Local Candies...

A slight departure from the Pop Rocks phenomenon, it seems that if you chew sour menthos and drink pepsi at the same time, it'll explode in you mouth.
(Actually, i found that the menthos variation actually does have an origin in Brazil... go figure!)

While the Pop Rocks experiments might be a bit more dramatic, with all the noise, the extra CO2, etc., this experiment did prove a point:

The Difference between an Engineer & a Chemist
One of the engineers in the group stuffed three in his mouth, took a big gulp of pepsi, and grinned as he waited for an explosion. The chemist, however, took a pink menthos, put it in a cup, and poured the pepsi into the cup.

The engineer experienced no adverse effects from his experiment. The chemist, however, removed the menthos to find it completely stripped of its color. Not so harmless, now, is it...? ;)

The canteen in which our experiments were held:

This smaller canteen is located in the girls dormitory, closer than the big canteen...

one of my meals there:


fish is often salted here to preserve it longer - makes it a little more like fish jerky, depending on how long and how much salt they put on it... this one was on the less salted side, but still needed rice - accompanied by tofu and vegetables in a quite tasty light sauce (couldn't say ingredients!)... this plate cost 30 Baht - less than a dollar.

...Speaking of Candies:
A popular sugar fix in class - Jolly Bears! Though the package was carelessly ripped, (by me - what, i needed sugar!), the thai writing on the top is the phonetic of "jolly bears" - which conveniently accomodates bear prints...!



I was also introduced to a completely unfamiliar candy:

These little white tablets are actually made of condensed milk (powder)... so if you chew them up, it the consistency gets a little like caramel - or you can just suck on them slowly, and it tastes like sweet milk! not bad...

i even broke up a tablet and tested it out on the resident cat (cared for at school) and she absolutely loved it...

Weekend photos, some Jatujak mkt

On the way to Jatujak weekend market...


Vendors line the streets between Saphan Kwai BTS station and the market - selling amulets, statues, antiques - stamps (actually very cool - the philatelic museum is closeby - definitely on my list!)...

...sprinkled throughout are vendors with more practical things...shoes, movies, food...and fresh juice vendors like these!

They are fantastic "pick-me-ups" - ready to go...just add ice, blend, and veup! poured right back into the cup...!Another "alley" with antiques, etc (and a resident poodle, not pictured)...

I get the biggest kick out out of the shops selling car parts, like this exhaust pipe guy...

These fine cats sell all sorts of funky movie posters ... (one of my favorite pictures of this bunch)

Within Jatujak Market
It's not easy taking photos in this market - crowded, hundreds of alleys, thousands of little shops... and only open on weekends...it's going to be an ongoing project... but here's a few good one's i've got so far:

From the used books section - there are several isles like this - english, thai...there's all sorts of neat books in there, but if you're looking for something more specific, you'd better get friendly with the dealers...!

These old GE fans are so cool! They do run U$40-80, though - which is a bit tough to justify on my current student budget...but rest assured that this girl knows exactly where they are located...!

A bar in the antiques/textiles section...

Sweets being sold at Jatujak market - love the bright colored coconut jellies...

My lunch in one of a hundred places to eat at JJ market - Yum woon sen with seafood - glass noodles (made from mung bean) + vegetables (including raw carrots, cabbage, cilantro, and onions) + squid/shrimp, all marinated in lime/chili/garlic... a favorite dish of mine!

...That's all, folks! Thanks for checking in... miss my pals!

Vee Chooses a Direction, Gets an Advisor

Alright, this isn't the most exciting post, so i'll keep it short - but i've chosen the research group i'll be linked to - Strategic Environmental Assessment - specializing in life cycle assessments for energy projects. My advisor is a very nice Indian professor who did not give me strange looks or seem confused when i explained what i wanted to do. YEAH!!! I believe my first run will be on the feasibility of algae as a source of biofuel (i'm actually told it's not efficient enough, but it will be good to know why!)

You're not in Kansas anymore...

Being a student again is a bit surreal in its own right, but doing it at a Thai university is like being Dorothy in Oz.

My classmates have been nothing short of unbelievably sweet and welcoming (my very own lollipop gang!). They have such a range of personalities, I keep wishing i could speak the language better, but that is still such a process - and in the meantime, they go out of their way to fill in the gaps of communication - explaining things, translating between myself and others who speak even less English, teaching me new words and phrases (a definite source of amusement!), asking questions...

And there are many - where am i from, why am i here, what do i plan to do, what do certain expressions mean... sheesh, some of those i'm still working out about myself! But the experience i already have with Thais, along with being older than most of my classmates (all grad students, avg. 21-24) both add another dimension of "authoritativeness"... The attention is generally fun - but definitely challenging ... my thai falls so far short!

In general, all of the undergraduates on campus wear uniforms: black (pleated) skirts/pants with white shirts. Most of the girls sport a brown leather belt at hip level that, upon closer inspection, actually has the KMUTT logo on the buckle - so even the belt is standard university issue...

The freshy's, as they are called, are as amusing to watch here as in the States. Large groups participate in coordinated routines - they have senior "drill sargeants" and the activities are clearly viewed as a (bonding) experience/rite of passage...initiation lite. This week, the freshy's all had to wear name tags hanging from their necks - written on large, yellow cardboard cutouts in the shape of gears! It is, after all, an engineering school...

Not all their rites are done en masse. Today, in the large lunch hall, a freshy approached one of my classmates and professed his love for her (the look on her face - a mixture of amused, flippant, and unfazed, like it happened to her on a daily basis - so funny!); another kid (wearing a preppy sweater!) got up and belted out this song with lots of funny hand gestures, backed by 7 or 8 girls cheering him on; still others got up on tables to announce their love of whatever engineering field they were in...

Truthfully, it's been highly entertaining to watch them, even when i have no idea what they're saying. They're always teasing and laughing over things - nothing seems to rattle them!

Thais are notoriously confused by the slightest of "strong reactions" from westerners (like the pasta incident at home a few months back). It actually upset my classmates to see me express frustration over some problems we had for homework (k, haven't had to solve for heat capacities or use differentials in, oh, a decade --and i wasn't much good at them back then either.) I had to explain that i was not angry (and certainly not with them, but rather with my own thick skull!) - but that venting a little was my flawed way of diffusing the pressure, and if they might kindly disregard my sassafrassing, i would be grateful.

I could have apologized, but i think admitting my weakness was perhaps more unexpected - and ultimately shows (i hope!) that i'm a real person, not just an American Doll...

V goes to school!

After a short jaunt to Saphan Taksin station, this is where i wait for the 75 bus that gets me to school...

...The 75 usually comes in a small green bus - and the drivers often weave traffic like they're in the indy 500......it also comes in a larger red bus, often with a blue banner across the front windshield, which means it's Free (normally 6.5 baht)... both are open-air, though - which can be pretty lethal at some of the intersections...!

(inside the red bus)

Thais do some pretty funny (and cute) things, like mold median shrubs into bunnies...

After about 40 minutes on the bus (the further out of the city i get, the more looks i get!)... i know to get off the bus at graffiti across the street from the school...


...a little grooming at the school's entrance...

the road going in...

Signs/Posters on the way in (not sure what they mean,tho!) ...

More student photos forthcoming... :)

Finally, Vanessa Gets a Thai Nickname!

A Good Nickname is Hard to Find...

Most Thais have short nicknames...Noi, Na, Ben, Tom, Tok, Kiet... not only are they meant to be endearing, but also to replace their unbelievably long and phonetically puzzling names.

Now, for thais, my own name happens to be an equal challenge, both in strangeness as well as starting with the "v" sound... so "Vee" won't work... and "Fi" is tough because my sister's name is Sophia, and she often goes by 'Fia...

"Faa sai" was kindly suggested - means "blue skies" - flattering, but perhaps a bit too sunny and cheery for me... and "blue" alone is "sii" - which appears commonly in other words, so it just doesn't sound like a nickname...

And then, do-on mai (Bam!) - the perfect one: Watsanaa - the "t" is actually quite silent - so it sounds more like "wah-sanaa"...

so this scrambled version of "vanessa" also means "Luck" or "karma" - so you can have 'good watsanaa' or 'bad watsanaa' ... Watsanaa, indeed!