The First Day as a New Intern

Grant Cauley at his post-Instructor Exam party. (Click to enlarge.)

So, you’re thinking of becoming an Aquanauts intern and you’re wondering, “what’s it really like when you first get there?”

Truthfully, there’s not a lot in the world that can prepare you for Pattaya. Take your average, small beachside resort city, then throw in bits of Las Vegas, Blackpool, Amsterdam and Rio and you’re close to what Pattaya feels like when you hit town. You soon discover it’s not really all that, but when you first arrive, the volume knob does fell like it’s on 11. Culture Shock is a way of life here.

Grant Cauley of San Diego and discovered that for himself in his first two days. First there was the jet log from the long, long trip from San Diego in the U.S., the middle-of-the-night arrival, and the ride from Bangkok Airport to Pattaya. The drivers back home, he wrote to friends in an e-mail two days later, “are amazing compared to here. I was telling one of the other interns that I almost got in a wreck twice on the trip down and he simply laughed and said that is one of the lower numbers he has heard. “

Grant, far right, looks on as others consume the bugs he had to eat on his first night out. (Click to enlarge.)

The next morning he met us and did his orientation and moved into his apartment. “After meeting most of the interns I realized that I fit in quite well,” he wrote.

Grant was joined by three more American interns the next day and, rather than let them get over the jet lag and settle in, their fellow interns decided it was a perfect time for their “initiation” on the town.

“Basically all of the interns took us out and got us really drunk,” he wrote. “I got put on stage like it was my bachelor party.. I ate a grub and a leech (disgusting.) But I couldn’t stomach the grasshoppers and beetles that were presented to me. Not sure how I got home, or where that bar was. Always the intelligent traveler! I start my classes this week and I can’t wait to get in the water. “

Grant comes to us never having been certified, so he’s got six-plus months ahead of him in Pattaya. Soon he’ll be the one presenting doe-eyed, jet-lagged interns with their own beetles and leaches. It’s just part of what being part of the small, tight-knit Aquanauts intern family is all about. Stay tuned. I’m sure this won’t be the last time Grant makes the blog.