I am in the last week before departure for Thailand. I leave on Thursday, February 13th at 8:00am to Calgary before changing planes for Narita, Japan. This will be the longest I’ve ever had to sit on a plane. It will also be the longest time I’ve ever been over such a large body of water; if I don’t count coming to Canada from Germany when I was 2. (My Father was in the Air Force)
I spend 3 ½ hours in Japan before departing on my third
flight to Bangkok arriving at 11:10 pm on Friday, February 14th. As I have it figured out, Thailand is 13
hours ahead of home so Manitoban’s will be just into their school day and possibly
getting ready for outdoor recess (if it isn’t -40). While I am in Japan, I am hoping to meet up
with the Boston Educators as they arrive 2 hours after I do. I don’t fly with them to Bangkok but there may be about an hour before my departure to Bangkok where I hope
to at least meet them there for the first time in person.
My title mentions that I am starting to get nervous……this
is true. I have never been outside of
North America (aside from being born in West Germany) and the idea of being in
another continent; in another country an ocean away leaves me questioning the “What
could go wrong?” I’ve done all of the pre-trip things that I need to do
including applying on-line to Travel Canada to give them my information on
where I am going and for how long; making sure that the banks know I will be in
another country so I have access to my money; and getting my needed shots and
medications. I have been reading information on Thailand with the Do's and Dont's and the Skype PD with the Boston Educators has been excellent. I keep reminding myself that the Park West School Division's Vision Statement is "We will bring the world to our students to prepare our students for the world" and with this Educational Opportunity, I will be learning about a part of the world first hand to "bring the world to MY students."
Still, there has been many stories recently on Thailand and what is currently happening. There has been some discussions on the Protests that have
been occurring in Thailand since early November but the feeling from the group
and EF Tours is that we will not be affected as the areas in Bangkok we are going
are currently not where the protests are happening. These protests have been against the current
government and the accusations that the government and the Prime Minister, Yingluck
Shinawatra, is corrupted. Many want the government replaced with a non-elected "People's Council." This link
below and on the left side of the post provides some basic information on the protests:
While you may think that this would be something I would be worried about, it isn’t. I believe that EF Tours (the group organizing
our trip) and others would not put us in an area where we may be at harm. Bangkok is a city with a population of over 8
million and the protests tend to be away from the area’s that we will be
attending. Besides, putting us in harm’s
way would not be good for business AND they would have to deal with my Mom and
Brenda if anything were to happen. My
main worry is doing something that would be considered rude and inappropriate
to the Thai’s and to their culture.
As I said earlier, I have never been anywhere that
culture or expectations were not “Americanized” (or Canadian). There are several things that we do in our
culture that can be considered Rude and Very Inappropriate. Things like pointing the bottom of your feet
toward someone while sitting; patting or rubbing a child on the top of the head; inappropriate use of the "wai"; shouting;
talking with your hands; OR eating with a fork are considered taboo and to the
Thai’s, it could mean that they "Lose Face!"
It was interesting in the last Skype session with the Boston
Educators that even the leader, Mary Ann, made sure to remind the group that
American’s don’t always have the best reputation in places across the world and
that this group needs to remember that they are representing their profession
and their school division. The plan for
me is to learn by watching; observe the visual.
See what is happening and copy. A
way many students themselves learn today.
My good news is a change to some of the clothing suggestions.
As it turns out, I will be good to have shorts.
Not the short shorts but ones that go well below the knees. In many of
the areas we will be, the people know that we are foreigners or “Farang – Thai word
for Foreigners,” and do understand the
cultural differences. But as I mentioned
in an earlier post, it will go a long way in attitude if we make all efforts to
do as the Thai do. In that, and aside
from entering a temple or monastery, shorts that cover below the knees are
acceptable. With the temperatures planning
to be around the +30’s, it is nice to know that this will be acceptable.
I begin packing after this weekend and make some final appointments to get everything ready for my trip to Winnipeg on Wednesday. I hope to have one more post this weekend on some information on Do's and Dont's but I also need to get my classroom ready for the days I am away. If not this weekend, I will get it done by Wednesday evening.
No comments:
Post a Comment