8. September 2015 | Von Kim Rebecca Hinz
First impressions of the life in Bangkok
Time flies; we are in Bangkok for more than one month already. And so much happened during the last few weeks.
Time flies; we are in Bangkok for more than one month already. And so much happened during the last few weeks.
Let’s start with our orientation days at our university: the Chulalongkorn University, which is right in the center of Bangkok and very close to all big shopping malls and food courts. Some Thai Student Ambassadors did a very good job at the orientation days. They guided us through the first week, organised a lot of fun ice breaking activities and helped us a lot with answering all of our questions. They also went to a big shopping mall called MBK Center to buy our (very cheap) uniforms which look really cool and authentic.
During the orientation week we had a lot of interesting and fun things on our schedule: Original Thai perfomances, delicious food, a speech of the president of Chulalongkorn University, guided group campus tours and rallies to get to know the different buildings and faculties of the big University Campus.
In the second week we had a great eco trip from the faculty of Communication and Arts to Klong Kone to plant mangrove trees. For the most of us it was the first trip outside of Bangkok, so we were all very excited about what to expect. After around 3 hours in the bus, we arrived in a very rural area right in a mangrove forest near the water. We were shipped with little boats to an awesome lunch spot. It was a bamboo tree house right in the water and we had the most delicous seafood lunch over there.
After that the adventure begun: All of us were standing in the mud and it covered our legs and hips. We had the challenge to plant as many mangrove trees as possible since it gives you luck. It was the dirtiest but funniest activity we ever did. Afterwards we had the opportunity to do a kind of water skiing behind a motor boat which was a very cool activity as well.
Besides all those fun trips and acitivities, the real Uni- life has also started. We have 3 or 4 different classes, each day one. Most of the time, the MHMK people are seperated from the Thai students which was unexpected for most of us. At least the class called „Thai Culture“ we share with other nationalities. Our professors come from America, one from Russia and from Thailand as well, so it is nice that there are different cultural influences in our classes. One of the most different habbits in University life over here is, that they are very strict and check attendance e.g. by taking pictures of the class everytime. Nevertheless we kind of figured out how to find a good balance between going to classes and have some nice weekend trips around Thailand.
Living in Bangkok feels like living in another world. To observe how the people are influenced by culture and religious rituals is as exciting as weird compared to our western style of life.
As in the last years the MHMK students from all over Germany are living in different apartments around Bangkok (Nonsi Residence, CUI House, AirBnB Apartments etc.). On the weekends a lot of us meet up to go and see some touristy stuff like tempels, markets and other special places. The nightlife in Bangkok is also really cool: you can get everything from the cheapest Bars like „Cheap Charlies“, local clubs at Khao San Road or upper class clubs at Thong Lor or nice Rooftop Bars. It is definitly worth a visit.
It is very special for Bangkok or Thailand to eat out most of the times. Street food is so cheap, good and popular over here so the locals rarely cook at home. The only thing that bothers us a little bit is the breakfast: Thais eat rice and fried chicken early in the morning so if you come to Thailand be prepared to eat that kind of meal for breakfast or spend a lot of money for imported german muesli.
All in all we are very happy over here and really enjoy our time in this distant country.
