by Kelsey Stauffenberg
Thammasat University, Thailand
I love love love ice cream and my cravings followed me to Thailand. I was in luck because Bangkok has an awesome selection of ice creams. Yesterday we went to this place called Swensens and this was no Ben and Jerry's or Cold Cream, it was a true ice cream parlor. It was super nice with menus that had all kinds of ice creams and sundays and treats listed. I was super excited to go and I felt super special because I got all 13 people from my group to follow my lead and go there. To tell you the truth I wanted it so bad I was willing to go by myself but everyone went with me, a nice surprise. But, I will say that our group is really awesome and if you want to go do something, regardless of whether the rest of us wants to do it, some one will go with you. Every one is so thoughtful and accommodating, it is so refreshing. I got an oreo sunday: one scoop cookies and cream, one scoop chocolate swirl speciality, hot fudge, hot caramel, bananas, whipped cream, chocolate covered waffle cone wedge, and 2 oreos.... I have never had such a grandiose dessert. It was so good! Anyways... moving away from my ice cream obsession. I will say that they have some good sweets here. I am not one for sweet things, a side from ice cream, but they have great butter cake and other sweet breads and things. I got a piece of cake off a street table today for maybe 1 American dollar that would have been 12 dollars at your local restaurant that was so incredible. Yesterday we went to the national museum and I really learned a lot. The Thai history is so special because they have kept their tradition and Buddhist ways of life alive for hundreds of years. The symbols, art, and culture remain constant and it is evident in their statues and sculptures. Today we went to Throne Hall and saw all the priceless treasures of the King. It was absolutely breath taking. The amount of gold was unreal. I had never seen such beautiful objects before. They decorate a lot of their gold with wings of a beetle which are metallic colors of purple, green, yellow, or blue. It is a really cool way to decorate ornate objects such as chandeliers. My 2 favorite things were the wood carving and the silk tapestries. There were these story lines carved into large wooden blocks and the detail was insane. I was in disbelief that some one could create such a beautiful and extremely detailed picture from tea wood. One of them took 3 years and 79 people working on it. The silk tapestries were amazing. I love art and to get to see such beautiful pieces of art work was just wonderful. The pictures depicted through thread were so just overwhelming and touching. I was speechless. It is good art when you are left speechless but emotional effected. On another note yesterday after ice cream, I went and bought some street food: pork and sticky rice. It was one of my favorite meals I have had and I bought it for maybe 2 American dollars right off the street on my way to the library. I took my self and my food and my back pack and sat in the outside pavilion at school and did homework with eating. I was surrounded my Thai students and I really felt like I belonged their. It was a great feeling. Sitting there eating my street food, doing my reading, and just being a Thammasat student. After that I went to the library to read. The library was extremely nice. It is 4 stories with a coffee shop and all kinds of book and sections and tables and areas to study. I enjoyed exploring though I was the only American there and kind of felt put of place, just because I was so lost. I finally had to ask for help but after that I found the english book section and got me some books and went to read. I read half of a book and took 2 pages of notes so I could get a start on the 2 papers I have due at the end of my classes here. i felt really good about getting some school stuff done and I enjoyed being off by myself exploring my new campus. Last night I played pool and tonight I will go to bed early. One because we have to get up at 5:30 am for a field trip and two because I have a cold thing. It is really not fun being sick but they have really tried to help me here. Any pharmacy will just give you medicine for what ever you ask for. I think it is a system we in American can learn from but I guess the problem would be we as Americans have such a medication problem now a days. And I think that is all I have to say, I will return in 2 days with more exciting stories.
Thammasat University, Thailand
I love love love ice cream and my cravings followed me to Thailand. I was in luck because Bangkok has an awesome selection of ice creams. Yesterday we went to this place called Swensens and this was no Ben and Jerry's or Cold Cream, it was a true ice cream parlor. It was super nice with menus that had all kinds of ice creams and sundays and treats listed. I was super excited to go and I felt super special because I got all 13 people from my group to follow my lead and go there. To tell you the truth I wanted it so bad I was willing to go by myself but everyone went with me, a nice surprise. But, I will say that our group is really awesome and if you want to go do something, regardless of whether the rest of us wants to do it, some one will go with you. Every one is so thoughtful and accommodating, it is so refreshing. I got an oreo sunday: one scoop cookies and cream, one scoop chocolate swirl speciality, hot fudge, hot caramel, bananas, whipped cream, chocolate covered waffle cone wedge, and 2 oreos.... I have never had such a grandiose dessert. It was so good! Anyways... moving away from my ice cream obsession. I will say that they have some good sweets here. I am not one for sweet things, a side from ice cream, but they have great butter cake and other sweet breads and things. I got a piece of cake off a street table today for maybe 1 American dollar that would have been 12 dollars at your local restaurant that was so incredible. Yesterday we went to the national museum and I really learned a lot. The Thai history is so special because they have kept their tradition and Buddhist ways of life alive for hundreds of years. The symbols, art, and culture remain constant and it is evident in their statues and sculptures. Today we went to Throne Hall and saw all the priceless treasures of the King. It was absolutely breath taking. The amount of gold was unreal. I had never seen such beautiful objects before. They decorate a lot of their gold with wings of a beetle which are metallic colors of purple, green, yellow, or blue. It is a really cool way to decorate ornate objects such as chandeliers. My 2 favorite things were the wood carving and the silk tapestries. There were these story lines carved into large wooden blocks and the detail was insane. I was in disbelief that some one could create such a beautiful and extremely detailed picture from tea wood. One of them took 3 years and 79 people working on it. The silk tapestries were amazing. I love art and to get to see such beautiful pieces of art work was just wonderful. The pictures depicted through thread were so just overwhelming and touching. I was speechless. It is good art when you are left speechless but emotional effected. On another note yesterday after ice cream, I went and bought some street food: pork and sticky rice. It was one of my favorite meals I have had and I bought it for maybe 2 American dollars right off the street on my way to the library. I took my self and my food and my back pack and sat in the outside pavilion at school and did homework with eating. I was surrounded my Thai students and I really felt like I belonged their. It was a great feeling. Sitting there eating my street food, doing my reading, and just being a Thammasat student. After that I went to the library to read. The library was extremely nice. It is 4 stories with a coffee shop and all kinds of book and sections and tables and areas to study. I enjoyed exploring though I was the only American there and kind of felt put of place, just because I was so lost. I finally had to ask for help but after that I found the english book section and got me some books and went to read. I read half of a book and took 2 pages of notes so I could get a start on the 2 papers I have due at the end of my classes here. i felt really good about getting some school stuff done and I enjoyed being off by myself exploring my new campus. Last night I played pool and tonight I will go to bed early. One because we have to get up at 5:30 am for a field trip and two because I have a cold thing. It is really not fun being sick but they have really tried to help me here. Any pharmacy will just give you medicine for what ever you ask for. I think it is a system we in American can learn from but I guess the problem would be we as Americans have such a medication problem now a days. And I think that is all I have to say, I will return in 2 days with more exciting stories.