Markets are AMAZING!

January 7, 2009
So let me tell you about this JJ Market. They have everything you want…knockoff bags, sunglasses, CDs, DVDS, perfumes, or pashminas like Chinatown in NYC (but you can find those things on any street here). But, they also have a ton of handmade stuff from around Thailand and outside the country too—clothes, teapots, pottery, purses, those super huge and comfy almost hippie pants (Sarah, I thought of you and might get you a pair), jewelry, paintings, pictures, table runners, bed covers, pillow covers, pets, plants, and tons of food. You almost have to go back around three times before you buy anything to take it all in. But next time, I plan to start around 7 AM when the market opens because it was stifling in the sun and within the stalls. The market is a maze with around 25 different sections, and it’s ridiculously crowded. I was extremely uncomfortable at times. The weather was like North Carolina on a blistering June or maybe even July day. You thought you could escape inside to the shade, but upon arrival in the stalls you were welcomed with huge crowds and little air flow. The place was filthy too. But what an adventure! We only stayed around 2 ½ hours but it felt like an all day event. I think this is something I’ll try again before it gets to be March or April because I don’t think I could stand it any hotter. And perhaps next time just try to find one other person to go.
January 5th we didn’t do too much—grocery shopping in the bottom of the MBK shopping center. I was glad to find some American brands because I’m sure I will start to crave them sooner or later. It’s so cheap to eat on the street that it’s almost not worth it. We wanted cereal and yogurt in our apartment though. We didn’t realize we were supposed to go to class today because we thought it was strictly orientation. Orientation was somewhat pointless, but we saw all the exchange students—50ish in all—and got the same list of courses we emailed two months ago with and met Thirawut (the exchange director we’ve been communicating with). I finally got on the exchange listserv so I’ll know about the welcome party and other events. We went out for a little bit Monday night as well to a small and unique bar called Cheap Charlie’s. We took the Sky Train there and had a great time. The weather, as I’ve mentioned several times, it sometimes unbearable in the daytime. Perhaps this is because I’m not used to NC weather right now. But it’s seriously HOT. At night it’s decent though, and it’s fun to wear summer dresses and shorts and tank tops.
Had a great conversation with Catherine January 6th (Tuesday morning)—I’m actually listening to her favorite songs right now . It’s always nice to talk to people from home, and I can’t get on AIM because Thailand must have a block on it so GET SKYPE my friends! Tried out our gym too—we have a gym and a brand new pool which is really nice. I had class from 1-4. It’s called Seminar in International Business and is taught by a Canadian professor. It was strange that all the exchange students were the ones doing all the talking where back at Kenan-Flagler, it’s often exchange students stay quiet for a few weeks. The Thai culture does not promote asking questions. 3 hours is a long time to sit in a class, but it’s only once a week so it actually works out well. I think I’m going to add a class right before that one from 9-12 called Principles of Investment so I have two on the same day. I only need 3 International Business classes for my concentration. I would take four, but there are a lot of visiting professors here so the schedules get weird and one class often meets Wednesday, Friday, Saturday, and Monday over a one week period, but won’t meet again for two weeks or so. It’s frustrating because I have to have international business classes while other exchange students can take whatever they want and don’t have to have those funky days and can fit all their classes on Tuesday and Wednesday. But I’m actually excited about most of my classes. I could take Marketing, but I’m waiting until I get home to take that one. And I’m also waiting on Organizational Behavior. Those are the only two core classes I could possibly take. So apart from the seminar and possibly the investment class, I’m also taking Business Management in Asian Countries. I’m still deciding on my fourth class. There’s a class titled International Business Study and it takes a trip to Tokyo in April. However, it’s extremely expensive and sounds more like a field trip for fourth year students. I’m emailing the professor to see if it’s worth my time to go with them or if I should take another class and go to Tokyo on my own. So my fourth class might be International Financial Management...sounds terrible I know. But it’s only like two months! So it looks like I’ll be finished with two of my classes by the end of March and the other two by the middle of April. So I’ll have three weeks STRAIGHT to travel before my plane ride home, unless I extend my stay…I’ll take pictures of campus later. It’s really nice (a LOT different than UNC though…not as pretty by any means). Chula is the #1 university in Thailand—it’s also the oldest university here and the only Thai university ranked internationally. I finally found my buddy—she actually is a 4th year and went to UNC last spring. She’s very nice and I think we might have a class or two together.
Last night, we went to the Bangkok Night Bazaar Market. I loved it…absolutely loved it! It’s less crowded and has nicer things. Local Thai designers have cute shirts, but we didn’t ask prices so I’m not sure on that. They’re super cute and made of extremely light material though. Who knows if they’d fit me though? Haha…The market wasn’t stifling like the JJ Market, but it was sad because the venders seemed almost desperate to sell you things. I hate venders because you can’t just look at things to enjoy them or they’ll think you want to buy them. We’d be looking at silk robes, bed covers, or any other item and they’d start at one price and literally cut the price in HALF. I know all about bargaining, but half price? It was sad and everything’s only supposed to get cheaper outside of Bangkok. There was a nice almost food court too that was covered so it was a great night. I’m definitely going back there a few times…I’d pick it over JJ any day!
This morning, I ventured off on my own! I’ve had some personal time recently, and I’ve really enjoyed it. I took the Sky Train the opposite direction we took it to JJ Market and then transferred to the subway. It was around 10:30 so it wasn’t crowded at all and I enjoyed making my way around Bangkok on my own. The city is actually fairly easy to get around in by the Sky Train and subway because there’s only two routes for the Sky Train and one route for the subway. They’re both fairly new additions to transportation in the city. It’s the nicest subway station I’ve ever been in though and the fastest subway train I’ve ridden on also! At 11, I had a meeting with the director of the Kenan Institute Asia and the man heading up the TRAI program which is the Tsunami Recovery Action Initiative. It’s the program I might intern with this summer. Seems interesting, but they don’t have a ton of information on it yet, so we’ll see. It’s not spending a lot of time in Bangkok…it’s more staying in remote villages in the beach area so it would be different. After that, I walked through the Siam Paragon and all I could think about was Jami Pearson. It was the most fantastic mall EVER. Brand name after brand name after brand name. There’s an opera house (like 1500 seats), IMAX theater, and cinema on the top floor (with one room seating like 1200 people), and on the bottom floor is an aquarium. I could just walk around forever. It was quiet and clean and the jewelry stores took my breath away. After my eyes were bulging and my soul hurt because I couldn’t buy anything, I made my way to the home of Jim Thompson. He was an American who fell in love with the floating market of Bangkok and moved here after WWII. He was an entrepreneur and is known for introducing the world to Thai silk. He only lived here for 8 years though and disappeared in 1967 on a trip to Malaysia. No one knows what happened to him. His house has turned into a museum and is fantastic. He had six Thai houses brought in and made one large home. They are made of teak wood and represent the best in traditional Thai architecture. He merged eastern and western customs when making his home and the home is beautiful. It sits up on stilts like old Thai homes which sat near rivers or canals (his sits on the largest canal in Bangkok) and has nice antiques. My mom will definitely want to go there. Jim Thompson silk is beautiful…they sell anything from lipstick containers and mirrors to handbags and bed covers. The scarves and make up bags are my favorites…as well as the ties (thought of Carolina guys at football games). My tour guide was extremely kind and actually found me after the tour and gave me a paper bird after the tour—it represents good luck. On my way back to my apartment I ran into a man on the street who asked where I was from and asked what I was doing in Bangkok. When I said I went to Chula he got all excited because his daughter is a fourth year student there. The people truly are some of the nicest strangers I’ve met, and are always pointing you in the right direction if you look lost or confused (most of the time—some of them are sour of course). The tuk tuk drivers, taxi drivers, and venders drive me crazy though…
Anyways, here’s a good place for me to stop. I feel like this has been a rambling blog. Everybody needs to send me ideas of things to bring back souvenir wise. I want to bring back everything, but I have limited space. I think I’m going to throw out all I brought and start a new wardrobe (sadly I’m not even kidding). And to answer you question Chessa—you can buy chocolate in 711, but the packages are smaller. There are also gelato stands and DQ and Swenson’s in the malls. (Jessica-I'll have to have another blog to answer all your questions! But I'll get to them!)
Miss you all! Sorry this is so long. Congrats if you made it this far…you get a gold star! Or I guess a lucky elephant 

Pictures are: #1 is the view from my room. I'm not in Kansas anymore Toto! It's a little overwhelming huh? #2 is the living room of my apartment. It's extremely nice and comfortable to come home to. There's two bedrooms with two twin beds in each and two separate bathrooms (no I do not have to share a bed! haha). #3 and #4 are from the JJ Market (the market from the beginning of the blog). The first is a pic of handmade bags which sling over your shoulder and sometimes have Thai silk or elephants monogrammed on them. These were 55 baht or 2 for 100 baht...basically $1.50 a piece. I know...hate me for being here. I buy pineapple on the street for 34 cents. The last picture is part of Jim Thompson's house. Enjoy!