I'm here! After 24 hours of travel, including a 14.5 hour stint from Atlanta to Seoul, I arrived in Chiang Mai last night. ISDSI picked us up at the airport, and then everyone stayed overnight in a guest house. Orientation started today; we got our first look at ISDSI's little campus, which includes an outdoor eating area, a crossfit gym, a big lecture room and several smaller classrooms, and a bouldering wall. We ate our first Thai meal (really spicy, and apparently this meal wasn't even hot) and then played the ever-popular ice breaker games.
On first impression, Thailand reminds me a lot of India, especially the smells, sights, and sounds. It's quieter and calmer, but there are motorcycles and little taxi trucks everywhere. The city, however, is much cleaner than Bangalore and there definitely aren't cows walking the roads!
There are about 35 kids this semester, only about 5 guys and the rest girls. We are from Wooster, Denver U, Kalamazoo, Colorado College, Colby, Calvin, and Yale, to name a few. And among all of our majors we are studying environmental science, biology, religion, and anthropology. Everyone has pretty amazing stories, and I'm excited to get to know the rest of the group!
I'm also really excited about all the activities we can do. There is a rock climbing gym we might try to visit, there's been talk of trying to find a yoga class, and apparently there is an elephant sanctuary close to the city....no shortage of exciting activities!
Now we're about to get a crash course in Thai culture and language, and then we'll be meeting our host families for the next 5 or so weeks.
On first impression, Thailand reminds me a lot of India, especially the smells, sights, and sounds. It's quieter and calmer, but there are motorcycles and little taxi trucks everywhere. The city, however, is much cleaner than Bangalore and there definitely aren't cows walking the roads!
There are about 35 kids this semester, only about 5 guys and the rest girls. We are from Wooster, Denver U, Kalamazoo, Colorado College, Colby, Calvin, and Yale, to name a few. And among all of our majors we are studying environmental science, biology, religion, and anthropology. Everyone has pretty amazing stories, and I'm excited to get to know the rest of the group!
I'm also really excited about all the activities we can do. There is a rock climbing gym we might try to visit, there's been talk of trying to find a yoga class, and apparently there is an elephant sanctuary close to the city....no shortage of exciting activities!
Now we're about to get a crash course in Thai culture and language, and then we'll be meeting our host families for the next 5 or so weeks.
YOU GOT A BOULDERING WALL THAT IS SO NOT FAIR
ReplyDelete