Thailand 2012

You know how you look forward to something that you know is going to happen and as it gets closer you get more and more excited? This trip to Thailand is exactly like that. For the students in the International Business Engineering programme it is an integrated part of the course and therefore we have known that we are going to Thailand for nearly a year and a half. There’s been lots of talk about it, lots of speculations and expectations and now the time has finally come and it is still quite unbelievable that we are here.

The original plan was to study in Bangkok, but due to the flooding of Bangkok and northern Thailand we have had to move to Hua Hin instead as the campus in Bangkok was severely affected by water damages. This obviously means that there will be a little more hassle with the practicalities concerning school. So far everything has worked a charm and no problems at all just because everyone is working really hard to make everything work well. The switch to Hua Hin has so far only been for the better as Hua Hin is a beach resort on the Thai gulf coast. And Bangkok is a 2.5 hour bus ride away, so I’m not complaining! The beach is white and lined with palm trees and nice hotels and houses, so it’s a picture-postcard city!

My name is Sebastian Dahlström, I’m 25 years old and I was born and raised in Borås. I have volunteered to do some blogging from our time in Thailand and try to give a representative view of what studying in Thailand is about. My main interests are action sports and photography. I do quite a bit of mountain biking and my biggest passion is backcountry skiing. I also enjoy diving and mountaineering. I feel that Thailand presents ample opportunities to practise all of the above activities, apart from skiing obviously.

The first couple of days in Thailand have been a lot about sorting out practicalities such as buying stuff that we didn’t bring from Sweden namely fans and water boilers and towels and so forth. We’ve also spent quite a bit of time figuring out how life in Thailand actually works with transportation and timing and well, just about everything that we need to know. The first couple of days were less than easy, but that would happen anywhere. You don’t know where you’re going or how to figure it out. After five days in Hua Hin we feel that we have a much better grasp of how things work than we did when we arrived and it’ll only get easier from here!

The past two days have been spent on the beach by the majority of the students that are here from UB. The weather is spectacular with low 30s temperature and clear blue skies all day long with a light breeze. So to spend two full days at the beach laying in the sun, or the shadow depending on skin tone, isn’t too hard to do. The food on the beach is also amazing! You get a proper thai fried rice for around 15 SEK, and that is considered rather expensive!

Tonight ( Sunday January 8^th) we’re all meeting up with the teachers downtown for dinner and some information about the upcoming week! I will write more when I know a little bit more about how everything works with school.

So, for now, peace out!

// Sebastian from Hua Hin