Week 9; Felt like a big week

Well, I moved this week, to a much nicer place that feels more like an apartment and less like a hotel room. It is also on a nicer, safer-to-walk-on-at-night street, which I am all about. So, for the same price, I am a little closer to work, have a little more room, safer building and feel better about walking home at night.

This week at work felt much more relaxed that previous weeks as their was nothing pressing due or conferences, seminars, etc. I was asked to write a reflection on last month's Policy workshop and give my perspective as an Intern and PhD student in the field. It was my first time writing anything 'journalistic' that would be consumed by the public, and was a little awkward as I was 'judging' the peers I work with. But as I reflected, there really wasn't anything but praise I could say. As an intern and student I had learned quite a bit in content and the mechanics of running a workshop hadn't I? And from what I could remember, and through evaluations, a majority of feelings from participants were extremely positive. The piece will feature in next month's EPR news letter, but you can also find it here; http://www.unescobkk.org/education/news/article/reflection-how-did-unescos-education-policy-workshop-measure-up/

 At the beginning of the week, I also tried to do something more about my recurring knee issues and went to my first acupuncture session in my lunch hour Surprisingly, it was not painful in the slightest. At best, it was uncomfortable and perhaps felt something like when you pull a muscle or get a cramp. The painful part was the 'optional' stretching session afterward. Let me give you this one piece of advice, never let anyone touch your body after needles have been sitting in it for an hour. NEVER. Anyway, at $15 a session, I am looking forward to getting it done every week to see if there is any improvement (apparently one session will never cure anything, it is a slow road).

The weekend was a little bigger, with a trip to Ayutthaya, the old capital of Thailand, planned. We ended up having a group of 7 all climb onto a minivan and travel 90 mins north. Luckily, the weather held out for us and it only started to pour rain on our way back to the city. As an old capital, Ayutthaya was bound to have lots of ruins, and of course there were the sights that were a little more amazing than others. The group decided that we would hire a minivan with a driver to take us to all the noteworthy sights for 4-5 hours , with some lunch on the river in between. After Wat Mahathata (giant Buddha head in a tree),  everything started to blend in, of course it was all amazing, but yes, it all started to look the same in hour five.

After the minivan ride home, we all decided that it would be a mistake to waste Saturday night, but were all a little too tired to make it out into the city, so we went somewhere a little closer (just across the road from work) to the Marriot Sky bar. Wow, super wow. Although drinks were expensive (just laid down my credit card, all adult-like), you definitely were paying for the view. Of course the downside of a roof bar in a muggy city is that it all ends when it rains. Which it does in Bangkok, often. So after $25 worth of drinks (a g &t and cocktail), we all had to run downstairs and call it a night.

Next week at work looks to be busy, with my current supervisor, Satoko officially taking maternity leave, I will be moving to the research and foresight division. Til next week!

Week 8; So much has been done....

water taxi traveling

Starting with the beginning of the week, Sunday, I decided to do some exploring where it is best if you do it solo; museums. Setting my sights on the National Museum and National Gallery, I decided that I would go way out tourist and take a water taxi along the river to get to pier next to the gallery. And wow, everyone else seems to have the same idea. Unfortunately the water taxis do not come as often as I had hopes (twice an hour) and as a result, the boat does feel more like a bus in the sense that you are standing and being jostled around, with the difference that you get the occasional spray of water. However, it was a lovely hot morning and the sights from the river made the trip.

The National Museum was by far the highlight of the day and had a little bit of everything. Joining me on my trip to the museum was about 200 Thai army cadets all in uniform. They were so super cute, like little kids in dress up, following around their commanders and listening to the tour guides. The museum turned out to be filled with ancient art and many differing Asian periods and styles and I enjoyed a morning to myself just wandering, sitting, eating pat thai with little army cadets. Luckily so, because the National Gallery, was such a let down. To give a comparison, it took me perhaps 3-4 hours to do the Museum and an hour for the Gallery, which was stretching it.
My take on Thai history from my day, is that it is not exclusively 'Thai'. If you look through pictures on facebook, you can see that there are many statues and others such relics that are from everywhere. Indonesia, Cambodia, India, you could see it all in this one museum and yes, all at one time had been found in Thailand. Although I would have liked to have seen more art-ish things, like frescos, etc, what was displayed was still impressive.

This week at work felt slow and was definitely hard to get into. A highlight was on Wednesday, when a group of us interns had to attend the safety and security debriefing at UN Bangkok Headquarters. After hearing rumors of the debriefing discussions and the amazing food at headquarters, I can say it is all true. The head of UN Thailand security, a large Jamaican woman scared the bejesus out of a lot of us by showing us photos of the past 10 years of UN (and other associated) buildings that had been blown up and of the personnel who were killed and how they died (most being "blown to pieces"). Also shown was the immediate dangers to us here in Thailand. I am 100% sure that although it is just part of the lifestyle of Thailand, I will never get onto a motorcycle taxi. Also I will never do; hold my purse by my forearm, always over the shoulder in front of you, ladies. As demonstrated by recent CCTV footage of a UN employee being mugged outside a 7-11. Although the woman was dragged along the ground for some meters, it was quite a tame mugging, and along with the fact that another intern in the APPEAL unit went through the same thing last week, the message definitely got through; don't wear your handbag on your arm.
On a lighter side of the trip; the UN building was pretty awesome and puts UNESCO to shame (along with the awesome employee canteen). Although it was not the point of the trip, it was still pretty amazing, with hidden nooks and crannies all through the courtyard, and the international vibe in the atmosphere was almost addictive. So many people from so many places discussing 'the big issues'.

On Friday, another highlight, and unexpected trip to the Quality Learning Foundation's (QLF) forum on Youth Unemployment (and therefore indirectly about development) and was great as I am hoping to do my thesis in these subjects. Although the conference was small, it was in quite an amazing venue, and I was given a translator ear piece that was connected to two translators in a little booth in the back. Listening to two voices simultaneously required even more attention than simply trying to take in the content. I even raised my hand to speak and give input (for some reason, nerve-wracking), and heard myself translated into Thai, trippy. I am glad for the experience though, the material was extremely relevant to my interest, in a general sense, but was happy to give it a contextual framework. Next week I plan on moving apartments to a little more nicer apartment and safer area, giving acupuncture a go, and looking at the old capital of Siam, Ayutthaya.

Week 6 and 7- So many conferences and Buddhas

The last 2 weeks have been pretty amazing, and fast. Eight days of conferences, wonderful temples  and some good social time. How do you know you are settling into a place? When all the old ladies at your 7am yoga class wonder where you have been for the last 3 mornings (sleeping in). Between them and realising that the local Starbucks staff and the diner I frequent know my usual order to a T, makes me feel a little less homesick.

Advocacy workshop in Downtown Bangkok

The 27th to 31st of May at work was pretty eventful as the EPR workshop on Education Policy Formulation and Monitoring kicked off. We had over 10 nationalities attend and luckily all of us interns got to sit in on the presentations and take in a bit of knowledge ourselves. The topics were at the level that I had been learning about over the last 2 years, however when we got to Monitoring, I was a little out of my depth so it was good to get the opportunity to listen to our programme specialist. We also got to engage in the role play I have previously mentioned (where we were in the role of the Minister of Finance). It was very interesting to analyse data from another perspective, and assess what indicators (such as increasing text book lifespan) would help the M.O.Finance in obtaining its objectives. The activity itself was a little difficult for those who have never encountered the model before, so I ended more in the role of teacher than facilitator. We also had a late edition to our group, the Iranian Deputy Minister of Education, who could not speak much English and was accompanied by his translator. It was by far the most interesting teacher experience I have ever had, speaking to a translator in paragraphs, waiting for her to translate, looking at his facial expressions to see if he understands, then continuing on with my explanation.
Overall, the workshop was so interesting (but sooooo dense!) but I am glad it is over. It was such a long week, being focused and engaged day after day is extremely tiring.

Tuk tuk's through the city.

The week after the EPR conference, I had forgotten that I had prior volunteered to be a note taker at another Unit's conference on advocacy of inclusive education. Sooooo, another conference. Nope, wait, Im not complaining, swear. But I am pretty sure that I looked like a zombie for a few good days. On that, note; note-taking. I guess its something that every intern has to go through, and in truth, it isn't a hard gig considering the task and the rewards (free food and conference goodies). This APPEAL conference was a regional workshop on Advocacy for Inclusive Education, where staff of regional UNESCO offices were learning about how to better promote to their governments how to include special needs, minority issues, and other such students. The conference was held downtown, which made a nice change from the office and was certainly a pretty ritzy venue. And that ended (from what I know) my experiences of being involved in the running and organizing of workshops and conferences. I now understand why there are companies devoted to organizing them. Its hard, if not time consuming and exhausting.

The large reclining Buddha of wat pho, where the temple had to be built around him.

My weekend was at a little less speed, and a little more enjoyably. Meeting my new friend, Pinchai and fellow UNESCO employee, Nuno, I had my first taste of Bangkok's world heritage sights.  After meeting downtown, the two had a plan of three temples for our day, however, my curiosity ruined the plan and we ended up just wandering around Wat Pho for most of the afternoon. Luckily Nuno had been a monk there in a few years ago, and was the perfect guide for the afternoon. Wat Pho is most famously known for the large reclining Buddha, but the complex is so large and is the home of Thai Massage. There was so many amazing scenes in this complex, I often just sat for a few minutes to take it in. It was extraordinary. Another issue which limited my enthusiasm for sight seeing was the heat. Dear lord, it was hot. and I know hot. It just seemed to suck the energy after me and severely trod all over my plans. Despite this, I still feel that Wat Pho would deserve a significant part of the day, so I was happy to leave it at that for the weekend. We finished off downtown with a walk along the river and ambling through the amulet market. So much to do in the old town and it was surprising to be in an old part of the city that was so vibrant. My tour guides were perfect and I am hoping to trick them into another tour sometime again soon!