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Published: September 18th 2007
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Following my excursions in northern Thailand, I arrived at Rangsit University (40km north of Bangkok). The campus is very nice and well kept. However I quickly realized that this was legitimately Thailand, no longer Tourist Thailand like the cities I visited in the north. In many of the popular Tourist destinations, restaurant staffs speak English, menus and street signs are in English, and western food is conveniently found. But Rangsit University is much different; these luxuries are very difficult to come across. I believe this is what I have grown to appreciate most about the University. It’s often a bit of a struggle, but ultimately I came abroad to immerse myself in the Thai lifestyle, not fall back into the Western lifestyle.
The student population at the University is about 13,000, and the International College consists of about 500 students. I came abroad through an agency called the University Study Abroad Consortium, and I recommend it to any of my friends, along with advocating study abroad in general!! The program is very lenient and accommodating with us as International Students. They faculty understand that our first priority isn’t necessarily academics, but instead to see a new part of the world, live
a new lifestyle, thus growing and learning through our experiences. I went to meet the Dean of the International College and I liked the way he addressed my situation as a student. He told me, “Now is not the time to work on your Nobel Peace Prize winning toughts, now is the time to go out and…see Laos.” I was very fortunate with my class schedule and I was able to arrange all of my classes on Wednesdays and Thursdays, leaving five days a week for travel. I am enrolled in 15 credits, Thai Language for Survival, Thai Civilization, Thai Cooking, Political Philosophy, and Buddhist Philosophy (Taught by a Buddhist Monk). Each class is scheduled once a week for three hours and twenty minutes. However the Thai University system is significantly different from the American system. I’ve picked up on a parallel between the Thai School System and Thai Lifestyle in general.
The biggest priorities in Thai culture are happiness and peace. Thai’s will do just about anything to achieve these virtues. Thai Citizens do their best to live according to the “mai penn rai” lifestyle. This phrase doubles as “Your Welcome” and “Take it easy, Relax, Chill Out,” depending
on the context in which it’s used. Thai’s do not get stressed out and they are never in a hurry to do anything. Instead of accepting that they don’t like something and rushing through it to get it done, they will just “mai penn rai” find a way to appreciate what they are doing, relax and truly enjoy whatever it is. I also learned that it’s traditional that classes and meetings begin a half hour after their scheduled time. This is done intentionally so that students or co-workers meet and converse thus relieving tensions before a class or meeting begins. This is exactly how the school system is. I have yet to attend a class that has begun on time, and professors will go to great lengths to keep their students happy. Of course there are pros and cons to this system. It is much more relaxed and easy going, but also highly inefficient. But in Thailand, efficiency is not a priority. In other worlds, I'm very happy to have recieved the education I have in America, but for one semester while I am traveling, the "mai penn rai" structure of my classes is nice.
My program has about 60
other students from American, Finland, Sweden, Germany, the Netherlands, Burma, Korea, China and Japan. I’ve met some great people who I anticipate traveling with. The day after our orientation, our group traveled to Bangkok for a tour of the cities historical sites. We saw King Rama the fifths Vimanmek Teak Mansion, the Grand Palace, and The Temple of the Emerald Buddha. Some of the history was interesting, but the pictures show that the architecture was incredible. Following two weeks of traveling by myself and with foreigners, it was nice to be in a group of Americans, not having to struggle to communicate. I have grown quite close with a handful of students from Oregon, California, and Colorado.
Following a few days in Bangkok, I decided that I’m not very fond of the city. Bangkok itself doesn’t really follow suit with the rest of the Thai Culture I have recognized thus far. Globalization has had it’s way with the city. It’s much more diverse, many nationalities, businesses, restaurants and hotels, many of which are commonly found in the west. Thus, it’s an incredibly busy, chaotic, and polluted city. My best example of the city was when I was in the China
Town Market and people were shoulder to shoulder as far as I could see. There wasn’t a bit of breathing space, and I had both hands over my belt pouch paranoid of pick-pockets, and sure enough, a motorbike somehow squirts through the crowds of people right to at my side. In Bangkok, basically anything goes. I have decided that generally I prefer to stay out of the city unless using it to get to another city. I am fortunate to be so close to the city, as it really is the hub of SE Asia, and very convenient to get to other cities and countries.
This past weekend I had planned to go to an island just south of the Thailand Cambodia border with friends, but unfortunately I experienced what so many westerners do in SE Asia. I got some sort of food poisoning and was sick for about three days. But now I’m absolutely certain that it’s out of my system, having cleaned it out completely! This left me with two days before my classes began again. I did my best to salvage the free time and went to the historical cities of Ayuthaya and Lop Buri, north of
Bangkok. Both cities have been built around ruins from the 13th and 14th centuries. Ayuthaya was the former capital of Thailand (Siam) during the Sukhothai period. I stayed the night at the main backpackers guesthouse in Ayuthaya where I met a Greek couple. They convinced me to go to Lop Buri with them instead of staying in Ayuthaya. The city is small, having a population of around 40,000, north of Bangkok about two hours. Lop Buri is very similar to Ayuthaya, but instead of the ruins being the key attraction, it’s the resident troop of mischievous monkeys that keep the city a tourist attraction. It was really entertaining. In one section of the city, they were everywhere, climbing, swinging all over the ruins, even jumping up onto you, trying to snatch thing out of your pockets. I returned to Bangkok, and am now gearing up for two intensive days of class. Tomorrow I have class for 10 hours strait, but at least we make dinner in Thai Cooking. The short excursion was nothing two exciting, but it felt good to get out after being cooped up for three days. I read a quote that summed up my ambitions with this
short journey, “For my part, I travel for travels sake. The great affair is to move!”
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Kyle Dale
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Benny
You should send me when you update. I'm almost positive i'm doing an exchange in Sweden. The University is all spoken in English, pretty sweet. Hope your having the time of your life, keep me updated