says “what’s up baby” . I smile and proceed to order my food but of course they don’t take MasterCard. I begin to panic, and walk away. But then the two guys look at me and push the plate forward, and smile. They were going to let me eat for free.This was extremely kind, and I couldn’t come back and pay them. The lack of cash on me did not stop me from my appetite. So, I run back over to my place that is nearby to get some THB. I go back to the mall to pay for my food and get more, but then the same chef smiles but in sort of a sad way and nods his head left to right. He later points to a card and then where I need to go to get the magical card that I had no clue existed or was. I walk in the general area, like a chicken with his head cut off. I was confused, hungry and lost. But 10 minutes later into my conflict, a very sophisticated woman approached me, and starts to speak very good english. She walks me over and explains to me that to eat from this particular place I must pre-load THB onto it and that’s how I pay for my food. She later explains that my remaining balance will be returned to me if I use all of the money I load onto it. I head over to pay for my last plate of the day. We smile and I walk away to annihilate this food I just ordered, but only after I pray and say thanks to God for getting me here safe and allowing these Thai people to be so patient, kind, and giving to me.
I then head back to my place, unload, Shower up, and prepare for orientation tomorrow.
While documenting my first day's story and what I experienced , everything was shocking to me but now I have become accustomed to these things and have fully adjusted to life here. And you will too, just be patient and do not be afraid to ask questions. When in doubt, don't be afraid or embarrassed to use google translate. It instantly makes any Thai person laugh or smile.
While some of these problems were solved, I am still actively seeking answers to others. Either way I am happy to say I have come this far and that I am content.