First 24 hours in THAILAND

SO that is far as I got. I should finish the story...but I am not in the air anymore and I have officially been in Thailand for 24 hours. To sum it up in two weeks... I quit three jobs, sublet my cute little studio, tied up my life in Chicago, drove to MN, said goodbye to family and friends...traveled for 27 hours and here I am!!!!!!!!!!!!

It has been a very busy 1^st day . HIGHLIGHTS of Rachel’s first 24 hours in Thailand

-Got to skype with mom, dad and luke to say goodnight to them as they wished me a great 1^st day

- Went to Tesco...which is like a Walmart/Target/Sams Club rolled into 1 with some English signs here and there. We were in a 10 person van. No trunk. Now picture 17 people with everything they needed to survive the 1^st month....think big. Gallons of water, laundry baskets, food, dishes, mass amounts of toilet paper. I got thrown up front in between two people....the only Thai speaking people the van. I was in the middle of them, towering over them...tried to make convo, but failed...so they laughed and talked and I hung on for dear life as we splashed through puddles, as crazy dudes( sometimes women, sometimes with a women, maybe a child...I even saw a dog with one person) swerved in and out of traffic. DON’T WORRY MOM I HAD ON MY SEATBELT.

-Paperwork and opening up a Thai bank account...lots of standing around and sweating. Until I went to go buy tacks at the bookstore. A new student (we can tell who is a student because they wear uniforms) asked if I was an incoming freshmen. I had to inform him I was an instructor and he just about died. He did a respectful bow and said he was so sorry but I just looked so young!! Hahaha!

- Food has been an issue today. Soup that was really lemony and gingery....I tried hard to love it...I ate all the chicken and mushrooms out of it! We tried a noodle buffet for dinner.I failed again...I choose the wrong sauce and the noodles were cold and I just did not put the right “toppings???” on/with the noodles. I gave dessert a shot but it was little hot pink mushy balls with ice and milk. STRIKE 3. At the store I did find some special K and milk and was just beside myself I was so excited. Now....it was the best thing I had all day but they just don’t make Special K here like they do in Chicago. Tomorrow is a new day with 1,000 different things to try, keep ya posted if I hit gold.

- We took a bus down to Bangkok and found the mall....big flashing lights told us we were there.. THE MALL was the actual name! It was huge. We got lost 10 times in 2 hours. Asked for directions and somehow still found ourselves right back to the person that gave us the directions...until we finally found what we were looking for.

THAI MASSAGE

It changed my life. For about 14 US dollars I got an hour massage. I was twisted, walked on, turned, pulled, massaged, cracked (each finger, toe, back, neck, arms, legs...EVERYTHING!!!) and stretched. I think it will be a weekly thing.

GREAT 1^st day!