A Day in the Life

6:30 am. My alarm goes off and I fumble around sluggishly in the dark trying to turn it off. Finally the buzzing stops and I stare at the ceiling. I am already sweating even though the sun is just starting to come up.

6:35 am. Just as I begin to doze off again, a rooster crows somewhere outside my window. I can hear the neighbor next door sweeping the driveway just like she does every single morning. A couple of motorcycles drive by. I begin to drift off to sleep again.

6:40 am. Knock, Knock. Knock Knock. I hear my host father (kun paw) banging on my brother's door trying to wake him up. I slowly get out of bed and flip on the light switch.

It's a small room, but cozy. Although my family has hosted international students for many years, it is a new addition to the house and I am the first one to live in it. It looks new and is decorated like an add out of PB teen. My host brother tells me that he picked out the wallpaper.


6:45 am. Shower time. The shower is electric, but it heats the water very well as long as the pressure isn't on too high. The only thing you have to be careful of is not falling into the toilet by accident in the tightly enclosed space.

Which reminds me... the toilet is an entirely different experience. I think that some people in Thailand do use toilet paper and you can sometimes find it in bathrooms, but you definitely shouldn't count on it. Usually the bathrooms are equipped with a vegetable sprayer like the one shown in the picture below. I learned very quickly that sprayer pressure varies significantly from toilet to toilet and you can never be too cautious. 

6:55 am. I am done showering and I put on my uniform. Already, I can feel the beads of sweat forming on my back as I put on my black slaks and dress shirt. "Better put on some more deodorant", I think to myself as I see the bright sun beginning to rise outside my window.

7:00 am. Breakfast. I head out to the kitchen. On my way I walk past my brother's doorway and see him sprawled out on his bed with the light on. "Good morning Ping", I say to him. He mutters something in return and rolls over. In the kitchen, I find breakfast already on the table. It varies from day to day, but we usually eat brown rice with several different curry dishes. Today it looks like red chicken curry, spicy grilled pork and stir fried vegetables, three of my favorite dishes.

 My kun paw is sitting there waiting for me. Every morning we eat together while my brothers are showering and then they eat after us. My kun mae usually sleeps in a bit and goes to work at 9:00. 

7:20 am. Kun Paw and I are done with breakfast so we go over to the couch and watch the news on the TV. Usually we drink coffee and talk about sports, politics, or whatever else is on. 

7:30 am. My brothers are finally ready and eat a quick breakfast as we hurry out the door. We all pile into Kun Paw's truck and we're off!

7:55 am. After fighting our way through hordes of motorbikes and morning traffic we reach my brother's school and drop them off just in time for class. Usually, they sleep in the car the whole way there and Kun Paw and I talk a little bit about different kinds of cars and how much they cost in America or in Thailand. 

8:15 am. We reach my university. Kun Paw drops me off at the faculty of humanities and I climb up the eight flights of stairs to my class on the top floor.

8:30 am. Thai language class. We read the lesson in our book with the teacher, trying to copy his tones. I consider it a good class if by the end of it I haven't mixed up the tones and accidentally called my host mother (kun mae) a dog or something.

10:00am. Coffee Break. We usually share some interesting Thai snacks that our families give us and talk together about how our time has been going so far.

10:30am. Thai Culture Class. Each day we learn about Thai History and Buddhism usually from Ajarn Mike or from another professor that he invites to come and teach us.

12:00pm. Lunch Time. Each day we walk over to one of the many cafeterias (canteens) on campus and buy lunch. There are many different types of food and a good sized lunch usually only costs around 50 baht or $1.67. 

12:45pm. Internship. There are six students including myself who go to San Sai hospital each day. The hospital is in a nearby province and the ride usually takes 25 minutes on a red taxi (rot deng).

1:10pm. San Sai Hospital. Each day the six of us go to a different department and shadow doctors or talk to nurses if they aren't busy. My favorite places to go are the Emergency Room, the Operating Room, and the outpatient department because they tend to be the busiest. So far I have been able to see some really interesting cases and watch a few different surgeries. It has also been a great chance to practice Thai.

4:30pm. We return to Chiang Mai University and I usually change out of my school clothes and go on a short run at the track.

5:30pm. My host family's niece picks me up each night. We sometimes eat together at one of the nearby markets. Other nights we return home and I go out to dinner with my family or my kun mae cooks at home.

6:30pm. Once I get home, I usually take my second shower of the day. Thai people shower twice a day and my family will continually ask me if I have showered yet until I do.

7:00-10:00pm. My nights are usually spent working on a bit of homework, talking with my kun mae while she watches Thai soap opera, watching Kobe Bryant YouTube videos with my brothers, or hitting balls at the driving range with my kun paw.

10:30pm. I try to go to bed early each night. Before I fall asleep I usually read a bit to wind down.   Every day is busy and I am usually very tired by 10:30.

10:45pm. Sleep, Sweat, Repeat.