Day 6: June 26, 2008

Today I didn't do a whole lot- apart from work!  Woke up around 9 and got breakfast, then headed to the tree house to get to work.  I actually spent a good bit of the morning setting up this blog and catching up on some e-mails, then when Grace got back from shooting we got together with Charissa and worked on the design.  Around 7 we walked into town for dinner (at the same place we had lunch yesterday).  We went into an art shop near the restaurant that had some really beautiful art!  I want to buy some so badly, but the cost for shipping it would probably double its price!  After dinner we came back, I showered, then we had our nightly meeting.  A little bit of work after the meeting and shortly I'm off the bed!

Catching up...

So here's to catch up on what I've done on my trip so far:

Day 1/2: June 21, 2008, June 22, 2008

Picked up Grace and left for the airport around 4 am.  Was on a very small Delta Airlines plane to New York (Kennedy).  Once there we had a five hour layover and then we were all on the same flight to Seoul Korea (the flight was 14 hours long).  We flew Korean Air which was great!  We all had individual TV's at our seats so we could watch whatever movies we wanted to on our own time.  They also had a pretty good selection of Disney music under the kids music channels (why they put it there I have no idea!).  I watched 27 Dresses (started with a chick flick!) then I watched that Bob Dylan movie, I think it's called I'm Not There, and then I watched La Vie en Rose which was really good!  Once in Korea we had another layover before a 6 hour flight to Phuket, Thailand.  In Korea we noticed that a lot of the couples walking around the airport were wearing matching outfits (like exactly the same thing!).  We found out from talking to someone on the plane that they were all on their honeymoon- so it must be a fad to dress alike on honeymoons in Korea.  We got into Phuket around 12:30 am local time and had an hour long commute (on our vans that we'll have through the duration of our stay) to our hotel.  Once at the hotel we got all checked in, got our room assignments and keys, and then hit the sack after traveling for about a day and a half!

Day 3: June 23, 2008

We woke up really early so we could get breakfast and walk around the hotel (and see Thailand for the first time since it was dark when we got here).  Then we met with the whole group at 10 am in the meeting room- it was really nice, we felt like we were at a nice business conference!  We had sessions on Thai language, culture, history, etc. with Paul Wedel and his daughter Jinda (Paul is the director I think of KIAsia which we're working with on this project).  We also had a session on the tsunami and found out a little more about how it effected the area and how bad it really was.  Lunch was included that day at the hotel (was really good), then for dinner we all went into town.  We ate a restaurant called "Viking" which was actually not 'real' Thai food.  There were burgers and pizza on the menu- but lots of people in the group wanted to eat that- haha!  I still got Thai food from there though!  In town when I tried to use the atm it wouldn't give me the money I asked for- then apparently it still took it out of my account...just my luck on my first day in Thailand (but I think we've got it all worked out now)!  Went to bed fairly early as we had meetings early the next morning!

Day 4: June 24, 2008

Meetings again in the morning (more language etc.).  Then in the afternoon we went into a nearby town for lunch (it was traditional family style which is how most meals are in Thailand).  After lunch we walked around the pier there (which was built by KIAsia to help after the tsunami- look on their website for more information).  Me and a few of the other people got onto one of the longtail boats...someone has pictures of it so we'll get those posted sometime!  After that we went to see the sea turtles that are being taken care of in a facility until they are large enough to be put back into the wild.  They were all so cute!  We got to see some really small ones and a few pretty big ones.  Next we went to a government facility to kind of touch base with the military here so they would know we're here and recognize us when we're out in the field working and not be offending or put off or feel like we're stepping on their toes.  Then we went through a couple of the towns nearby.  We also stopped to see a police boat that was displaces (I don't know how far, but it was FAR from the ocean) by the tsunami.  After all that we headed back to the resort, had another meeting, then some of us went swimming in the rain and got some drinks at the bar.  Had a blast, stayed up kind of late, then went to bed.

Day 5: June 25, 2008

We had to meet at 8 am this morning- so I was kind of tired, but it wasn't too bad.  We got breakfast, and coffee, then headed to our meeting.  Everyone was given their story assignments, then the majority of the group headed out to start shooting!  Those of us who didn't go out that early had a video camera workshop with Steven- which was really helpful considering most people had never used the camera.  Even though I've used this camera before it was great because I still learned stuff I didn't really know!  After the workshop we went into town for lunch.  Then Stacey and I sort of shopped and slowly headed back, but right before we were actually about to walk back in started pouring rain (hard)!   So we hung out under cover and waited for it do die down a bit before we walked back.  Once we got back we were just working in the work room (called the Tree House) and people started getting back from their long days!  We all sort of hung out, met with coaches, and worked for a while.  Then I went back to the room and napped before our 9 pm meeting.  The meeting was short and simple, and afterwards I went straight to sleep!

Welcome to Thailand!!!

So I'm in Thailand right now and will be here until the end of July, at which point I'll be in Vietnam through early August.  I'm studying abroad with UNC's journalism school, working on a website covering the recovery of Khao Lak and the surrounding area from the Indian Ocean Tsunami.

I'll be posting daily to keep track of everything I'm doing here- and I'll be sure to put up plenty of pictures!

Sa-wat-dii-ka!