Professors Galore

On September 8th, Nic Dunlop, a photographer, spoke to us about photography since one of our big projects is to tell a story about a villager’s life through pictures. I learned a lot of things from him that I had never though of before, such as how to set up a frame and where to place a person in a picture (it’s not always best to place someone dead center). Yet more than simply learning new techniques, it was amazing to be able to hear his stories. He’s most famous because he tracked down Commander Duch, who is responsible for 26,000 deaths under the Khmer Rouge’s rule in Cambodia. Nic didn’t go into too much detail, but he showed us a video and explained that he had become obsessed with Cambodia at the age of 19, and became determined to track down Duch who was never found after the fall of the Khmer Rouge. Nic said that he carried of picture of Commander Duch all over Cambodia, until he finally found him working as a born again Christian at a religious charity (ironic).

Duch is currently on trial in Cambodia for crimes against humanity, and the trial should end sometime in November. It was also interesting to hear his stories about Burma, a project that he is currently working on. He has been exiled from the country because the government realized that he was taking pictures that were not very flattering of the Burmese government. Nic’s pictures are beautiful, and they depict people dying of Aids (ARVs are not accessible in Burma), soldiers, prisoners, political activists, prostitutes, etc. It was a great honor to meet him, and he inspired me so much. There are so many ways to shed light on the atrocities that take place all around the world, and he has done an amazing job of spreading awareness about social and political injustices.

On September 9th, Ajaan Sulak, a famous political activist, spoke to our class about the history and politics of Thailand. I was in awe of him because he has been nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize, he won the Gandhi Millennium Award, and the Right Livelihood Award. He was a monk for 2 years and then worked with NGOs, and he now travels around the world to inform governments on peaceful resolution. After the lecture, we had an orientation activity at the jungle temple! Our task was to guide our partners, who were blindfolded, across a floor riddled with stones, plates, and candles without either of us stepping on any of those things. It was a hard challenge, and it took the entire group 5 hours! Being my clumsy self, I fell backwards and dragged my poor friend, Kara, down with me. Luckily, I walked it off with only a minor scratch, and my hair didn’t catch on fire, which it was supposedly close to doing!

That night, I got back to the room and immediately went out to dinner with Boe and 3 of her friends. We went to the cafeteria behind our apartments, and then went to a really cute dessert place. It is a milk bar as well as a bakery! Boe ordered roti with bananas, chocolate, and condensed milk (they love condensed milk here- it is on many desserts and added to many drinks)! I discovered roti the other night while walking home from a restaurant, and have been obsessed with it ever since. It is a deep fried crepe that can then be topped with many different things…It always includes condensed milk, but you can have honey, chocolate, cocoa powder, fruit, or cinnamon sugar on it. It definitely can’t be a regular dessert for me, but once in a while is heavenly!

At the dessert place, we played Bingo, which allowed me to practice my Thai numbers, and we also played Dominoes. It was funny because I have never played Dominoes before, which I think of as a classic American game to play, and the first time that I played it was in Thailand, haha! I really liked hanging out with Boe and her friends because they are all really nice and I get along with all of them. Plus, it is a goal of mine to interact with people outside of the CIEE group to better immerse myself in Thai culture.

Yesterday, September 10th, Ajaan Sulak came to speak to us again, but this time about the social structure in Thailand. We meditated on three separate occasions during the lecture, and it was incredibly relaxing. It’s hard to concentrate on just my breathing and forget about everything else in the world, but Ajaan Sulak told us that it is only natural for the mind to wander and that during the course of meditation the mind will eventually focus on the self and breathing, It was an interesting class, in which Ajaan Sulak called Bill Gates a “nice chap,” and said that he believed that the downfall of western education is that it only focuses on monetary success, as opposed to social justice and humanitarian causes.

Although I feel that this is a stereotype that is certainly not applicable to many schools and people, I have had experience with educational models not putting nearly enough emphasis on the importance of social justice. For instance, at Goucher, many students and faculty members believe that the peace studies department is a joke, and an impractical study since a lot of the occupations that one can acquire with such a degree are not very high paying.  While I can see their point of view, it is frustrating that so much emphasis is placed on monetary success as opposed to following one’s beliefs, regardless of what their passions may be. It was refreshing to hear that the Thai people think in a manner very unlike Americans, in that they believe that learning about humanitarian issues and suffering is of great importance. I can already tell that people’s commitment and belief in working towards peace in the educational environment is something that I will miss when I return to America.

My days are absolutely packed, but I feel blessed to have had the opportunity to meet such esteemed individuals, Nic Dunlop and Ajaan Sulak. Most nights, I fall asleep at 10:30-11pm because I am so worn out from the day! However, it keeps me from being homesick, and there is always something/someone to keep me laughing and smiling.

P.S.- I met my peer tutor tonight, Yee, and she is very nice and very good at tutoring me in Thai. I am excited to be working with someone who I get along with so well to help me with my Thai because I really need to improve. One of my goals is to have a coherent, longish conversation with a member of one of my host families at least one time during the program.

P.P.S- I noticed that many of the Thai tutors were looking at me in a strange manner, and I thought that it was because I was Asian (many people don’t understand that I am American because my physical appearance is Asian). However, Yee told me that the Thai people are obsessed with everything Korean, and that everyone became excited in meeting me. Yet instead of meeting me, they simply ogled me from a distance, and when I looked at them they looked away and scampered off. It was a strange experience, but I was relieved when Yee told me why people were looking at me because at first I thought that I had something terribly wrong going on. Alas, it was simply my Korean-ness grabbing the attention, haha!

P.P.P.S- I have a flickr account so that you can see my pictures.  Just go on flickr.com and search for people and then put in Katie283!

Chan rack kuhn (I love you), Katie