Hellooooooooo Thailand!

September 5, 2014
Friday

We actually made it to church 48 hours after making it to Thailand!  And we don't even look too jet-lagged.

Howdy from steamy hot Bangkok, Thailand.  Our family arrived in this amazing country a month and a half ago.  We are on a year long adventure overseas while Allen, a university professor, does research for the year.  Our first stop is Bangkok, and then we will be heading to Canberra, Australia.  While we are overseas we will be homeschooling the four kids who came with us.  That is an adventure all on its own!  We thought it would be fun to bring our friends and family along on this adventure with us. Every week (at least that's the plan!) the kids will give you their take on the week.  So Welcome to Bangkok! Enjoy the ride!



RACHEL, 4th GRADE:

        Life in Bangkok is hard.  There is barely any internet here.  Everyone has a computer  so it is hard to do anything online.  We always have to walk everywhere:  to the store, to the sky train, to church, and the market. When we go to the grocery store we always have to bring  6 backpacks  and they are always really  heavy.  My  backpack is really scratchy.  It hurts.  And it is soooooooooooooo HOT!  And it takes 20 minutes to get to the store and another 20 minutes back home.  But if we don’t complain sometimes we get to pick out a treat at the store.  I always  pick a cookies and cream  chocolate bar.  Then I am happy.

Me and my Scratchy Backpack at Chatuchak Market.

Me and the Scratchy Backpack in the crowded alleys of Chatuchak Market.

 EMMA, 6th GRADE:

          Life In Bangkok is interesting in both good and bad ways. For example, there are lots of interesting and pretty things to see at the Wats. A Wat is a Buddhist temple. At Wat Phra Keaw, there was a really, really pretty shrine. It had a Jade Buddha sitting at the very top of a giant mountain of gold, Buddha statues, and other things you put with a shrine. The jade Buddha was wearing his golden rainy season outfit. Below him, there were a bunch of Buddha statues in symmetrical patterns. They were also all different shapes and sizes. Also, there were a bunch of pretty fake flowers in a bunch of pretty vases. If you stood back far enough, it looked like a giant pile of pirate treasure. Also, there was a LOOOONG mural that went all the way around Wat Phra Keaw. It told a lot of Hindu stories and legends.

            Another cool thing was, Wat Pho. The Reclining Buddha was there. It’s a REALLY HUGE Statue of a Buddha that’s lying down on his elbow. He’s also coated in a layer of gold.

            One of the bad things about Bangkok is all the smells on the streets like, gas, smoke, nasty street food, and more, but I can’t describe them. BLECH! Also, it’s sooooooooooo hot here.  It’s also the rainy season! So, there are bunches of clouds, but it’s hotter without them. This place is also really crowded, even though it’s huge. I keep thinking that I‘ll get lost. We also have to take the train to most places.

            Bangkok is also interesting because, it has lots of new food that the States doesn’t have as much of. Some of the foods we’ve tried are, dragon fruit, sushi, ram butan, (a fruit with a spiky looking peel,) Milo drink boxes, Milo ice cream, and Milo chocolate bars. Also mangos and sticky rice, yellow watermelon, and an imported American hot dog. GAG!

Seated Buddha Statues at Wat Pho.

Another Buddha Shrine at the Wat Pho Temple Complex.

LAURA, 8th GRADE:

Living in Bangkok is fun, hot, smelly, loud, exciting, surprising, awesome, and amazing. There are tons of interesting people here from all around the globe. There’s even a family here from Michigan. Although I really miss my friends, I’ve been making new ones. I’ve already been asked to give a talk in church. It went pretty well. There are tons of things for me to say. But I think I’ll start with my church. It’s an English-speaking ward and it’s pretty small. That’s not a problem, though. It’s an amazing place to be during church hours. Our youth group is small with mostly boys and converts but you really don’t notice. This ward is currently focusing specifically on family history, since most of the ward has a family line that doesn’t go all that far back. People were surprised to hear that our line went back the late 1500’s. They had us work on these little books called “My Family”. You have to fill in you entire family line down to your great-grandparents. I was surprised at how much I didn’t know about my line. Anyway, I really enjoy going to church. Though it may be hard to understand what they say sometimes, it’s never hard to understand what they mean.

            Now, I will talk about the actual other stuff. Our apartment is really amazing. We’re on the nineteenth floor. “So if it rains, we’ll be the first to know.” Bonus points to whoever can name the movie!! We get a marvelous view of the streets and the pool 14 floors down. We’re right across from the Indian Embassy and it’s really cool looking. The streets aren’t normally crowded. However there are TONS of little street vendors with fish, chicken, fruit, and sometimes nuts. The sidewalks are usually a bit worn and sometimes cracked but that doesn’t matter as long as you watch your step. Yes, the smell can get a bit hair-raising but it’s not bad. Except for when you walk by a cart selling fish. P.U!! There are some pretty impressive markets here that sell everything! Mom bought some bed sheets the first time she went. Now, a downside to the streets is all the homeless people that sit on the stairs and streets. Which normally wouldn’t be that bad but the streets are so narrow they could just reach out and touch you and you always feel so bad for them. I’ve seen so many mothers with newborns and are sitting on the streets. It’s awful!  I saw a guy without a leg. Yep. We do tons of walking. Which isn’t all that bad. Usually, we try to take the Tuk Tuk to the sky train and from there to wherever, but we normally miss it. The Tuk Tuk is a hotel bus thing that barely fits the six of us in it. But it’s nice to ride. The sky train is pretty self-explanatory. Unfortunately, it’s also pretty crowded and there’s rarely any seats left for any of us to sit in.  Also, it reeks, of sweaty, human beings. Crushed into one train car. Yup. Worst thing about Thailand is the heat. So it really stinks to miss the Tuk Tuk. You about die of heat stroke before you get to the sky train place. But, we’re learning to live with it and are getting used to it. THE END!!!!!!!!

Sign outside the Bangkok International Ward Chapel on Soi Asok.

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints in Thai.

  

Tiny beautiful purple flowers found at Wat Pho.

NATHAN, 11th GRADE:

Life in Bangkok is interesting. There are the interesting and strange smells from street vendors. There are the strange foods in the stores like fruits I’ve never heard of and dried octopus that apparently you eat like beef jerky. There are interesting ways to get around including taxi, skytrain, subway, walking, and motorcycle taxi service. There are also lots of interesting things to do. The weather is probably the only thing that isn’t interesting. It seems to always be hot, humid, or rainy.

Life in Bangkok is also noisy. Outside our apartment there’s a symphony of whistles, horns, sirens, advertisements, and dogs barking at each other. When it’s really windy outside our building screams. It sounds like a really high-pitched whistle or people screaming on a rollercoaster. Eventually, you get used to it.

Life in Bangkok is fun. We’ve done tons of fun things like bike rides and touring sites. We’ve been to an Italian restaurant and went to a movie that had Thai subtitles. We’ve gone swimming and went to an art exhibit.

 

 Bike Riding in Benjakiti Park.

 Chakri Maha Prasat Building in the Grand Palace Complex

Ananta Samakhom Throne Hall (Old Parliament Building)