Finally after the all the prep i arrived in Bangkok on a very sticky sunday afternoon along with the other 4 interns i had flown out fom heathrow with the evening before. i'd like to say i got plenty of rest but in truth after an hour of attempting to sleep i gave in to the fact my brain wasnt going to switch off and ploughed through 3 films on the flight over here on our 11 hour flight. after landing we gathered our bags, needless to say i required the aid of a fellow intern on attempting to get my backpack on without keeling over. I'd like to say we breezed through the airport, well in truth it was more lke watching a bunch of invalids plodding down the airport with our very heavy backpacks that contained our lives for the next 6 months,as such I've gained a new found respect for turtles... i was ready to collapse after 5 minutes of carrying that thing : D so we got to airport pickup meeting point and all together there were around 10 of us eagerly awaiting our fate however we were pleasanty suprised to be greeted by a warm abnd friendly face, one of the TTT organisers who would be overseeing our 6 months living out here in Thailand. The next week we spent living in a hotel in Bangkok finishing our TEFL training ready to go out into the big wide world as fledgling teachers. We arrived at the hotel around 5pm and we well and truly ready to collapse in a heap after the long journey. after a quick trip to a 7/11 for an evening snack we all went to our rooms and crashed for the night. the next morning my room mate asked me about the storm to which my response was a confused look of what storm? apparently after speaking to some of the other interns it turned out there had been a really loud thunder storm that night and that i had managed to sleep right through it blissfully unaware....thats jetlag for you!

i wish i could say i lived it up and went wild during our week in Bangkok however i ended up only going out twice to a local bar us Farang had claimed as our own that week and going crazy was limited to drinking two beers before heading to bed ready for another day of learning while looking on admirabbly at those brave enough to party all night every night. I did get to do some exploring though, the skytrain was not only cheap but my god did we appreciate that aircon in the sweltering heat that is Bangkok. a visit to chinatown resulted in a group of us getting completley lost only to find a chinese temple hidden among the narrow alleyways where we were greeted by what i can only assume was its caretaker who eagerly opened the temple doors and invited us in. where we were greeted by the sight of a huge golden buddha atop an alter while a monk recited prayer chants surrounded by the sweet perfumes of incense and intricatly patterned red and gold walls that stretched from floor to ceiling. then we were led into a room and up some stairs to what can only be described as a mini museum of the temple where in the centre behind a glass case we were informed were the mummified remains of the monk who founded the temple, well its not every day you get to see a dead body on your travels. I also ventured on a trip to one of bangkok's night markets with two fellow interns. it just happened to be on a night it was pissing it down with rain but that didnt detur us from the desire to find some bargains. needless to say we got drenched but we had such a laugh in the process it didnt really matter. we made it to Siam maket and nabbed ourselvves a few bargains, well at 100 bht for a top who could say no and headed back to the hotel to dry ourselves off. After completing our TEFL training we were taken bright and early...(god knows why) on a half day tour of Bangkok our first stop was the famous temple of Wot Pho most well known for its huge reclining buddha which pictures do not do justice too the sheer magnitude of it's size when youre tiny self is standing below it. Needless to say it was an amazing sight and the whole temple was beautiful to look at than we were taken to a museum but i cant say i was very interested in this part of the tour i'd much rather of been outside exploring the sights than cooped up in a building and then we were treated to a western buffet lunch. needless to say we were like vultures once we saw pizza on the table which after a week of rice for lunch and dinner was a welcome change. Sunday arrived and bright and early everyone was packed and waiting in the lobby to be sent off to our homes for the next 6 months, ofcourse being thailand things here run on thai time so our minivans showed up an hour after we were told to be ready to leave. We all said our goodbyes and around 30 of us were bundled into 5 minivans all headed for Surin in north eastern Thailand to start the long 7 hour journey eagerly awaiting a glimpse of our new town.