Interning... in the real world?

The highly anticipated blog entry of my internship has finally arrived, so I hope it's everything you've hoped for and more! I am working at a foundation called FORDEC (The Foundation for Rehabilitation and Development of Family and Children). That's a mouthful. My boss's name is Dr. Amporn Watanahvongs. He is this super-adorable old man who started this awesome organization to help the poor young through old. It's not just limited to kids, but instead tries to really help everyone. I have another boss, Sumalee or Julie. She's the executive director for FORDEC and adorable too.

My trip to work is quite the jaunt. Out of all of our internships mine is the farthest away from where we live. I have taken photos to give a very rough idea of my mornings Monday-Thursday. Very rough mornings.

5:55am... I didn't know it was possible to be awake at this time

By 6:30am Chad, Chelsea and I are walking down the more "Scenic" part of the journey

Oh, look. I'm still walking.

Yes. It is always this exciting.

This is the shuttle bus station. I'm happier at this point. 30baht and 30-40 minutes later we arrive at the BTS (Sky Train Station).

Very busy

The full escalator at Mo Chit (the beginning of the Sky Train) to get on the train.

Finally on the train! Only a half hour more on here!

Getting off at On-Nut stop (Last stop of the route) and I get to walk some more down the streets.

This contraption is called a "Saung Tao" or "Two-Row truck". It is actually safe, a lot of fun, and cheap! Yay!

Riding the Saung Tao for about another half hour!

Whew. After it's all said and done I usually arrive to work around 9 to 9:30am. Yes 3 long hours later. My boss says no one's on time in Bangkok so it doesn't matter too much if I'm late, as long as I'm disciplined. One time I was running really late and I tried to call to tell them, but I don't think people do that here. They were very confused as to why I was calling and I felt like an idiot by the end of it. No one at my work really speaks English except my boss Dr. Amporn, Sumalee (Julie), and Maprang one of the secretaries. I don't speak Thai so there is a lot of language barrier at my work which creates awkward and sometimes flustering interactions.

I have 3 different locations that I go between each day. Mainly I've been at the main office which is where the regular commute is. I have been helping with their English part since they have an establishment in San Fransisco. When I'm helping them with the English, I feel the most useful because other than that, it's harder for me to offer anything without knowing Thai. I've also gotten to do a lot of fun things to get out of the office such as meet with a hotel in Bangkok that donated a lot of money to the foundation. There was also an anniversary party for FORDEC that I M.C.'ed the English part for. 

The other two locations are Daycares/kindergartens. The children are seriously the most adorable thing ever. They love "fa-rang" so they're always hugging me and holding my hand. I really wish I could just understand them and talk to them! There is one girl at one of them that speaks English which is a relief because she helps sometimes. I've been trying to teach them a little bit of English, meaning I draw a picture of something on the board write and write the word below it. They're probably not retaining much, but then again I didn't know I would be teaching so I was improvising in the words of Dad. I'm going to start creating lesson plans for the future. Well that is just a summation of my experience at FORDEC so far. I have pictures from the Anniversary party I'll put up next!