 When
in Thailand…sing karaoke
Stephanie Penkala, a second-year political science and history
major, says the best part of studying in Thailand was gaining
a real understanding of the culture and the Thai people.
She was able to do this largely because of the people she
met and the relationships formed with many Thai people.
Why study in Thailand?
Thailand is a wonderful and extremely diverse country. Throughout
the country there are many different ethnic groups as well
as different dialects of the Thai language. It’s busy,
exciting, colourful and full of life. The Thai people are
very welcoming, helpful and always have a smile on their
faces.
I experienced cross-cultural interactions on a daily basis
in Chiang Mai. From trying to buy fruit at a market to discussing
Buddhist beliefs with a monk, I feel I learned infinitely
more about Thailand through talking and interacting with
different people than I ever could have by reading a textbook
or attending a lecture.
 Why participate in a Semester Group
Study Program?
For years I’ve wanted to travel and after
completing my first year at U of C, I heard about the group
study program in Thailand. I was excited at the opportunity
to combine my desire to see the world with my studies. I’m
very interested in learning about different countries and
cultures and I thought that attending university and living
in Chiang Mai would be a perfect way to do this.
I studied the Thai language, Buddhism, sustainable tourism
and gender and development. Two of our courses were held
in a traditional wooden Thai building which provided a unique
learning environment. The reason I chose this program was
because I was intrigued to study and live in a country that
is so different than Canada. I was especially interested
in the language component of the program and the geography
course about sustainable tourism.
 Did you go on any field trips?
The group study program incorporated a two-week field trip
to different cities, towns and villages in northern Thailand
where we studied the impacts of tourism on different ethnic
groups such as the Akha, Karen and Shan people. We journeyed
through Chiang Rai to Mae Sai the border town connecting
Thailand and Burma, to the northern most tip of Thailand,
the golden triangle as well as many other places along the
way. The trip was eye opening in many ways and it gave us
a real understanding of the diversity found within Thailand.
What were the highlights of your experience?
One of our courses was an intensive conversational Thai
language course. Thai is a very difficult language to learn
because of the pronunciation. Learning the language was one
of the highlights and it allowed for easier interaction with
the local people.
Food is a major part of the Thai culture and there are markets,
food vendors and restaurants everywhere you go. I learned
to love the extremely spicy Thai food, which I miss now that
I’m back in Canada. Some personal favourites were the
many different kinds of curry, spicy papaya salad (som tam)
and pad Thai. As well, Thai people love music and especially
singing karaoke in bars. I became fairly good at singing
along to songs written in phonetic Thai during my stay.
 What
did you personally learn from this experience?
This experience gave me a much better understanding of the
world and gave me new ideas about what I want to pursue in
education and later in my life. I became very interested
in learning different languages and although I may not continue
to study Thai, learning languages is something I will continue
to study and focus on.
Living in Thailand made me more aware
of the different ways in which people live in areas of the
world. Studying and living in Chiang Mai gave me an understanding
of the Thai culture that tourists may never learn. |
