New things are happening at ISDSI.

Good things!

Check it out here.

Our approach to language learning for study abroad at ISDSI is based on functional competency — we want the students to be active learners and able to use Thai to function in everyday interactions as well as while learning in the villages where our Expedition Field Courses take place.

And it is active!

Here are a few photos from the first morning, with students learning some basic words (mostly “come here!”).

(click on the thumbnail to enlarge and scroll through the photos)

For each semester, the students arrive throughout the day on Friday.  To make it easier on our Thai host families, we have the families pick the students up the next day on Saturday.

Ajaan Wilasinee teaching the "wai" greeting to the students (with Pi Ben and Pi Pu helping)

We spend about an hour with the students talking about dress, behavior in the host family, and answering questions.  We stress the idea of “cultural competence” — knowing the culture makes you safer, and helps you to learn more and better enjoy your time in Thailand.

Students learning the Thai way of greeting...

After the orientation, the students are picked up by their families and we don’t see them until Monday — when the full orientation week starts with intensive Thai and other topics (health/safety/program policies, etc.)!

A weekend with a Thai host family does a lot to increase motivation for learning the language!

The final course of the spring semester study abroad program at ISDSI is our course on Coastal Ecology and Culture.  This is the capstone of the semester, and brings together leadership skills, cross cultural and language skills, as well as expedition skills so that the students can study the reefs, sea grass, mangroves and local communities in Trang, Southern Thailand.

Here are a few photos taken by our instructor, Pi Ben, to give you a bit of a feel of what the course is like.

The prow of a new longtail boat on Mook island.

Krissy and Nikki paddling in on a double seakayak.

Ben sea kaking, leaving the beach for the crossing to Mook island.

Ben and Karen, leaders of the day, explaining the day's route by sea kayak.

Ben landing on the beach and pulling up his kayak. The ISDSI support boat in the background.

Dinner with a view. Camping on the beach in Trang.

Karen padding into the beach.

A longtail crossing by after a storm.

Karen and Ben, leaders of the day, sorting out the kayaks after a day's paddle.

Riley identifying different types of seagrass during a study of seagrass ecology and dugong feeding behavior.

A real pirate cave -- a great location for a seminar by Bang Hed, a village elder, about mangroves and community. (The pirates have been gone for a long time... at least that's what Bang Hed says...)

Jack and his host family, Baan Iet, Ja Mai, Nong Chock, and Nong Lin.

Pi Noi, usually in the office, but also working the occasional field course, and Pi Toto, field instructor.

The host families of Jao Mai village with their students.

Mid-course seminar with Ajaan Mark. ISDSI field seminar rooms don't have WiFi, but we like them!

Ben watching the sunset over the Andaman Sea.

The students got back from the Forests Course just before spring break for the Thai Songkran holiday.  Here are some photos from the course to give you a taste of what the expedition was like.  Great course, and a great group of community-based instructors and host families.

Students after finishing the ridge hike from Nam Hu village to Huay Hee village.

Taylor with a dried "saba" pod found on one of the forest hikes.

Nam Hu village.

Jump to Caroline’s blog for more great photos from her.

Betsy, Krissy, Kristen and Riley cooling off in the Huay Puling falls.

One of the host mom's spinning cotten before dying and weaving it.

Kristen helping her village mom to prepare food for the pigs.

For a great blog post from a student about the Forests Expedition, jump to Caroline’s blog post, Stories from the Forest.

Each Expedition Field Course has a mid-course seminar — a chance to reflect on what is being learned, summarize, and prepare for the next phase of the expedition.  Ajaan Abram, teaching the rivers course, met the students in Nong Khai and traveled with them to the seminar site.

Students working on their posters in the guesthouse overlooking the Mekong river.

For the Rivers course, the seminar took place in the riverside town of Chiang Khan, in Loei province.  Chiang Khan used to be a sleepy town of wooden buildings built along the banks of the Mekong river, across from Laos.  Now, the old wooden buildings are being converted into guest houses, Internet cafes, and funky restaurants — as it is only a day’s drive from Bangkok. It is a great place for mid-course on Rivers, as it is half way between Issan (the Northeast of Thailand) and the Northern Thai province of Phrae, where the students paddle the Yom River (go to our maps page to see the course locations).

A street in Chiang Khan.

During the seminar the students ha a chance to talk through what they had learned from the communities of fisherfolk along the Mun river, the impact of the Pak Mun dam, as well as what they had observed on the transect of the Mekong river up from Ubonratchathani province.

Filling in the details before presenting.

Two of the key questions that were discussed were about connections and interactions taking place in and around rivers in SE Asia.

Taylor and Karen talking about the “Bangkok Monster” and its impact on the river, villagers, ecosystems and other players in resource management.

Students were asked to draw the spatial, environmental, economic and sociological connections of major players in and around the Mun River before and after the construction of the Pak Mun dam. They were also asked to reflect on transboundary interactions of players on the Mekong including the spatial, environmental, economic and sociological connections.

Jill, Emily and Kadilyn (with the Mekong river behind them).

Here are some photos of the day, along with their posters and explanatory text, to give you a feel for the course.

Exploring the connections between environmental, social and economic impacts of the Pak Mun dam.

Women in Chiang Khan selling “popia tot” (fried spring rolls).

Karen and Taylor discuss the Mekong as a chocolate river (more below).

Transboundary issues -- as water flows down the river, each user takes out some, leaving less for the downstream countries.

Vested interests of different actors in managing the Mekong river.

Motorcycle with rattan basket in front of the guesthouse. (You can see the Mekong River and Laos through the window out the back of the guesthouse.)

The Mekong represented as a giant catfish — with each group trying to take a share (eat the fish).

The Mekong river as the chocolate river in the Willy Wonka factory, with each user (country) drinking from the river, the ompa-loompas as the Mekong River Commission trying to get everyone to cooperate, and consumerism floating down the river.

The village and their livelihood before the dam and “development” — with villagers self-sufficient in fish, and earning money from a very rich fishery. After, they loose their self-sufficiency and are forced to migrate to the city to work.

Sunset over the Mekong river -- Thailand on the left, Laos on the right.

The last week of the Foundations course the students at ISDSI fan out over the city and study four sustainability indicators — walkability, traffic, the use/health of the Ping river, and the food systems of Chiang Mai (looking at organic food, the size of the foodshed, etc.).  The students split into four groups, and each group spends Monday planning, Tuesday and Wednesday gathering data, Thursday doing data analysis, and then Friday on a presentation.

Nikki and Jack talking about "som" (tangerines) in both supermarkets and fresh (wet) markets.

It is always fun to see what creative ways students work out to learn about sustainability in the city.  This semester the rivers group borrowed a couple of ISDSI’s sit-on-top kayaks and paddled down the Ping river, the food systems group decided to focus on oranges/tangerines as a proxy for broader food system dynamics, the traffic group looked a cars and “public” or at least “mass” transportation, and the walking group tried to figure out how difficult it was to walk in different places in the city.

Molly and Taylor discussing the challenges of walking in the city center.

The papers are here as pdf files:

• Walkability index for Chiang Mai city
• Traffic and mass transportation as a measure of sustainability for Chiang Mai
• Food systems, organics and the foodshed for tangerines (som) in Chiang Mai
• The Ping river and its connection to sustainability and the life of Chiang Mai

Krissy and her group did a great job working out the challenges of walking, and how even the idea of walking around the city is culturally mediated.

On Friday we were joined by Khun Pim Kemasingki, the editor of Chiang Mai CityLife magazine, a well known English language magazine published in Chiang Mai for almost 20 years. Khun Pim was great — having grown up in Chiang Mai she was able to add a lot of historical background, and with her position as editor, she understands the challenges of sustainability for Chiang Mai city. It was great for the students as well to get another perspective on the city, and the role of culture, language and politics in sustainability. (Also check out CityLife’s page on going carbon neutral.)

Ajaan Christina, Ajaan Mark and Khun Pim were the discussants for the presentations.

The students learned a lot about the city that is there home for this semester, got out into places tourists don’t often go, and were able to pull together research involving both social science and ecology. Well done all!

Matt explains the traffic and how it all fits together.

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.)

A "rot daeng" or "song taew" (two-bencher). A common mode of transportation for students.

This spring semester several of the students are blogging their experiences.  Check them out for some great insights into Thai culture, homestays, and their adventures in Thailand! Here are some excerpts (with spelling and grammar left as is…)

Jack:

I’ll wake up every morning at around 5:45 AM when it is still dark out, but two hours after the roosters have started keekaakaaing around my window. When I can finally drag myself out of bed (usually around 6) I’ll shower, brush my teeth, and get dressed in my school uniform (white collared short sleeve shirt and black pants) so as to look reep roy (proper/put together).

I’ll eat breakfast and then bike ten minutes down the road to highway 118, where I can park my bike for 5 baat (~15 cents) at a small cafe/restaurant for the day. From there, I catch a rot luuang downtown, where I switch the the rot dang (red bus) that will take me to ISDSI. The ‘buses’ I refer to are actually called song tow, which means two benches, and pretty much describes the nature of the vehicle. They can comfortably fit around 10 people inside, though when adding those who hang off the back (often me) and the occasional person who rides on top, I have seen song tows hold up to 23 people, though two of the passengers I am counting are infants.

Caroline:

“You have to be at school by 7:30am. What time do you usually get to school?”
“7:00am or 7:05am.”
“Okay. We’ll drive you so you won’t be late.”

That was part of last night’s dinner conversation. I got to school at 6:50am (a new record) today. Usually I take public transit and get to school pretty early, but my host parents wanted to be sure I was more than on time today.

Lindsey:

Farming in Mae Taa.

On this farm they began growing banana plants 20 years ago because they sprout up quickly giving shade to smaller plants. At the same time they planted mango trees as well as some smaller plant species like pineapple. After several years, the mango trees grew taller than the banana trees and began to choke them out. While at a “normal” farm this would be seen as a bad thing, the banana trees on this organic farm served their purpose, and the remains went back into the ground to fertilize the next wave of plant life.

The farm we visited was only on a couple of acres of land, but it had over 80 species of plants! It also included a small pond with tilapia. Chickens or other animals feed on vegetable/plant leftovers on the land, then the tilapia eat the chicken poop. Tilapia are very efficient, easily grown fish that provide an easy source of protein for the farmers.

Betsy:

Weekends are generally a good thing, but for some reason I had an absolutely spectacular weekend. It started with our group from ISDSI (17 students and 3 instructors) heading out to a site outside of Chiang Mai called “Crazy Horse”. Crazy Horse is a site for a series of caves and cliffs. We spent the morning exploring a couple different caves and learning about the different features of caves. We then zip-lined across one cave to a stalactite and repelled down 150 feet! It was pretty thrilling. We had lunch and then spent the afternoon rock-climbing the cliffs outside of the cave. I’m not the best climber, but I was surprised to find that I was very capable of climbing the different rock faces. I spent Friday night with my host family, and singing chereokee with Nong Yeem (my younger sister).

Saturday came and for the first time in about a week I got to sleep in! (til 9! haha…) I ate breakfast and did some homework, and then my Paw said that I needed to relax from my long day of climbing….so….our family went to the hot springs outside of the city! My afternoon was pretty harsh….taking a hot mineral bath (pretty much like a hot tub) and ending the day with a Thai massage. The hot springs are a popular picnic area, and when people eat at the hot springs, they boil eggs in the hot spring! haha it’s pretty sweet! My Paw asked me if I wanted an egg, and I said yes, so he popped an egg into the hot spring bath for about 3 minutes and bam! soft boiled egg!

Ben:

Fried crickets. Yum!

After three weeks of Thai class four hours a day and living in a Thai family my Thai has improved. This is something that is so rewarding as you begin to understand reading and writing more and more, and your speaking and comprehension of the language expands. This knowledge can be used immediately and enables you to communicate with your Thai family better and also understand the culture you are living in better. It is a great feeling to make progress especially against the challenges of the Tonal language with an alphabet that borrows from Sanskrit. I have a long way to go, but I am sure to get better with the 44 consonants, 32 vowels, and the 5 tones.

Riley:

The Thai dinner table is the perfect setting for asking questions. Is this an animal or vegetable? Can you eat this(said with perfect sincerity)?
To the undiscerning eye your best luck is to simply watch what the locals do with the items on their plate.
Things do not become that much clearer even if you prepare the food yourself. I went to a Thai buffet. They bring hot coals to your table while you pick from dozens of raw meats which you will fry yourself. Seeing the food both before and after cooking it brings only marginally more enlightenment.
Tonight for dinner my host mother taugh me to make sweet green curry with chicken. While this seems straight forward one of the main ingredients is coagulated chicken blood. The most disturbing part is that the blood doesnt dissipate but instead remains as chunks that resemble soft tofu as you eat them. The dish was delicious despite the blood.
There are a lot of things I eat that I cant decipher but most of these things taste good in the end.

Congratulations to Francesca Aguirre-Wong (Franchie) from our Fall 2009 Semester!  Franchie won an award at the the University of Denver Study Abroad photo contest, and the photo was displayed at the Global Gala.

The long awaited rice harvest, Huay Tong Kaw village, Mae Hong Son province.

Franchie is a senior, and an Ecology and Biodiversity major at the University of Denver.  Franchie writes about the photo:

The Karen people have been using shifting cultivation to grow rice for over 100 years to live in harmony with their forest. The students are helping harvest rice (a process that takes 2-3 weeks) while chatting in Thai to learn about farming techniques and the culture that exists around the rice harvest.

Here is the rest of her email:

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Sawasdika!

I am sure you have heard this plenty of times, but America is so strange! I am constantly aware of feet and I always bow my head in humble respect. Ally and I were talking about this, and we feel so much more grown up and that everything just seems clearer. My time in Thailand truely made me into a better person, daughter, sister, friend, student, leader, and outdoor adventurer. My only regret is waiting till my last year in college to do all this growing!

Thank you so much for giving us the opportunity to work with all the amazing people at ISDSI and in Thailand. It was difficult to see ISDSI’s rhyme and reason for some things while i was in the program, but now that I step back, it all makes so much more sense. Bravo for creating one of the most unique programs in the world that succeeds in challenging and changing their students.

PS- I have attached a photo taken in Huay Tong Kaw that won me $75 in the Study Abroad Photo Contest. A 24×36 print was displayed at the Global Gala this year (which i unfortunately didn’t attend due to poor-student syndrome). If it is possible, can you please tell Muga Nepal (the woman in the white hat) and her husband (the man addressing the camera) that a photo of them and their beautiful rai won a contest seen by many students, ajaans, and families. I think it would make them really proud and happy!

Please give everyone an elegant wai for me

Sincerely,
Francesca Aguirre-Wong
Ecology & Biodiversity
University of Denver