School

School started at Payap University for all of us this week.  We have 10 hours of Thai language insruction, several hours of Thai culture (primarily do's and don'ts for now) and instruction about village life to prepare us for home stays with northern hill tribe families in Mae Chaem next week.  In the first picture, most of the class is outside the dormitory waiting for the "sky blue" (the overgrown golf cart) to take them to their first morning of classes.   In the second picture Sarah Stout makes an "oops" in her first speech in Thai, while Ajan Noi laughs heartily at Sarah's tonal inflections.  "Ajan" means teacher, so at Payap, I am Ajan Pat or Dr. Pat.  After an exhausting day of embarrassment, Kelsey Johnson, Sarah Stout, and Jorie Landers walk back to the dorm. 

Elephants

Almost every tourist activity outside of the city of Chiang Mai is somehow connected with elephant riding and elephant shows.  We went to the Elephant Conservation Center which is 45 minutes south of Chiang Mai.  We rode in two songtaews (pick up trucks with two plank seats in the back and a cover over our heads so we are only partially exposed to the outside.  The ECC allows visitors to stay for several days and participate in elephant training and care.  Several students are interested in going back for a mulitple day stay.  We spent several hours watching elephants get bathed, watching a show, riding the elephants and we visited two elephant hospitals.  The two students pictured on the elephant look like they are from Thailand, but they are from the U.S.  In white is Monica Lovan, a Simpson Biology major and the other student is from Bethel University in the Twin Cities.

We're Here

We began our trip at the Des Moines International Airport at 5:15 a.m. on Wednesday, January 12 and arrived in Chiang Mai on Friday, January 14 at 1:30 p.m.  We flew from Des Moines to Chicago and on to Tokyo and then to Bangkok.  We spent the night in Bangkok and took a noon fight to Chiang Mai.  Two people from Payap University met us at the airport and transported us in this truck to PIH (Paradornparp International House).  The truck was open and we were separated from the cars behind us by only a tailgate.  After a brief check-in, students needed to buy sheets, towels, pillowcases, toiletries, cell phones, etc so our first excursion off campus was to the Carrefour to make their purchases.  Over the next several days we will get more settled.  A reliable routine won't begin until our 3rd week here at Payap.

Thinking Ahead

I've run marathons before.  I'm always a bit anxious in the 3 weeks prior to the marathon when I begin to taper off on the running, because each marathon has an element of mystery.  I know what the first 20 miles are going to be like, but I don't know how I will make it through the last 6 miles.  In preparing for the semester in Thailand, I'm feeling the same kind of anxiety with a bit of a twist.  I am confident that the first 6 miles will go well, but I haven't the foggiest idea what last 20 miles are going to be like.  The "mystery miles" never kept me from approaching the starting line and discovering the exhilaration of the experience. So here we go into the unknown.