More sunsets and hanging out

 

These pictures are from the roof of JGSEE. We enjoyed another beautiful sunset a few days ago. Not a whole lot has been going on here because we are adjusted to life in Bangkok and have been busy with our Environmental Chemistry class. A few Ajarns came to our class and presented on the possible research opportunities we can partake in while we are here so that was exciting! I am going to work in a group that will do a life cycle assessment of the viability of using algae as a source of clean energy. I can't wait to get started on that.

We started orientation yesterday and there are about 35 international students at KMUTT. The 15 from UNC dominate the room but there are others from Indonesia, Vietnam, Finland, Austria, and Germany. We have Thai class with them for a few hours and the teachers are Thai students our age! It's been really fun getting to know some of the other students. 

Next week we are hopefully going to Koh Tao where some friends and I will get scuba certified. I'm really excited and will post more on that after we return.

Field trip to Ratchaburi

We took an all day trip to Ratchaburi last Friday and it was organized by one of the professors (ajarn in Thai) Ajarn Savatri. We had a full day and visited Her Royal Highness Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn’s National Park Project, an energy plant, KMUTTs Ratchaburi campus, and a floating market. At the National Park Project we learned that a lot of Thailand's native forest area has been destroyed and they are trying to preserve the little bit that is left. At the park they harvest bananas and made banana chips, toffee, and candies using sustainable practices. They were all so tasty! In the picture above I am checking out solar water purification systems at the energy plant we visited.

 

Here are two photos that Mary-Katherine took of the market we visited. We got there and explored a little bit and then when the sun set all 20 of us got on a boat and cruised around the harbor. There is a special type of tree found along that river that attracts fireflies and they all synchronize when they light up. It seriously seemed like we were looking at Christmas lights on the tree! 

It was a really busy day, but definitely a fun adventure. I look forward to next Friday when we go on a tour of Bangkok with our orientation group.

Throne Hall

One Saturday we ventured into downtown Bangkok to do some exploring. We told the taxi driver to go to Dusit Park because we heard there were many sites to see there. We got out and immediately saw the Ananta Samakhom Throne Hall and were so surprised to see it because its architecture starkly contrasts that of the rest of Thailand. Inside was even more breath taking as it is filled with the most intricate pieces of art I have ever seen. There were tapestries, paintings, sculptures, and small replicas of ancient wats. We spent a few hours looking inside and were just blown away by the magnificence of it all. After that we ventured out and happened upon an amazing river front restaurant. It was the most delicious meal we had eaten in Thailand!

Bang Saen

We went on a beach trip to Bang Saen a few weeks ago but I never put up any pictures! It was a great weekend and we all enjoyed getting to know each other. The beach was a Thai beach and our teacher said foreigners never visited it so we didn't really know what to expect. It was pretty polluted which bummed us out a bit but we ended up having a blast because we road behind a jet ski on a banana tube! I have never laughed so hard in my life, it was so fun.

  

We also visited a beautiful temple in Bang Saen. It was seriously the most colorful place I've ever seen and I was in sensory overload. The architecture was magnificent and I couldn't stop taking photos. 

 

After hearing about the infamous troop of  monkeys at a specific point in Bang Saen, we had to check it out before we left town. There was indeed a large group of monkeys that were super entertaining to watch. They climbed all over the truck looking for anything they could eat! This one snagged a pineapple and was enjoying it on a rock in the sun.

 

KMUTT

 The view when you enter KMUTT!

 

So I figured I would take a post to explain what the academic purpose of my study abroad trip is. So far I have been blogging about my traveling adventures and just skimming over the fact that I am here on a STUDY abroad trip! Well the university I am doing said studying at is King Mongkut's University of Technology Thonburi (KMUTT). It is an academy that focuses on technology. There are 3 campuses in Thailand and I am studying at the main campus here in the suburb Bangmod.There are many different types of schools in the KMUTT system for undergraduate degrees and graduate level programs. The school I attend in called The Joint Graduate School for Energy and the Environment (JGSEE for short). Currently I am just taking one course in a summer school format. I have Environmental Chemistry every day for 2 hours and then in the afternoon we have an informal class in Thai language. My Environmental Chemistry course has been a conglomeration of calculus, geology, chemistry, and physics. We have our first test this week, so wish me luck! The Thai class has been dominated by food vocabulary and restaurant etiquette because right now there are no Thai students in our class so our interaction has been limited to food pathways.

Starting in August I will take three classes at JGSEE and those will have both Thai and foreign exchange students. So far all of the students I've met have been really nice, so I can't wait to meet more in my classes! I'll take Life Cycle Assessment, Environmental Pollution Control Technology, and Energy and Management in Buildings. I realized I was doing the right study abroad program when I starred 15 of the 17 classes that I could chose from, marking them as ones I was interested in. All of them were right up my alley! I just wish I had more time to take them all. Classes work differently here and I will have each class once a week for 3 hours. We'll see how my hyperactive brain handles that come August...but I will definitely need to practice some serious concentration techniques if I'm going to last in a 3 hour lecture!! Another huge component of this study abroad experience will be my capstone research project. I think I have decided on a project that will look into bio fuels and how to effectively incorporate them into Thai energy policy. I will write more on that when I start to do research.

Walk in the Park

Pictured here are Mary Katherine and Emily in the park next to our apartment complex. It is complete with a 1000m loop and tons of places to sit and hang out. One interesting thing that we have noticed is how into exercise a lot of Thai people seem to be. In the morning a large group of women get together to do a collective workout to music and in the evenings the park is filled with people walking or running around the track. There are even workout machines out in the open air in designated areas in the park!

The three of us have been working out a lot because we only have class from 10am-2pm and have plenty of time to go to the gym or take a walk. Our apartments are in a suburb of Bangkok and it takes about 30-40 minutes to go downtown. We have gone into the city on weekends and some weeknights but have also enjoyed exploring around our suburb.

Rooftop View

 

This is the view from the roof of the JGSEE building where we have our classes. We had a pretty clear day Monday and were able to catch the last bit of the sunset. It's still slightly cloudy and we are thinking that is in part due to the large amount of smog around Bangkok. We hope that one day there will be a perfectly clear sunset though! The view on the roof is amazing (don't worry, there are tall ledges that keep us safe) and at night you can see the whole Bangkok skyline lit up. I will try to get a photo of that soon!

Bangkok FC

We had an awesome time Sunday at the Bangkok Football Club game! I don't think many Americans go to those games so it seemed like all the fans were excited to have us there. Bangkok FC won 3-0 and the crowd was really getting into it! I loved their cheers and definitely hope to go to another game in the future.

Love for America

It's kind of ironic that I just had my most patriotic Independence Day and I was as far away from home as ever. What's the saying? "Distance makes the heart grow fonder?" Well that definitely held true for the 15 of us here in Thailand because we showed some serious love for our country on Wednesday. In the photo above I am with my friend Emily and the bottom photo is of all the girls and P'Wit. He is our TA and we would be so lost without him! He is so nice and I think he thought our celebrations Wednesday were comical.

I have always loved the Fourth of July at home but this year it meant so much more to me. I have been away from the states for a little over 6 weeks and for the first time in my life I have been able to look at America through a completely different lens. I never thought about how my country looked to others, but while backpacking I spoke with many foreigners about how they perceived the United States. I now think critically about our history and the roles we have played in international politics and I have a completely different idea of what it means to be "from" a country. It's weird how I spent my whole life living in a place but never really thinking about how it interacted or related to other places in the world. All I knew was the United States. But now I realize it is just a small part in the whole scheme of global interactions. The thoughts I'm trying to convey through this blog post are complex and not fully formed in my brain so it's difficult to put into writing, but I hope everyone can understand the gist of what I am saying. Bottom line: it's been really interesting to talk to peers about what life was like growing up in a different country than the US and learning about how others perceive my country.

Anyways, back to the party! So, Mary Katherine, Emily, and I started planning out what we would do for July 4th about 2 weeks in advance. My creativity meter was at an all time high and we decorated tank tops. Now these weren't just regular tank tops...don't be fooled. We all cut stars out of cardboard and spray painted American flags on these epic tanks. The three of us looked a little silly walking into the party dressed in matching shirts, headbands, jean shorts, and sneakers, but no one doubted our love for America that night. The playlist consisted of classic American tunes and we all sung aloud proudly and and loudly. As I was saying, there is something about NOT being in American on Independence Day that makes you even more emotional about our great country. After gathering at our friends apartment we headed out to a club and danced for hours! The greatest part of the night came when we piled into a cab and on the way home sang the star spangled banner at the top of our lungs. It was a perfect end to the patriotic night and I was happy to celebrate it with my new friends here.