Apartment and school

I had to look at only one condominium complex to find my new apartment. A bunch of exchange students also live in the same place. I live in a two bedroom apartment that overlooks Bangkok. What sold me were the amenities– pool, gym, steam and sauna, and a restaurant that will deliver to your room. There are even aerobics classes that I've done a few times. Where I live is considered very expensive for Thai standards, but cheap for us foreigners.

The building is on one side of the river while the university is on the other. There are a few ways that I can get to school: taxi, motorcycle taxi, ferry, or by walking. I like taking the taxi if I'm with another person so we could split the fare (even though the fare is so cheap anyway, only about 40 Baht, or a little over a dollar).

Thammasat University isn't as big as I thought it was going to be, but I think that is a good thing. Going from class to class is easy and fast. Although most of my classes are back to back, I'll still go to the cafeteria to eat. Similar to Berkeley time (classes start 10 past the hour), there is Thai time. Generally, Thais aren't punctual and so even the professors won't start the class until 20 after. Hence the eating between classes. Because of a stupid UC requirement, I have to take at least 5 classes, more classes than I've ever taken since being in college. The classes aren't going to be that difficult but will require effort and time (for school, not my strong suits). The professors at Thammasat vary greatly in the way they teach. For two of my classes, the professors have just read out loud off the handout. After one day in these classes, I've made the decision to not go to these classes at all except for midterms or when papers are due. My other teachers are good in that they get the class to be more interactive, especially my Thai Language class. I'm surprisingly learning quite a bit of Thai already. It will definitely come in handy when I order food or ask for directions. I'm getting more and more comfortable speaking it, and after I've had a few drinks is when I really want to speak it.