Sawatdee

Which, in Thai, means hello!

After 24 hours of travel from Wausau to Minneapolis to Tokyo and finally, Bangkok, I have made it across the Pacific and to Thailand! Although, I was convinced I was going to be homeless in Thailand when the school was a couple hours late to pick me up (let's be real, I had myself convinced of a lot of things at that point) but I am here now!

Needless to say, I was a bit tired after all the travel - even though I slept for nearly 8 hours on airplanes - so I groggily dragged myself to bed at 5am this morning and slept until about 2:45 this afternoon! I hadn't slept much the past week so I think my body is finally starting to catch-up!

After finally awaking from my slumber, I met Lorraine - an Australian and the head of foreign staff - at the school where I got a quick look around before heading to the market to find a yellow shirt. Why a yellow shirt you may ask? Well, you are about to get your first history lesson! In Thailand, there is a color is associated with each day of the week. Since the King of Thailand was born on a Monday, and yellow is the color of Mondays, we wear yellow on Mondays (and Fridays) to honor him! And this isn't just at our school, it is all around the country!

Then, Joanne - a teacher at the school and my current roommate for the week - arranged for me to have a little spa trip. So, I found myself enjoying the luxury of a cute spa close by with a 90-minute traditional Thai massage, which was f-a-b-u-l-o-u-s! Although, I should warn you, a traditional Thai massage is a bit harsher than the regular. I found myself contorted in positions, twisting and turning, feeling muscles I didn't know I had! However, I feel so good right now, you have no idea!

Then, I met back up with Joanne at a hair salon owned by the parents of a couple students at the school. While Joanne got her hair done, the family brought me my first Thai meal - Wonton Soup, Pork Balls and Fried Mussels with Fried Rice. It was absolutely delicious!

It's also the only picture I have taken so far, but I can't figure out on this computer how to get pictures up so it will have to wait a bit! I haven't really gotten to see much yet, but school starts tomorrow, and I am hoping to go into central Bangkok sometime this week so hopefully I should have more stories to share soon. Take care everyone, and get well soon Grandma!