Things I've Learned

I've been here for a little over a month and wanted to share a few things I've learned during that time period. I'll keep it bulleted to simplify things.

Also I would like to forewarn and apologize for the lack of pictures.  I'm being much more cautious with my camera, which means less things get documented.  I really don't want to have to buy ANOTHER so I don't feel too badly about it.

• Thai years work differently than the ones we're used to in America.  Here they use BE and AD, which means before and after Buddha, and to calculate what year it is you add 543.  So here it's the year 2554.
• Sawat-dee-kaaaaaa means hello and is used as a general greeting.  Cup-poon-kaaaaa means thank you.  Sai means left and Kwah means right.
• Tom Yum soup is the best soup ever invented.  It's even better than the minestrone soup served at Domenico's.  It's got lemon grass, some mint, onions, scallions, mushrooms, and shrimp all in a broth made from a curry paste.  Dip that in rice and enjoy.
• Colors are associated with political positions here so it's VERY hard to dress neutral.  Red, Yellow, Green, and Blue have all had previous associations.  Funny that my school's two colors are Red and Yellow, the most popularly worn during protests.  Told you it was the Berkeley of the east.
• Waiting for people once you get your food IS in fact dumb and it should obviously be eaten right away.  
• Mexican food is still the greatest food in the world

If I think of more I'll be sure to share to, you know, spice things up a little bit.  Because things aren't spicy enough here already.

I'm not sure whether or not I'm going anywhere for the weekend, but next weekend is the Full Moon Party and the weekend after that I'm going to Hong Kong to visit JP and Mario!  The traveling is soon to become very intense so I'll keep you all updated as often as I can.