Where In The World Is Sum1?

First Working Days In Bangkok

First Working Days In Bangkok

         Well, Monday arrived and I wasn't quite over the Jet-Lag yet.  I was fine really, but not quite ready to deliver classes.  Things go on though, there is no can't, there is only do.  First though, I had to get an Urgent Work Permit (UWP) to deliver the class.  The thing is, I breezed through Customs at the airport, no one would have known if I was working or not.  But you know how things are, I do try to follow the letter of the law, so there I was at Chamchuri Square at 8:30 am.  Imagine that you're to meet someone you don't know or have ever seen, at a center about the size of any LARGE shopping center.  You're supposed to go to the 18^th floor, but there's no obvious way to get there  You can't ask for help easily because very few speak people  English.  Yeah, that was me Monday morning.  Somehow I found my way to the 18^th floor.  I happened to wear one of my Motorola Training Polo Shirts, and as I was leaving the elevator a young lady saw me and took me in tow. Of course she was my contact person and recognized me because of the shirt I was wearing.  How fortuitous that was! I handed her my required documents, thirty minutes later I had the UWP.  I managed to the US Embassy (my customer this week), and arrived in the classroom about 10:45.  The Motorola Sales person was there, and he spent a good 20-30 minutes talking the students before I could begin.  I saw what time it was, we promptly went to lunch. 

         After that it was a pretty normal day of class delivery for me.  As I mentioned, the US Embassy in Bangkok is my customer this week, my students are all employees of the Embassy.  They are not necessarily from Bangkok though.  Three of them are, three are from Washington DC, the others are from Dhaka Bangladesh, New Delhi India, Frankfurt Germany, Manila Philippines, and Kathmandu Nepal.  Thankfully all of them are speak English.  It would be a long, trying class is they didn't speak English.

         Class is fine, everything is good in that regard.  I'm staying at the Conrad, a Hilton hotel.  Why such a 'fancy' place?  Because I was here in 2018 and stayed here.  It's a quarter mile from the Embassy, so just a short walk.  It's a hard walk in some ways, because of the heat and humidity.  I'll live, I'm sure of that.

         Since I am lucky enough to be a Hilton Diamond Member, I have access to the Executive Lounge on the 29^th floor.  (My room is on the 26^th floor).  The food there is awesome with a wide variety of options for you for breakfast.  It's a buffet and amazingly, completely free!  Wow!  Breakfast has become my main meal of the day.  There are 5 restaurants in the hotel, I won['t leave the property until the weekend.  The reason for that is fatigue, traffic, and not really sure where I want to go.  Monday night I had dinner outdoors at a restaurant on the 7th floor.  I know I'll be back.

         That's it for an update.  Til next time, keep on writing, and care for those you love!


Jim