I write this through a haze of jetlag, but it’s real, I’m in Bangkok. I started the first day out with a bang (days later and cleared headed, noticing the unintended wordplay here, haha.) Before heading out to a day of wandering and street eating in Chinatown, I had my first lesson in Thai from my 10 year old tutor Ethan. After we agreed that lizard, buffalo and one million probably won’t help me in everyday use I learned how to count and to ask for the bathroom, all very essential. I gave my number skills a test drive, exchanging money at the bank, but to no avail. Apparently intonation is everything. So even though I was holding a bill and asking for change for smaller bills, I may very well have asked “where is the monkey ear?”

So far the city seems calm and almost every thing is written in Thai and English. It’s hot (to me) but not unbearable.

That’s my first day slow brain summary! Maybe the pics will say more: