Week 13 & 14; work work work, fun fun fun

It has been nearly two weeks since my last update, and I'm sorry, but I swear, I had a really, really good reason, but more on that later.
The week of the 15th-19th at work had a 'woah' moment that I didnt realize how monumental it was until the meeting for it was nearly half over. As mentioned prior, I have transferred to the Research and Foresight unit (the one I am still doing a literature review for...), and at the moment, UNESCO is going through the motions for what to do after the Millennium Goal deadline (2015) has passed. My task initially started with searching for various countries in the Asia Pacific's educational strategies Post 2015. I had a moment of reflection thinking it is a strange and interesting life at UNESCO where you find yourself on the North Korean website (found here), looking for what they had planned for their educational future (nothing unsurprisingly). After looking for all these strategies and goals, we had a meeting on now that we had found some, what we were going to do for these for the upcoming 'Post 2015 Educational Goals'. As we progressed through the meeting, and I was told that I and the team would create a table of goals desired from the various countries and come up with a list that UNESCO will advocate as the new goals for the era. Then I realized, shit, I am in some small measure helping to form the new educational goals for the next decade. Goals that will be published and documented by UNESCO, UNICEF, and other such NGO and international organizations, then hopefully adopted by countries and disseminated to their population. Although I have done much here , this was the first time I was doing something that would matter and be felt globally. It was a nice feeling.

My work week ended with a flight. My reason for being away from the internet for some 9 days. A flight to Phuket (only there for 12 hours mind you), then another 8 wonderful days 'island hopping' with Christina Velasco (who was herself on her first tour of Asia). Although we had 'planned' our trip, which is definitely not in the adventurer-spirit, it would have taken us twice as long to get anywhere (in low season, everything runs only a third of the time). Our first stop was Koh Phi Phi, which had a strange mix of 'bros' (and gals), families and romantic couples, and us. Of course, we had to do , we had to, yes, it is very popular and over run with people, but how could we not see 'The Beach', Maya Beach. And to tell you the truth, meh. I mean , of course, it is in the top 5 bays I have ever seen, but I guess when it has been so hyped, it was bound to fall short a little. Our private long boat for the day however, did not disappoint. Swimming by ourselves in big bays, snorkeling around, stopping to have tea in the fanciest resort on the island, I think it was nearly heaven.

Our next stop, Koh Lanta, was decisively more relaxed. Heck, we even had a day of Thai monsoon that made us stay put and read books in hammocks near the beach. We found a place that was called 'Relax Bay', and followed it to a tea, excluding one long day of long boating (the only way to get around) and snorkeling around the islands (a favorite hobby of ours), I quite literally put my feet up for at least 24 hours. AND READ A BOOK. FOR.FUN. I know, right?

Our last venue, I almost dont want to name, it was so perfect, I dont want to let anyone know of it. The first rule of .... is that no one talks about .... . Hiking, rock climbing, kayaking, large chunks of earth jutting up into the sky, it quite possibly was the nicest beach destination I have ever been, and I live in Hawaii. After a few days of meeting up with UNESCO friends, relaxing, getting some adventure (finding our own private beaches), listening to monkeys outside our bungalow, listening to nothing at all (a rarity in Thailand), getting the Thai stomach bug, (again) , it was time to go back home.
Im not sure that I will have another chance to travel in Thailand again before I leave, but if not, this was quite nearly a perfect trip.

Week 12, Head Cold and Cambodia

Well, the week started off a little poorly, with a head cold that I caught on Saturday, sending me home from work on Monday and feeling pretty crummy on Tuesday. The week was mostly dominated by this literature and researcher search for pedagogical practices across Asia Pacific (which as of today has become a literature review (I kid you not, le sigh). While I know I have spoken of this before, and it must seem like this is all I do at work (which it feels like sometimes), there are always little one hour things that come up throughout the day. They mostly are not worthy of mentioning; proof reading articles, reports, revising mission statements, planning out future tasks, and so on. I am ashamed to say that since I have been here, I have very rarely thought about my thesis and upcoming research. Oh, I have thought of it in the sense that ‘Fudge, what is my blasted question’. I have narrowed my topic to the role that English plays in sustainable development and the eradication of poverty in Asia (Economic success in the new AEC needs English needs Education, and so on). But I just can’t seem to see anything that I can define into one sentence and properly research. For all the reading I have done here, for either specifically thesis searching or work to do with UNESCO, nothing has screamed out to me as an area that needs researching. Speaking with my advisor, David last week was reassuring, as he thinks it has much promise and is an area that will have much future research opportunities. But with my time here coming to an end, life is about to get real, real soon.   

 The weekend was much more delightful and one of the best traveling experiences I have had since honeymooning on Maui. Taking Friday off from work (my first day off since I have been here), fellow interns, Radhika and Mas Dino, and myself took a 6am bus all the way to Siam Reap. After dealing with the hustlers and other sorts of Cambodia nuisances, we arrived at our little hostel and took ourselves down to the Khao San road of Cambodia, 'Pub Street'. Although we should have packed so much into our time there, we were content to just have a relaxing afternoon and hop from cafe to cafe and people watch.   Our 4.30 wakeup on Saturday was in order to see the sun rise over famous Angkor Wat. Although the sunrise was nothing special, the whole scene was more than amazing. Walking through and exploring the temple complex could have kept me occupied for at least half a day. 

However, our next stop was the temple sight I have wanted to visit since I was 15 and saw it in a National Geographic magazine. Ta Prohm. Where the trees defied convention and decided to grow on top of the temples that intruded on their jungle. This place I could have lived in for a week before decided to come back the world. Unfortunately, about 1/4 of the outside walls had fallen down, whether because tree roots had taken their revenge, or time just got to it. Although I have seen many jaw-dropping sights since I came to Asia 3 months ago, this was beyond any of them.

5ft vs 5.9ft is a big difference in Bayon

Our last sight for the day was Bayon. A giant temple that had the face of Buddha on all four sides of every pillar. A giant stone temple. It sounds so simple and unremarkable. We didn’t get to Bayon until midday, when it was at least 35 degrees out, so there was not many people wandering around and it often felt like this giant stone sitting out in the sun was all ours. Steep stairs and tiny doorways made the temple seem like a labyrinth at times, Mas Dino (who is 5 foot) had an easy time with it (see picture). After some 7 hours of wandering around the temples, we finally returned into the city and had some rest time before going out one last time to get some Khmer food (I had the opportunity to have Frog curry and crocodile pizza) and a drink or  two before our long journey home early tomorrow.

This coming week sees a lot more work that is coming up to some deadlines, and will not doubt have me staying past five. I am also preparing for a week of Southern island hopping with Christina, who has mercifully done all the booking (thank you!).

On a last note, it was my lovely husband’s 33^rd birthday. Last year we celebrated with breakfast on our balcony and golfing on the North Shore. This year, he had a large sleep in and a movie, and I a seven hour bus ride and immigration woes. Hopefully next year will be better for both of us.

Week 10 and 11; Work is getting hectic

I admit, I have been a little lax the last 2 weeks, so lets jump into it; On the 24th of June I officially moved over to the research and foresight division and had a brief meeting with the chief, GC, about what I will be doing for the rest of my time here. It is nailed down to four so far. Which might not sound like a lot, but it is, I promise.

My first task, which after confirming with my new supervisor, Ushio, that I am indeed a student and have much access to databases and what not, was a literature search for the research division. Not kidding. However, this one is massive, and even though I thought I finished it in a week, turns out I was about 30 countries short (did you know there are about 50 countries in the UNESCO Asia-Pacific?). For this task, I am looking for research on pedagogical practices in the individual Asia-Pacific states and creating a library in the UNESCO network for future use. Related, I am also asked to identify potential researchers who are well versed in the field who could be potential participants for UNESCO's post 2015 talks. Now, this doesnt sound like a big thing, but then I realized that this could be a big deal for someone. Of course I can only find someone if they show up Google Scholar and are well advertised. This of course made me quite aware of my own lack of presence in media such like Linked in, and other researcher sites. To sum up, advertising yourself is important as you can never tell when an intern will be looking for you online.

I also am still tasked with the ESP project, where for the last two weeks, I have been collocating the 5 edited country profiles that we have edited and create a concrete set of guidelines for future creation of profiles. This is mostly time consuming rather than difficult. But it is challenging in the sense that there is no getting around making concrete rules about the direction the database will go in the future. But yes, it is time consuming as well as brain-draining. However, our new staff member, Naoko will be taking over the project and will be doing most of the work (I think) from now on.

My third task is the Cambodian EPSSim as well as the Teacher Costing model; projecting future costs of teachers.To be honest, I have not had any time for this. But essentially, using the data from the Cambodia EPPSim file, there are 3 of us that are to create a formula that gives projections of how much it would cost for the Cambodian government to produce the needed amount of teachers in the future. This is the exact opposite of my other projects, if I knew exactly what to do, it would be quite short (lots of brain power, short work), however, because we are missing a few pieces of vital data from the government (they simply dont have it), it will take some time to create this formula. 

Look what I made, ma!

Lastly, I got into writing my report for the Director of UNESCO Bangkok, which if I hadnt mentioned prior, the topic is the status of Education policy in ASEAN +6. Essentially, I am giving a comparative report on curriculum, pedagogy, policy and assessment for these very different countries. I am hoping to be thorough on this and it is a little intimidating as it will be going to 'the big guy'.

So these are the 4 things I will be doing until the end of my stay I believe. I dont think I could handle any more to be honest. Although it is only four assignments, I have (as of Sunday the 7/7) have a head cold and took a day off, will be taking this Friday off for Cambodia, and then time off for island hopping with C from the 23rd-27th. And although I havent been actively counting, only have some 20 days of work left.

The last 2 weekends have not been as big as others, nice weekends exploring Bangkok. Last Saturday morning was an early start with some lovely other interns who all wanted to learn how to cook some Thai dishes. Although it was a little pricey when you think of the food costs, you were really paying for the fabulous chef/teacher who takes you through the market, then down the little alley ways to his super chic three story house/kitchen. So now, I can cook some awesome dishes for Andrew and others when I return (maybe). The afternoon was spent at Chatachuk market (again), where, thanks to lovely Rachel McCarthy, we rediscovered an awesome coffee shop and jewelry store. Since I have yet to buy any Thai memories, I know this wont be the last time at the market, and offer my services to other interns reading this to go through the maze and show you these places, lets pass the secret places on! 

Sunday was a little lazy , but productive, talking to the husband, advisor, getting some Yoga in, ending with meeting Radhika and finally getting ourselves over to the infamous Khao San Road. Wow, just wow. I had not seen any place like it in Bagnkok yet. Having recently read The Beach, (movie with leo D.), it all started on the road and was fantastic as I could envision it all happening. The shady little side street dealings, the naive tourist getting taken for 100 Baht, vendors selling cooked scorpions and snakes, and me in it all, eating Durian in the middle of the street. After walking the street and side alleys, we found a bar to people watch , and after having enough of the crazy , took ourselves home.

This Saturday passed also involved something major and off my bucket list; The grand palace, which I have far too many photos of, but wow, it was indeed Grand. I at first didnt mind too much if I didnt see it, however knowing now what I could have missed would have been crazy. Oh to live like a royal! I am throwing it out there, better than Buckingham, or perhaps we could call it the Asian Buckingham, very comparable. So, my travelling buddy, Suh Yoon and I took a water taxi up the river and spent a few hours just sitting and taking in all the sights. Nice and slow.


Next weekend, I am heading off to Cambodia with Radhika and am looking forward to getting this literature and researcher search done and in my pocket. Really, there is only so many times I can use Google Scholar.