Today was our fourth day in Thailand, and the first few days were full of exciting new experiences. One of my favorite parts of the trip so far has been the food. Trying new Thai dishes is one of the things that I was the most excited for before leaving for this trip.  The food has been different than I expected, but I am enjoying it a lot. Yesterday we had the chance to learn more about how Thai food is prepared at a Thai cooking school.

We began the day by going to a market to learn about how people purchase food in Thailand. We learned that Thai people generally go to the market each day to get fresh ingredients for the meals that they will prepare that day. I found this interesting, because it is very different from how people go grocery shopping in the United States. We saw how milk is extracted from coconuts. This was interesting because coconut milk is a huge part of Thai cooking. We had the chance to explore the market, and learn about how different types of food are selected and used for Thai cooking.

After the market, we went to the cooking school where we prepared four dishes: a soup, a papaya salad, a noodle dish, and sticky rice with mango. It was all fun to prepare and delicious to eat. One of the things that stood out to me the most during this experience was how fresh the food was. One of the owners of the cooking school mentioned that some of the ingredients come right out of her backyard. After learning that Thai people generally pick up fresh food each day, I was not surprised by how fresh the food that we cooked tasted. I have enjoyed this aspect of Thai food a lot.

On the other hand, I have also noticed a lot of fried food. We’ve had fried bananas, fried rice, fried dough, etc… Don’t get me wrong – the fried food is delicious too, but it’s very different from the fresh food that we prepared at the cooking school. Over all, I am enjoying the dishes that we are trying here whether they are coming out of someone’s garden or out of a deep fryer.

An experience that has stood out to me thus far on the trip was the Monk Chat that we were able to partake in. Growing up Catholic, I’ve only ever deeply known and understood that one faith. I had never been given the opportunity to hear from a first hand experience about another faith or way of living. Last summer, I tried to push myself to begin learning about other religions, specifically Hinduism and Buddhism. With Google as my best friend, that learning train quickly ended – there were so many details about holidays, traditions, different variations of each religion, different interpretations and variations of X, Y, and Z. It all became so overwhelming that I found myself spending hours on information that provided me with great detail but left me confused on what the main purpose or perspective each religion took.

Walking in to the Monk Chat, I definitely had my expectations: that the Monk was going to be serious and demand respect. However, Kae Kae COMPLETELY shifted my view of what a traditional Monk “should be” and what Buddhism truly is. First of all, he cracked jokes. I know that seems simple and a bit naive, but in all honesty, I did not know what to expect on how a Monk should act. I found myself doing what humans so often deny doing but happens all the time: creating an other. Before talking to the monk, I assumed he was going to have his nose in the air and talk about a way of life that I could not relate to. I was pleasantly surprised and challenged when Kae Kae introduced himself warmly, saying jokes and even seeming genuine during our introductions (which, speaking from experience, can be very hard to do).  A big learning moment for me from this experience is I am constantly putting people into boxes: my family, friends, strangers, peers, etc. I am constantly putting ideas and people into compartments that create this sense of “other” and that I can’t relate to their experiences, their joy, their suffering completely.

However, as Kae Kae talked more about the broader ideas of Buddhism, the more I realized why I began to explore other religions outside of Catholicism more: I have so much to realize and how I was raised was not always right. What struck me the most interesting was when the Monk expressed that Buddhism is not a religion; one can be a Christian monk, Jewish monk, etc. It is not a religion, but a way of thinking; a way of life that puts suffering into perspective. As someone who dwells a lot, on past, present and especially future, I related to and appreciated the words of wisdom from the monk. While I did not experience the death of both of my parents, I could still understand the suffering that Kae Kae was talking about and it reminded me of the philosophical question: “if a tree falls in the woods and no one hears it, does it make a sound?”

Kae Kae talked about the death of his mother and found himself asking, “why did my mom die?” He elaborated on how millions of mothers die a day, and he doesn’t cry, but when his mother dies, he cries; the rest of the world didn’t cry, but he cried. It reminded me of the tree: millions of trees fall a day unheard; but what if that tree was the tree someone proposed under, or carved their name in to? They may not hear the sound waves of the tree falling, but they feel the emotional crashing of the tree. I also found the words of the monk to relate to what our tour guide said on the second day in Bangkok on our way to the airport, “only today.” From my brief introduction into Thai culture and Buddhist culture, I see this prevalence of living for today because that’s all you can control. You can’t change the past because it happened, and you can’t change the past because it doesn’t exist yet. All you can focus on is taking that next step closer to your goals and to live for today.

Hello everyone!  It is currently our 3rd day in country and our second day in Chiang Mai.  Today is the day where most of the remaining jet lag has worn off and everyone is excited for all of the activities planned for the trip.

Today we spent the majority of the day learning more about typical Thai cuisine. We started out by visiting a market where we learned about and watched the process of making coconut milk, learned about the Thai market culture and were able to explore the wide variety of fresh foods that were available.   We also learned that unlike in America, Thai people usually go to the market every couple days instead of once a week.  This ensures that they have fresh foods at all times. Due to the generosity of others on the group, everyone was able to, if they wanted, try both Rambutan and Durian.

After our visit to the market, we went to a program which was ran by a husband and wife out of their home called Cooking@Home. Here we were able to watch traditional Thai dishes being made and then attempt to recreate them ourselves. Before the class even began, we were all able to enjoy the calming Thai landscape and even got to see a few water buffalo.

Once the actual class began, everyone was able to feel like an accomplished chef.  The instructors were very helpful with both demonstrating and helping during our cooking process.  We were able to taste the instructors dish before making ours so we could adjust our personal dish to our liking.  Out of all of the dishes, my personal favorite was the papaya salad that we made.  It was savory, sweet, spicy and very refreshing in the heat.

From what we saw at the Market and the cooking class, I realized that the Thai food scene is much different from the US.  Not only in the type of cooking, but how they handle everything.  The Thai people seem to focus much more on the freshness of their food and not letting anything go to waste.  I really appreciated this outlook on food.

Upon arriving in Thailand I was struck by how integrated Buddha and Buddhism was into daily life.  In America, the separation of church and state is a core principal and people even bring cases to the Supreme Court if too much religion is infiltrating into government based places and things.  In Thailand, everywhere you look there are Buddha figurines, or Temples honoring Buddha.  The visual representations were just the beginning though.  On the way from the airport our guide spoke about how 80% of the country is Buddhist.  That fact alone shocked me, but after seeing more of the country and learning more about Buddhism I am less shocked.

One take-away I had from our Monk chat was that Buddhism is a way of living and philosophy more so than a religion.  Coming at Buddhism with that in mind, it is easier for me to see why it is so easily integrated into culture here.  This way of life is so natural and engrained here.  People often go to the temple once or more a week and participate in many other ways with Temples and monks.  Some of these ways include donating clothing, food, or money to the temples and monks.  The people do not see this as a chore, but as a way of paying forward kindness and wishing good upon others.  One of the core ideas of Buddhism is this idea of trying to pay if forward.  I think this idea contributes to the friendly way of life here.  Overall, everything I learned about Buddhism today was incredible and it really helped me to understand the country and it’s people more.

My name is Kendall Garvey and I am currently a sophomore at the University of Minnesota. I am majoring in Marketing and minoring in Retail Merchandising. I was born in Chicago and currently live in Plymouth, which is about 30 minutes from campus. I enjoy doing yoga during the school year to destress from everyday tasks and prefer running during the summer! My favorite place in the world is my cabin. I spend a lot of time there in the summers participating in activities such as wake surfing, kayaking, gardening and walking my dogs.
When I am abroad, I hope to adapt to changes around me, as well as get to know the Thai culture. I would like to change my perspective and view situations as a local Thai citizen would by the time I return to America. I also hope to detach from social media when I am abroad, and meet many new friends and acquaintances in the different cities. By the end of our travels, my main goal is to absorb the culture and not stick out as a ‘tourist’. Overall, I am looking forward to getting to know a foreign culture and the cities in Thailand.

Hello Thailand Travelers! My name is Jory and I am the TA for the 2018 Thailand Learning Abroad. I am currently sitting at the airport watching the class arrive at gate E16 and getting excited for the weeks to come.

A few things about me: I really love to laugh and joke around. I am a very flexible and eager to help you all learn and feel more at home. Please feel free to talk with me and ask me any questions you have. My goal is to have a great trip with you all.

One thing that I am looking forward to learning is to relax. I think we (North Americans) live a very fast past, productive oriented lifestyle. I am excited to learn how to slow down and be mindful of the experiences and sights available to us in Thailand. I am also excited to get to know my fellow travelers and build wonderful memories together.

Hi! My name is Jessica Bacon, and I am now officially a junior in college. I am originally from Milwaukee, Wisconsin and my major is business marketing with a minor in management. On weekends I love hanging out with friends and being outside in general, whether that includes walks around downtown, or late night nice rides. I also am currently employed at Orangetheory Fitness and love working out there numerous times throughout the week. Lastly, I love traveling, hence why I am attending this trip. I like to experience new cultures and to meet people from around the world on these trips.

One goal that I want to achieve during the duration of this trip is to immerse myself into the Thai culture and fully take advantage of this opportunity. Sometimes it is difficult for me to break out of my comfort zone in foreign lands, so I want to challenge myself to make the most of this trip. This goal will help enhance my knowledge of the country and to meet amazing people while abroad. I am so excited for this learning abroad trip and to cross off items on my bucket list!!

Hello! My name is Ally Rock and I am a senior majoring in Special Education in the College of Education and Human Development. I have participated as a member of the mellophone section in the University of Minnesota Marching Band as well as participating as an active member in the Outdoors Club. When I have free time, I enjoy volunteering at the Ronald McDonald House near campus or spending time outside.

I am very excited to have the opportunity to study abroad in Thailand! One learning goal I have for myself is to learn more about the educational system in place in Thailand, specifically special education. I am curious to know more about how special education looks in Thailand and comparing that to my understanding of special education in the United States. From my understanding, special education looks different in each country. I am very curious to learn about the referral, assessment, and placement of students in special education if such systems exist in Thailand.  I am also curious to learn about the different aspects of accessibility in Thailand. I would like to learn more about what laws are or are not in place to help people in Thailand of varying ability levels live. Examples that I am looking for could include curb cuts, sidewalk accessibility, closed captioning options, brail/auditory systems,  ramps or elevators.

One of my personal goals from this experience is to become more aware of myself and how my experiences have shaped my world views and perspectives of those around me. I hope to strengthen my understanding of my personal views of the world in hopes to better myself as a future educator.

I am currently experiencing the very nervous/anxious/excited feeling that comes with traveling and can’t wait to arrive!