Heat, Hallyu, and Happiness: First few moments in Khon Kaen

So, now I'm at Khon Kaen University! Yesterday, we had an excruciatingly long orientation session in which we received our cellphones, bedding, and motorcycle helmets. And we met our roommates! My roommate goes by Tik! She's my age and is probably the most adorable, generous person I've ever met. AND she likes K-pop and stans 2PM too!! She speaks English fairly well, but I still want to try to speak Thai more, for obvious reasons.

Saturday evening, we participated in a welcoming ritual (I'm not going to lie, I don't remember the name of it), in which a monk held a piece of string and unravelled a gigantic piece of string so that each of us held onto it (us = everyone in my program, our roommates, and the program staff). He chanted something beautiful, yet something I completely didn't understand -- although I did catch something about wishing us luck and protection while we study here in Thailand, so far away from home. After that, everyone in the program staff and our roommates came by and offered us their best wishes as we start on our journey. They each tied a piece of string around our wrists symbolizing their wishes, so I have a bunch. Lookie!

That night, we went to the night market with a few of our roommates. I didn't buy anything, but everything was so outrageously cheap! Want fake Ray Bans? 15 baht, please. How much is 15 baht? $.50, no joke. Want a huge coconut smoothie? 20 baht. Skinny jeans? Not more than 70 baht. That's a little more than $2. My roomie got an shaved ice + sweetened condensed milk confection topped with lychee and chocolate brownie pieces. Mmmm~

Saturday was our first day off. Ever. And our next one is at the end of next month, I think. So, after sleeping in, doing much needed laundry (forgot to mention that the whole time we were in Loei and Baw Kaew village, we all stank of BO and... well, more BO), and getting some cheap 20 baht food at the dining hall-esque complex behind my apartment, I finally got a chance to catch up on reading my unread items in my Google Reader, answering emails, and facebooking, of course. Then, Tik came in with P'Fai (I'm assuming she's my P', since Tik calls her P', and Tik is my age. So yeah.), her good friend and the roommate of one of the other girls on my program. They said that they were going to go to a concert at Central Plaza, the close Khon Kaen cousin of Central World in Bangkok. So we and three of Tik's other friends were picked up by P'Rung (SUP, RUNG FROM NU). She was basically the HBIC of the group both in terms of age and behavior; plus, she had good taste in kpop! One thing I've learned is that most Thai people have a basic understanding of kpop which is.. absolutely amazing. So when I first entered the car, I heard SNSD's Run Devil Run and then some SHINee (Replay and Romance). I recognized every song except for one by IU and another by F4.

Anyway, we arrived at Central Plaza! I heard a mixture of Mister by KARA in an electronics store, Tik Tok by Ke$ha on the 1st floor stage, and then Change by HyunA and Bad Romance by Lady GaGa on the same stage later. Mmm, pop culture.

So, okay, sidenote. Thai people apparently really like ice cream/confectionary shops. There was Gelate, Ice Monster, Dairy Queen, and many, many others.

Here's a picture of the 5 floors of the complex:

Oh, what's this?!

OMG.

This was actually what I had today (Sunday) when I went shoe shopping with a girl on the program (yay time discrepancies.. I wrote this entry last night, haha). Regular original + lychee + coconut jelly cube thingies. Nomnom.

Anyway, we went to the concert. It was a vocal duo called Boyd-Nop. Lookee.

There was also this musician/comedian that played in the middle. So he wasn't an opener.. More like a middler. I didn't catch his name, though. But he was pretty funny. For some reason, my video upload thing is all broken and OTL. So I'll try to upload the silly videos I recorded next time I get internet~

After that, we hightailed it back to KKU to celebrate the birthday of a girl on the program. We went to various Thai bars, which was. It just was. I also rode there on a motorcycle with P'Fai an Tik. It was my first motorcycle ride.. And it honestly wasn't too bad. Still kinda scary, though.

Anyway, tomorrow we're taking a tour of Khon Kaen and then going to our second homestay location, near Suan Sanook School. I won't have internet until next week, so wish me luck!

Phurua, Loei!

So, here's the resort! The place we stayed at was called Phu Rua, and above are pictures of the resort. As you can see, it was beautiful! It was definitely in the middle of nowhere, and I felt super isolated from civilization. On the bright side, there was a balcony outside our hotel room, and we had a view of a gorgeous [manmade...] waterfall! YEAH. I'm not sure what river the waterfall flowed into, but the views were to die for.

On Sunday, I had my first Thai lesson. It was a whopping 4 hours long! To top it all off, I am THE ONLY one in the intermediate Thai class. So I will have an ajaan all to myself all semester! Auuuugh. My book is mainly meant for 1st graders, and the story features about a boy named ฦูผา, a baby boy elephant named ใบโบก, and a baby girl elephant named ใบบัว. So far, they've gone to play soccer, take a bath, and had a scary encounter with a snake. Anyway, the first class was mainly a gauge of how well I know Thai. After that, the whole group had discussions on how the rest of the classes and stuff would work. We also had a horrible "bonding" game that featured a tiny cloth that my entire group of 10 people was supposed to both fit onto and flip over while

we were all on the cloth. Please, please don't ask me to elaborate on this. I still have nightmares about it.

On Monday, we had lots of workshops and lectures about NGOs, social justice, human rights, and the Isaan area.We also had a culture + etiquette workshop where the girls and I got pa toongs and the guys got sarongs to wear in the villages. They're basically skirt-y thingies that we're supposed to wear to bathe, sleep, and put on in order to go to the bathroom and stuff. We all also got elephant bags! There were a few with giraffes on them, but I didn't realize it until i saw someone take the last one. Sorry Caroline!

Khon Kaen University notebook, check. Bright pink pa toong, check. Elephant bag, also check.

On Tuesday, there were super boring workshops and Thai lessons. The only different thing was a Thai number BINGO, in which I won some awesome prizes. Woop woop.

On Wednesday, we did a lot of the same workshops and Thai lessons. My Thai lesson was supposed to consist ofwatching a Thai drama (lakorn) and summarizing it in English. But my ajaan accidentally downloaded the episode ofthe lakorn with English subtitles so... That was a no-go. Instead, I had to watch gifs of hilarious situations and describe what happened in Thai into a tape recorder, which my language ajaan at KKU will apparently listen to.Scary. But the gifs were funny; the most notable gifs consisted of a guy skateboarding down a ramp, falling, and then allowing the skateboard to come back and hit him in the nuts; 4 elderly people sitting at a picnic bench, also falling due to the picnic table breaking, and rolling a little while down a hill; and a fat kid (no joke; the caption was "dek ooahn"; fat child) trying to sit in an inner tube that was in the ocean and then falling right into the water. We also had our "Buddha Buddies" assigned, in which the program staff matched each of us up with our complete opposite in order for us to find a way to find a "middle path." Mine is an awesome guy named Brett, and we're definitely, definitely opposites. We kind of clued them in during a discussion of our goals, in which one of my goals

was, "Participate more in discussions," whereas his was, "Speak less during discussions." So our Buddha Buddy time should be full of funtimez. Then, we had a campfire with the rest of the ajaans and program facilitators. We ate American-ish food for the first time since we had been back in the states, and most of us shared a few beers with the ajaans. We call the local beer, "Leo," by a loving nickname, "Ajaan Leo," thanks to Ajaan Jeab. Basically means Professor Leo, but it's a beer, so that's why it's funny. Yeah.

Thursday, I would really like to forget. We had to do an activity that consisted of lifting each person one at a time up and through a tiny hole in a net that was about 4 feet off the ground. I disapproved for so many reasons.

And Friday and Saturday, we spent the night at Baw Kaew Protest village, which is about 2 hours away from Khon Kaen. The village was built last year in a eucalyptus forest that the government built. The reason why the government built it was to create more paper, but in turn, it seized all of the land of the villagers, evicted them, and threatened to jail them if they didn't leave. During an exchange with the villagers, they revealed that the government even charged the villagers with "creating global warming," by living on the same land that their ancestors have lived on and farmed on for centuries. So we got to learn a lot about their struggle in that village. We were also able to eat with the villagers, so we had lots of sticky rice (cao niew), som tum (both Thai and Lao), kai jiew (fried eggs), and other traditional Isaan food. And of course we ate with our hands!

So Saturday, we finally reached Khon Kaen. Next entry!

A series of long-overdue posts: Bangkok

This has literally been the longest week of my life. I've been constantly busy and only have today and tomorrow free before we go back to the villages. Okay. Let me recap.

Last time I posted, I was in Bangkok, awaiting orientation-y things. So, I did that. 8 hours of that. I met the other 9 people in my group, and they are all super duper. That night, I went to Siam Paragon, the now-biggest mall in Bangkok (RIP, Central World).

I had dinner with A and Pup from Thai Club at NU at some delicious Thai food place. Upon Pup's awesome recommendation, I had gang som pak + goong, which is like a soup with veggies and shrimp in a spicy/sour broth. Then, we went to iBerry, which was a sorbet stand inside of the mall. If there's one thing about Thai malls that I've noticed, it's that they love one-stop shopping and ice cream/yogurt/shaved ice while they shop. But more on that later. I had a Thai tea-flavored sorbet, and I thought I was going to die from the deliciousness.

The next day, I visited Chulalongkorn University, which is arguably the most prestigious university in Thailand. I heard a lecture by a professor from their political science department about the situation between the red shirts and the yellow shirts, which are two political parties in Thailand. Thailand is pretty strongly divided, so it was difficult to find a nearly-neutral professor to talk to us (I feel like she was slightly more pro-red shirt, but that's just me). From our perspective as a development & globalization program, it seems that under Thaksin, less policies were made that disenfranchised people in rural areas within Isaan. This may be a reason that the Isaan region is largely red shirt-dominated. Under current and past leadership, regardless of color divisions, policies were put into place that forced indigenous people from their villages in Isaan, where they had worked all of their lives, and put dams, eucalyptus tree forests, and power plants in their places. So, with that frame of reference, we're examining the lives of villagers affected by such policies and powers of development, among other things. And I still don't have a stance on whether I'm pro-yellow or pro-red, so please don't strike up an argument with me! D:

Anyway, after that, we went to see the Democracy monument and what was left of Central World, the largest mall in Bangkok which was burned down by the red shirts this past spring). Then, we drove to Thammasart University, another prestigious university in Thailand, had lunch, and toured the campus. We then visited the Grand Palace, which was really beautiful... Take a look!

I took some more pictures, but it was raining really hard (it's the rainy season here), so they didn't come out too well. So anyway, after that, I saw my dad, aunt, and grandma for a little while before I had to go to a mandatory dinner with the people involved in my program. There, my program, CIEE, paid for the entire meal, including cocktails for those who wanted them. There was a RIDICULOUS AMOUNT OF FOOD. Also, the program director, Ajaan Dave, definitely had a jagerbomb with one of the other students in my program. Awesome.

Then, last Saturday, we left Viengtai hotel at about 7 AM and had an 8 hour van ride to Loei. I slept most of the time. :) Next post will be about Loei!

I'M HERE.

YESSSSSS. I'm so excited! I chronicled my plane ride there just so you guys could witness my cray. It gets progressively more ridiculous the closer I got to Bangkok, it seems, haha. Enjoy~

So this morning before I left, my aunt (mom's younger sister) called and told my dad that she was essentially creepin'. She said that she went to the Viengtai hotel (my orientation hotel while I'm in Bangkok) and somehow extracted the information that we would be staying there for 3 days and that the rate per night at that hotel was 1200 baht (maybe $40) per night. She also got the phone number of the program director and my address in Khon Kaen so she will be able to contact me whenever she wanted. My parents and I had a good laugh about that one; my aunt has always been pretty nosy. Just thought that was a funny little situation.

(10 hours, 45 minutes until Incheon) If I ever travel to Asia again, there's no way I'm not going to use Korea Air. First, there are individual touchscreen consoles installed to the backs of every seat, complete with remote control. On it, you can watch tons and tons of movies (so far, just watched Date Night and How To Train Your Dragon for the second time). Most of them are Hollywood-based with many language options, but they also have some Korean movies (English subbed!), Chinese dramas, and some European movies I've never heard of. You can also play games (Tetris, of course, chess, lots of other random sports-y games) and listen to their huge collection of audio. And yes, since it's Korea Air, all of my favorite k-pop songs are here! Currently listening to Super Junior's 3rd album, Big Bang's 2nd album, and 2PM's DSCS. Do I have all of these albums? Yes. But it just makes me happy that they offer them to everyone on this plane. Am trying out a few albums by Wonder Girls, 2NE1, and KARA, too. They also have old school k-pop (Seo Taiji and the Boys, anyone?) and a huge collection of trot and traditional Korean music. And the "recent" music is a few months old, which I was okay about; featured is Rain's "Back to the Basic," SNSD's "Run Devil Run," and even KARA's random cheer song for the World Cup, "We're With You." But overall, this is awesome. For dinner, I had a delicious make-it-yourself-style bibimbap. Yum! Though the gochujang in a tube was kind of a weird concept to me, I'll be honest. Now I'm about to settle into either a nice nap or continue my orientation readings while my laptop still has the battery.

(~5 hours until Incheon) I'm sitting in between two children crying. I mean, seriously, when one stops, the other one starts. It's ridiculous. Watching Iron Man 2 didn't help; it was a pretty horrible film. I'm really surprised that my dad was able to fall asleep.

(Incheon) The flight was delayed, so my hour-long layover time, in which I was planning on looking through the stores and buying cheap kpop-related merchandise, turned into a 10 minute layover. Sad.

(~3 hours until Bangkok) Just had dinner and had an awkward 2 sentence-long conversation with the flight attendant who spoke Thai. And so far, I've been mistaken as a Korean, Japanese, and native Thai. Awesome. On a completely different note, I really don't understand Korean airplane food and odd packaging. I just ate a Thai-style seafood curry with some rice, and on the side, they gave me a pudding cup filled with... silken tofu. Served with their oddly thick soy sauce and sesame seeds, it's delicious, if you were wondering -- but very strange. I was expecting, you know, pudding. Or at least yogurt. But then they gave me some cheesecake-flavored ice cream, and thus, I'm on a sugar high... Which doesn't make sense, since it's about 5 AM in the US right now. Man, I'm looking forward to that jetlag in the morning.

(~1 hour until Bangkok) I'm pretty sure I just got molested by an 85 year old white woman. So first, I was sleeping, and she was apparently trying to reach across me to grab some headphones that the flight attendant was handing out and definitely whacked me in the chest. Hard. And just now, she tried to get up and my bag was in the way.. So she kicked it across the aisle and then tried to lift my foot off the ground. Like, literally... Was bent down on the floor clawing at my feet to try to get me to move. I mean, she could have tapped me or something so the situation that happened wouldn't have happened -- that is, almost connecting my knee to her face. Oops. Yay, sleep deprivation.

(Bangkok!) I'm all settled into my hotel room! I'm an absolute cray at this point, but I have a roommate that is supposedly coming in soon.. And I don't want to creepily be asleep when she gets here. Anyway, so at the airport, my dad and I exchanged some of our money and got our baggage from the baggage claim. Unfortunately, one wheel of my suitcase was apparently knocked off en route, so my dad really wanted to switch our stuff. So on the way to meet the person from CIEE that was supposed to pick me up, we ran into my uncles on my dad's side who were there to pick us up too. Cue awkward car ride to the hotel where the CIEE coordinator was trying to explain the schedule and program to me while my dad was catching up with his brothers. But at least on the car ride, I got to catch a glimpse at the King's Palace and a few wats (Buddhist temples). My hotel is on a street that was meant for tourists; in fact, the whole time we were driving on the street, I don't think I saw a single non-white person... Except for the waiters and waitresses that were serving food to the tourists on their restaurants' outside patios. At.. 12 AM? Okay, tourists, whatevs.

But oh well, now I'm here!! Using grossly overpriced wifi, yay!! Tomorrow, I have workshops from 9:30 until 5:30, and then I'm going to meet with some Thai Club ladies for dinner. After that, I'll hopefully get to see my grandmother and aunt on my mom's side (the silly creeper one). Woohoo!

All packed!

First, as promised, my answers to those questions I posted last week.

a. In your view, describe what you think "education" should or can ideally be.

b. What role should or can a student play?

I believe that education should ideally bestow knowledge and skills to people that are applicable in everyday life. The knowledge and skills should eventually result in anything from happiness, prosperity, and fulfillment for people. However, there are several ways that knowledge and skills can be imparted upon someone; the best way requires the student to be interested in learning and actively involved in what they are learning. That being said, the student should, instead of being a receptacle that the words of a teacher's lectures are thrown into, be immersed in attaining an important skill or gaining knowledge -- in short, learning by doing.

a. In your view, what is positive social change? How does it happen? Who makes it happen? What hinders it?

b. What can or have you done in light of your understanding of the possibilities of social change?

a. I feel that positive social change is something that makes peoples' lives better and can encompass a wide range of "areas" such as freedoms, rights, and safety. For example, the first thing I thought of when seeing the words "positive social change" as it applies to Thailand is the subject of preventing human trafficking. Through cooperation by the government, provinces, and even all the way down to individual communities and people, stopping the practice of human trafficking allows people (especially those in rural areas and are impoverished with respects to resources) to live in freedom without being threatened by the prospects of being sold off. However, any kind of positive change can be hindered by individuals and groups in the society (including the society's ruling body) who oppose change and are able to hold their power over the majority of people in the society.

b. Though I have not done anything firsthand to promote social change, I feel that I could enact change by assisting a grassroots movement, lobbying group, or other interest group fighting for positive social change. However, I would first have to learn about a certain community by getting to know the people and understanding and assessing the situation to the best of my ability.

What skills or experience do you bring to group building? To you, what does it mean to have a good group process?

Working in groups was always one of my favorite activities both in secondary school and college. I was happy to usually find myself in a facilitator's position, where I would help guide the group in making decisions and staying on track. I also liked to contribute my own ideas while helping to keep the group's discussion relevant, and I feel that both of these skills are important to the processes of a group. To me, having a good group process means for the members to be able to work together productively and hopefully enjoy the work that they are involved in. Additionally, cooperation, the ability to compromise, and openness in discussion among the members of the group are important for a good group process.

What do you think difference between leadership and facilitation is?

Having worked in a nonprofit organization that provided leadership development education last summer, I have been exposed to many types of leadership and facilitation techniques. Generally, I believe that a facilitator's job is to keep the group on topic, organize thoughts of the members in a visual way for the benefit of the group, and keep discussion orderly. Additionally, the facilitator helps the group members brainstorm but, from my understanding, doesn't necessarily contribute his/her own ideas in the process. On the other hand, the leader of the group (unspoken or otherwise) generally starts off discussion, makes executive decisions on behalf of the group if the group is at a standstill, represents the group in presentations and other meetings, contributes many of his/her ideas, and could be one of the most respected members within the group. That being said, both are necessary in a successful group but are quite different in roles.

To you, what is a "concerned global citizen"?

A "concerned global citizen" could be one who doesn't necessarily keep up with the news all over the world as the title may suggest, but instead, focuses his/her energies on the sustainability of the Earth, both in terms of physical/environmental resources and human resources. For example, one could be involved in anything from lobbying for a measure to preserve South American rainforests to working as an educator to prevent the spread of AIDS and other diseases in Africa and Asia to even joining a grassroots campaign to urge voters in a small community to vote for a measure that would give an underrepresented group of people more rights and freedoms.

What is your view of "human rights"?

I feel that "human rights" could be defined as basic rights that all humans are afforded. These "basic rights" seem to differ from society to society. In my opinion, "human rights" is a very abstract concept and could take on many societal and even political meanings. However, I feel that the absolute most basic of rights include the right to live, the right to freedom from slavery and oppression, and the right to pursue happiness without infringing on others' basic human rights.

What is your worldview? How does the world work? How do things happen?

At this point in my life, I don't think that I have developed a complete understanding of the world and a worldview of my own. From ruminating over this question for the past few days, I still haven't come to any true conclusion. But put simply, I believe that the human world is interconnected and functions due to interpersonal relationships. Nothing can happen in the world without these relationships, regardless of the magnitude (whether the relationships stretch from one continent to another via two acquaintances or between a mother and her child). I believe that people are intrinsically social, and without these relationships, nothing could ever be accomplished. I also believe that our lives as humans are short, and we should all try to live our lives to the fullest and help others live their lives to the fullest because we each individually only have one life to live.

How does this worldview inform the decisions you make?

I feel that my current worldview does not necessarily inform all of the decisions I make; by that I mean that my worldview does not cause me to try to meet and get to know or make an effort to know every person that I possibly could. But my worldview does cause me to understand that I can't do everything alone and that I must rely on other people and have them rely on me in order to accomplish something. On a broader level, my worldview moves me to try my best to be nice to people that I meet -- not for the sake of using a relationship with someone that I meet for my own benefit, but instead, for the simple sake of understanding that humans' lives are short, and we don't have the time to be anything but nice to each other. Of course, throughout history, not many people seem to share this worldview, and this worldview certainly isn't the easiest to put into practice, but I feel like it is the most pragmatic and optimistic way to view the world and our individual lives.

So, those questions really did make me think. And I apologize for sounding so naively optimistic and happy in my paragraph about my worldview. That's what SESP did to me, I think.

In other news, I'm all ready to go! In exactly 8 hours, I will be on my first plane on the way to Thailand!! My itinerary:

Tuesday, August 17

10:21 AM - Depart Asheville Regional Airport (AVL)

11:26 AM - Arrive at Atlanta Hartsfield-Jackson Airport (ATL)

1:00 PM - Depart ATL

Wednesday, August 18

4:20 PM - Arrive at Seoul Incheon International Airport (ICN) (YESSSS.)

5:40 PM - Depart ICN

9:10 PM - Arrive at Suvarnabhumi International Airport (BKK)

Total duration: 23 hours, 49 min. Distance: 9581 miles

Guys, guys. I don't think you understand how excited I am! I can't sleep! I suppose I'll just start working on my 150 pages of reading. Yeah, I know.. I have homework even before I get there.

So I'm hoping to meet up with some Thai Club people from NU on Thursday and then meet with my aunt and possibly grandmother on Friday sometime, depending on what the program directors decide to make us do. On Saturday, we're traveling to Loei province for some orientation activities. But yeah, apparently I won't have constant internet access throughout my study abroad experience. But I'll definitely try to keep you all as updated as I can! Thanks again to all of you who have been reading so far! Wish me luck on my nearly 24 hour plane ride!

1 week!

First of all, thank you all so much for reading the blog! I've gotten lots of positive feedback and am glad that you're all with me as I begin my study abroad experience! And I have exactly 7 days until I go to Thailand! Eeeee, I'm getting so excited! :D I received a few emails from the program director, so here are a few things I wanted to comment on.

1. Does the program emphasize experiential education over traditional classroom instruction?

A: Yes

Yay! From Comm Dev, I know that experiential education > traditional classroom instruction. So I'm definitely excited that I won't be sitting in a lecture room all day. Plus, one doesn't learn first-hand about social justice and the way the world actually is such by just sitting there!

2. Q: Is there a lot of group process?

A: Yes. For fall 2010, there are 10 of you enrolled in the program.

Um, seriously? Only 10 of us? The estimate from when I first applied to study abroad was that there would be around 30 people for this program. But I guess since the violence in BKK/all around Thailand broke out earlier in the spring, people were scared off. So, even though there aren't as many people, I guess I'm glad that I'm still in the group that is as hardcore and serious as I am about Thailand. Woop woop.

3. Q: What costs does the program NOT cover?

A: The cost of reading packets and books cost about 2,000 Baht (about $60), food while not on trips, electricity costs of dorm rooms, and some laundry costs. You will also need to pay a deposit for bedding and your motorcycle helmet, which is 3,400 Baht (about $100).

You will also need to pay a deposit for your motorcycle helmet

You will also need to pay a deposit for your motorcycle helmet

You will also need to pay a deposit for your motorcycle helmet

You will also need to pay a deposit for your motorcycle helmet

Wait, what? Are you kidding me? brb, crying FOREVER.

4. Q: Will I starve if I eat vegetarian?

A: No.

Oh, okay. All better.

5. Q: Is this program intense?

A: Yes.

Q: Can I leave the country during the program?

A: No.

So, no random trips to South Korea? Dang. But of course we would have to stay in Thailand to get the full experience and stay focused to what we're doing when we work with the local NGOs. So does that mean friends can come and visit me?

6. Q: Can friends or family visit during the program?

A: No.

...Oh.

7. You need one set of "nice" clothes that you can wear when you meet the president of the university--meaning a skirt for the women and a nice blouse that covers the shoulders and doesn't dip too low in the front with nice shoes that at least have a strap around the back of the foot (but not something like Tevas).

We're meeting the president of the university? Awesome! I like how the program director specifically told the women to dress more conservatively and เรียบร้อย ("riab roy"; orderly), as if we're actually going to dress up like we're going clubbing in order to meet the president. Haha, precautions, I suppose. Oh well, it gives me a good reason to finally splurge on some nice, business-y clothes here.

8. Q: Will my time on the program be one of the most challenging and fulfilling things I've ever done?

A: DEFINITELY!

YEAH! Thanks for raising my expectations and putting words in my mouth, CIEE!

They also included some questions that are supposed to get me thinking about issues that we'll be dealing with when we get there.

In your view, describe what you think "education" should or can ideally be. What role should or can a student play?

In your view, what is positive social change? How does it happen? Who makes it happen? What hinders it? What can or have you done in light of your understanding of the possibilities of social change?

What skills or experience do you bring to group building? To you, what does it mean to have a good group process? What is the importance of group dynamics and processes?

What do you think difference between leadership and facilitation is? (Thank you, internship at Leadership Asheville last summer, for preparing me for this question)

To you, what is a "concerned global citizen"?

What is your view of "human rights"?

What is your worldview? How does the world work? How do things happen? (what kind of question...? Umm, okay.)

How does this worldview inform the decisions you make?

I'll post my answers in a few days. But until then, my glorious readers, you be thinking about these questions, too!

Oh, and by the way, here's my address if you want to write to me!

~My name~

c/o CIEE Khon Kaen

PO Box 91

Khon Kaen University

Khon Kaen, Thailand 40002

Language

So, I've kind of been dreading this post. But on top of not studying for the LSATs and having nothing to do besides stan 2PM, I guess this is the only thing to do.

I've always had a love/hate relationship with the Thai language. I liked that I knew how to understand another language so I could giggle while my parents and the members of Thai club would say sarcastic comments and occasionally poke fun of people while those people were none the wiser. But I hated how much I failed while speaking it. How nothing I said ever sounded remotely Thai. Whether it be the fact that I could never quite tell the 5 tones apart or could never quite do the "ng" sound correctly when trying to say ง, I was always so frustrated with the Thai language. Oh, and don't get me started on the situations where ล sometimes has the "L" sound but other times has the "N" sound. Or how พ, ฟ, ฝ, and ผ totally look like our good old friend the W but really make varying "P" and "F" sounds.

But I've also had some fun with the Thai language. Like when I fell out of my seat laughing when my sister recounted the time when she told the interviewer of her medical school that she once confused the words for "pregnant" and "gold." For the record, they're both pronounced like, "tong," but "gold" uses the the neutral tone (ทอง) and "pregnant" uses the rising tone (ทัอง) (Jeez, and I'm not even sure about that). Or how happy I was when I actually recognized the label of EURO's Custard Cake (คัสตาร์ดเค้ก) actually said, "Custard Cake," completely untranslated.

Omnomnom.

But when it came time to tell my professor (อาจารย์, "ajaan") about my Thai proficiency through a writing sample, I wrote a 7-sentence paragraph about myself and ended it with a 2-sentence phrase pleading her to put me in beginning Thai.

...It took me a total of two hours, a Thai-English dictionary, a friend, and my mom and dad to finish that email. No joke.

So when people assume that I'm basically fluent in Thai and that I will have no problem with the language barrier... Boy, are they wrong. And thus, the language barrier is one thing that I'm most anxious about.

Oh, one last little caveat. Before my sister left to do awesome things back in med school, she asked me if I had a Thai name, since she has one. I said I didn't, and she advised me to go to my parents and, y'know, get one. At the same time, a friend studying abroad in South Korea made up own Korean name (something like 지은, or Ji Eun... supposedly a derivation from her real name, Jenny). But my name is... me. So I'm just going to go with Emily (เอมิลี, as it were) -- mostly because of the whole identity thing, but also because I already memorized how to spell it in Thai, and I'm lazy.

And in other news, 16 days until I depart! I'm guessing I'll see a lot of this [Thai American!] man around when I get there. Not that I'm complaining.

Please excuse the horrendously awful lyrics.