This is a quick account on what I see and feel on my way to school: from my condo to the school in Chonburi, Thailand where I am currently teaching at.
I get up and get ready like any person would for any reason on any given day. Since I don’t have a car (because why would I buy/rent a car?),would never rent a motorbike (unless I want to die), no songthaews pass on my street and I haven’t gathered the courage to take motorbike taxis, I simply walk to school. Its not a far walk and I enjoy walking. It takes me between 20-25 minutes from the moment I walk out of my room (on the 7th floor) to the time I get to where I need to sign-in at school. Its a very doable walk and frankly, thats how I get my exercise for the day 🙂
What do I see on my journey to and from school? As I walk out of my condo I am normally greeted with friendly smiles and a sawadee kha (‘hello’ in Thai) from the cleaning ladies and guards. Motorbike taxis line the streets waiting for passengers. As I walk on the main road I start to see it and feel it. I see many cars stuck traffic jams while countless motorbikes weave their way around the cars where they can. On the motorbikes I see men, women and children of all ages. On some there is only one passenger, others two and three and I once saw four. That’s four people on ONE motorbike! Thai people make it work. I walk on the sidewalk (cuz where else would I walk?) but sometimes its not much of a sidewalk at all. I usually also encounter people on motorbikes on the sidewalk going against traffic–hence why they are on the sidewalk. I also come across the same couple stray dogs on my walk every morning. Some are just taking a stroll while others are taking a nap under a strip of shade. I hardly see any other fellow pedestrians. I gather if Thai people don’t have their own car or motorbike, they make use of the motorbike taxis to get around. I mean seriously, who is crazy enough to walk in this heat? Oh yeah…I am. Crossing the final road before arriving at my school feels like death every time. It is a huge intersection with cars, buses, motorbikes and any other modes of transportation you can think of going in every direction. OK, maybe that’s a bit of an exaggeration given that there are traffic lights. BUT there are no traffic lights for pedestrians. That means I have to simultaneously look at every direction where cars could be possibly coming from. I think there are about 3 lanes in each direction (they aren’t really clearly marked and people just seem to drive anywhere anyhow).
Nearly every morning I have the same thought process. I walk out of my bulding and think, ‘oh its nice and fresh today,maybe today I wont get to school all sweaty and disgusting”. Unforuntely, it never fails to be only wishful thinking. As I make my journey to school I start to feel the hot Thai weather. I think its a combination of the wallking and humidity that makes it feel so–for a lack of a better word–nasty. The sun doesnt feel like its burning but somehow I still manage to get to school more than a little sweaty. At this point, however, I think Ive gotten used to it, or its gotten colder? Whatever the reason, it needs to stay like this 😛
On my way back to home from school its quite similar. I have to cross the death road and I encounter more motorbikes on the sidewalk driving towards me. As I turn the corner to get onto the street where my condo is located, I feel some relief. The day is over and I finally get to take off my school clothes and just relax in some shorts and a t-shirt and watch something while eating ice cream 🙂
Rosa Roaming 