Week 6: Have I Mentioned How Much I Love the Beijing Subway System? I’m Mentioning it Again.
Before I harp on Bangkok’s metro system, I just want to say that it is a beautiful city with wonderful people, delicious food, and many things to do and see. Maybe I’ve just gotten used to Beijing’s underlying order and efficiency that Bangkok seemed more chaotic and disorganized than it actually is. I’m specifically talking about the metro. Since I’ve been in Beijing, there hasn’t been a single delay, and the trains are always on time. In Bangkok, the trains never seemed to be on time, and one morning we waited nearly an hour and a half because the volume of people attempting to ride the subway was too great for the trains to keep up with. The Skytrain is also above ground and open air (so it’s often hot and humid), and one person actually fainted while we were waiting! We eventually gave up and took a taxi that day. I’ve never spent much time in a big city, so my experience using metros before Beijing is pretty limited, and maybe that has spoiled me. One more thing: you may imagine that Beijing subways would generally be pretty crowded, and before Bangkok I might have agreed with you. But you could not believe how many people could fit inside a subway car until you’ve ridden the BTS Skytrain in Bangkok, Thailand.
Moving on…. The general traffic in Bangkok was also pretty crazy, more so than Beijing, but not by much, so that wasn’t too difficult a transition. The day we took the taxi, we went to the train station and took a train to Ayutthaya, which is a historical city, and now a World Heritage Site, that was the original capital of Thailand before it was destroyed by the Burmese in the 1700s. That day, we took a tuk-tuk tour of the major sites and temples (I’ve included some pictures!). On the last stop we made, we got to climb up and go into one of the buildings, which turned out to house a crypt that one of the former Kings built for his two elder brothers. There was a steep set of stairs that led down to the crypt, and in the crypt itself, you could see faded paintings on each of the four walls. It was a fascinating, if a little bit of a claustrophobic, experience, and probably the most Indiana Jones moment of my life (so far). On Tuesday, we planned on taking a day trip to one of the beaches nearby, Koh Samet, but Delia woke up not feeling well, so I spent most of that day reading by the pool instead before we went to our restaurant from the first night we arrived (I got a Thai meal this time – I don’t remember what it was called, but it was kind of like a spicy seafood spaghetti) and then visited the street market. We flew back to Beijing on Wednesday, and by the time we got back to our Airbnb, I was exhausted. Bangkok was a busy place, and it took a lot out of me in the few days I was there. I really did have a great time though, and I can’t wait to go back to Thailand one day. Next time, I have to go to the beach of course, and then visit Chiang Mai, which is often considered the northern capital of Thailand, to visit the elephant sanctuary!
It was back to work on Thursday, and it felt like it had been forever since I’d been there. After being sick and then going to Thailand, it had been over a week and a half since I’d been at work, so I was very excited to get back to the grind! We are finishing up the memo for Director Tong on U.S. efforts to protect children online, and after this research, I have to say I’m conflicted. Previous government actions (the Common Decency Act, COPA), were struck down due to the unconstitutional burdens they placed on adults’ free speech rights. When we talked about free speech in Constitutional Law this past semester, and cases like Reno v. ACLU, I was always on the side of few limits on free speech. Reading now, about how predators exploit children online and use increasingly advanced technology to commit their offenses, I want more to be done to prevent that from happening. But I understand that the situation is very complex, and free speech is still important to me, so I just hope that our efforts to keep up with technology, law enforcement tactics, and the work being done by domestic and international task forces get better and better and we keep finding new methods to combat and eventually end this problem. I do think we could increase efforts to educate the public. There are resources available to parents to enable them to protect their children online, but I don’t always think that information about these resources and training on how to use them is well-known to the majority of families. Maybe more public schools could offer training programs for parents and their children?
Next week, we will finish up our memo, and then Anna has asked me to help set up a Facebook page for BCLARC that she wants me and Delia to be in charge of, alternating each week. She wants us to keep up with any recent international news and developments in the field of children’s rights and post about them on our page. Also, we are apparently getting more interns next week, so that is something else to look forward to!
As for this weekend, we went to a Chinese movie theater for the first time yesterday with our friend, Mo Kun, and watched Jurassic Park, which was fortunately in English with Chinese subtitles. They do have popcorn at the theater, which tastes sort of like kettle corn and is very good, but unfortunately no cookie dough bites! After the movie, Mo Kun took us to a restaurant in the mall that served Shanghai-style cuisine. We had this delicious sweet and spicy perch dish and 小笼包 (xiǎo lóng bāo), which is a type of steamed dumpling with a soup inside—very tasty! Today is Sunday, and my mother and sister are flying in this evening to visit for a week! I have many things planned for them to do while I’m at work during the day and in the evenings when I get home. The Fourth of July is this week, and there are a few expat celebrations going on around the city, so we will likely try to find one to attend. I’ll let you know all about it next week!
