Enlightenurmind a Little

Hey guys, i had to pull the plug on this site…. upload time is too long!

new blog site…

www.enlightenurmind.com

please go there, and I am in the process of constructing it right now.

Thanks!!!!

ช้าง translates to elephant in thai.  pronunciation, “chaaa-ng” with a rising tone.

Just a little bit of my thai skills for ya.   Anyway, today was such a cool day.  Our school picked us up at 8:40 this morning, and we headed up to Elephant Village which is about 15 minutes away from our dorm, in the hills of Hua Hin.

What a cool drive, as we were approaching the village, we first passed a large buddhist temple …. all i can describe to you is that everything instantly was tranquil.  You see this large building that was powder blue, buddhist shrines and statues sprinkled through out the ground.  Every few seconds you would catch the bright orange robe of a monk, as he was walking or meditating.  The site of some of the statues that they have there completely take your breath away.  They are so large, so bold, yet calming at the same time.

The elephant ride was great!  Our guide on our elephant was super cool.  He is a young guy from the island of Koh Samui… and he loves his elephant!  Her name was something like, “Koh Nam Kuun”…. i think!  She was “sip-ha yi”…which means shes is 15 years old.  She was such a great elephant, very loving!  We went on an hour long trek through out the hills and the temples in the village area.  The elephants eat two tons of food a day, and so they would constantly stop to eat a few bamboo trees.  Apparently, they also love pineapples and banannas .  At the end of the ride, we were able to pay 100 Baht and feed them bananas.

It was so awesome!… Elephants are my new favorite animal! 

Check out the New Page under the Thailand tab, called “Elephant Village”

…..until next time……

Today I had my International Relations Class.  We were discussing current events and past events happening throughout Africa.

One thing that was brought up from our debate was … “What is a global citizen?”  Our teacher pointed out that people such as scholars, international business people, and the like, use this word more and more these days….but what is it?  Our teacher pointed out that people claim to be a global citizen when they were born in one place, have lived in another, studied in another, and then married in another country.  His point he was trying to make though, is that really is not a good definition….since that has no link to what a citizen is.  Does it mean being a responsible citizen to the conflicts of the entire world, or does it mean you are simply a free person to roam about the earth’s terrace?

When the teacher asked the class, we all kind of stood silent in our tracks after a lot of debating on other topics.  After a few moments of silence, one of the students who is from Israel raised his hand….and I think his answer was such a great insight.  He said something along the lines of this…

“Look around, how many of us are from different nations?  What brought us all here to a school like this?  I think that a global citizen is someone who approaches the economic and social landscape of the world with an open mind, accepting the views and opinions from cultures even the most opposite to our own. “

When he said this, I realized that he explained that so well.  Furthermore, I believe that a global citizen is a term that is in its developmental stage…. an idea that is being spread and has yet to become a movement and way of thought.

My fellow blog followers…. please respond.  I would love to hear your responses and share them with my International Relations Class, and hear the cultural-embedded responses from my peers when sharing.  HOW DO YOU DEFINE BEING A GLOBAL CITIZEN?

Until Next Time…..

musical signature for the day…. a soul-lifting track….. (*~_~*)

He was saying that

This past week has been an eventful one, to say the least.  Last weekend, we had our school “Ice Breaker” party, and that was fun !!!  This past week, I just realxed, attended school and muay thai classes.  On thursday, some friends and I left for a weekend getaway to Bangkok.

o my goodness!   this city is such a chaotic place!  THere is never a dull moment.  For all you west-coasters reading this, imagine San Francisco, on steroids, times 10= Bangkok.  Despite the craziness, there is some beauty to be found in it.  The way that everything is flowing and systematically working in a manner such as an organized mess… is so cool!!!

you see taxis of all colors driving everywhere, street vendors selling delicious food everywhere, Tuk-Tuk taxi drivers yelling at you to use their service, malls like mbk that are so big you could literally get lost, ….. it goes on.  I remember living in SF, and realizing that there is so much to learn to be able to feel comfortable in a big city.  you have to know where to be and where not to be, more importantly at what times of the day.  You have to know how to carry yourself, etc.  It became apparent that in a city like BKK where I don’t even speak the language…. it would take YEARS to become familiar and comfortable… but this is only an estimate.

After this trip, i became even more appreciative of where my school is located.  Hua Hin is so peaceful, yet not too boring.  And— you can actually breathe here! 

In all , this was a very fun weekend, and I had a blast.  I tried out a Thai massage… 300BHT for one hour!  Thats about $9!!!!!  THis was the most intense massage, but you feel refreshed afterwards!!!  So great.

Check out the Thailand page for new pics and videos. <3 Sarina

Am I really here?  Is this just a dream…. Sarina, wake up!  Am I really waking up every morning to look out the balcony to a beautiful ocean, trees green like in the rain forest??? Am I really waking up every morning, getting ready, to board a bus full of students from all over the world?  Am I REALLY attending a campus, tucked between the beautiful mountains and valley of Cha-Am?

Yes.

As I am typing this, I am trying so hard to fight tears of disbelief.  Tears of happiness, fulfillment and strength.  The feeling I get everyday from simple things here.   Like the fact that numerous times through out the day, I wonder what day it is.  Not only this, but when I ask myself this, I am OK with not knowing!  Or the feeling from jumping on the back of trucks, paying 10BHT to get across town using broken-Thai.  Tapping the window to signal the driver to stop, hop-off, and indulge at the night market, eating the most delicious and spicy food you have ever tasted!   The feeling of actually understanding what it feels like to be illiterate.   I mean really, everything here is in Thai, and they say that less than 10% of Thais speak English.

..Which brings me to my title of today’s blog post.  “อ้อย” means “Aui”, which is my Thai name I received from my “A-Jan”  (teacher) in Thai class.  Apparently “Aui” means sugar cane.     I was so excited to learn how to write this name!  There are 44 letters in the Thai alphabet, amazing!  Absolutely blows English out of the water.  This isn’t easy like Costa Rica was.  I can’t just catch on…. Thai is from Sanskrit whereas English and Spanish are derived from Latin.  But, this is what motivates me to learn!  Once I learn one language originating from Sanskrit, I will easily catch on to more and more.  Multilingual is a goal from this adventure here in Thailand.

Well that’s my insight for now.  Oh, and shout out to all you moms  (Mom, Angie, Cheri, Dannie, Brenda……)   read “Eat Pray Love”  !!!! Such a great book!!!!!!

Sitting on Back of Green Bus!!!!

Check Thailand Pages for UPDATES!!!!  

Yesterday,  I did a muay thai “lady lesson” with some friends here.  The other day, I was thinking how cool it would be to find a class to go to regularly.

Anyway, it was so awesome.  We learned the basic in these two hours.  We learned the basic footwork, the hand positions, the ways to block hits, we were kicking punching bags, punching punching bags.  It was so cool!  Our instructor was trained by the same man that trained Brad Pitt for the Movie Fight CLub.  How cool is that!!  There were some other fighters there, and one of them was a 53 year old Thai man who was kicking the $#^% out of this 20 year old fighter.  It was amazing!  This man has done hundreds of fights apparently, and that alone was quite the thing to take in.

The training session was very intense, but after wards we all felt great.  I am so glad that i Googled this place, and the instructors worked out a very nice package for us.  This will serve as motivation I think, to stay disciplined, expecially while in school…and to stay in shape.

By for now!

Orientation Activities, Cha-Am Beach

Yesterday, I had a lovely day.  It was orientation at Webster, and it was amazing.  The speech given in the beginning of the orientation by the Dean was nothing short of memorable.  He was open-hertedly welcoming us to a school that is the ONLY of its kind in the entire world.  He emphasized how lucky we are to be studying at a school where we are required to travel to other Webster campuses to complete our studies.  He talked about how we should be appreciative that in our entering class of about 100, there are students from places like Korea, China, Japan, Burma, Nepal, India, America, Canada, Ecuador, Zimbabwe, Thailand just to name a few.  He mentioned that our world is becoming globalized, and that we are heading in the right direction by becoming familiar with different languages and cultures.

We had a campus tour of our school, which turned out to be so great.  It is beautiful, amongst the most green and exotic trees you have ever seen.  It is a very relaxed campus, with intimate class sizes of no more than 15-20 students.  The teachers were all very nice, and wanted to ensure that we call them by their first name.

Later in the orientation, we traveled to Cha-Am and did some team building activities.  I participated in both, and our team won one of the games!  Woo hoo!!!!  We then had traditional thai food for lunch and dinner.  It was seafood most of the day, coconut curry soups with lobster, crab, fish head, etc.  So delicious!

I am so excited to be here, and as i said, Thailand is unfolding in into more beauty every day.

Musical Signature for the day:

Time is starting to feel less existent here!  I mean really, there are no clocks anywhere (compared to the states), and the organized relaxation is starting to settle in.   The other night, my friend Zac and I met some more students.  Sri from Nepal and Matt from Florida.  Sri has been here for a few months, so he showed us around town.  Every night of the week in Hua Hin, there is a night market with clothing and food vendors.  It is so cool!  I didn’t take too many pictures that night, but next time.  We had some amazing food, some little chickn kabobs with curry sauce, some papaya salad, and a delicious watermelon shake with a splash of rum  .   Very cool environment, they had knock-off brand name clothes, cool little trinkets, and so many othher thai-tourist items for sale as well.

After that, we headed out to a bar, “Sam-sam” and had a beer.  This was very fun, they had really cool drink special like BOGO cocktails…WHAT!????  That is so cool!  We didn’t get cocktails, but for the future it is good to know.

Yesterday, we met some more friends.  Honestly, I am unable to remember their names, but they were from Nepal, Israel and Thailand.  Lastly, I moved to a different “dorm” that is SO NICE!!!  It is called Sala, and its simply amazing!

These past few days, the homesickness has worn off.  I am settled in, and again recognize the amazement I felt while I was in Costa Rica.  I feel that I have found the beginning of my niche, and as it unfolds it becomes more interesting.  Everyday here in Thailand, I am doingg something that i have NEVER done before, now that is a concept.  With this pattern continuing for the next year or two, life will begin to yield an abundance of meaningful and educational experiences.

Bye for now!…check the “Thailand” and “Thai Food N’Stuff” Tabs!

Musical Signature for the day:

Today, My friends Cien, Sac and I went to Hua Hin Market Village shopping place.  What a variety of people, and a site at that!  We wnet on a mission to stock up on apartment needs like trash bags, cleaning supplies, snacks, toilet paper, etc.  They had this store, Tesco, which is like an Asian version of Wal Mart!  And wait, they even have a Home Depot, but here it is called “Home Pro.”  So perfect. 

Look really close, you will see the sign.

This town of Hua Hin is like a Beach city.  It runs linear, and just imagine the beautiful Gulf Of Thialand to your left running all the way down.  Anyways, the shopping venter, besides being helpful in the home improvement department, it had a huge selection of electronics that iv’e never seen, clothes that i’ve never imagined, and food that i’ve only dream of eating!

I’m not really sure what i ate, since the menu’s are in Thai, but the “point and eat” method works just fine for me.  Everything I ate today was delicious.  I did eat one thing, a Thai Glass Noodle salad with chrimp, peanuts, rice noodles, and a SPICY (and i mean SPICY) sauce, served cold.  Total: 40 Baht a.k.a, $1.30.

Glass Noodle Salad

YUM!!  I’m eating the leftovers as i write this.  Anyway, in all today was a day of exploration.  I was able to get to know  Hua Hin a little better, became more familiar with the customs, and documented some great stuff as well.  …. check the Thailand Tab for additional photos and videos from today. 

Musical Signature for Today:

Sa Wat Dee Kah!!!

Wow.  This country is amazing!  Yesterday, I arrived in Bangkok at the international airport!  What a place!  There, my student representative was waiting for me with a large “Webster University Sign.”  At that moment, even after landing in Bangkok, everything lit up with life.  It is real, I am really doing this.  WOW!

There was another student being picked up as well, who is from Burma.  We both shared the sommon denominator of this being our first time to Thailand.  The drive from Bangkok to Hua Hin was a  long one, but very interesting.

There were CABS everrywhere, motorbikes storming back and forth.  I was trying to figure out how I would notify the Thai government that all of their roads are backwards and that people drive on the wrong side!   LOL, jk, but I was so confused!

Once we entered Hua Hin, it was beautiful.  We got settled into our rooms, and my two new friends and I went out for a stroll.  We ate, we went to town to pick up some things, and yah!

Check out the Thailand Tabs for Some pictures and Videos.

Musical Signature for the day: