Day 114! My cousins will be here in 3 days!! But currently I spent the day as a college student in Thailand. I joined my friend Nico to his class today and got to see what it was like to go to college in Thailand. I also learned a lot about ASEAN, but more on that later!

A late night doesn’t mean it’s time to sleep in… especially when you’re on the schedule of a now two year old!

I woke up bright and early and we kick started Nico’s child’s birthday! He turns two today! They took some very cute photos in his high chair in front of some birthday balloons. At first he was more interested in tearing the balloons off the wall but eventually became very photogenic.

Shortly after, they all went to finish getting ready for the morning. I took the opportunity to FaceTime my parents!

We had a nice catch up and as always, it was great seeing them “face to face.”

There was no time to waste as I wrapped up the FaceTime. We immediately set out for the day at 6:30am! I was fairly tired, but I put on a good face and set out into the streets of Bangkok.

In Chiang Mai they have RodDaeng, meaning red car, as a taxi. But in Bangkok they have Songthaew, meaning two rows. There’s one on their street that takes you all the way to the other end of the street for 9 Baht! We hopped onto the first one we found and started our adventure.

The Songthaew got fairly packed on the ride and people were hanging out the back. This was a true local college student experience! I was on the commute into the main part of the city,

We joined the crowd into Sukhumvit Skytrain station, where for around 40 Baht I was able to make it all the way to the campus. Riding the skytrain checks off another public transport in Bangkok! I’m close to riding them all… but I still haven’t had a chance to ride their river taxi.

This picture actually reminds me of a picture with my dad and I! I was a very young child in a backpack holding on to the subway handhold, this was just as cute.

Also on the sky train, they had special seats for specific people. I thought it was fun that they made the monks little character orange (since that’s what they wear).

One line switch and 22 minutes later, we hopped off the train and entered the beautiful campus of Chulalongkorn University!

Our modes of transportation weren’t done yet, we hopped on a campus bus and rode it all the way to where their son’s daycare was. This daycare also reminded me of the campus daycare I used to go to! The parallels are very fun even with being in Thailand and not Peoria, Illinois.

After dropping him off we walked to one of the campuses canteens for breakfast. Nico was telling me that the meals here were super cheap and that was exactly what I was looking for after an expensive dinner the night before!

For 33 Baht, I got a plate of chicken, rice, and soup. And for another 30 Baht I got a refreshing watermelon smoothie! There were so many options to choose from and it definitely put the US dining halls to shame for how cheap and good it was.

After eating, we walked around for a while, out of the campus, through some huge malls (to escape the heat), and ended up at a cafe where we relaxed and chatted for a couple hours waiting for Nico’s class.

Today the plan was for me to kind of shadow Nico and see how his day as a masters student was like! I was pretty excited to be on a college campus again, it brought back great memories of my college experience. However, I was pretty tired… and the class today was 3 hours long. So I was a bit apprehensive about it.

I set these thoughts aside and headed back to campus with Nico for another meal at the canteen! However, on the sky train ride back… someone puked near us! I felt really bad because the kid was definitely sick (not drunk), but ew! A very gross experience.

At the canteen this time around, I got some more chicken, one of them being phanaeng curry, and a purple rice.

This meal was super tasty and filling and still only 33 Baht!

We wrapped up a quick lunch and then walked to the building for class.

It was a strange feeling going back to a classroom, especially such an intimate classroom, but I was excited to learn! I’ve always said, if you eliminate the homework and tests I’d be very game to go back to school. I love learning!

And this held very true for this class. This was one of my first experiences sitting in on a friend’s class that I wasn’t a part of post graduation… let alone in a new country!

Today’s class was about New ASEAN growth and development. The professor apparently has been having health issues, so a journalist, Khun Kavi Chongkittavorn from the Bangkok Post, was there in his place to do a lecture for us.

And wow… I was thoroughly impressed and engaged! I personally didn’t know much about the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) prior to this talk. But I learned a ton! It was a completely different ball game not being worried about an upcoming final or some other class and being fully tuned into what the lecturer was saying.

I tried to keep a low profile since I wasn’t in the class… but of course the lecturer wanted to start off with everyone’s names, where they were from, and why they chose SE Asian studies. So when it came around to my turn, I fessed up saying “my names Elie Katz, I’m from the US, I was a mechanical engineer but I’m traveling for the next 2 years and wanted to see what university in Thailand was like.” The lecturer was very happy to have me, which made me feel even better about sitting in!

Over the 3 hour lecture, I learned about ASEAN, its relationship with China and how it balances the relationship between China and the US, how the US played a part in ASEAN (or lack there of), how different countries have chaired the ASEAN, and so much more.

We even dove into how Thailand/ASEAN dealt with the Thai people stuck in Israel and taken hostage. We also talked about South Koreas plans with ASEAN and how Vietnam wants more control (but essentially is a pawn in the US/China relationship).

Even though we were hitting deep and controversial issues, the lecturer was able to keep the conversation engaging and light hearted. He was a really funny guy and I think him being a journalist helped make the discussion more real. It could’ve easily been a propaganda filled talk, but he critiqued governments (as he said “don’t quote me on this”) and filled us in on what was happening in the ASEAN since they just had one of their events in Hanoi.

Now funnily enough, the event had the tagline of “Toward fast and sustainable growth of a people-centered ASEAN community.” The lecturer pointed out how this was ironic because Vietnam was currently under fire for human rights violations. Interesting the things I miss not being tuned into the news and social media!

We dove into discussion about how Vietnam is getting away with it and still can be a major player of ASEAN. And after 3 hours of a great lecture, it was finally time to head out. On our way out I thanked him for letting me sit in and he was very happy that I came and was excited to learn.

All this learning worked up an appetite! So Nico and I headed back to the canteen for one more meal before picking up his son from daycare.

We hopped back on one final train ride back to Nico’s neighborhood! On the way back, another Spanish speaking couple overheard Nico talking on the phone. When he got off they started chatting! It was fun to see both of their faces light up as they dove into conversation in their native language. It’s always a nice thing to see even when I can’t understand the conversation.

We got off the sky train, said ciao to Nico’s new friends, and hopped on another Songthaew to ride back to their home.

I was exhausted and running on fumes at this point. So when we got back, I fell into a quick deep sleep for a solid power nap.

When I woke up, they told me their son had popped his face in front of mine saying hola and I didn’t respond. I hadn’t realized I was that asleep!

Nico and I walked to a nearby restaurant to grab dinner to go. I decided I’d pay for this one as a thank you for them having me. It was the least I could do.

We then brought back our feast and ate it on the floor.

We had two types of larb, which is a meat salad that I wanted to try in Laos but I never did. And we also had fried chicken (Nico had been wanting some all day) and rice.

After dinner, we chatted for a bit more, blew up balloons for Nico’s son’s birthday party, and then called it a night after a long, exhausting, and fun day! I’ve really enjoyed hanging out with Nico’s family. They’ve made me feel very welcomed and I’m looking forward to celebrating their son’s birthday tomorrow!

– Elie