1) What I found interesting from the reading is how difficult meditating can be especially for Westerners. Individuals from western countries are often taught to be productive and to always plan for the future. We seldom take the time to be present and fully enjoy the moment. What surprised me is that I see this trait in myself as well. My mind is usually cluttered with thoughts. I’m constantly thinking about the tasks I need to complete or the people and things I am surrounded by. However, this reading taught me the importance of slowing down, taking some time within my day to be mindful, and to be comfortable in silence. I believe that developing this skill will be beneficial for physical, mental, and spiritual well-being. Rather than becoming lost by the day-to-day tasks and rituals, it is important to take in my surroundings and embrace it all.

2) A learning goal is to venture outside of my comfort zone and keep an open heart and mind while I am abroad. I want to start where the community is from rather than where I am from. I want to learn and expand my mind through making observations, interacting with the community members, and by making meaningful connections with the culture of Thailand.

An ocean apart; a world away . . . In less than a week, I will be embarking on a three-week long study abroad journey to a country I have never stepped foot on before. The land of smiles, as that is what Thailand is known as, will be the first ever foreign country I will be traveling to – and it will also be the first time I will be riding on a plane.

On Saturday, April 18th, I attended orientation at Wat Temple located in Elk River. Although I have never seen a temple before in person, through photos i have seen, I initially expected to see a big building with stone pillars and a scenic location. I was surprised to see how different the temple looked like compared with the photos I saw. Reflecting on my experience at the Wat Temple, the entire orientation session helped me become familiar with Thai culture. From listening to the monk speak about the etiquette for temples to learning that there are 13 smiles in Thailand culture and having Acharn Cathy explain further into detail more information about Thailand and it’s culture has all contributed to me becoming familiar with Thai culture.

Growing up, I have always dreamed of traveling the world and immersing myself into learning about a world other than my own. To learn how the world functions and how different life is outside of my own bubble, one learning goal I have for myself in regards to this study abroad opportunity is to educate myself about the culture of Thailand. I am ecstatic to embark on this exciting journey.

understand what the monk was saying in Thai I tried to be in sync with them as best as I could. It was a good feeling to chant about peace and wanting only peace without any sacrifices. Then at the end of the chanting we had to pour the water bottle into the cup, while thinking about who we want to give merit to. I felt great knowing that I was able to give blessings to my love ones. Also, knowing that any person from any culture and race could come to the temple amused me because the Thai culture is so welcoming. Thus, one learning goal I hope to gain from Thailand is to learn how to integrate myself in their culture from eating their food to living their lifestyle. I believe that once I’m able to integrate myself into the Thai culture it would help me see the world in a better point of view and grow into a well-round person.

Hello, hello!

I alwaysssssssss start off blogs with an introduction, so here goes: my name is Elaine and I am a going-to-be-junior in the Youth Studies department, and maybe minoring in Asian American Studies and Gender, Women and Sexuality Studies. As a daughter of Hmong refugees, it has always been a dream of mine to visit Thailand and Laos and to visit the places that my parents often reminisce

and dream about – and here I am, going off to Thailand and even getting the opportunity to visit Hmong villages.

Before our orientation I didn’t really know what to expect. When I heard “temple,” I imagined something huge like what you would see in movies and online. When I got to the Wat Temple I was definitely surprised to see it looked like a regular house. I think that this is something that I want to keep with me throughout the trip things aren’t always going to be what I expect, and it’s important to go into things with an open mind. Even though orientation was pretty laid back, it was really packed with a lot of information that would help me before our departure. For example, we got to know more about the different customs that the Thai people have, such as the different levels of bowing and how we are supposed to sit and act while we’re in a temple. It was also amazing experiencing the hospitality of everyone that we met there and learning more about Buddhism.

With this seminar, I’m worried that I’ll get carried away with the “tourist” things that I’ll want to do and forget or push away what I really want to get out of the trip. One learning goal I have for myself would be to be able to think critically about globalization and their effects and to be able to point it out on my own if/when I see it.

One learning goal for myself is to broaden my views in life. We are going to learn about the global change that is occurring in Thailand. These are some very serious issues and through this learning abroad experience, I hope to come back with a little enlightenment and better my understanding of this to better myself in the future.

As born and raised in Buddhist family, I have always thought that I am truly knowledgeable and educated about my culture. However, this perspective has shifted my thought after I came to America, the great diversity country in the world. I was exposed to different cultures, believes, races, and norms that completely opposite from mine. I have learned and adapted to this diversity, which made me realize of “what is really my identity”. As far as my knowledge about Buddhist, I went to (Wat) temple for almost any occasion to celebrate traditional ceremony for the family. But I have never been aware and noticed of the reason why we have to do it. I never paid attention to any details of the ceremony nor the monk’ teaching about my own culture. Everything I’ve learned and absorbed about my culture is just passive.

            Therefore, going to the (Wat) Thai temple was a new experience for me in actually learning and challenging what I really know about the culture to find my self-identity. Surprisingly, as we went inside the temple and listen to monk telling story about the Buddhist, I actually learned new things that I have never been aware of before. For instance, why would the monks give blessing before they eat? I finally understand that reason behind this cultural practice. The monks have to give blessing before meal to send or deliver the merits to the cousins or family members who has passed away. The food that they are eating will be share to those who have passed way. Another thing that I have learned was that Wat or temple isn’t only opened up to Buddhist people, but we welcome to all the races and religious group. This is really reflected of how my parents raised me to be an open minded, acceptance, generous to other people no matter what where they come from.

            As business marketing major, I want to explore and learn about a complexity of diversity in the world. I want to used what I learn in helping me seek and understand the differences about people behavior/culture beliefs in order help me open my own business. So one thing that I hope to gain from the learning abroad seminar is to understand my own identify first in comparison to others. I want to be able to used what I learn from America and imply those learning to discovery and understand people in different