Housing & Classmates…
For the majority of people in my program, housing is incredibly fortunate. We live in the Bundit community, a group of 8 buildings, in pairs of 2, with a pool in between each pair. Each building has a rooftop and a gym and there’s a lobby, restaurant, and mini mart on the first floor of every few buildings. The buildings are full of students from the International College, so they come from all over the world. I can regularly go up on the roof and hang out with people from France, Germany, England, Thailand, China, Australia, and many, many more places. The mix is incredible, and a lot of fun.
Another very nice part of our housing is the location. We are a 10 minute shuttle ride from the university (shuttle is included in tuition.) The area, Salaya, is not touristy in the slightest. The area is almost entirely inhabited by locals, and it adds a lot to the immersion experience. We can step outside our dorms and walk to any of the stands or markets in the area, buy a delicious meal for 30THB (<1$,) that’s made freshly, to order, right in front of us. Our housing is probably the nicest building in the area, and while that separates us a bit from the locals living down the street, it’s easy enough to walk for a minute to get away from our little road.
Another beneficial aspect of where we live is how much it helps us practice our Thai. The people that live around here don’t speak any English (for the most part,) and we have to use Thai to order or just point at a picture and pray that the food that comes is something good. It’s a very helpful real-world application of what we’re learning in the class room, as is giving taxi drivers directions (which is often necessary, as this area is too vast to know it all.)
Salaya is about 30/40 minutes from central Bangkok, but the distance isn’t terrible. It’s not expensive to split a cab a few ways, and cabs are very easy to catch in the area.
It is incredibly easy to meet other students while we are here. Everyone is excited to experience the country and everything that it has to offer, in addition to wanting to find great people to do that with. Because this is international housing, I’ve met so many people who are absolutely nothing like me nor anyone else I know back home. The constant socializing can be a bit draining at times, but it’s easily outweighed by how readily accessible travel buddies are, and how happy everyone is to be here. The first day here we decided to take a trip, and people came with who had just arrived from the airport and had never seen us before. I’ve traveled a few times already, and with different people every time. Thailand has an unbelievable amount to offer to people who want to travel, and our program is full of people that want to do just that.
Thais are a little harder to get to know, but a lot easier than I originally thought. They typically don’t talk very much in class, nor ask many questions, so it’s a little hard to start up a discussion or pick their brains in class. However, there are a lot of people in the International College that grew up in international primary schools, and they, for the most part, love meeting international students. They speak English very well (often better than their Thai!) and they really want to show us their country. I’ve heard so many stories from other international students here who’ve had a Thai student go completely out of their way to help, from driving them to bus stations to serve as a translator, to helping faculty at the school understand the English students, they are incredibly friendly and helpful and, when prompted, really do want to become friends with the louder Westerners.
This really has been an incredible experience, so far, in terms of housing and meeting people. The experience almost seems designed to streamline the process of acclimating to Thailand, making friends, and experiencing the wealth that this country has to offer. As a side note, I originally thought that I would be able to visit many other countries in SE Asia while I was here, especially with 3 day weekends every weekend. And, just by thinking about how much there is to do in Thailand, I really don’t know how much I’m going to be able to do outside the country. I am going to try, but Thailand in and of itself is so incredible that it’s hard to pass up the opportunities to do things here. And I am totally okay with that.
