Psycho Alert!

Where do I start with this one???

Since my last blog, I made it into immigration where I got to fully appreciate the way a cow feels when it's being sent to slaughter. While this won't put me off of eating beef etc, I will appreciate it just a little bit more. After the initial confusion and fighting our way through a crowd that I imagine was akin to one of people attempting to flee a war-torn country, the oh-so-lovely immigration officer simply crossed out the date on the existing stamp in my passport and wrote a new one. Seriously. It looks like I've done it myself. But I'm now legally able to stay in Thailand for another 90 days.

Friday night was a "Welcome Party" at one of the other dorms for all of the international students. Their dorm is much nicer than ours! It's huge and looks like a mansion that's just been turned into a dorm! And they have a kitchen with an oven! And no rats! (I don't know if I've mentioned the rat situation already, but I will get to it later!) But I didn't stay long, I had to be up early Saturday morning...

Saturday was (as most of you would know) AFL Grand Final day! Christine (who is from America), Regina (from Germany) and I headed into Sukhumvit in Bangkok to Bradman's Bar to watch the game. We had all decided that we would barrack for the Saints and I was so happy when we turned up to the pub to be greeted by a large Aussie dude, saw Geelong & St Kilda colours everywhere and was asked if I wanted a pie, pastie or sausage roll at half time! And I just about peed with excitement at the pre-match entertainment (Jimmy Barnes, Mark Seymour & John Farnham! Does it get any more Aussie??). I personally had a ball! First I discovered I was sitting next to a Port supporter who happened to be from Largs Bay (AS IF!), then we got talking to some nice Melbourne boys, the match was exciting (if a little disappointing) and I had an Aussie burger, Strongbows and got a meat pie at half time. An almost perfect GF day!

The highlight of my week however has been receiving a parcel from my mum. Consisting of all of the essentials, Twisties (in both flavours), Vegemite & Redskins! Oh and tampons. Which are impossible to buy here and when you do find them, pretty expensive. I now have so many that I'm sure I'll become some kind of dealer in the dorm. It has the potential to give me power... (Insert evil laugh here.) We've agreed that no matter how much fun we're having, having little things from home, even if it's just your regular brand of shampoo, can make life so much easier. Not to mention how much I love emails, text messages etc from home. Not to mention facebook! I'm saving my Twisties & Redskins for an emergency homesickness situation though, along with my stash of Tim Tams that I bought the other day (cost me a pretty penny too!).

The lowlight of my week... Hmmm... It's a tie between the rats (and some of the grotty people I live with) and the American Psycho I encountered this morning. Let's start with the rats. We have them living in our kitchen. They're huge. Bigger than my dog, and I'm not exaggerating. Although my dog is a Chihuahua and pretty small by dog standards. But by rat standards, these things are large. And I understand that I'm not living in Australia anymore however I find rodents in my kitchen unacceptable, no matter where I am. And the situation is not helped by those who think that because we have a maid who comes in the morning, it is okay to leave their dirty dishes and left over food on the kitchen sink. First of all, it's not the maid's job to clean up after you. That's not why she's employed. She's not a slave. And secondly, if you have a rat problem, leaving food around is asking for not just the one or two that we already have, but for an entire posse. And thirdly, it's just plain filthy. We're all adults. We can clean our dishes.

The American Psycho... I had to change classes (don't get me started on this nightmare.) and dropped one class, replacing it with another in the appropriate time frame (i.e. add/drop which was on Monday). I attended my new class today for the first time to screamed at by the Professor (I believe this is not an appropriate term for it implies a modicum of professional behaviour), told that I could not be in class as it was full. I questioned how it was full when there were only about 12 students in the class, he screamed some more, I told him to calm down and that I would go speak to the International Office, he screamed again and stormed down to the Office himself to yell at the staff. I was mortified. Long story short, Eugene Jones of Mahidol University International College (yes, I'm naming and shaming) is an obnoxious, arrogant ass who clearly hasn't gotten laid in years. It's the only explanation I have for his behaviour.

So now I have the thrill of selecting yet another class, making sure it's appropriate and getting my university to approve it. Something that seems to take them at least 4 days to do. The only problem is, I only have til 5pm tomorrow.

We're off to the Amphawa Floating Markets this Friday, staying overnight and coming back Saturday. Google Image Amphawa Floating Markets Fireflies and you'll see why I'm excited!

Again, feel free to shower me with messages of love and updates from home. And if any of you feel the need to send me a present (my birthday is approaching), please contact me to get my address!

Love and Hugs! xoxo