Before starting their final week of Foundations, students had a chance to go on their first academic hike to the iconic temple on Doi Suthep. Students were asked to write a reflection on a question that they formulated during the hike, providing them an opportunity to try out their writing and learning styles in a non-traditional setting. By completing a writing assignment before they embark on their first field course students were able to get feedback and guidance from field instructors.

Following the end of Foundations, students, staff, and host families gathered together for a Northern Thai themed evening filled with great food and student provided entertainment. With everyone decked out in traditional Northern Thai garb, we saw some impressive performances ranging from Thai and American songs to semi-traditional Thai dances to hula hooping and playing the recorder (at the same time!) and much more. The finale performance was a classic Thai song performed by all 31 students which they had a chance to practice with their Thai teachers over the previous week.

The evening also provided students a chance to spend one more memorable evening with their families before they got ready to leave their host families and move into apartments in Chiang Mai.

Transitioning from host families to apartments coincided with the start of the first Expedition Field Course (EFC) of the fall semester, Sustainable Food Systems with Ajaan Abram Bixler. Students received their course materials and first assignment on Friday. This first week of seminar allows students to read, discuss, and gain an understanding of the general topics before heading out to the field for the first time. Students will be split into two groups, with half starting with home stays in Mae Taa and half beginning at the Upland Holistic Development Project in Fang.

Check back soon for updates and photos of the Sustainable Food Systems course!

Students hike up the mountain on their way to Wat Doi Suthep.

Students enjoying a mid-day lunch break during their hike.

Monkia, Pi Tic, Pi Noi, Pi Toto, Janelle, Nicki, and Pi Pui strike some interesting poses before the performances start.

 

Peter hanging out with his nong chao (younger brother).

 

Alice and her host mother enjoying some food and conversation before the performances start.

Janelle and her host sister perform a fun, slightly jazzed-up version of a traditional Thai dance.

Ajaan Siton's Thai class of Casey, Meredith, Hish, Katherine, and Andrew perform a Thai song and skit.

Elaine shows impressive dexterity by hula-hooping and playing the recorder at the same time.

Nicki and Grace perform a traditional Thai dance with their host sisters.

All the students managed to fit (barely) on the stage for their finale group performance.

Ajaan Wilasanee's daughter practices the hand motions of she picked up from watching the traditional Thai dances.

The institute is busy with preparations for the arrival of a new semester’s cohort of students (30+)!  Lots of planning meetings, sorting and checking gear for the Expedition Field Courses, and the host family orientation.  Here are few photos of the host families at the orientation as they receive their packets with the name and photo of each student, along with their letter to their host family.  Lots of excitement from both new and experienced host families!

Student name tags

Family photos of the host students.

Just a quick post about what we’re doing over the summer.  Aside from the relative peace and quiet of not having a semester going, a lot gets done over the summer! One of the reasons we’ve put off doing a summer session (although there is demand for one) is that we need the time to rest and recover, as well as get ready for the coming year.

Field Instructors Am, Pui, Tik and Toto pulling gear and getting ready to spend some long hot days cleaning and repairing gear.

Gear: Our Expedition Field Courses take a lot of gear to run smoothly — backpacks, skin diving gear (fins, masks and snorkels), tents, sleeping bags, etc.  All the gear has to be gone over, pulled for repair if necessary, cleaned, inventoried, and organized.  As anyone with even a small amount of gear knows, chaos is always lurking with a closet or box of gear — so you can imagine the chaos that develops over a couple of semesters outfitting 60 + people!

NGOs: The summer is a great time to visit new organizations we don’t yet know, go back and talk with ones we’ve worked with for years, and find out what opportunities there might be for student internships.  It is getting more difficult to place students with NGOs — lots of people in Chiang Mai want to volunteer, and some NGOs have had bad experiences with folks that don’t speak Thai or are not culturally sensitive.  We’re fortunate that we can place students with NGOs that won’t accept short term volunteers or interns, and we work hard to make sure that we’re not a burden on the organizations our students work with.

Villages: Going out to many of the villages we work with is important — both to see how our friends are doing throughout the year, but also to evaluate the program, see what they feel they would like to change for the upcoming year, and learn if there are any ways we can support them through our courses and students.

Families: Host families are, of course, a big part of learning Thai and becoming culturally competent.  So visiting old families and new ones is a big job.  We’ve got over 30 students for the fall semester, and each family needs to be visited and interviewed.  We also set up and prep our host family orientation, which is run in part by former host families. We’ve also got more families who want to host that students, so being sensitive to sort out who gets to do it this semester is an important part of the job.

Course support:  Course support involves everything from working on the library (sorting through almost 800 books), to pulling old readers out of the files and recycling them.  We also start visiting field sites, working on budgets and logistics, and getting the first block course (Foundations) sorted out and organized.

So while it is sort of quiet — it can be hectic as the summer draws to a close!  We are looking forward to the start of the fall semester, and the usual chaos that brings!

Last week was the final week of the 5 week homestay. To thank the families and to gather as a community, we hosted a farewell dinner and party with the families, students, instructors and staff of ISDSI.  We ate out under the stars near the foot of Doi Suthep mountain, at the side of a lake (for those who know Chiang Mai, along the canal road near the 700 year stadium).  It was a traditional “kantoke” dinner, with everyone sitting on mats on the ground, eating off a small round “kantoke” table filled with sticky rice, curry, steamed vegetables, and other Northern Thai food.

In addition to the dinner, there was a local group of youth performing traditional songs and dances, and then the ISDSI students performed as well. Alone or in pairs, students and their families prepared songs (in Thai!) as well as traditional dances.  It was a great time, and we all enjoyed it immensely.  Here are some photos taken by Pi Ben of the event.

Lindsey's host family getting her ready.

Kristen and Jill doing a traditional Lanna Thai dance with their host sisters.

Nikki doing the nail dance with her host sisters.

Krissy singing in Thai "Sao Chiang Mai" (Chiang Mai Maiden), a well loved Northern Thai folk song.

Ajaan Wilasanee (pictured) and Pi Pu were the MCs for the event and did a terrific job jumping between Thai and English explaining the dances and songs.

Pi Pu introducing the students (some out of the frame), who sang in Thai "Bang khon kin khanom pang" (or "Some people eat bread") a folk song celebrating eating sticky rice, the Northern Thai staple. The song starts saying "Some people eat bread..." but goes on to say "but I eat sticky rice" -- which, since Westerners "all" eat bread, is especially fun when Western students sing it. It celebrates that the students have embraced Thai culture -- eating rice and singing in Thai. (Note too the families taking photos like it is a UN press conference.)

Last night we did our host family orientation!

Host families are an important part of the first five weeks of the ISDSI semester.  Each student is placed with their own family, and it is a great introduction to Thai culture. Later on in the semester, students will be staying with a variety of families, from upland tribal communities to a small Muslim fishing village — so the first five weeks are important to help get students used to living with families from another culture.

Each family has to fill out an application, and be recommended by someone in the ISDSI network — we don’t advertise for families. We do a home visit with each family before the students come, and one visit during the homestay, and one visit after.

Before the students arrive, each student sends us a candid photo with their family in America, as well as a letter for the host families. These are put together into a packet for each host family, along with a guidebook we’ve written on hosting American students.  Host family orientation is a great time for the families to share experiences, for us to update them on the latest program policies and schedule, and for families to connect with each other. The orientation is participatory, with returning families sharing experiences and tips on hosting American students, and we usually have a couple former students participate who can explain what it is like from their perspective.

Here are some photos to give you and idea of that host family orientation is like.

Reading about their new host student.

The families get really excited as the student information packets get handed out.

Students send a photo of themeselves with their own families in America.

Even families who've hosted before are excited about getting a new student, and are a great source of information for new families.

Reading the letter to their host familiy from the student.

Part of the fun of host family orientation is seeing who is staying with your friends and neighbors!

The hosts for the orientation -- Pi Pu and Ajaan Wilasanee -- did a great job!