Day 12: 25/1/11

Today was our second day of classes. While some are stuck in class rooms, listening to a professor drone on and on, I get the privilege of touring Bangkok with Dr. Alan Johnson. The coolest nerds I've ever met in my life. Instead of listening to a lecture about the history of Bangkok and Southeast Asia, we got to go see what we were actually talking about. It was a great day of cheap iced coffee that is to die for, getting a lot of sun, and learning first hand what the history. Yes please! Just today we got to use a river taxi, both big and small, a bus, and the sky train! I am really enjoying experiencing what it is like to live in a real city. But on the flip side, I am also making observations about what I want for myself and for the rest of my life...I never want to live in a big city!!! The traffic drives me crazy, the 10,000 different smells of who knows what make me nauseous, the lack of relationships, the attitude of worry about yourself, the tall buildings that have taken over Gods beautiful creation, and the lack of peacefulness is not me at all. Although my last blog was about the peace of living here, I am located on a quiet side road. But about a quarter of a mile away is a main street with cars zooming by and motorcycle taxi's about to run you over. I was thinking about the city, and although fun and an unlimited amount of things to do/places to eat/malls to shop at/grocery stores to go to/etc., I know this is not for me. I can't wait til the day I get to experience the country side of Thailand and see God's beautiful creation. When I can look up at the nights sky and see the beautiful stars, too many to count-rather than the pollution and city lights. I also can't wait for the day that I can settle down into a small rural area. Where that may be, I have no idea. But I do know one thing, it will be somewhere where it is warm! Being here, rather than buried in snow, has made me really realize how much I love heat. I pray that I end up in the south, or somewhere with no extreme winter. But who knows. Although I would love to write more, I must start studying for my Thai Language class tomorrow morning. Hard stuff.