Bizarre Encounters

Over the past couple of days I feel I have soaked in a lot. I met a couple people in my building who have been able to give me some insight into Thai culture and everyday living as a Farang. Alexander was the first person to give me the rundown on basic things like setting up a monthly laundry service where you pay a small fee to have your clothing washed, dried, and pressed before they deliver it to your doorstep a few hours after you drop it off. He also pointed out that you can have just about any kind of food you want delivered to your door 24/7 including McDonalds and KFC. They love KFC here. I also found out that you can pay your bills, and even purchase a plane ticket at 7-11. How convenient is that?! Alexander works at the Finnish embassy here in Bangkok and is fluent in Thai, English, and of course Finnish. He hires a private tutor who lives a block away from our apartment to stay up on his Thai. I'm hoping to start taking some lessons at some point as well.

The second person I met from my building was Bryan. Although he has an English name, bryan is from France. He played for the Paris Saint Germain youth team growing up, and is currently studying English and Finance at a university here.  Bryan was the first to introduce me to the bar scene. The other night he took me out to a bar with a small stage a few feet off the ground and a rotation of cover bands that played all night. Some of the bands were surprisingly good. One band was able to successfully execute renditions of songs by The Kings of Leon, Eminem, and Ritchie Valens. All of the words to the songs were clearly enunciated and pitch perfect, but as soon as the lead singer stepped off stage, and I tried to congratulate him on his performance, we could barely understand one another.

 Before we went out, Bryan and I watched PSG play Lorient live (on public TV!). The game ended at around 12:30 am Indochina Time, and when we arrived at the bar at 1:00 people were just beginning to file in. Sometime between 2 and 3 am I noticed the number of girls in the bar  had doubled. It seemed like half of the girls in the bar were smiling at me and trying to make eye contact. For a moment I thought I must be the most handsome man on the planet. Then I became surprised and a little off-put at how friendly some of them were. Soon enough I realized that this was my first encounter with the "ladies of the night". Bryan explained to me that most of the girls were dancers who had just gotten off work and were now beginning another shift as freelance prostitutes. Even though this bar is outside the red light district the owners are okay with the girls hanging out at the bar even if they don't buy anything. Having these girls around is good for business, and  no one seems to care that they are outside the designated prostitution zone. I ended up taking a taxi home at around 4:30, but apparently most clubs and bars will stay open well into daylight hours.

Today I went into The Wall Street Institute's head office to sort out my work permit. I took the sky train to get there, and it was faster and cleaner than most public transportation in the U.S. Once I got there I had to go across the street to the Bangkok Christian Hospital for a medical examination to make sure that I am not "mentally sick" and to check if I have leprosy, syphilis, elephantiasis, or tuberculosis all of which would apparently disqualify me from working in Thailand. An odd list of diseases to screen for, but fortunately it turns out that I don't have any of them.  The whole process took about fifteen minutes. The doctor even apologized for the two minute wait between the blood test and the other diagnostics.

After a long day and a restless sleep last night I need to get some rest. When going to bed I am stuck with the choice of Sauna-like conditions or sub-zero temperatures. Being from a cooler climate I usually opt for the latter. However, the combination of the dryness of the A/C and the Bangkok smog are beginning to take a toll on my lungs. Also, I probably need to quit smoking. Okay, enough complaining. Life here is way easier than I had imagined.