Botswana, Week 2: The Botswana Way!

February 6, 2012

We’ve kicked off our second week with an intense reality check… except this reality check has a Botswana twist to it! Our week consisted of an immersion to Botswana culture and way of life.

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We met some really nice local Batswana in a tiny village, named Mmokolodi, just about 2 hours away from University of Botswana. The chief greeted us with open arms, the older ladies of the village sang for us, and the younger males taught us how to dance African style!

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As soon as sun hid away under the beautiful Botswana trees and mountains, we began the festivities. We kicked it all off with sounds of dance and rhythm! The males were told to go with the young boys and older males, while the females were sectioned away to watch the males dance right before they began their own group dances.

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Botswana traditional dancing is much different than what I am accustomed to in the States and back in Europe. Instead of using machine-made instruments, such as a guitar, microphone, or keyboard, the locals use handmade –with very dependable and strong materials from animals — instruments to make sounds and with their hands and feet, accompanied by vocal rhythms! It was very interesting to see, and partake in, the traditional Botswana dances, especially in groups. It had a lot of soul and sense of individualism and community within it. We weren’t dancing to an iPod or a repeated sound; everything felt personal and special in the dances and music. It was as if I was a part of something special with my group and the Batswana people and it really bonded us by forcing us out of our shells!

I played a traditional Botswana game with the local Chief (on the left of the above photo). It involves going in circles around a sketched piece of wood with rocks and trying to overlap the opponent to take away his rocks. It’s very simple and clearly traditional. I’ve learned quickly that even items and objects as simple as a piece of wood, rocks, a board, and a friend to play with can pass time by the hours as quickly as any video game back home!

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During our stay, we had a chance to hike a mountain nearby and take a scenic walk around the villages. We even ran into a sectioned-off piece of land in the mountains that we were told held a 2,000 year old cave drawing.

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Our last stop consisted of us driving about 30 minutes away to view the oldest living tree in the Southern African region. This tree is named The Livingstone, in honor of the African explorer and missionary David Livingstone, and it was originally dated to be over 200 years old, but is expected to have been growing much longer than documented. It is said that Livingstone’s heart was buried under this Mvula tree by a local tribe – appreciating his love of nature.

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When the entire weekend was finished, it was finally bedtime. We didn’t expect anything but the stars above us and our sleeping bags below us at the Botswana village. To our surprise, we ended up in a very well-constructed traditional hut. Not only was it well built, but it also had doors, windows, and even seats with thin, cool blankets inside. Also, the pyramid-shaped roof with specially designed wooden vents created breezes throughout the night to allow us to escape the African heat!

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Posted by igorinbotswana

Traveling is done… let orientation begin!

February 3, 2012

As you can assume from the title of my blog, I have made it to the Netherlands!  After a long, but comfortable flight to London, a short flight to Amsterdam, and a 2 1/2 hour train ride to Maastricht, I have arrived!  I must say that although I enjoy traveling to new places, I wish I could save several hours by teleporting myself to wherever I would like to go.  Despite the long journey, I had a nice time in the London airport.

My trip was also nice because one of the student organizations at UCM picked me up from the train station and took me to what would become my home for the next 4 months.  A funny story about the train ride:  I was buying my ticket in the Amsterdam airport and the man helping me circled where I needed to transfer and made sure I understood what I needed to do (since it was in Dutch) before I walked away.  When the transaction was done I walked away, saw a young guy looking at me so I smiled out of courtesy than kept walking.  I made it about two steps before I heard someone say “Whitney?”  I was really confused as to who would be calling my name in the Amsterdam airport, but naturally I turned around to see if I knew the person.  “I couldn’t help but overhear your conversation.  Are you by any chance the Whitney who is going to UCM?”  Then I realized that he was the person who was supposed to get picked up from the Maastricht train station with me, since our train was arriving at the same time.  Once we exchanged brief introductions, we proceeded to the platform and our 2 1/2 hour ride began.

Re-focusing on the title of this entry, now: Traveling is done, so let orientation begin.  Today was my first day of orientation.  When I woke up this morning and looked out the window, snow was covering the ground, and it was still coming down.  Snow is a kind of rare occurrence in Virginia, so I was excited.  My second reaction was the realization that I needed to prepare to walk approximately 20 minutes in snow, since I don’t have a bike yet.  I also had a feeling that it was going to be extremely cold, so I put on layers and headed out.  Although the snow kept falling during my walk and continued throughout the day and most of the evening, it actually wasn’t as cold as I thought it was going to be.  I have to admit that I kind of enjoyed walking in the snow; it was peaceful.

Once I made it to UCM, I welcomed the breakfast and immediately started mingling with the other exchange, transfer, and freshmen students.  I met people from literally all over the world: Singapore, Australia, the U.S., Germany, Peru, and, of course, the Netherlands, just to name a few.  Everyone was friendly, so it was easy to talk to people.  During orientation, we received our class schedules, learned about UCM’s online programs (student email address and online file storage), and began PBL (Problem Based Learning) training.  I was worried what my schedule was going to look like, because I was told that it was possible to have class anytime between 8:30am and 6pm, Monday through Friday.  Luckily, I don’t have class on Monday, and I only have one 8:30am class.

You may be curious about PBL.  In a nutshell, it’s when a tutor (equivalent to a professor) observes the class while an appointed student (the discussion leader) leads a discussion about a specific text.  At the end of this discussion, the students collectively create learning goals to serve as a guide while they read for the next class.  These tutorials take place twice a week, whereas the lecture for the course only takes place once a week.  I’m excited to see how this works, especially since it’s very different from what I’m used to at UR.  I have orientation for two more days, and then classes will begin this Tuesday. In particular, I’m looking forward to the “Introduction to Dutch Culture” lecture.

One more thing that I found interesting about my first day of orientation: the food.  For lunch, a Dutch student took a few of us to a nearby deli place, which thankfully had an English menu.  As you can probably assume, sandwiches are not something that are unique to the Netherlands.  Also, for dinner, the student organization that picked me up from the train station organized a dinner that was only 5 euros.  Frankly, I didn’t really care what they were providing, since it was inexpensive and it meant I did not have to cook that night.  It was Chinese take-out.  It was absolutely delicious and well worth the money, but once again, Chinese food isn’t a unique part of Dutch culture.  With that said,  tomorrow I will venture to the grocery store.  Wish me luck!

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Posted by whitneyinthenetherlands

Barbados, Week 2: Where the Wild Things Are

January 30, 2012

It’s the start of a new week, and I finally feel like I’ve got my head on straight.  Survival mode has seamlessly transitioned into “vacation” mode, as the first week of classes at the University of the West Indies consists of only one class meeting, in which the professor may or may not show up, merely handing out the syllabus and discussing it if he or she does indeed come.  The days have blended together, as my biggest daily decision is whether to head down the hill to Batt’s Rock Beach with the morning crew, the afternoon crew, or both.  There’s been days when I’ve rolled out of bed and thought to myself, “there has to be something I have to do… I can’t have this open of a schedule”, but, in reality, the only absolute necessities of the day are picking out some delicious food to eat at the cafeteria and tracking down the lecture halls for my 6:00 or 7:00 pm classes.  After the hectic hustle and bustle of the first few days — sorting out school payments, navigating the transportation systems, and getting my class schedule straightened out — things are definitely feeling more natural.

As soon as I had become comfortable with life on UWI campus, though, the urge to keep exploring was buzzing around my head.  This was probably one of the last weekends of the semester of abundant free time before my nose would be stuck in the books, I realized, and thus it was prime for checking out some of the more remote destinations on this island of 166 square miles.  Although Barbados is not necessarily known for its abundant wildlife, there were rumors that a place called the Barbados Wildlife Reserve, in the northern parish of St. Peter, had a number of different species within their confines.  Oh, and not all of them were in cages!  Our group crammed ourselves onto the local bus headed north toward Speightstown, passing the ritzy tourist-trap Holetown on the way.

The Wildlife Reserve is located in the middle of picturesque rolling sugarcane fields, but once inside the “zoo,” visitors follow winding stone pathways that are nicely shaded by hundreds of tall trees.  Immediately, the cameras were out, and before we walked more than a dozen yards into the park, many of us were excitedly snapping countless pictures of the large tortoises meandering through.  Little did we know that Bajan deers (formally known as red brocket deer), peacocks, pythons (caged, of course), parrots, and the famous green monkeys awaited our eager eyes.  A Bajan zoo-keeper distributed peanuts to those who wanted to feed the monkeys, and it was a challenge to keep a straight face as the mischievous-looking monkeys hopped up next to you, uncurled your hands with their miniature fingers, and proceeded to eat all the food in your hands in mere seconds.  Reactions ranged from one girl shaking in nervous energy to another proclaiming she could “die happy” after having had such a close encounter with the green monkeys.

The next nature adventure our group undertook was one that I, myself, had searched out and organized.  Before I arrived in Barbados, I knew two things:  One, I wanted to see as much of the island as possible; and two, I wanted to do so on a budget where I could still eat during the last month of school.  The Barbados National Trust hikes are the love-child of such ideals, as they are free hikes guided by the Barbados National Hikes every Sunday at either 6:00 am, 3:30 pm, or 5:30 pm.  This Sunday’s hike took place in Foul Bay, a complete geographic unknown to me before that afternoon, and I discovered it was all the way on the other side of the island.  I called a taxi, gave him all the logistics for the 3:30 pm hike, and estimated that about 10-15 students would be going on the hike.  Sunday afternoon, nearly 30 students came out to our meeting spot to take the taxi!

Foul Bay turned out to be quite an amazing scene.  We drove down a steep hill, parked among a thick enclave of trees, and marched out onto the beach, lined with palm trees and sandwiched between huge stone cliffs.  Our tour guide was a wizened, older Bajan man named George, who not only gave us some historical background about the area we covered, but also launched into some serious philosophical musings about the future of renewable energy, the dangers of money, and World War III.  At one point in the 6- mile, three hour hike, he took me aside and told me that “you, young man, are going to be the leader of your group.  There is a lot of you, and we need to make sure everyone makes it back”.  I took away a strange satisfaction that George would make me second in command without any previous knowledge of my abilities, but I agreed to keep an eye of our pack of 29 and make sure no one fell behind.  Our hike took us through the beachside forest, up a stone staircase to the top of the sea cliffs, and winding through the grass fields that skirted the coast.  On the way back, we took a number of back roads that would through villages of both large and small, colorful Bajan abodes, often waving to the onlooking locals as we passed.

We tramped back into the beach parking lot well after sundown, and it’s safe to say we were all tired and hungry to the bone.  As we were clambering aboard the taxis that would return us to campus, George stopped me and said “I made a good choice in choosing you as your group leader.  You did a good job, and I look forward to seeing you on more of the hikes!”  Again, I wasn’t aware of anything I did to deserve such high praise from our tour guide, but I guess someone with so much life experience was able to see in myself something that I’ve never truly noticed.  Whatever it was, I will try to cultivate it further in my time here at the University of the West Indies, knowing that it’d make George proud.

The stunning view of the east coast from Farley National Park.

A green monkey catching a ride on a tortoise at the Barbados Wildlife Reserve.

Foul Bay beach is sandwiched between rocky cliffs.

George appointed me group leader of the exchange students.

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Posted by ryaninbarbados

Elephants, Waterfalls, and Bamboo Rafts

January 27, 2012

I just got back from an incredible weekend in Chiang Mai, Thailand, which is a ten hour bus ride north of Bangkok.  Chiang Mai is close to the Burmese border in Northern Thailand.  I was there with my roommate, Addie, as well as two other exchange students.  Thanks to the fantastic recommendations of another Spider (thank you, Dora!), we packed a lot into a three-day weekend.

We took the night bus to and from Chiang Mai, meaning we had three full days there — Saturday through Monday.  Because we had such a short time, we wanted to make sure we made the most of our stay.  Through the hostel that we were recommended, Libra Guesthouse, we were able to book a 2-day, 1-night “trek,” which ended up being incredible.  Our trek started off Saturday morning with a stop at Mork-Fa Waterfall, in Doi Suthep Pui National Park. The water was freezing, but the sight was incredible, and in the end, very refreshing.  After the waterfall, we stopped for some delicious lunch (vegetable fried rice with fresh pineapple). and then we headed to yet another national park, which was home to hot springs.  When I say hot, I mean hot — upwards of 110 degrees Fahrenheit, or 40 degrees Celsius.  It was at this point that we begun our “walk through the jungle,” as it was advertised on Libra’s website.  Well, let me tell you, this was not just a casual stroll. This was, in fact, a 5-hour hike through the jungle.  The walk provided us with incredible views of the mountains, and in the end, it was fantastic, but certainly not what we were anticipating.

On our hike, we came across a few “hill tribes.”  Hill tribes are essentially groups of people — most of the time not recognized as Thai citizens — who, over the past few centuries, have migrated from China and Tibet, settling in the border between Northern Thailand, Laos, and Burma (Myanmar).  It was wonderful to be able to see a different part of Thailand, and to learn a little bit about the hill tribes, especially because most of our guides on the trek are members of those hill tribes.  So after five hours of trekking, crossing many unstable bridges made of bamboo, and finishing every last drop of our precious bottled water, we finally made it to our campsite for the night.  We bundled up quickly, because unlike Bangkok, where the temperature never drops below 85 degrees F (30 Celsius), it was freezing.  We had a delicious freshly made dinner by our guides (fresh fruit with homemade chicken and potato curry), and spent the evening sitting around the campfire, hearing hilarious and inappropriate stories from our guides, as well as learning an elephant song that none of us could quite understand. I must also mention that we were joined by eight crazy Russians on this trek. They did not speak a word of English, but somehow thought that speaking Russian very loudly to us would help us understand what they were saying.  After they had a few drinks that evening, it certainly made for an interesting campfire.

After a freezing cold night with only a thin, damp mat separating us from the bamboo floor, we woke up on Day 2 of the trek, and before we knew it, there were elephants in the river! We could not believe our eyes – our guides were on top of them, washing them, and the elephants casually strolled out of the river towards us, at which point we were able to feed them and touch them.  We were then mounted on the elephants – at first sitting on a contraption they had tied to the elephant, but wanting the real jungle experience, I opted to slide down and ride on the elephant’s back.  We spent about an hour just wading through the jungle and the river on the elephants.  A truly incredible experience.  Instead of hiking back down the mountain to get back to our starting point, we opted for a more relaxing variety of transport, taking a bamboo raft that our guides made for a two hour trip down the river.  Definitely a fun way to end the two day trek!

For the last day of our trip, once we were back at the hostel in Chiang Mai, we were able to see the many sights of the beautiful city.  These included the Sunday night market, the Night Bazaar, and many Buddhist temples, including the most famous temple in Chiang Mai, Doi Suthep.  Doi Suthep is situated in the mountains above the city — about a 30 minute drive away.  It has incredible views of the city, and like many of the other temples we have visited, the beauty of the temple was breathtaking.

All in all, it was a fantastic weekend! And I have to say, for anyone who is wondering… the weekend was unbelievably cheap.  For the entire weekend, door-to-door, bus, taxi, food, water, trekking, hostel, everything; the weekend came to a grand total of $140 USD.  Not bad, right? Still on a high from this weekend, Addie and I are certainly excited to plan our next adventure…we have our sights set on Cambodia next!

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Posted by samanthainthailand

Barbados: In the Land of Fish and Cricket

January 23, 2012

As I bounced around in the back of a jam-packed ZR (pronounced Zed-R), which is more or less an industrial mini-bus, with loud Bajan music blasting through the air, the stark contrasts of Bajan versus American life were definitely in the forefront of my mind.  Minutes earlier, 20 exchange students managed to cram into the mini-bus on our way to Bridgetown, the capital of Barbados, with an older Bajan women and her son, unfazed by the apparent invasion of everyone’s personal space.  When you’re forced to nearly sit on a relative stranger’s lap, becoming comfortable around the other exchange students has been comparatively easy.  All things considered, however, the ZRs are a great way to travel, as they’ll take you anywhere on their respective routes for a mere US $1.00.  I joked to the only other American male exchange student, Glen, that I should start one of these ZRs in America, but he shook his head, responding, “they would never let this many people in a vehicle this size in the states… too much of a safety hazard”.

Transportation, though, was just one of the many great unknowns I faced as I stepped out of the taxi and onto campus at the University of West Indies.  It became clear to me that my first few days in Barbados would consist of a less severe state of survival mode.  After I moved into my on-campus single room, my goals for the afternoon broke down to 1) find an ATM to get money 2) find food 3) find my way back to campus.  Part of the studying abroad experience, I suppose, is not always figuring out things the easy way, as I ended up walking for two hours in the rain in my search for a local restaurant; I ended up getting bread, chips, and Sprite from a local mini-mart, which sufficed for my first night’s dinner on the island.  Being the American that I am, I assumed there would be at least five different types of restaurants on every corner, especially near a University campus.  Evidently, Bajans are much more self-sufficient and opt for the cooking at home option rather than spend their hard-earned money out on the town.

My fortune changed the next morning, however, as I discovered at our foreign exchange orientation that the typical exchange student here at UWI was Canadian, female, and very friendly.  Facebook was able to quickly unify everybody in our coordination of daily plans, and after a day of touring campus and doing the mandatory meet-and-greet, we decided to head down to the famous Friday night Oistins Fish Fry for our first cultural experience.  The fish fry is exactly what it sounds like: a ton of small food vendors and restaurants all lined up in between the beach and the road with local bands or DJs providing some background music.  It was packed full of tourists fresh off the cruise ship, so we all settled down with some food and drinks and continued to figure out who’s who, where they live, and other basics.  I hadn’t met so many new people at one time since freshmen year at Richmond, so it took all my brain power to keep names and faces together.

The first truly cultural event I went to, as the beach does not count (in my opinion), was the Caribbean Cricket Championship at the Kensington Oval in Bridgetown.  If you want to get a good perspective on how important cricket is to Bajans, just know that the entire UWI campus is literally centered around the “Oval”, which is baseball’s equivalent of a diamond.  A US$10 ticket got us great seats for not only the 3rd place match between Barbados and the Windward Islands, but the championship match between Trinidad and Jamaica.  The group who went consisted of 19 girls from Canada, the United States, and Finland — oh, and me.  Being in a fraternity back at Richmond, and thus hanging out with a lot of guys most of the time, this was definitely a different scene.  While I grappled with figuring out the rules of cricket as the game progressed, the girls were busy discussing future baby names and how they wanted their dream weddings to go.  I cracked up laughing as the conversation turned to which cricket player they thought was the cutest.  Unfortunately, Barbados had a terrible day and only scored 101 runs after 10 batters — a very poor showing, I eventually discerned — and they lost to the Windward Islands in the 3rd place game.  I actually really enjoyed watching the game and the reactions of the crowd, who were a lot of fun — there was a ragtag band of percussionists who played from time to time, and we ended up doing the wave numerous times.  After nearly five hours of cricket, however, I was pretty saturated and ready to head back to campus, where I fell asleep streaming the Giants vs. 49ers playoff game on my computer.  I guess after a weekend of pure exploration and discovering new people and places, an NFL playoff game was too familiar an entertainment to keep me awake.

The rowdy Bajan crowd cheers on the national cricket team.

Swinging from the rope swing at the Boatyard Beach Club.

Batt’s Rock Bay Beach — just a five minute walk from campus.

Leave a Comment » | Ryan in Barbados, Spring 2012 | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , | Permalink
Posted by ryaninbarbados

Christmas time in Milan

January 20, 2012

Christmas, to me, is a very traditional time of year. While, in many cases, I like to shake it up, try new things, and have new experiences, Christmas is one thing I always like to keep the same. For me, Christmas creates the magic of the season, and I always try to keep to my traditions, which highlight my holiday. These traditions include: not listening to Christmas music until after Thanksgiving, but then listening to it every day, slowly building myself up to a Christmas frenzy that culminates in Christmas Eve midnight mass; watching A Muppet Christmas Carol with my family; and waking up to Christmas at my house.

However, knowing Bocconi’s final exam policy for international students would keep me from home until late on December 23rd, I knew I had to take action to get me into the Christmas spirit before then.

Now, I already mentioned how traditional I am about Christmas, but I have to say, my attitude of being open to new experiences helped propel me to success yet again. The City of Milan took on a great atmosphere, with Christmas lights, ornaments, and garland decorating streets throughout the city. Decorations were out, people were in great spirits, and despite being distracted by an intense amount of studying, this helped to make my last weeks in Milan quite enjoyable.

The enjoyment started with the Milan Christmas Market, which opens annually from the 13th – 19th of December. This market was incredible. With tents completely surrounding the large Castello Sforzesco (a castle) and leading up to the beautiful Parco Sempione (a park), it was in a perfect central location of the city. Flooded with people everyday, it was a mad house, with people purchasing antiques, CDs, wood carvings, paintings… anything you could think of, besides mainstream consumer products. The best thing for me had to be all of the food and snack carts. For the traditional eater, there were Italian pastries (including incredible cannoli, fried donuts, and my favorite, Nutella crepes), delicious panzerotti, sausage sandwiches, and even a cart with 100 different types of jelly beans. Braver participants could even try a fried, hollowed-out coconut, or a grilled and sugared corn-on-the-cob-on-a-stick. The weather was certainly cold, but the crowds of people, amazing food, and festive music kept you more than distracted. (I even got my grandparents a real Italian newspaper there from 1929!)

The next of my fond Christmas memories came during a final night out with all of my friends from Richmond. With 15 of us studying in Milan, we had all had a great opportunity to bond and decided to celebrate our strengthened friendships and shared memories with one last goodbye dinner. A classic Italian dinner, complete with meat, pasta, and red wine, was excellent and led to a casual stroll around downtown Milan in order to digest. We walked to the Duomo, which was home to a beautiful and enormous Christmas tree for the holiday season. It was quite a sight to see, and helped all of us forget about the stresses of finals for a little bit and be launched quickly into the Christmas spirit. After being in awe at the tree’s beauty, taking some pictures, and even participating in some impromptu American caroling, we all felt much more comfortable about spending our holiday season away from home.

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My third, and final, lovely Christmas memory from my abroad experience came in the form of a final goodbye party with all of my international friends. Over the course of the semester, I made many friends from around the world through my intensive Italian class, through living in an international dorm, and by coaching my intramural soccer team. With friends from France, Spain, Switzerland, Brazil, Germany, Netherlands, Australia, and, of course, Italy, I was able to meet people I never would have otherwise met and was able to see parts of the world in a new light. My international friends and I decided to have a goodbye party complete with a Christmas gift exchange, or Polyanna. We all bought gifts for a specific person with a 15 euro limit (we are still broke college kids) and many people cooked dishes from their home countries, so we had a wonderful Christmas feast and gift exchange. While it was hard saying goodbye to these people, knowing I might never see them again, we went out on a high note with a really nice night, and the promise to keep in touch.

Overall, this was far from my normal Christmas, but in some ways, it was more meaningful. When I returned home, I was reminded of the importance of family and friendship, which is what Christmas is truly about, and I truly wanted nothing for Christmas besides being around the people I love and care about. Christmas time in Milan is lovely, and being together with my loved ones for the first time in 4 months for Christmas proved to be a magical occasion. Once again, Milan gave me one final great experience.

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Posted by johninitaly

Learning a lot in Thailand

January 16, 2012

I have been here for almost two weeks now, and since my last entry, a lot has happened: school orientation, moving into my apartment, opening a bank account, my first week of classes, exploring the city, joining a gym, conquering the Bangkok bus system, using the river boat taxis, navigating Thai malls, grocery shopping, dealing with the warning of a terrorist attack in Bangkok, and my first adventure in Chinatown with some Richmond Spiders.  I have included some pictures taken around the city to give you an idea of the setting.  All of these firsts have included learning many interesting nuances of Thai culture:

1.  The importance of politeness:  as I mentioned in my last blog post, Thais as a whole are some of the most kind and friendly people that I have ever met.  They are always smiling, always willing to help, and completely accommodating and understanding of the fact that I am a foreigner in this city.  Most of the time, Thais are not out to rip you off in order to make an extra baht or two.  That being said, many natives have warned us that it is essential to reciprocate this kindness.  Once you get angry or hostile with a Thai, the smile stays but suddenly their helpful, genuinely kind demeanor goes out the window.

2.  Eating street food is much cheaper than cooking at home: counterintuitive, right?  In the US, cooking meals at home is emphasized everywhere – partly because it is healthier, but also because it is cheaper than going out to eat.  Here, however, on average, eating a big meal on the street costs about a dollar or two.  Buying fruits and vegetables on the street is easy and cheap, but buying fruits and vegetables in the supermarket is extremely expensive.  I am not complaining, though; fresh mango and pineapple at every hour of the day, with stir fry, rice, Pad Thai, and spring rolls on every corner…  Thailand is truly food heaven.

3.  Some strict cultural customs are NOT negotiable: a) Never say anything bad about the King and the royal family, because it is against the law and very offensive.  The current King is a beloved man here in Thailand, because he is truly someone concerned with his people and has done an incredible amount for Thailand in his sixty-some years of rule.  He is also the longest reigning monarch in the world. b) Never put your feet up anywhere — for example, on a seat in the bus, in the movie theater, or on your desk.  Showing a Thai the bottom of your feet is one of the rudest offenses, and is taken very seriously. Apparently a picture of President Obama with his feet up on his desk in the oval office caused quite an uproar here. C) Twice a day, when Thailand’s national anthem (of sorts) is blasted on the loudspeakers around the city, everyone — including foreigners — must stop and pay respect until it is finished.  Not doing this is considered incredibly rude.

4.  Buddhism has a big influence on Thai culture: By some estimates, Thailand is 95% Buddhist, which is made very evident by the thousands of temples and shrines blanketing the city.  As I mentioned before, I have been overwhelmed by the politeness and genuine kindness of Thai people, and I learned recently that much of this has to do with Buddhism.  There are five precepts of Buddhism, which guide people to live a happy and enlightened life. This will, in turn, help them to reach the afterlife.  These precepts include refraining from stealing, killing, lying, and engaging in adultery.  These rules, and the hope of accumulating enough karma to reach the afterlife, are taken very seriously, which I believe is a large reason why Thais seem so incredibly kind.

Leave a Comment » | Samantha in Thailand, Spring 2012 | Tagged: , , , , , | Permalink
Posted by samanthainthailand

The Two-Step Program

January 11, 2012

Finally, this is the last post. I’ve boarded my plane, reached my destination of home, and am back in the United States. My study abroad is over. But really, it doesn’t feel like it is. I think one of the hardest parts about studying abroad really is the end; the part where you leave the country you spent a significant portion of your life in. Once you get home, it hits you that you’ve just left the country, school, and friends you had just started calling your own. You start to realize that you really were in another country (in this case, halfway around the world) and going back to visit just isn’t something our current level of human technology makes simple or cheap.

Ironically enough, going home can make you feel…well, homesick. The thing about studying abroad is that no matter where you go, you throw yourself into a completely new environment. You toss away any foundation of who you are or friends you have or what you know and get to find out who you are without everything else you’re so used to identifying you. You throw away all the labels and, regardless of your experience, you realize that it’s something you’ll never forget.

I finally understand how those people from “Lost” felt. Even though they were almost murdered countless times in the most incredulous ways, they would always feel a connection to that insane place they spent a portion of their lives in. Now, I’m not saying that my experience in Australia was equal to that of being on a deserted island. But even looking back at those  low points (few and far between), I can still laugh, smile and feel some sense of wistfulness.

With that said, I have made my own patented guide to cope with returning.

Dear (insert name of study abroad student here),

(Mike), you have just returned from your study abroad experience. At times, you may feel it will be hard to cope. Therefore, someone has composed this multi-step guide for your benefit.

1. Although modern technology has yet to provide us with teleportation devices, molecular destabilizers, etc., it has provided us with Facebook and Skype. It makes keeping in touch much simpler. And though you may want to cut off your entire trip’s existence altogether to make it easier on yourself, your trip happened, so deal with it and cherish it. Miss your friends and keep in touch — it’s normal. And didn’t you make friends who are back in America now, too? Keep in touch with them as well; you can reminisce together.

2.  Refer to step 1.

With this guide, my study abroad trip really does come to an end. However, the experience really never does quite end.

P.S. Here’s that other guide I promised you– Mike’s Guide to Australian Phrases:

Arvo – Afternoon
Mate 1: Sorry mate, I don’t do the whole arvo tea thing.
Oi: An expression or interjection similar to that of “yo” or “Hey you”
Mate 1: Oi! Get over here mate, the footie game’s about to start!
Cheers– much like the cheers said at a toast, but can also be used as a response to an act of kindness you have received.
Mate 1: I’ll get the door, mate
Mate 2: Ah, cheers, mate
Mate: A friend or acquaintance
Barrack: To cheer or support, especially an AFL Team
Mate 1: Hey mate, who do ya barrack for?
Mate 2: I barrack for the Essendon Bombers of course!
AFL: abbreviation used to refer to the Australian Football League where Australian Rules football is played
Footie: Another abbreviation used to refer to Australian rules football
Mark: A catch, used especially in AFL
Mate 1: If he had made that last mark, he would have been close enough to score and win the game!
Speckie: A spectacular mark in AFL
Mate 1: Did you see that speckie?! He got on that other bloke’s shoulders to mark that!
Bloke: another term for a man, similar usage to dude
Sheila:  Another term for a girl or a woman
Snags: another name for sausages
Get on ye mate: an expression used to express a job well done to another person
Mate 1: I finally did it! I spoke to that Shelia I’d been telling you about!
Mate 2: Ey! Get on ye mate!
No worries: an expression similar to that of “not a problem”
Mate 1: I’ll get the door mate
Mate 2: Ah, cheers mate
Mate 1: No worries
Thongs: flip flops
Troll: a prank or a joke
Zed: The letter z

Leave a Comment » | Fall 2011, Mike in Australia | Tagged: , , , , , | Permalink
Posted by mikeinaustralia

Saying Goodbye.

January 9, 2012

My last week in Derry came and went far too quickly. After winter break officially began, the Student Village, including my particular flat, was a ghost town. Only the international students remained. I tried to get out into the city as much as possible during this time to keep from contemplating my impending departure. Never have I felt so conflicted in my life. On one hand, I could not stand to think about leaving my new home, but on the other, I could not wait to return to the utterly familiar. The only word that could describe it is bittersweet.

I decided not to travel during my last few days- more due to insufficient monetary resources than to any other factor. It was fulfilling, however, to just concentrate on completely absorbing my new favorite city. It was rewarding to tread the same beaten path that had seemed so new and unfamiliar three months prior. It is amazing to see such quick adaptation in myself. Where once I had stared blankly into my wallet before pulling out the correct coins a minute later, I could now blindly navigate my purse in seconds. If I had gained nothing else from this experience, I am now proficient in three currencies thank-you-very-much. To this day, I only have a £10 Irish note in my wallet… the re-assimilation process is slow going to say the least.

During the past month or so, I had been rushing around in Derry and on campus like a crazy person. My main focus at the time had been academic work, work, work. Now I actually had time to stop and just enjoy the expansive views of Derry. Because the Foyle River cuts somewhat of a valley through the city, from the top of campus you can see clear across the river to the neighborhoods and fields on the other side. It is amazing how much you can see on an average day- providing that the weather is clear of course. It just makes the city of Richmond seem too flat, or too big, I suppose. Here is a picture of the city:

Making the leaving process so much easier though, was having a close friend who was going through the same thing. Megan was set to leave the night before I was, so we were both sadly counting down the days. She and I frequented our favorite restaurants and pubs in our last days. We shopped for souvenirs to bring home and went to places we had been wanting to go to all semester. We were determined to leave no rock unturned in that city. On our last nights we visited Peadar O’Donnells quite a bit. This is everyone’s favorite pub in Derry. It is the most authentic, right down to the live Irish music played every night. To our great fortune, the father of our best Irish friend Tomas’ band played there most of those nights. Here is a picture inside of the pub with an Irish flag proudly hanging on the ceiling:

There is no better way to take in the Irish culture than to stomp and clap along to Irish songs with friends in a pub. Here is a picture of Me, Tomas, Megan and our friend Ronan on my last night in Peadars:

I was holding back the tears after Tomas’ father dedicated a song to Megan and me. This was the best form of farewell I could have asked for.

Fun Fact #17: Similar to how some Americans refer to their mothers as “ma”, the Irish refer to their fathers as “da”.

Fun Fact #18: Some Irish pound notes feature a picture of the Bushmills whiskey brewery that I visited earlier in the semester.

Leave a Comment » | Fall 2011, Julia in Northern Ireland | Tagged: , , , | Permalink
Posted by Quite Well

Falling in Love with Bangkok

January 5, 2012

After a 6 hour flight to London, and then an 11 hour flight to Bangkok, I have finally arrived in Thailand!!

What did I first notice after arriving here? Despite the fact that this is very much a city, there is greenery everywhere!! Lining the highways are palm trees, plants, and every tropical flower imaginable.  It is truly paradise.  Today I had my first adventure in Bangkok, alone, and after only two days here I have completely fallen in love with the city.

One of my main missions of the day was to get my uniform for Thammasat University where I will be studying for the next semester.  There are many signs around the university that state that any student without a uniform will not be served; so they take the uniform thing very seriously. I went to the bookstore at Thammasat and after many hand motions and pointing to a picture of the uniform, I was able to communicate that I needed to buy a uniform– only to be told uniforms are no longer sold at the bookstore.  Great. My Thammasat orientation packet said it would be at the bookstore, and the email I received yesterday about orientation reiterated this fact.  But nonetheless, no uniform.  The gentleman at the bookstore who was helping me kept repeating “tuktuk” and “market” meaning I could take a tuktuk to get the uniform at a local market.  I had him write down the name of the market in Thai because I have learned this is the best way to accomplish anything around here: with actual words, in Thai, written on a piece of paper.  I walked outside and ending up hailing a cab.  After much more confusion my taxi driver motioned down a street saying “here, here.”  The only problem was that the street was completely packed with millions of identical looking clothing stands, none of which seemed to be selling official Thammasat uniforms.

I went up to one of the stall owners to ask where I could find a Thammasat uniform, and he was wonderful.   He took it upon himself to guide me through the market, bringing me to each stall that I needed to go to to get the essentials for my uniform.  Every stall owner was so incredibly sweet.  I was overwhelmed with how generous and kind everyone was to me.  I never felt taken advantage of, and felt such genuine warmth from everyone.  After my shopping was complete I grabbed a taxi to go back to the house.  Instead of taking a taxi to the doorstep, however, I decided to walk the last bit of the way to completely soak up my surroundings.   Here are a couple of pictures of the street I am staying on until I move into my apartment:

I am in love the freedom of being able to walk alone and explore the city all by myself, on only my second day in Thailand.  It is the most liberating and wonderful feeling, a feeling that I never had studying abroad in Kenya last semester.  I am so excited for the next five months here!!

Leave a Comment » | Samantha in Thailand, Spring 2012 | Tagged: , , , , , | Permalink
Posted by samanthainthailand

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