Sa Bai Sa Bai in Thailand! Past Review
By Deshontanae Davis (Berea College) - abroad from 08/20/2018 to 12/15/2018 with
USAC Thailand: Chiang Mai - Southeast Asia Culture, Politics, and Business
Honestly, I learned so much that I could write a book! My experience taught me how to communicate across cultural boundaries. It taught me to value where I come from and how to see the value in other cultures. My experience taught me to take adventures to understand more about myself and my relationship as well as responsibility to everyone else. It taught me that life has many different meanings and that I am not limited to experiencing my hometown or my country. The world is a big place, with many different expressions and studying abroad allowed me to have a clearer understanding of the global community. One of the most important lessons from studying abroad is learning to value the unknown. There exists so much knowledge that we are not aware of and we oftentimes fear what we don’t know. I have grown so much as a student, because I was curious about all that I did not know about my host country’s culture. I had to overcome my fear of those things and it is the most transformative learning experience! Studying abroad is absolutely worthwhile. It was an investment for my own intellectual, spiritual,professional, and cultural growth. I also appreciate how my experience has influenced my communities by strengthening my relationships and increasing motivation for others to travel/learn in a different culture.
Personal Information
| How much international exposure did you have prior to this program? | 0-2 weeks |
Review Your Program
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* Overall educational experience
Academic rigor, intensity, resources, etc. |
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* Host Country Program Administration
On-site administration of your program |
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* Housing:
How satisfied were you with your living arrangements? |
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| * Food: |
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* Social & Cultural Integration:
How integrated did you feel with the local culture? |
The local Thais were amazing. They were very welcoming. Many of them were curious about my own culture and heritage as well as enthusiastic to share their own. |
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* Health Care:
How well were health issues addressed during the program? |
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| * Safety: |
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| If you could do it all over again would you choose the same program? |
Yes
I would chose the same program again because they were very supportive and allowed a good amount of independence and freedom. They were always informative and encouraging us to travel to other countries surrounding Thailand. We were taught many guidelines for how to conduct ourselves with and among the locals. The program was very cost- effective as well. The location was wonderful- Chiang Mai is a beautiful, safe city to interact with locals as well as foreigners. My favorite aspect of the program was the flexibility and the courses taught. Every subject helped me to understand Thai society and culture in some way, , where it was through global politics or Buddhism. |
Finances
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* Money: How easily were you able to live on a student's budget?
(1 = not very easy/$200+ on food & personal expenses/week, 2.5 = $100/week, 5 = very easily/minimal cost) |
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| Not including program expenses, about how much money did you spend on food and other expenses each week? | I generally spent around $65-$80 a week. It depends on how you budget and save. In Chiang Mai- there’s so many different places to eat and go, that the amounts can vary. |
| Do you have any general money-saving tips for future study abroad participants? | Calculate your costs for the month, then weeks and days. It was helpful to know that I could only spend a certain amount a day to balance my expenses for the rest of the week/month. |
Language
| * Did your program have a foreign language component? | Yes |
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How much did the program encourage you to use the language?
0 = No encouragement, 5 = frequent encouragement to use the language |
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| How would you rate your language skills at the beginning of the program? | None |
| How would you rate your language skills at the end of the program? | Beginner |
| What was the highest level language course you had completed prior to departure? | N/A |
| How many hours per day did you use the language? | |
| Do you have any tips/advice on the best ways to practice the language for future study abroad participants? | It all comes down to how much you care about understanding the culture you are in. Making friends in my host country was ecspecially important to me. Therefore, I took the extra effort to communicate with them through their own language. This vastly improved my language learning and allowed my friends to improve their English as well. |
Other Program Information
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* Where did you live?
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* Who did you live with?
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* Who did you take classes with?
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| About how many local friends did you make that you will likely keep in touch with? |
A Look Back
| * What did you like most about the program? |
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| * What could be improved? |
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| * What do you know now that you wish you knew before going on this program? | I wish I knew how much Westerners were changing the cultural climate of Thailand before going. Although I did learn quickly, it would have helped to understand ways to preserve the country’s culture by realizing my own western ideologies and philosophies in contrast to theirs. There were times where it was hard to grasp concepts like non-duality and no-self because I was so used to my individual experiences. On the other hand- not knowing these things beforehand probably contributed to much more learning. |
