new skills necessary to live in Thailand

It takes a village to teach a farang--This set of Thai letter stamps is apparently designed for first or second graders, worked well as an evening's entertainment--they stamped each letter in a page of my notebook (a gift from Boom), laughed and cheered as I copied the shapes. I know that learning to read will be a key to learning the language, feel discouraged sometimes at the daunting task.

Transportation is very different here! I applaud AFS for forbidding me to drive--just remembering as a pedestrian to watch for traffic driving on the opposite side of the road is enough challenge. This is the "red truck" that drives past the school and takes me out to the main road on the way to Phuttamonthon. It doesn't stop unless you flag it down (same with the bus; I waited patiently at the bus stop and watched two bus # 170s drive by before I figured out I'd need to be more assertive). Even then, the drivers of both truck and bus slow only to a semi-stop as people get on or off, no full stop unless in a traffic jam. You grab the bar at the back of the truck and swing on in, pay as you get off. Luckily I'm able to walk to school. I've decided I don't need a bicycle after all...

Climate control...

My schedule listed my first class as 236, took me a while to find it...

My new philosophy on fruit: watch someone else to figure out how to get into the edible part, then enjoy! Durian, by the way, is quite delicious, though it does indeed smell terrible. Other foods: surprising ingredients, such as dried fish in the sweet topping for sticky rice desserts, shrimp or oysters in the papaya salad, kernel corn in the ice cream; sweets tend to be way too sweet, spicy foods far too spicy, though there is often a less-spicy option, with the option to add sauces to taste. I watched one woman spoon on the hot pepper sauce til she elicited comment even from her fellow Thais; then she surreptitiously went back for more...