Webster, Art and Colorguard

Erica wrote about our adventures on Thursday and her experiences with a familiar American activity.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

On Wednesday we had the opportunity to visit Webster University and were able to observe a class on Thai culture. The school has people from many different countries integrated together. It is  abranch campus of the main University in St. Louis, Missouri. In the small class we observed, there were students from Thailand, Burma, the United States, and Russia. In the class, we learned about the basic history of Thailand including the history of the current dynasty. The students also gave presentations on their experiences with "culture shock." When we departed from Webster, we went directly to the Hua Hin Artist Village. It was a neat place with a small, open studio for each artist. We were able to walk around and see each artist’s work and even buy some of it. There was a large variety of art including acrylic, watercolor, jewelry, clothing, pottery, large paintings, and smaller paintings. Not only was it interesting to see Thai art, but we all left having had purchased some authentic Thai masterpieces.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

One day this past week while we were all walking to dinner I saw a Thai student practicing outside of the band room with a flag. It was identical to the flags my old marching band uses. It made me think back to the good old days of being in color guard, one year as a captain, and how much I had enjoyed it. A few days later, I was able to arrange a meeting between myself and the color guard here.  Although most of them spoke little to no English, we were still able to communicate through the language of the guardies. I taught them how to do some tosses, and they asked me to make a routine for them. The next day, I came prepared with a routine. It was funny in that teaching them the routine was not much different than it was when I was in band in the United States, even though there was a large language barrier. By the end of our time working together, the color guard got the routine down, including one of the new tosses. It looked great!



 



 

Continuing to Learn New Things

Here is another post written by Kelly.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

After we had our morning classes on Tuesday, Erica and I got a Thai massage.  It was wonderful!  I have only ever had a Swedish massage before and this Thai massage was very different.  The best way to describe it is as an active massage.  They did a lot of stretching and manipulation.  The Thai’s also don’t possess the concept of a personal bubble, so the masseuse had no problems getting up on the table with me and using her hands, elbows, and feet throughout the massage.  They were very thorough and worked on all my problems areas.  I felt so relaxed afterwards; it was very nice.  They were even able to get my neck all better as it had been messed up from our marathon of a plane ride to get to Thailand.  I would definitely go back!

 

 

            

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

That afternoon Tim in our Thai lesson how to spell our names in Thai.  So, Kelly in Thai looks like this:

เคลลี่

I’m glad I learned my name, at least now I can read something in Thai.  I found it interesting that the letter for K isn’t the first symbol in my name in Thai.  The first symbol is actually for the sound A, then K and two Ls with the Y hanging out above the last L.  It is strange to me, but it works and looks really cool!  Tim also went over with us some cultural comparisons between America and Thailand. 

We had our after school English camp again today.  I taught and played Pictionary with my group.  They really got into it.  The kids here seem so artistic; maybe having writing class to make all their caricatures correctly helps.  I am glad we are doing the English camp as it allows me to have more informal and personal interactions with both students and teachers.

 

We're Playing in the Rain!

Laura contributed this post...thanks Laura!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

After a long and eventful weekend, we returned to Salesian on Monday, rested, finally adjusted to the time zone and prepared for another week of school and the first day of our after school program! One of our fearless leaders, Dr. Kingston, was still in Bangkok finishing her teacher workshop so Dr. Hartigan planned our schedules for the day.  I spent the morning in the anuban again, Meg was in first and third grade EP math, Kara, Jess and Winette were in fourth grade EP math and second grade EP social studies, and Erica and Kelly were in first and second grade EP math. Everyone was finished with school by 11:30am and we had until 4:00 in the afternoon for free time.

 

 

 

 

 

 

The first day of the after school camp was an adventure. It took awhile for everyone to find their classrooms and teachers but we eventually settled in and were off expanding young minds once again! During the after school program, we plan “camp” activities for the students to participate in. Winette, Kara and Jess planned to sing songs and play Simon Says, Meg and I planned an outdoor kickball game and water balloon toss and Kelly and Erica planned to have the students make cootie catchers. The program went extremely well for our first day in spite of the teachers having not known about it until earlier that morning. Unfortunately, the torrential rain cancelled our outdoor activities so improvising was necessary. Thankfully, us education majors are good at thinking on their feet!

Since the rain cancelled the children’s outdoor activities, our teachers decided to take full advantage of the materials. We certainly couldn’t let an entire basket of filled water balloons go to waste! Soaked from head to toe, we had a blast giggling, laughing and dodging the indestructible balls of fury. Afterwards, we headed to the basketball court for a quick game of three-on-three with Winette as our referee. Kelly, Laura and Meg (team Gannon) defeated team solid shirts (Erica, Jess, and Kara) with rookie MVP Meg leading the team into victory. A rematch has been demanded - next time in soccer. The Thai's, as a people, do not like the rain. They believe it is a surefire way to get sick. On the other hand, we Americans, unlike the Thai’s, are praying for more rain so we can play outside again without having heat strokes.

For dinner, we were interested in how Thailand interprets American food so we went to Market Village and enjoyed french fries at the Sizzler. Admittedly, Tim was missing his “man time” but he is having a blast with his seven new adoptive daughters. Dr. Kingston returned later Monday night with lots of exciting stories for us. We are having a blast in Hua Hin, Thailand and the end of our time here will come all too soon but in the mean time, we’re living in the moment and enjoying every second of this experience!

Sabai, sabai

Sorry about the delay in posts...we've been very busy teaching this week! This post is from Meg.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

There is a Thai saying that goes, “sabai, sabai.” The lackadaisical people of Thailand use this saying to shape their lifestyle on terms of, “it’ll get done when it gets done,” or “just go with the flow.” Our adventures on Sunday tested our patience, physical strength, and our ability to integrate with a sabai, sabai way of life.

For starters, Saturday we were given the option to go visit the palace of King Mongkut, the fourth king of Siam (Thailand). This king is known to us, and probably you, as the king from The King and I. I whistled a happy tune as we unanimously agreed that we would be “getting to know you,” King Mongkut.

Come Sunday afternoon, we are waiting in the van when Dr. Hartigan told us that our van driver said we could not go to the palace because it was closed but that we would be going to someplace similar to Monkey Mountain. Dr. Hartigan reminded us to “be flexible”…oh and , “sabai, sabai.” So surely, little disappointment was had and we continued our venture.

After about 45 minutes in the car, Father Dheparat directs us to look up at the georgeous palace we were supposed to go. Surrounded by lush greenery, King Mongkut’s palace was located on the very top of a small mountain. It was stunning to see but, sabai, sabai; I was sure that the other site we were about to visit would be just as unique.

Another 15 minutes goes by and we park and get out of the car. As a prepared traveler, I brought a bottle of water to keep myself hydrated in the lovely 100 degree weather. As we are walking down the block, to a location I still was unsure of, a cute little monkey comes walking along. Suddenly, this precious little creature sprouts wings and ringmaster’s costume. The shrills of the wicked witch guide this vicious creature to admire my water bottle. A hoot and a holler and the monkey taps at it and I clench on closer. The shrills crescendo as he climbs up my leg to embrace romance with my only source of hydration. So I throw this little brat my water bottle and he continues on his way up a light post while I suddenly age 15 years. But I mean, sabai, sabai. It’s not like we’re going on a hike or climbing a mountain in this heat or anything.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We walk about five more feet and I glance up to see these stunning, old, windey, brick roads that work their way uphill through an abundance up trees and other indigenous plants. After catching my breath from such a stunning sight, I realized we were walking up this antique path. But ya know, sabai, sabai. However, I do not believe I was thinking that in the moment. I was thinking something more along the lines of, “Heat…Water…I hate monkeys…Am I going to survive?...Are you there God? It’s me, Margaret…I just referred to myself as Margaret, this is important, ok??!”

My cheeks were developing a lovely rouge tone as we continued our upward climb to an unknown destination for what felt like 4 hours but was probably closer to twenty minutes. Right when my life stops flashing before my eyes, we get to the top and reach what appears to be either a palace or a temple. I could tell we were at some place historic, wherever we so happened to be. Inside, while walking around the museum, one of the museum workers points to a grand bed and said “The king was very short.” Ok, so that was some king’s bed.  Looking around I see pottery in the cabinets that is labeled as being from the mid-19^th century. Still regaining composure I try to wrap my head around when that was, “1850s? 1950s? 1776? 1942?” I began to wonder if we had made it to King Mongkut’s palace after all. Either way, sabai, sabai; everything was pretty.

The view was absolutely breath-taking. I could see the road we drove up earlier. I asked Dr. Hartigan if this was the palace we were originally supposed to go to, King Mongkut’s palace. He said it was. Sabai, sabai.

Avoiding the descent downhill, we waited as long as possible. Eventually, the park did close and we were forced to return to the van. The park’s staff was conveniently scattering the path with rice for the monkeys, which actually was helpful; instead of the monkeys being focused on the bottle of water that Father Dheparat bought me, they were focused on the rice. I still clung onto my new water bottle and purse with all my might.

In the van, we soon became zombies of exhaustion. Halfway through the drive back to campus, Father Dheparat instructs the driver to pull over to a small café because apparently we all looked like we needed a snack. Who would have thought? Being a hospitable Thai, Father Dheparat paid for all our snacks. And for whatever reason, Father waited until after we were done eating to tell us that we could’ve taken a cable car to the top of the palace. And for whatever reason, he was the only one laughing. Sabai, sabai.

 

Elephants and Waterfalls

Our first stop on Saturday was the Hutsadin Elephant Foundation. It is a non-profit foundation that was started by three local businessmen to care for abandoned elephants. With the aid of a mahout (an elephant keeper) we had the chance to walk, feed and wash Tong Nam, a pregnant elephant in the foundation’s care. She came to them pregnant, so they are not able to precisely determine when she will give birth. We did have the opportunity to see the baby move around while washing her!
 

 

We fed her pineapple and bananas. While we pulled the bananas off one by one to give her, if she was given a pineapple with the stem still attached she could rip the stem off perfectly. She also ate banana tree trunks while we washed her. We sprayed her with cool water from a hose and scrubbed the dirt off. She was flapping her ears and wagging her tail, which according to her mahout meant she was a very happy elephant!

The foundation also had an elderly female elephant for whom they are providing hospice care. She is 89 years old and blind, but was very sweet and enjoyed a washing as well.

Lastly, we got to meet their baby elephant Song Kran. She has been raised at the foundation and is the star of their elephant show. She can paint, play soccer, give hugs, kneel to pray, and take donations in a little basket! She gave everyone a hug and liked us so much she wants to come back to Gannon with us.

After the foundation we drove about an hour to the Pala-u Waterfall. The Waterfall is actually 15 levels of small waterfalls, but climbing anywhere above level 5 is not recommended for novice hikers. We chose to hike to level 3 where there was a pool we could swim in. Getting there was not easy! In America, hiking trails are generally well-defined. Here we had to scamper over rocks and use ropes to pull ourselves along steep parts. The resulting swim was well worth it. The water was cool and fresh and the canopy above was green and lush. I think we would have spent all day there if we could.

Today was the perfect day trip: equal parts cultural, engaging and relaxing. Both the Hutsadin Elephant Foundation and Pala-u Waterfall are must-see destinations for anyone visiting Thailand.

**I have put the link to the Hutsadin Elephant Foundation website on the sidebar under Pages. Please check them out, they're good people doing good work!**

Thai Nightlife

Jess, our Physical Therapy major, contributed this post about her teaching experiences and Thai nightlife.

Okay, so it has been almost a full week since our arrival in Thailand and Friday was a really amazing day to be with the kids. Our co-teaching team of Winette, Kara, and I has been really successful. By the end of the week we had a good system to be sure to keep the students engaged for the whole class time, with the only negative point being that none of us ever want to hear “Old McDonald had a Farm” ever again. We had an opportunity to return to some of the classrooms that we had attended earlier in the week and we found that they remembered most of the things we taught them. It was a really exciting experience and I notice that we are building as a team and discovering what works best to give the students a better learning experience and determining a way in which we can use the class time most effectively. We also have been able to communicate with some of the teachers to develop lessons that coincide with their regular subjects. It is really cool to be in the classroom, having to apply lessons and think on our feet, especially if the students are not engaged or if the material is not challenging enough.

After a long day of teaching, Jeff, one of the teachers in the High School, took the whole group to the Hilton Sky Bar to relax and enjoy a beautiful view. Other teachers from Salesian School also joined us and we had an opportunity to further talk to them about their experiences. We watched as it rained for the first time since our arrival and then went to dinner. At dinner we ordered “Thai style”: everyone ordering a dish and then sharing the meal so that everyone would be able to try several new dishes. We even ordered the soup we made during the cooking lesson! Dinner was delicious (like most Thai food in my opinion) and then the group split up, some going to the night market and Winette and I went with Jeff and Aek, another teacher at the High School, to a club near the Hilton where we were able to see live music. There was a Thai band performing there that did both Thai songs and covers of American songs. The group was really good and they had amazing voices. The woman singer noticed that we were familiar with all of the songs and talked with us between sets. After the band performed one of the saxophone players from the jazz festival came in and played. Apparently he is very popular around this area and the place was packed. There was a man and a woman at the front that were dancing really fancy and it was a really cool scene to enjoy. After music and a lot of dancing we left and took a taxi back to the Salesian School to end another awesome day in Thailand.

 

New Experiences

Erica, a Chemistry/Pre-Med major, wrote this post about our experiences on Wednesday.

Today we all took a Thai cooking lesson, went to an elephant safari, and saw the Big Buddha. The cooking lesson began with a trip to the market where we bought and learned about the ingredients used in popular Thai dishes.

We made green curry with chicken, Tom Yum Goong soup, pad thai, and a dessert called khanom lot chong (coconut cream and jack fruit). My favorite was definitely the pad thai, although all of the dishes were delicious. I am anxious to try to make some of the dishes for friends and family when I get back to the U.S.

After the cooking lesson, we went to an elephant safari where most of us took a ride on elephants. It was amazing to be sitting on top of such a powerful animal. The height alone was enough to scare me a little bit, but it was a memorable experience. I have come a long way from when I was a child watching animal planet and dreaming about being around such a peaceful animal. The experience of riding an elephant is one that will never be forgotten.

The Big Buddha, which is actually a large statue of a monk on top of a temple, was next on the agenda for the day. The size of the monk statue was slightly overwhelming at first. We were lucky enough to see some monks at the temple while we were there. We learned that there are two types of Buddhist monks: those who are monks for life and those who are temporarily monks. All Buddhist men are expected to be a monk for some period of time during their lifetime, especially right before they get married.

                Our day was filled with a good amount of cultural, as well as culinary, education along with some adventure. The experiences we have had so far will be among the days that will always be looked upon and reminisced about by all of us for the rest of our lives.

First Day of School

Laura, an Elementary Education major, contributed this post about our first day in the Salesian School.

Today was our first day at the Salesian school!  We met for morning meeting at the high school at 8:30 a.m. and we were introduced by Father Smith.  He spoke to both the elementary and high school students about our visit to the schools.  It was very honoring to hear him describe us as "big brothers and sisters" to the students.  We gave both Father Smith and Father Theparate gifts to show our appreciation for allowing us to be a part of their new school year.  All of us were impressed with how well the students followed directions.  When the bell rang, all 8,000 students lined up in straight rows to sing the national anthem, pray the Our Father, and hear morning announcements.   

Afterwards, we were given a tour of the schools.  There are five levels to the high school.  Inside each of the classrooms there is not a lot of technology; however, every teacher is given a microphone so the students can hear.  When we walked into classes, the class leader would stand and invite the rest of the class to do the same.  In unison, they would all greet us by saying, "Good morning, Teachers.  How are you?" The students are very shy and did not have a lot of questions for us but they are excited to have us here.  We saw the library at the high school (organized by the Dewey Decimal System,) played the instruments in the band room and we were introduced to the staff and teachers. 

 

After our tour, Dr. Hartigan gave us an "Introduction to Thai" lesson.  We learned our numbers 1 through 10 as well as polite mannerisms to use over the next 20 days.  Who knew you couldn't point the bottom of your feet at the Thai's?  We also had Jeff, a secondary English teacher, come talk to us about his experiences.  Jeff was born in Alabama and returned to Thailand with his mother when he was three.  He spent ten years here before returning to the United States to be educated.  After graduation from the University of Alabama, Jeff joined the United States Army band.  He retired from the army and returned to Thailand where he found his calling working as an English teacher and choir leader at the Salesian school.  Did we mention he's a fourth generation grandson to the ruling king of Thailand?  Our royal friend has made plans to introduce us to the Thai night life on Friday and after a long week of teaching, everyone will be looking forward to that! 

At dusk, we finally made our way down to the beach!  The water is so warm and there are plenty of beach chairs to lounge on. I'm sure we will take full advantage of them later in the week.  We walked along the beach to a restaurant on the pier and rounded off the evening shopping at the night market.  All in all, our second day in Hua Hin and first day of school was quite the adventure.  We feel privileged to be working with such an amazing group of teachers, students, and Thai community. 

 

 

 

From Student to Teacher

Kelly, who is bound for Medical School this fall, contributed this post about the first day of teaching.

Today was my first time teaching ever.  Some of us are trained teachers so this was only somewhat different, but for me it was completely new.  I had a wonderful time though.  Erica and I taught colors and shapes to first graders and body parts to fifth graders.  We taught the kids the American children's song "Head, Shoulders, Knees, and Toes" and they loved it!  I was so glad that they liked it and the teachers seemed to enjoy it as well.  The teachers have been very nice and accommodating to us. In fact, everyone we have met here has been very nice.  The hardest part about teaching for me was the amount of kids (the average class size here is 50-60 students) and the language barrier.

I think we have successfully broken the ice.  After our introduction yesterday many students were afraid to approach us, but today many students came up to us today even to just say hello.  They seem to be very curious about us, excited that we are here, and eager to show us what English they know.  It feels weird to have the student "wai" us, but maybe I’ll get used to it.  Wai is a greeting in Thailand where you bow slightly with your hands in a prayer position in front of your mouth.  As we are considered teachers here all the students wai to us.  I am still learning all the nuances to waiing, but I love all the cultural things we are learning.  We have a very curious and willing group so I am sure we will learn a lot about the Thai people and their culture while we are here.

Looking Past Stereotypes

Meg, our English/Secondary Education major, contributed this post about our first day in Thailand.

 

“ผ้าขี้ริ้วห่อทอง” –Thai Proverb              

Translation: “Waste cloth covers gold”

                Living in the United States makes it hard to travel to another country without having a preconceived notion of what to expect. The media molds our psyche to feel certain ways towards other cultures. “The French are stuck-up.” “They have poor hygiene in the Middle East.” The negative, conservative stereotypes that our culture nearly forces us to believe. So what about Thailand? How to Americans view the Thai culture and its people? I cannot speak for everyone; however, I was under the impression that Thailand would be unsafe and have an extremely traditional culture. I also thought the Thai people would be extremely judgmental towards Americans and would not want anything to do with us. However, once the waste cloth of negative perceptions was removed, gold was revealed.

                Based on first day impressions alone, Thailand makes sense. Everything is practical, no extra, ostentatious ‘fluff’. The people are overtly kind and do not look down on you for speaking English. And Hua Hin is proving itself to be safer than Erie, Pennsylvania. We are told from a young age to never judge a book by its cover, and there could not be a more useful moral.

                 Hours later, I am still amazed at the dining arrangements.  Tonight we went to eat at one of the local night markets. The night markets consist of different vendors selling food, clothes, souvenirs, etc. We went to a sit-down restaurant type deal inside the night market. I noticed on the table that there were no set napkins or silverware but rather a box of tissues. When we were severed dinner, we did not receive a roll of silverware or a cloth napkin transformed into an artifice of a swan. I ordered fried rice and got a plate of fried rice with a fork and a spoon resting on the plate. But wait, where is my hanky that doubles as a model airplane? I asked Dr. Hartigan, our faculty advisor who lived in Thailand for five years, if using the box of tissues as napkins when being served a meal was customary. He said yes and that people do not put a napkin on their lap during a meal. What a notion, being civilized enough to eat food properly and not need a landing pad for all the scrapings. After working at a hotel with a large banquet facility for about a year, I have realized how asinine folding napkins and setting five different forks for each place setting can be. I am most certainly going suggest to my manager that we switch from rolled silverware with a cloth napkin, to a box of paper napkins and silverware served as needed. We’ll have to see how that goes over.

                While preparing for the trip, Dr. Kingston told us that everything was very inexpensive. After doing my fair share of traveling, I was just like ‘yeah, ok, whatever. I’m going to need to save as much money as I can.’ But oh boy, was Dr. Kingston right. Early in the day, we went to the local floating market. Here a series of shops and vendors framed a pond, hence “floating”. I took out 3,000 bahts, around $100, and brought back a skirt, a pair of pants, a dress, a pair of shoes, two coffee mugs, two bracelets, four little elephant and Buddha figurines, and three postcards. At the end of the day, I still have 700 hundred bahts or $23 left. Even at the night market, you could buy an ice cream cone for 10 bahts or 33 cents. Yes, cents. Now I can join the grandparents club: “when I was young, we could get ice cream for 33 cents!”

                All and all the first day was spectacular. Souvenirs were bought, laughs were had, but most importantly, I was enlightened. Thailand has welcomed us with open arms. It is times like these when I remember how truly blessed I am. I feel guilty for ever judging a place like this. But always remember, waste cloth covers gold.

               

 

We're Here!!

After a very long day of traveling we have finally arrived in sunny Thailand! The plane trips were long but comfortable, with great movie selections. Here we are looking fresh and excited in Detroit:

The whole group joined up togteher in Tokyo, Japan:

At last, the world weary travelers arrive in Bangkok, Thailand:

We were able to grab a couple hours of sleep Sunday morning before heading down to breakfast and English Mass. Our hosts are trying very hard to please us (they're wonderful, by the way). Note the hotdogs at breakfast...not a typical Thai breakfast food...not a typical American one either though.

We weren't done there, though. I will post the rest of our Sunday adventures later today. To be continued...

 

 







 

 

 



This Spring at Gannon we hosted students from Thailand. It was a great experience and opportunity to practice for our trip!

This is the school that we will be working at.  It is a catholic school that enrolls more Buddhist students than Catholic students.  The country of Thailand is 96% Buddhist and Catholics are a very small minority.  The Catholic schools are supported and run by the Saletian priests.  There is also a convent for Capuchin nuns on the campus.  They are cloistered and do not speak.  We will also see the young Aspirants in training as they live on the school campus as well and attend the Catholic school.  They are training and studying to be priests and they leave their families at about age 12 to live with the priests at the seminary at the school.  The belief is that these young boys have been called.  They will not see their families until they are ordained in about 10 years.  At night you can hear them playing their guitars.....

This is where we will be living.  This retreat house is right on the school and church campus.  The rooms are spartan and simple but clean and comfortable.  Each of us will have our own room and private bathroom.  The showers are very interesting and very green from an efficiency standpoint.  The hot water is heated instantly "on demand" and so there is very little waste and no need for hot water storage and heating devices.

Getting Ready

Dr.Kingston’s musings about our upcoming service trip to Thailand

We have our “team” now after many months of promoting the trip and working through the bumps along the road of planning a faculty led trip.  We have met at least five times now with the students who will be participating in the service trip and we now have our second faculty chaperone, Dr. Tim Hartigan!

It is beginning to feel real and the vision is coming together….at least on our end.  Planning with our contacts in Thailand is an amorphous process.  You are never really sure what you will encounter when you get there in spite of the fact that you clarify multiple times in writing, you keep asking questions about the plans, and you check and double check.  I have warned the students that, while I expect that we have a solid plan for the after school and weekend camp programs, we really do not know what we will find when we get there.  How many children will there be?  We said 40 but who knows?  What ages will they be?  We said grades 2-6 but who knows?  Sabai Sabai….don’t worry……….We will keep you posted!

Our student team is awesome!  We have Kelly and Erica as our team leaders.  They are both RA’s and know how to deal with peers in a way that is somewhere between peer and adult.  That makes me happy because, as you will hear repeatedly, I don’t deal with drama and I am not a camp counselor.  The students know it and my own children will tell you that as well!

We also have Kara, who is an English major, and is our media, communications, promotion, and Blogger leader.  Under Kara’s leadership we will be sure to keep you posted through words and pictures about our experiences and what we are learning.

We also have Meg and Laura who are education majors and who will be providing leadership during our many days of teaching English in the after school programs and the weekend camps.   They are both really enthusiastic and engaged as teachers always are.  We are happy to have them and they will be invaluable to us and the teachers as our educational consultants.

Last but not least ---in fact this is the MOST important leadership role—we have Jessica, a Physical Therapy major and Winette, a psychology major who will be in charge of taking care of our social and emotional needs.  They are going to be in charge of----FUN!  We will be working hard every day while we are there however, we will keep a focus on fun and enjoying each other’s gifts.  Our team leaders have already been facilitating ice breakers to help us get to know each other and Jessica and Winette will continue planning celebrations, ceremonies, and the kinds of activities that will keep us connected and paying attention to our social and emotional needs.  I am beginning to think, based on the funny things we already know about each other, that in some ways, “what happens in Thailand will stay in Thailand!”

We are so fortunate to have Dr. Hartigan accompanying us as a faculty chaperone.  Dr. Hartigan has spent five years in Thailand as a Peace Corp worker and as a teacher at the prestigious “Chula” University.  He has many years of ESL teaching experience and is fluent in Thai.  He will be helping us to understand the culture of the Thai people and learn about the real Thailand experience.  He is currently the Director of the ESL program for international students at Gannon.  He is also on the Fun Team!

I am the associate director of the School of Education and travel to Jordan and Thailand to conduct teacher workshops.  I was in Thailand last spring to work with the teachers in the same schools that we will be working in during this trip.  I am very excited about sharing what I have learned and introducing the people and places that I know with our wonderful team of student leaders.

So if all goes as planned, Dr. Hartigan and I anticipate spending most days swinging from a hammock and sipping tea……….

Just kidding of course….. but we will be encouraging our students to step forward in their leadership roles and will be excited to watch them grow as they navigate a new culture.