30.8.05 019

30.8.05 019
Originally uploaded by Nongchai.

Friday night, Nut and I went and checked out the concert scene at Chula. Scrubb (pictured) and Cressendo headlined, with quite a few student bands playing too. Pretty fun.
We came back to Chulalongkorn Satuday to watch The Lucianos, a maffia themed play, which was really well-done.

Flashhhhh!

30.8.05 002
Originally uploaded by Nongchai.

This is the fancy new flash I got last week. Fancy enough that I sold off my Nikon film body to pay for part, yes part, of it. It's pretty darn cool though...

Work

I've been doing a lot of browsing and research, last night and today, trying to get my photojournalism aspirations rolling.

I met with A freelance photographer that had worked with several big corporation's and magazines yesterday at a coffee shot in Tong Lor. We talked for a while about styles and what I really want to be doing. Because I am really looking to take photos that make an impact, or change the way people think about something, I'll be headed for some type of editorial photography or news work.

One of the best points I took away from our meeting was the idea to not look for an internship with a photographer. As an intern photographer, I would be copying their style, their assignments, and be unlikely to see much through a lens. Instead, Chris (lifecw.com) suggested I look for a job at a photo desk at one of the major newspapers around. This way, I am much more useful to the paper, and will learn quickly what editors are looking for. I'd also get to see many photographers work, and develop my own style in free time or occational assignments. So this is what I'm hoping to find. I was looking through the Student Weekly's website and found a contact for the editor, who is from Seattle... we've been emailing a bit. He said he would look into things, but I won't get over-excited.

Concerts 2

Before I forget... or get too drugged to remember, I went and saw Big Ass play Saturday. It was a free concert at Bangkok Christian College. Lotta fun. The band sounded almost as good as the album, and the guitarist gave me his waterbottle. No, I didn't save it, I drank it because I was really thirsty. I'll post some pics eventually?. My phone's infrared seems to be broken, so I have no idea really.

Skippin School

Well I missed my first class today! My family would be proud. However, I did get a doctor's note and a damn good excuse for not going.

I had a pretty bad throat ache yesterday, and woke up with a worse one this morning. For some reason, as soon as I started to walk around I decided that I needed to go to the doctor.

I went to class first. Communicative English with my hip Australian teacher, Wade. We listened to a radio program about student unions in Australian universities, taking notes, then played some word games. At the break, Wade told me that I will no longer need to some to class on Wednesdays (Tue. + Wed. = 2 day break) and can volunteer at BU's hangout-spot across the road a few times instead. This is basically a coffee shop where Thai-program students come to practice English skills. I don't yet see any downside to hanging out with some kids and speaking English (or Thai). Sounds like it should be fun.

Back to class... afterwards I asked what the medical scene was like around the U. He said he had been to the hospital, place where doctors are kept, twice. He had visited two hospitals in the Victory monument area and highly recommended the hospital with all the military guys running around. So, I took a motorcycle taxi to the Skytrain, then road the BTS, feeling pretty bad by now, to Victory Monument.

After a good walk, and some directions, I found the place. Filled out the blue form when I walked in, went to the counter, got escorted to the next building, another counter, then started waiting. I waited with maybe ten other people for about 30 minutes in a dimly-lit lobby watching TV. I was actually getting kind of worried at this point. I couldn't stop shaking, knew I had a fever, ears throbbing, dizzy, white patches in my throat, swollen glands, and a headache. Strept throat was my guess. I read before school on a health website that you need a throat swab within 2 days to test for the Strept bacteria. Anyways, after 30 minutes a nurse came and turned on the lights. This was the opening time for office visits that day. After maybe 45 minutes and a nurse check, I saw a doctor. The doctor listened to me, looked at my throat, said hmm a few times, then made a lot of check marks on my folder. I then went and got some medicine, and a school release-slip :D
The medicine came to 160 baht or about $5 US. Probably close to $100 in drugs in the US, easily. I got a lot for the money. I had not heard of the drugs, but I have a feeling they are fairly strong. 3 different types of pills and a spray were given to me. I still don't know if I have Strept throat. Elye says that when he went to the doctor a couple weeks ago, he was told he had tonsillitis which is VERY similar in symptoms to Strept. The doctor said this is a common thing, and comes from BKK's air. Not sure I believe this part, but that's what I heard anyways. Whatever I have, it sucks. Walking, standing, or doing anything really are tough activities. Rest, water, tons of pills, and sleep await.

A Busy Week

Ok, now its been three weeks.

Last Friday, Momo and I jumped on a bus for 8 hours and got to the village around 3am. Yui's mother and brother picked us up, we drove through Thoen and slept. We only had enough time for one and a half days, but it was still worth far more than 16 hours driving. It was a good break from the city.

Monday, I ran around shopping for an iron, board, and some cleaning supplies. I came back and cleaned (pats self on back) then got ready for Tuesday.

The firsts day of orientation went well. It was nice to see people in the same boat as me. Most of the people I met were actually exchange students and only here for a semester or a little longer. A cool kid named Hide and I hooked up pretty quickly. Hide is from a school in Japan on exchange.

The second day, yesterday, took a lot more energy. Woke up and took the bus around 7:30 getting to school at 8. We then took a university bus (huge) for an hour or so to the Nakorn Pratom province. We visited a Thai market, temple, and took a boat ride. Then we played some team building activities. Lunch was in there somewhere too.

Today I think I'm doing laundry and chilling out. I am secretly coveting the empty apartment across from me. It has a porch, real window, and a place to hang clothes! I'll have to see if I could move.

Milestone

Today makes 2 weeks that I have lived on my own!

This weekend Momo and I will head back to the village for a couple days. We denied all the rumors of our plans, so we should be a supprise when we show up.

August 9th (less than a week) is the first day of orientation. You can see the schedule here.

ID

ID
Originally uploaded by Nongchai.

My name is แดนเนี่ยล อลัน เดพพิว actually... but I 'm not asking for a new one. This took a while to get.