Hello and welcome to my blog!

Hello and welcome to my blog!

I’m a student from University of Helsinki and I am currently studying as an exchange student at Prince of Songkla University in Phuket. I am writing this blog to tell my experiences living and studying in Thailand and to give hints and info. I’m doing this in English (although it’s not my first language, so mistakes are possible if not likely) simply because more people can benefit from it.

I got here thought a program called Asia Exchange. Sometime last spring I came across an email from them, advertising possibilities to spend an academic period in different destinations around Asia. It didn’t take long to decide that few months on a paradise island would be a good thing. And after I started talking about it, it didn’t take long for my two friends to decide that they should definitely come, too. 

The application procedure was very simple and easy, we just filled in an application and send some documents and after a week or so we got confirmation from Asia Exchange. After that I needed some documents from my school for scholarships and such and in August I got a letter for the Thai Embassy so that I could apply for a visa.

From a temple in Bangkok

I’ve been here now for one week and so far it’s been a real adventure to me. Everything is different and at the beginning there is some much to learn. We arrived in Bangkok on Tuesday and the first thing that really surprised me was the heat (and some really friendly, helpful and downright pushy limousine drivers). We stepped out of the air conditioned airport and it was +30 degrees outside. At that point I really wished I would have chosen something lighter to wear than jeans. We spent a total of 2 days in Bangkok, visited some temples and did some shopping (and haggling over prices).

View from the hotel in Bangkok

We arrived in Phuket on Thursday and after some serious wondering around in a taxi we decided to stay at Baan Maksong. Originally we were going to stay at Delight Village and rent a house for us three. But as it turned out to be bit more harder to find that we thought we decided to stay at Baan Maksong for at least a couple of nights. After seeing some houses at Delight village we decided stay at Baan Maksong (although the houses at Delight village were really delightful, too) partly because of the really persuasive sales work happening at the check-in counter.

School started on Monday with orientation day. Representatives both from the University and Asia Exchange gave us tons of information about the courses and the dos and don’ts while living in Thailand.  I've chosen four courses for this semester; International Economics, International Business, Human Resources Management and Thai language.

So far I’ve had Thai language and Business. The language is absolutely impossible! The tones and words are just so strange it doesn’t make any sense. But the teacher is really nice and doesn’t laugh to hard on our pronunciation, so I’m sure I’ll be able to say something more than “Sawatdii kha” by the end of this course. Maybe even “Thank you”. Our Business teacher is an American now living in Thailand. We had her class this morning and I really enjoyed it. She had a lot of interesting stories to tell about the company she used to work for and she is a really good speaker. It’s also nice to have a “farang” (foreigner in Thai), who has lived for some time in Thailand as our teacher because she of course has a different perspective on this country and can also give us some really useful hints and tips about everyday things.

That’s all I’ve got for now.. See you later!

-Anu