My last post

Well, my last week at work. Nearly four months ago I left Honolulu, school, my nice apartment and my lovely husband to come to Bangkok and do something for myself and my Ph.d. 

On my way home, picture stolen from Antony Tam

After much time spent having 'me' time and 'me-and-my-ph.d.' time, I can definitively say it was worth it. Although that 'osmosis' process I was hoping to happen, didn't, and my research question is still elusive, I still think that this UNESCO experience was one of the most beneficial things that will happen for my future research, but did not help the immediate issue of helping me define my question. Looking back, there were definitely nights when I could have mustered up some energy and did readings or put in some hard slogging thinking.  

But first things first, Kanchanaburi. My last weekend trip of my Thailand adventure and the sight of the famous bridge on the river Kwai, where some 14000 POWs died to make the train line for the Japanese invasion of south-east Asia. I hadnt realized how many Aussie diggers died in the process and admittedly, was found myself a little upset while looking at documentation in the museum. The cemetery next to the museum was a very tranquil place, I could easily spot the Aussie graves by the logo. Although it did take some restraint not to smack Asian tourists (not being racially stereotyping- those were just the only ones I saw) who would sit by the graves and take sexy-posing selfies. Oh man, I wanted to smack them hard. 

The bridge itself was not the original (having been blown up a year after it was built), but was still quite impressive and still put to use (as we discovered when a train came along and we were right in the middle of it). We walked along the entire length of it and looking at the train tracks lost into the green jungle was quite a sight. Having some dinner on the river afterward, a motorbike ride back to our hotel felt exactly what a night ride should feel like. No city lights, relatively quite night along the river and just the right amount of wind rushing through my hair. We also spent a day hiking out to Erawan national forest, where we saw the renown and quite beautiful seven stages of waterfalls. 

My last week of work lasted only four days. And it showed, I feel like I left a substantial amount undone due to my brain being everywhere. That big English report I had hoped to finished, never did get finished. But, I am actually a little happy about this. Since the UN (and therefore UNESCO) is so poor these days, interns are the most relied on feature for work (in my opinion). Meaning that they need as many as is sustainable. In this sense, I feel that staying in touch with UNESCO staff and having as many opportunities for future contact would be very helpful. This English report, might therefore be a link to them in the future. On the Friday we had the usual tea party to celebrate the end of the work week and also for my leaving. It was quite a nice affair before my some 30 hours of traveling. 

On a final note, thank you to all who have been reading this site, I see that it is over a 1000 visitors, which blows my mind, but when I think about it, I am sure it has just been my mum checking up on me. Now that I am back in Hawai'i, life has been a little lazy, but that is not a bad thing of course. I am looking forward to an actual date tonight with my wonderful husband! Life could not be better. Mahalo and Aloha. 

Week 15/16; Crunch time has hit.

Top of the World, ma! Sky Bars are the best.....and tallest.

Well, the last two weeks have been somewhat of a work-frenzy-blur. This solo report of English education in ASEAN +6 seems to have taken over my life. The biggest hurdle seems to be one of access and then extracting both little details (how do they assess English taught) and then the big issues (how important do they think English is in the education system). Of course I shouldnt and would not expect that foreign countries publish their policies in English, that would be making a mockery of linguistic identity and snubbing their own linguistic culture. However, it is English education, I guess I have always been a little lucky with just coming across these things. Second, come on Google chrome translate, throw me a bone here, why are you always breaking down!? Why is it so hard for you to recognize Khmer yo?

Right now it feels like this will be 'the' contribution I make to UNESCO. It might not be a high demand subject, but from what I can tell, there is not much on the subject, so perhaps this could be a start for future projects. I have been working like a beast (only a slight procrastination every half hour, I swear!). And heck, if UNESCO doesn't use it (although technically every thing I am doing right now is the property of UNESCO) then I might even use it for my own research and doctorate studies.

View from Chinatown

In any case, it is nice that I can just have some time to sit at my desk and get it all out in one go. I am a little ashamed that I have been prioritizing this personal report over tasks that my supervisor needs. But I really, really dislike Lit reviews. really. (update; as of Aug 9th, no lit review needs to be done!).
Speaking of supervisor-given tasks, I am still on the learning process of 'understanding what people want from you 101'.  After a few mis-communication issues, it turns out I do not understand language any more, and need to re-do my review and assessment of country goals for post 2015, which will hopefully only take 1 day (fingers crossed). At this stage, I have some 3.5 work days left, with most of the nights taken up with last minute visits and errands. Not much time left.

Late night Jazz bars in downtown Bangkok. 

My social life has been not hectic, still active, with lots of 'me' time thrown in to the mix. Just the way I like it. Made it to the big weekend market last weekend, to visit the most lovely jewelry store ever (thank you Rachel McCarthy) and finish buying all manner of souvenirs for family (you all wanted silk scarves, yeah?) with my Greek ball of energy friend, Xenia. After our foot massage, we met another UNESCO friend, and wound up in the most random, most local-young-people hang out I've been yet. Where we listened to local young bands do awesome covers of Death Cab and their own songs in the similar style. It was pretty great. Taxi-ing it over to the center of the city, to the Jazz Bar was also a highlight as I heard Michael Jackson covered by a jazz band and it is was sublime. This weekend will be my last trip and although I do love traveling, at this stage, I am just waiting to get home in all honesty. So, this trip is more to fill in time and see something that was on my list of 'to-do' and see Erawan waterfalls and the bridge of the river Kwai.

On a side note, I seem to have met the people I connect with most at the end of my trip, and it is super frustrating. I literally shouted to said friends the other day "ahhhhh, you're awesome! Why are you leaving!, why am I leaving!? Move to where I am, I live in Hawai'i!" Super frustrating, but it has led me to ponder the nature of people in international development, and I guess people with the lifestyle that I am also attracted to. Its not really goodbye, (and FYI, I hate goodbyes, just say 'see you later' to me, if you please) if you have a mind to keep these friends, I will most definitely make a choice to keep in touch with particular people and make sure to let them know when I am in their city/country/continent. Still super sad. Xenia, Mas Dino, Radhika, Melinda, Rachel, and all the rest of you! argghhhhh!

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. 

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.