My Arrival and Orientation in Bangkok!

When the day finally came to leave for Thailand I had mixed emotions. I had to say goodbye to my friends, dogs (which was actually very hard), and my family. The drive to the airport went way to fast and I wasn't ready to say my finally goodbye to my mom and Sean. I cried a lot, but people were starting to look so I pulled myself together and was fine for the rest of the 2 hours before I had to board my plane. When my flight to New York began boarding I thought about turning around and calling my mom to come pick me up, this was my last chance to change my mind and stay. This was probably the hardest moment of that whole day was giving my ticket and passport to the Air Canada lady and getting on that plane. It made it real and I couldn't turn back. The whole 1 hour flight I cried. I felt so bad for the lady sitting beside me. We didn't exchange any words lol. Then I grew some balls because I once again was going to be in a busy airport and had to be an adult and find my way to my next gate. My flight to Taipei was delayed which made me nervous as my next layover was only an hour and 50 minutes. Once we got on the plane I took some gravel and passed out for 8 hours of the 16 hour flight. Then I watched 4 movies, Magic Mike probably wasn't the best choice while sitting beside an old Asian man, but I needed a good laugh. When my flight landed I ran to my next gate making it just in time to sit on another plane for 6 more hours. When I finally arrived in Bangkok I was overwhelmed. Overwhelmed by the heat, the crowds of people in every direction and the unknown. I found my way to the taxi area jumped in the first one, and he had no idea where my hotel for orientation was. After sitting in a hot cab for 15 minutes while he asked around we were on our way. We had small talk for about 1 minute because he couldn't speak much English so then he started playing on his Ipad on his dashboard while driving around 100km/h swerving in and out of traffic. Once he found a good kick boxing match on youtube he finally put both hands on the steering wheel. I noticed that lanes are only a suggestion, and the shoulder lane on the highway isn't reserved for emergency vehicles, anyone can use it as an extra lane when it's a busy traffic day (which is everyday). When I got to the hotel I was instantly greeted by two other girls in the same program, I must have looked so lost and my crazy amounts of luggage gave it away that I was here for a while. They waved and kindly said, "CIEE?". Was so happy to finally meet some people that are here for the same reasons and could speak English! That first day I showered and slept through the day and night. The second day majority of people were checking into the hotel, so a group of us that got in the day before went on a boat tour down the river and through the canals. It was really cool to see the houses that are on stilts in the water!! We also saw these creepy looking Komodo dragon type lizards that are as long as me.  The boat made me a little seasick, so I was happy when we docked so I could let my stomach settle. My roommate came later than I did so she slept that whole first day to catch up on her sleep. The rest of the week was orientation which included Thai lesson sessions, and lesson planning for English as a foreign language. These sessions were helpful, but also boring at the same time lol. We also had a day trip to Ayutthaya and saw the ruins of the Wat Maha That royal temple. This place was huge and very cool to see! All of the Buddha statues had their heads removed because during the Burmese attack they cut them all off and set the monastery on fire. We then went for lunch at a local restaurant and had traditional thai food such as curry (soooooo spicy), a full fish body bbq'd, shrimp cakes (I think...), rice, vegetables, and soup. It was good, except my mouth was on fire lol. Then we went to the floating market. This is a market right on the water and has clothing shops and food, coffee, beer... it pretty much had everything. One night I went out with a couples of my new friends and my roommate downtown! We started at the Lebua Sky Bar! The view was the best of Bangkok I will ever see! Then we hit Khaosan Road, because you have to go at least once. It was super touristy and busy but a cool place to see! We went to a bar called Lava and saw dirty white guys trying to take advantage of thai girls, a 4 year old sleeping in the corner and much more that shocked me, but to them it's the norm. A couple days later we went to the Grand Palace which was a sight I can not describe. The buildings and temples are so beautiful and sparkle in the light, it was amazing. That night we also had our goodbye dinner on a cruise boat! It went up and down the river as we ate, drank and danced. It was a nice last night to spend with the new friends I had made. The next day we all went our separate ways to our new homes for the next year.