War Bridges and Elephants

The final few days of orientation were fantastic.  I had the opportunity to get to know some great people who have been shipped to various schools all around Thailand.  Plans are already in the works to meet up on the weekends.  In addition to the classes we had during the day, we were able to enjoy the city at night.  Bangkok has a notorious nightlife so each and every night was fantastic.  One night in particular though, was more memorable than the rest.  The last night of our time in Bangkok about fifteen of us decided to travel to the "backpackers district" in the heart of this city.  This area has some of the best bars available.  We found an extremely large bar/club called The Gazebo.  It consisted of one giant room with live music and a few different bars and another room with a dance floor.  Only after being there for quite some time did I realize that the "ceiling" was actually a bunch of blankets and we were in fact on the roof of the building.  It was really cool.  The two live bands played almost exclusively American music and they were spot on in almost every song choice.  It made me wonder if the singers even knew what they were singing or if they were just talented enough to learn the words to a song in a completely different language. Either way, they were all extremely good.  Unfortunately, I was waiting for some Bruce to come on but didn't get so lucky.  At the end of the evening I saw one of the funniest things I've seen so far in Thailand.  Two girls got into a fight and one threw her shoe at the other one.  This would be amusing no matter where I was but it held special significance here.  For one thing, Thais never show anger.  It is one of the most socially inappropriate things to do.  It is commonly referred to as "losing face" and can ruin your reputation for a long time.  Secondly, and more important, the foot holds an interesting place in Thai society.  It is considered the lowest part of the body, both physically and spiritually.  Touching another person with your foot or even pointing your toes towards an image of Buddha is one of the highest forms of disrespect.  Knowing these two cultural attitudes made me understand just how much the shoe thrower wanted to disrespect the other girl.

On our second to last day of orientation we left Bangkok and headed west to the city of Kanchanaburi.  This is the location of the famous Bridge over the Rive Kwae.  The bridge was really cool.  It is amazing to think of the thousands of slaves and POWs (many of them Americans) who lost their lives in the Japanese work camps building the bridge.  The Japanese wanted a way to get from Burma into southeast Asia during WWII in order to continue their conquest of that area of the world.  One of the high points of the war for the Allies came when they were able to destroy the bridge that the Japanese so highly valued.  It was getting dark as we were at the bridge but I was able to get a few pictures off before it was too late.

That night we went to a really beautiful hotel on the river.  It was surrounded by mountains in every direction.  It was also my favorite night of orientation.  Everyone from our group (80 people or so) hung out at the hotel bar.  It really did feel like these people who I had just met a week before had become good friends.  I guess thats what happens when you spend every minute of an entire week with people and they are the only ones with the same language and culture as you. 

The next morning was one of the most unique I have ever had.  I got to ride an elephant.  It was awesome.  Each elephant carried two people and a driver.  Eventually, the driver got down and we were able to sit in the "driver's seat" (basically on top of the head).  It was a very cool experience and not one that I will soon forget.  Experiences such as this one make me glad I put off entering the real world for a few months.  Pictures of me and my buddy Chris with our elephant, Soon Kun, are below.

After the Elephant ride we went bamboo rafting.  It certainly wasn't white water rafting but it was very cool to ride down a river tucked deep in the mountains and enjoy the surroundings.  Inevitably, we all jumped in and floated down the river with the rafts.

Overall, orientation was outstanding.  I met some great people and was able to do some amazing things.  If this is any indication of what the next few months in Thailand will be like, it will be a great time.