Daily Life

In my defense for having a lack of interesting travel & adventure updates like I was writing on my summer trip last July & August, along with the lack of money, there has simply been the lack of time.

In-between the 2nd semester and the ‘summer’ semester, I had about 3 weeks off to do whatever I wanted.  But rather than use the time to travel, I decided to take another Thai language course, and since I don’t have as much time to study Thai during the regular semester, I thought this would be a good chance to focus on my study instead. Then after the class finished 3 weeks later, it was already time for the summer semester. I wasn’t required to teach, but since I make double pay and had to stay around the office anyway, I found it to be a worthwhile use of my time.

In any case, whether I soon continue with the adventure logs or not, it may still interest you to know how I’ve been getting by in daily life in the past few months.  The other part of having not traveled much, is that it has simply taken me a long time to settle into Thailand and feel situated here. This includes overcoming cultural differences, having to cope with the loss of everything that I used to have in the U.S., and learning instead to focus on all of the new things that I have in Thailand.


TED Talks Group

On a chance January evening I went to eat at one of my favorite restaurants here, and there ran into a group of volunteers organizing for TED Talks.  If you’re not familiar, TED Talks is an organization that promotes the spreading of ‘good ideas’.   Its main events take place in California, where they have a week-long conference inviting speakers like Al Gore, Bill Gates, and other leading thinkers and innovators to speak for 18 minutes and give a talk about their life’s work as well as to present an idea, or ideas that they think could help make the world a better place. 

On initially running into the group, I knew I had stumbled across a group of like-minded thinkers and people committed to making a positive difference. Some of them are so-called ‘activists’, or people working among various campaigns that directly serve to build communities and promote growth and development.  I guess the difference between an ‘activist’ and someone who is not one, is that an ‘activist’ is more directly involved in initiatives—business related or otherwise-- that make a significant impact in peoples lives.

Well I found myself drawn toward the energy of the group, and since early March had been a volunteer member of the organizing team.  For the past two months, I had been helping to promote for the event: getting the word out, doing write-ups about the different speakers we invited, and announcing the speakers on the Facebook group, which in turn goes onto our website. The culmination of our project in fact just happened this past weekend, when we hosted the first ever TED event in Chiang Mai (and the first in Thailand outside of Bangkok). 

Despite a variety of charismatic speakers all presenting unique ideas and interesting stories about their work and their lives, there was no one who was directly involved in development, so maybe I will look ahead to having a 2nd TEDx in Chiang Mai that could be more focused on the theme of development.

Our event was called TEDx Doi Suthep (x = independently organized), and here is a link to my favorite talk from the event: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LovmKLQcQw4&feature=related

In the video, he talks about self-sustainability, and gives a simple reminder that we are making our lives more complicated than we need to.  You can also find the other talks from the event on the same page.


Church

In March, I also started attending a church through the invitation of a friend and co-worker of mine. I thought it would just give me a place to go on Sunday mornings, but it opened up my world in Chiang Mai to far more than that.  (Before this, I attended a few other churches, but never found anything that I wanted to stick with. Finding the right church is the same as finding the right school to work at.  Every church or campus has its different environment or flavor to offer, and even though many generally offer the same thing at the core, the surface variances are what lead one to choosing one place over another.)  Aside from now finding a church that I genuinely liked-- there is a mix of both Thais and Americans attending this one, in contrast to other churches that were primarily all westerners or all Thais.  Moreover, finding this church also led to just about everything else that I now do in my extracurricular time and that gives structure and leisure to my week.


Soccer Group

Within a couple of weeks I joined a soccer group that meets twice a week, through a connection of people I met from the church. Prior to this, I had been playing pick-up soccer on campus and at another club as well, but the group I found through the church ended up being the most agreeable to play with. It was more fun because they would still play hard, but never take it too seriously.  Some Europeans I used to play with, in contrast, took the game too seriously and made it much less fun in the end. 

Well, the church group was also more organized, and I immediately got the sense that I belonged to a group of people who could be my friends, rather than just showing up to play soccer. I also knew several of them through church, so I would see them outside of just playing soccer together. Plus, there were several other Americans that played with this group, so I found myself more at-home.

Often after we play, we’ll grab a snack or hang out for a little bit together. Playing with the soccer group has thus been a good way of keeping fit, but also a way of meeting new people and making new friends.
By the way, soccer is huge in Thailand, and every Thai has at least 1-2 favorite soccer clubs, typically from the English Premier League or the Spanish Primera. I am also a fan of these leagues (at least the EPL, but am getting more into the Primera Ligue), so I again found some common ground here.  It’s good to see a somewhat wider mix of different teams that people support, from Liverpool to Arsenal to Tottenham, since in the U.S. most people who follow the EPL only follow Manchester United.


Band

Along with the connections that came through the church, I joined a band of a friend I met through the soccer group.  It’s a group of three Thais and one Aussie who have been playing together for awhile, and they too are into British and indie rock music.  We have a cover band that meets to practice once a week on Saturdays. So far, we haven’t played out yet, but it’s fun to play together since everyone is pretty good at their instrument and typically knows their part, so practice goes smoothly and almost quite professionally.  Even though we’re performing British and indie music, a few of the band members also go to church and play soccer, so we have those connections and I usually see them a few times a week now.


School and Housing

I just finished with the summer semester, and the 1st regular semester will begin on June 6th.   I was glad to teach in the summer, since I did not have my ‘holiday leave’ available yet, and had to be around the office anyway.  In any case, teaching this summer helped me to keep busy, maintain a structured schedule, and make a little extra money. It turns out this is money that I really needed to help pay for new furniture in the new house I will soon be renting.

About the house, I met the 3 people who will be my roommates also through connections of the church and soccer group.  So really that one church has made all of the difference in my current lifestyle in Chiang Mai.  Up to this point, I’ve been living on my own in an apartment.  It’s been a comfortable stay there, and I’ve learned a few things about getting by on my own and making my own decisions, but it will be a better experience I think to again share a place to live with a few friends. 

One of the bigger things is that I will only be paying half of the rent I’m currently paying.  So I will start saving significantly.  Of course, I have to buy all of the new furniture in the first place, but still, if I stay in Thailand for 2-3 years, the investment will still pay itself out in the end and perhaps I can sell off some of the furniture and make some of the money back at a later point. Moreover, most of the money needed for the furniture will be paid with by the additional money that I made for teaching summer classes, so I’ll begin saving in my first month already.  Finally, aside from the money, it will just be better to have roommates again and have a more social lifestyle.


Work Responsibilities

In addition to teaching 3 classes a semester, I also have plenty of proofreading and editing to do at the office, in addition to assisting in writing quizzes and exams.  Well I was beginning to notice that I wasn’t being asked to do as much work as I used to.   And I sort of picked up on the fact that Thais are very good at picking up on body language and have a sense for how you feel about the work that you have to do.  Well they generally don’t like to overburden you or ask you to do too much, and this transfers to the work place where they sometimes don’t like to have to ask too much of others, because they don’t want you to feel bothered.

I may have given off the impression at some point that I was indeed starting to feel overburdened with the workload—but it may have just been for one particular day or period of time. Nonetheless, too much time was going by where I felt I wasn’t making a significant contribution to my work place.

So rather than just accept a lighter, easier-going workload (which my workplace seemed perfectly content with for all I knew), I decided to take some initiative and ask for more assignments. I felt that I should be making a more outstanding contribution, and especially since this is my first year working at a university, that I have to put forth the extra effort to ‘earn my keep’.    In other words, being that I am  somewhat under-qualified to be working as a full-time university Course Advisor,  I felt I should have some outstanding contribution, such that the more veteran professors there will have a reason to keep me around, because I have this one thing I am really good at that I can do for them. 

So far, this has mainly involved being a very good writer, proofreader, and editor.  But it’s also about just being available to reply to teachers about individual questions related to grammar, or doing a quick check over their letter/assignment for their class, etc.  By the way, the Thais almost NEVER use e-mail, or even the phone, but almost always rely on simply ‘seeing you’ in passing by at the office. So it can be  frustrating if you prefer to spend more time on your e-mail in your personal office, than simply ‘just passing by’ through the common rooms.  In fact, if you holed yourself up in your office, you would almost never have to bother with helping a single teacher!  That’s how reliant on mere person-to-person contact they are. In any case, who wants to keeps themselves holed up in their own office?  I actually like working around other people and doing favors for others, and as long as it doesn’t give me too much ‘evening’ or ‘weekend’ work, I’m often easy-going about doing it.

So to wrap this section up, as I’ve become more aware of the Thai approach to the workplace, I have become better adjusted with my position as Course Advisor, in being more available as a team-player and significant contributor.


Skewed Weather

Finally, I know there has been one calamity after another in the U.S., and what we’ve experienced here is not nearly on the same level, but the weather this season has also been in flux.  March, April, and May are supposed to be the hottest and driest months of the year in Thailand, just prior to the coming of the rainy season. But instead, the rainy season came early and we experienced the coolest ‘hot’ season Thailand has experienced in many years!  (edit: ‘coldest’ hot season, if you’re a Thai ;)   In fact, for this one week in March that it rained every day, we had a few of the coldest days that anyone here can ever remember.  I almost needed a heater!   Well, I did not have a heater in my room as of course there is supposedly never any need, but what I did have was some hot chocolate.  I also had to wear pants, two shirts-- one of them long-sleeves-- and thick socks in order to keep warm.  This is almost never necessary in Thailand.

In March, there was also one 7+ earthquake about 2 hours north of here in southern Laos, but most people barely felt it in Chiang Mai aside from a few aftershocks that caused the windows to shake for a few moments.  But no one was hurt or really had anything broken, as far as I know. 


Well, that brings me to the end of another update.  It’s been a long one for sure, covering a few months of time all at once, but after this I hope to continue the updates more regularly on a monthly basis.  Hope you’ve enjoyed reading, and catch up with everyone again more in the next month.

Lows and Highs

In January, following my Holiday-time visit to the U.S., I had hit the roughest patch that I've been in since I've been to Thailand.  Now, in more recent days, I'm optimistic that I'm getting closer to the point of feeling stabilized... and, maybe even beginning more of a steady increase in feeling situated and happy again on a daily basis. I think I had hit another low because during my visit back home I was reminded of everything that I've lost and that I no longer have here in Thailand, i.e. having a steady group of friends, nearby family, my dog Indy, a steady church to attend and group of church friends, being able to call up close friends regularly, and all of the other familiarities/comforts/conveniences, as well as the other, more materialist things that come along with working at a comfortable job and living in the U.S., i.e. the buying power of getting basically whatever I want whenever I want to get it, having absolute freedom to go where I want to go whenever I decide to go there, along with being able to drive everywhere in my car.  Now that I think about it, these are things that I took for granted while living in the U.S., but they are actually quite a privileged thing to have!  When I went back to the U.S. for the holidays, and got to drive in my car again, I must admit there was a certain sense of power that came back to me.  I had suddenly become aware again of all that I had owned and had control of... and how I have now given up all of these things in order to come to Thailand. Well, I am slowly starting to get some of these things back, i.e. church group and church friends, along with increased familiarity the more I stay here and feeling more at-ease;  as well as experiencing new things that I didn't have in the U.S. I mentioned before the things that I have lost.... now I will list some of the things that I have gained: a much more relaxing, lower-stress work-life balance, getting to teach the most respectful students in the world; living in a predictable, perpetually warm and sunny climate (just wait until the rainy season starts ;), as well as having a gorgeously preserved surrounding environment: with all the plants and greeneries decorated so nicely everywhere. Also, getting to experience all of the Thai holidays and events (Songkran is the next major holiday coming up in another month or so... apparently its a whole week of one big water-baloon party!); getting to meet respectful Thai people everywhere I go; and just having a much more transparent social life, because in Thailand you run into people you know with far greater frequency, and I go out to eat for every single meal (I don't have a kitchen, or ever plan to cook, since street food and restaurants are so cheap here anyways), so I tend to get out a little more often than I did in the U.S., even if its just to grab a dinner or a coffee or tea at one of the hordes of coffee shops that are here in Chiang Mai. Finally, I am hopeful about the future. I think that as I learn more of the Thai language, it will be so much easier to converse with my co-workers, as well as people in my neighborhood.  One of my biggest frustrations of living here has been the language barrier and not being able to understand one another, but the more I learn about the language, the easier going I expect it will be to get by (this would seem obvious of course, but the point is, even if many people are proficient enough in English, they still prefer to use their native language when possible, so it only makes things better/easier for me to learn more about their language as well).  Even my co-workers in the English Department often speak to each other in Thai-- even in board meetings, so it can be easy to feel "left out"... but this has been one of my motivations to continue learning Thai sooner rather than later. Also, I expect to gradually get to know my co-workers, church group, and people in my neighborhood better... so perhaps will make a few legitimate friendships here and there given time.  Finally, I think that I will soon have more time to go back to writing my books and working on my own projects, musical or otherwise.  I have at least as much free time here as I did in the U.S. (if not so much more at times :), so its only a matter of settling down and focusing on getting things done one at a time. So, its time to put aside only 'thinking' about doing things and delaying them to the next day, but to actually just sit down and do them (like Yoda once said, 'Do, or do not- there is no try' :)

A New Approach to Poverty

Here's an essay that I put together for a course I'm advising for at Chiang Mai;  its written from the perspective of a business major.  Anyway, its in response to a recent book that I read, 'When Helping Hurts: How to Alleviate Poverty Without Hurting the Poor and Yourself' by Steve Corbett and Ryan Fikkert.  I think my next blog post will be a review of the book itself, including some of my favorite quotes and my responses to them. Enjoy.
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A New Approach to Poverty

          As Business-Administration majors we are interested in enterprising initiatives in business around the world. In particular, we are looking for good ideas that can serve as models in the ongoing task of poverty alleviation. Our purpose is to look at new approaches that are effective in tackling the issue of poverty in the developing world.  Although historically poverty is attributed to having a lack of material resources, today, research shows that the fundamental problem goes beyond just the material needs (Corbett & Fikkert, 2009), but also includes having a lack of positive relationships with others, as well as a lack of personal accountability and initiative.

       

        The foremost way in which people are considered in poverty is through a lack of material resources. If someone has no money, they are not able to afford such basic necessities as food, clothing, and shelter.  Being in poverty, however, also leads to many other problems. For instance, the poor start to feel trapped by other interconnected factors, including having insufficient assets; feeling vulnerable, powerless, isolated; and having physical weakness (Chambers, 1997). Being monetarily destitute can thus lead to destitution of the person as well.  Moreover, those in poverty begin to feel a sense of worthlessness about their situations, to withdraw from mainstream society, and to experience overbearing physical symptoms such as chronic fatigue and depression.  It is therefore clear that being without money is a crucial problem in itself.  In these cases, then, monetary relief is necessary so that people’s physical needs can be met.  That is, in order for further rehabilitation and development to take place, a person first requires relief in that their basic needs have been met.

         

Lacking in physical, material things is certainly the first thing that comes to mind when thinking about poverty. But it is not the only thing.

A second way in which people can be considered in poverty is through a lacking in social relationships with others. If someone is not developing solid friendships, or is isolated from others in society, they may be considered “socially impoverished”.  That is, they suffer from a lack of meaningful relationships with other human beings, which is necessary for their growth and development as people.  A successful initiative today should thus focus not on projects or products that serve the poor, but on building a relationship with them and working together with them on common ground (Corbett & Fikkert, 2009).  One should keep in mind that rather than trying to “fix” the poor, that the relationship is what is important.  In the process, the “helper” may find out how impoverished they are and how much they need the “helped” in order to see their own social poverty.

        Aside from physical and social needs, there is a third type of poverty.  That is, people can also suffer from a lack of personal initiative and accountability.  Rather than looking for or creating opportunity, they give up and do not take helping themselves into their own hands.  Instead, they depend fully on others and forget how to help themselves.  According to Nobel Laureate Amartya Sen, it is this lack of freedom to be able to make meaningful choices—to have an ability to affect one’s situation, that is the distinguishing feature of poverty (1999). Moreover, people may have the chance to get out of poverty if they only looked for the opportunities that are around them, rather than giving up and deciding that they cannot do anything about their situation. An effective approach to poverty alleviation thus seeks greater participation of the “helped” in their own rehabilitation, asking them to be accountable in the process. In turn, people learn to earn sufficient material things through the fruit of their own labor.

          We have now illustrated how poverty can be a result of lacking not just in material things, but in lacking social relationships and personal accountability as well.  We have also looked at some of the ways in which to address these issues, and how as Business-Administration majors we ourselves might approach the issue of poverty alleviation. Aside from just giving people handouts of money or completing projects, we need to build relationships with the poor.  By working together, we can help them to realize their gifts and abilities to avoid being in this situation in the future. Moreover, once individuals become empowered to help their own situations, they find their own ways to make money and support their families and communities.   In benefiting from a relationship with others, they in turn take helping themselves into their own hands.