Goodbye Party and Departure

The Goodbye Party was two weeks earlier than we had anticipated. Even though our program was cancelled before we had the chance to start teaching English in the schools, our hosts nonetheless wanted to send us off in full Thai style. We had a nice dinner at hotel restaurant, complete with Karaoke singing.

We took the opportunity to recognize each of the host families, school directors, and others who helped make our program possible. Mr. Utit, the director of Hadsamran and the overall coordinator of our in-country program made a speech thanking us for coming and apologizing for the situation in Thailand which made our early departure necessary. He indicated he looked forward to our return next year. Dr. Wright made a few remarks as well thanking everyone and promising we would be back next year. 

Our group then took the stage and sang a song we had written earlier in the day describing our experiences in Thailand -- set to the tune of the Brady Bunch. It was a big hit! We provided copies of the lyrics and we could see the English speakers translating them for the non-English speakers. 

After that the karaoke system was taken over by the UTSA students and Thai teachers, wherein we learned that not everyone is equally blessed with signing talent, but all were great sports and helped us end the program with happiness and warm feelings that set the stage and anticipation of our return next year.

We departed the next day in the early afternoon from Trang. Most of the students took advantage of one night left to shop in Bangkok, by hitting a popular night market. They spent the rest of the evening trying to make everything fit in their bags before departing the hotel for the airport at 5:00 a.m. the next morning. 

We had no complications at the airport, and American Airlines ensured our group had a safe and comfortable trip home. Bad weather in Chicago delayed the final flight home for several hours. Instead of arriving at 9:40 p.m., the group arrived in San Antonio around 3:00 a.m. Despite 30 hours of traveling, the group was in great spirits. Dean Merchant, family members and friends were there to welcome the group home. It was a joyous reunion!

In lieu of teaching at the schools, the students will be producing a DVD with their lessons that can be used for teacher professional development, and which can be shown to students in the classrooms. The students will be meeting later this week (after recovery from jet lag) to work on the videos, which will then be sent to the schools in Trang. 

As students have reflected on this trip, despite it being cut short, they nonetheless learned a lot in a short period of time. It was also amazing to see how quickly they bonded with their host families, despite only having spend a few days with them.

The students' reflections provided details on their reactions to the new culture and language, and their strategies employed in dealing with nuisances and critical events. Dr. Langman and Dr. Wright are quite proud of this group for the way they helped and supported each other, and how well everyone got along. We look forward to working with them on the videos, and working with them next year!

Swine Flu Blues - Program Cancelled!!

As family members and close friends reading this blog already know, our program had to end early given the Swine Flu (H1N1) pandemic which is currently increasing 10 fold in Thailand. After careful consideration of the situation, UTSA felt it was best to end the program early and bring all the students and faculty home as soon as possible. 

We were disappointed to say the least, as were our host families and the teachers and students waiting for us to come and teach them. But given the situation, it was clearly the right thing to do. 

We are very grateful to our Thai host families, teachers, and school directors who did so much to accommodate and help us as us we prepared to return home. We are also deeply indebted to our University President, our College Dean, and many of our other leaders and staff members at UTSA who pulled off a small miracle in getting our large group home in record time.

We left with the promise from UTSA that we will be back next year with as many of the original students who want to return.

Plan Toys Factory Tour

a d Several of the students and their host families had the unique opportunity to tour the Plan Toys Factory in Trang. Plan Toys is a considered a green company and factory given its environmentally friendly approach to manufacturing its wonderful toys. The toys are all made out of wood from used rubber trees in the area. Trang is full of rubber tree plantations, and once the trees no longer produce any sap, the trees are discarded. Plan Toys takes these trees and makes a wide variety of developmentally appropriate toys for children young and old alike. 

The tour included a visit to the factory's Toy Museum, which includes dozens of fun hands-on exhibits. The museum made some of us feel old as we recognized several of the toys from our own childhoods!

After the museum, we were taken to the factory floor and got to see the entire process from the cutting of the raw wood to the packaging of the final product. Several left after visiting the factory store to buy toys for the little ones back at home!

Krabi Beach and Hot Springs

A few of the host families got together to take their students and the two professors to Krabi Beach, about an hour and half away from Trang. One of the schools was kind enough to provide their school van for our transportation. We marveled at the beauty of the Thai coast, with dozens of beautiful tiny little islands throughout the Adaman sea. It was low tide, so were able to walk to one of the islands near the shore. Along the way we watched millions of small crabs run for cover and bury themselves in the sand. Under our feet were heard the crunching of millions of shells. The weather was even a little cooler, making it a perfect day for a stroll along the beach.

After the beach, we made a quick trip on the way home to see another natural wonder -- the hot springs. We hiked up skirts and pants to wade in the water and find it really was a hot! 

Thank you to our host families for sharing us some of the beautiful and amazing sites of Thailand!

Birthdays

When we learned there were two birthdays among our group, we couldn't help but get the group together with their host families to celebrate. We rushed out to order a cake for the birthday boy and girl, and the bakery was happy to oblige. Of course, the bakery didn't bother to tell us that two other host families had also ordered cakes for the event. So we ended up with three delicious cakes at the party. Great minds think alike!

Happy Birthday Caitlin and Juan!!

Khao Kab Cave

The weekend of our arrival in Trang, our host families took us an excursion to one of the natural wonders in Trang, the Khao Kab Cave. What is unique about this cave is the way in a way out -- by boat through a narrow opening and low ceiling -- so low that in some parts everyone must lay flat on their back as the ceiling passes just an inch or so above their faces. But in other parts we could exit the boats and walk around to marvel at the incredible formations and colors in the cave.

Welcome Party

Hadsamramwittyakom High School, the lead school which coordinates our study abroad experiences in Trang with host families and school assignments, held an elaborate welcome party for our students and faculty, and for their host families, school directors, and some local officials. 

The teachers and students went all out. There was an amazing spread of Thai fruits and other foods for us to try. Several student musical groups performed, and there were several dances showing a variety of styles throughout the country. The most touching was when dancers representing the North joined in a dance with dancers representing the style of the South and danced in harmony. The message was clear -- just like this dance, our group from UTSA coming to Trang to live with families and teach English in the schools was a meeting of different cultures who could work together in beautiful harmony!

A key part of the ceremony was when students were introduced to their host families, each of whom presented their student with a lei of flowers. At the end of the ceremony, students separated off with their host families into different directions, feeling excited and nervous at the same time over what the next two weeks would bring!

Thank you everyone for the most incredible welcome ever!

U.S. Embassy Office of Public Affairs

As mentioned in a previous post, we began our Bangkok experiences with a briefing at the U.S. Embassy. We wish to acknowledge a very special person there, Mrs.  Panisara "Nina" Logsdon, who works in the Public Affairs office. She arranged our orientation program for us which included a security briefing, an overview of U.S. educational, exchange, and language programs which our students may be interested in pursuing in the near future, and arranged for us to meet and hear a presentation from the Thailand TESOL (Teachers of English to Speakers of Other Languages) President. She provided a variety of English language teaching materials for our group. Nina also proved to be helpful to us throughout our trip. 

The coolest thing about Nina is she is a proud graduate of UTSA, having earned her Masters Degree from the College of Education and Human Development several years ago! We felt proud to meet one of our own alumni doing great work in this part of the world.

Ayuthya

After playing with the elephants on Thursday, June 11, he headed over to the ancient capital city Ayuthya, the seat of the Thailand 's ruling royalty for many years. 

 

Elephants!

On Thursday June 11, after the Summer Palace, we went to see the elephants near Ayuthya. For many this was the highlight of the trip! We fed the elephants cucumbers and milk, and posed for a few pictures with this adorable baby elephant.

Then it was time for our trek on the elephants around the ancient city of Ayuthya. Just a 30 minute bumpy ride. Most aren't ready to trade in their cars for an elephant, but had a lot of fun riding them. They are amazing animals. We are grateful to know this particular elephant camp appears to be responsible in taking good care of the elephants and is involved in environmental work to protect and preserve the elephant populations in Thailand.

Bang Pa In - Summer Palace

On Thusday June 11, we visited the King's Summer Palace called Bang Pa In, not too far from the ancient capital of Ayuthya.

First used in the 1700s, the Summer Palace began being used again by Thai Royalty in the late 1880s. 

The palace features a wide variety of architectural styles and influences from around the world.

After the palace visit, we had a great buffet lunch featuring both Thai and Western food. Some went straight for the latter!

Floating Market

Today we visited the world famous Floating Market, located about an hour and half south of Bangkok. We enjoyed trying the different foods easily bought from merchants in the boats along the river. The students proved to be adept at the art of bargaining as they haggled to lower the prices on their bounty of souvenir purchases from merchants up and down the river. 

After the visit to the floating village, we made a quick pit stop at a wood carving artisans shop. We got to see the amazing skills of the wood carvers as they made wooden sculptures, including incredible 3-dimensional jungle scenes carved into what will become a table top. The life size elephant carvings proved a nice photo backdrop for our faculty and local coordinators. A nice preview for the real elephants we'll meet tomorrow.

On the way back to Bangkok, we stopped by a beautiful rose garden for lunch with the Thai requisite view of water along a gentle flowing river. The students decided to forgo the over-priced cultural show at the garden in favor of getting back to Bangkok to get some much needed rest, find some food they might recognize, and to hit the markets and stalls around the hotel. But not before taking advantage of the scenery to take some photos.

 

Touring around Bangkok

We began our adventures today with a security briefing and overview of English and exchange programs at the American Embassy. A quick lunch on the river gave students some of their first tastes of Thai food (and how spicy it can be). We then went to the Royal Palace and the adjacent Emerald Buddah Temple. We had a special treat at the Royal Palace. As invited guests of the Ministry of Education, we got in for free, and got a special tour guide who gave us exclusive access to the King's throne hall -- a place most toursits, and many Thais, never see! 

Next we boarded on two long boats and got a tour of the Chao Praya River. This included an hour trip through the longest canals in the country where we saw a variety of homes ranging from poor wooden structures to multi-million dollars homes. We even got to spot a few large Gila Monsters bathing and swimming along side our boats!

The boats took us to Wat Arun. The climb to the top was steep and scary, but rewarded with incredible views of the city!

Group arrives safely in Bangkok

A weary eyed but excited group of COEHD students from UTSA arrived in Bangkok safe and sound. We arrived to our hotel around 1:30 a.m. Students were ready for our early 7:30 a.m. start the next day!