Homestay in a Traditional Hmong Village(Nan) : Phase 1

This trip was organized by Dr Otome, the Ethnicity lecturer for an elective course offered for the Thai studies group. Since this course is designed to look into the culture and heritage of Thailand's minority people especially those in the North ,it was quite timely in enabling us experience first hand the culture, lifestyle and even features (including traditional outfits), of this rather interesting tribe the "Hmong". Before embarking on this trip we watched a Video related to the Plight of this ethnic group and it was a rather touching and sad movie and right then, i made a mental note of these challenges and difficulties almost involuntarily in preparation for the Home stay. This was complimented by articles sent to us by one of our Ajan's, Ajan Adam to prepare and give us a contextualized insight regarding the Hmong people and some of the challenges they face. It was almost as if i had all the information regarding the Hmong tribe before the trip as the video was very explicit about the varied obstacles they encounter, but my experience later served as an add on to my initial concept and views.

In Thailand there are approximately 60000 Hmong people settled in villages throughout a wide area of the north.Hmong women in particular traditionally make clothing for their families from cotton or hemp, they partake in weaving, sewing (either handmade or by machine). Their clothing is richly decorated with magnificent embroidery and silver jewelry. The religion practiced is predominantly animist (Shaman) belief. But aside from the textual facts here is my personal experience.

The trip to the Nan village was a 5 hour ride from PIH (the dorm), so we set out early in order to make it before nightfall.We later watched a movie "she’s all that" on our way to keep us busy and active. After making a few stops for lunch and other needs we had a brief Hmong language 101 by Seashia and Dao who were both a Hmong American’s, so we scribbled a few phrases that came in handy later in the stay.The group arrived at about 5pm.Upon arrival we unloaded our belongings and proceeded to the village hall were we met Bpee Jacob widely known as Chii nooh who happens to be a PhD candidate writing his dissertation on the Hmong American Families in comparison with Thai Hmong families , and was surprisingly quite fluent in Hmong and so he helped us communicate with the host families who were yet to arrive. So as Ajan Marcus and Jacob went over the logistics i was getting anxious about meeting my family because I couldn't speak Hmong and was nervous about the language barrier. Just then the families arrived and we were assorted to the different households, some however lived with the luah families (a different ethnic group). This took about ten minutes, I was particularly received by a 15 year old girl called Mai, whose aunt was my host but couldn't make it because she was handicapped but was a great cook! and was said to be able to cater for my vegetarian needs.



My host mother was a nice woman in approximately her early forty’s so we did the introduction and she helped me settle in. I lived in a Bamboo hut which was quite spacious and similar to the hut structures back in my country the Gambia and so again I noticed the similarity between both cultures. About twenty minutes later, I noticed my host mum was a little skilled in English writing so i brought my book out and taught here a few words like the difference between bed and bathroom which is pronounced the same in Hmong (Hong nam), after explaining the difference we retired for the night.



As I went to sleep that night I looked up my bamboo roof sleepily smiling, knowing i got off on the right foot and looked forward to a bright morning promising a delightful and memorable experience.

Meeting with the Asia Muslim Action Network Group (AMAN)

Hello Everyone,
So this Saturday i was in my room reading the book Dao my colleague lent me 'Maximising the study abroad experience'. It's a rather interesting the book that involves all the necessary information on studying abroad, so anyone intending to do that or is already on the program, i recommend that you read it, its very useful.The portion i was reading in particular was about keeping a keeping a journal and how most people that travel out as tourists or students regret not keeping it, so i got a new book from the Payap book store and you guessed it! i ventured to start keeping accounts of Daily activities.

Just then, as i almost completed writing one 'as at that day', Seashia my colleague on the Thai studies program called me up and asked if i was interested in attending an open mic gathering for the students group that was staying over at PIH(paradonparp international house) for about a week. The group was a rather interesting one i later discovered, it is called AMAN meaning (Asian Muslim Action Network), a group of mostly Muslims with the Aim of promoting human dignity and social justice for all by encouraging intercultural and inter religious dialogue and cooperation. This was interesting because it was a group of diverse people of about thirty(30)from different countries like Bangladesh, Jordan, Iran, China and a host of others, bonded with a common Aim of raising awareness on issues as mentioned above. This was also almost co incidental because as part of my study abroad program I'm taking a course called 'Intercultural Understanding' and it basically painted a typical picture of the foundation concept of this course as it intends to explain understanding about interculturality,and how we can be common amid our diversity, and this group was a typical manifestation of that.

So we said our Hello's and introduced ourselves to the different participants, they were warm and welcoming so it took us less than 5 minutes to settle in an enjoy. Since it was an open mic event it was more informal, it took place in the PIH dinning hall and so the MC would call anyone from the group and they would have to sing a song, mostly culturally to give a feel of their cultural background.It was exciting, as we saw different displays of culture and tradition , Kudos to the Bangladesh team as they did a song but with a twist, they had a dancer too! which was an edge to the other teams in my opinion. Surprisingly, i was called from the audience to sing a song and since i could almost not remember a perfect song i sang a simple and easy to follow song,i shyly sang a song the for them and constantly looked over to Seashia who immediately gave me a thumbs up so i assumed i was doing good,i was being cheered by the entire group and was even given a flower as i was singing,this boosted my esteem so i went on till the end. Seashia, my colleague who has a Hmong Heritage also sang a traditional Hmong song which was really touching and nice. We were like the PIH pop idols for the night. Other participants did their performance some dedicated it to their parents, peace, reconciliation etc.

Some of their activities also includes Human resource development through training workshop for youth leadership, Peace education at community level,Interfaith dialogue on major issues such as peace,ethnicity and globalization. This is complimented by the AMAN Assembly which is the supreme decision making body that meets every three years to adopt broad policy guidelines, to define the program framework, and to elect council members from among the delegates..



Later as the event almost came to an end the editor of the AMANA Magazine(Amana Year book 2009) awarded me the 'Best performer of the Event' so i gracefully went on stage to receive my PIH Grammy award, i felt so proud that they appreciated our little contribution to their event.Seashia was awarded my runner up so she claimed her price as well, i was so proud of her. We were really thankful to the group because granted we just met them that evening they were so generous and accommodating to the extent of giving us their magazines.

The event was concluded by the vote of Thanks by one of the Participants Matin, we later took pictures on the red carpet :)with our hosts, it was a rather nice and interacting way of spending our Saturday evening.We later headed back appreciatively to our rooms with our prizes in hand.

"Rau kui gan thi lang" (Talk to you later) :)

Lunch Session with Thai Students (ICU)

It was yet another session with the Thai students,me and my colleagues were much familiar with topics of discussions, launching of conversation and getting issues (personal,social and academic)on the table.So after we arrived the students urged us to grab lunch before we got into the discussion, Thai's like food alot so this was now almost customary "don't forget to eat or grab a snack"

This time i was fortunate to meet a rather interesting student Pooh,his English was really good and his conversation skills i would give a 10 because he always knew how to keep it going with more exciting topics as time went by. He told me particularly about a linguistics class he was taking and how they had to learn different tones for the different languages they studies and so i told him that it was similar to studying Thai as it is also a Tonal language and he said" Oh.. your right it is" and so we continued by pointing out how English is important in Global Transaction and communication.



The interaction never failed to create new friends and contacts, so as Pooh talked about how his dream state he wants to go to is New York, Ginnie who is one of our students is from New York and thus we indulged in discussing almost everything about New York and how it was similar to Bangkok, the museums just to name a few. He then asked me "Khun Chob Tam Arai Wayla Wan kah?" meaning what do you like to do in your free time, so i told him browsing,video games etc and he said Thai's don't go out very often on casual basis we only go out say for an occasion or on Sunday's when almost everyone is home. So i made a mental comparison of the different cultures including mine,and concluded that mine was very similar to the Thai culture and no matter how different people and their regional locations are, we potentially have factors that are similar and binding.

The lunch lasted for about half an hour or a little over that so we said our farewell's and proceeded to our various classes. I look forward to another lunch session hopefully on Tuesday till then

Sawas Dee Kah =)

American Culture and History Discussion (ICU)

Hello Everyone!
So Last week about four student's from the Thai studies program met with Thai students( mostly from the English Department) to have a discussion about American culture and history this exercise i believe would add points to their grade just as it would ours.After signing up for this exercise i didn't realise that this was the topic of discussion, so i joined my colleagues that morning as we made our way to the class. After meeting the Ajan(professor) for the class we waited for the Thai students to arrive and as we discussed and introduced ourselves the lecturer said... "i hope you're all ready to answer questions from my students".. at that point i said to my self "huh"?..i hope i'm not in the wrong place but then i realised it was a talk about "American Culture and History" so she told me i could stay and talk about the Gambian Culture and how it differs from that of the Thai's , this excited and relaxed me a little,relaxed me because i thought i had to preside over a prompt Q and A session about America of which i had minimal knowledge, excited me because i've always wanted to share the Gambian culture with my colleagues and friends as this was one of my Goals as an Exchange student, so i later made a mental note of some of the subjects i would like to Discuss.

Five minutes later, after the students settled from the Rather cool morning, we launched the session,introduced ourselves and the states we came from, this was important for the class as the course was on some form of American History and so i saw some of them scribble the names of the states especially the student's from America.The lecturer however, began with a question to one of students asking what the Stars on the American flag Signified, and so as she responded, i couldn't help but notice the enthusiastic faces of the students as they listened keenly to her description, this was also a learning process for me coming from Africa i didn't quite know alot about American culture and history, so it was equally beneficial for me.




This question was accompanied by a host of other's such as, what the stripes on the flag meant,the Uncle Sam concept,the meaning of the statue of liberty and which country it was from and finally Why Florida was called the Sunshine City( this however amazed most of the students as they thought all parts of America was cool). I basically gave them some similarities between the Gambian and Thai culture such as the closeness of parents and their children, friendship, hanging out in groups and the educational systems. We later sang the American Anthem together and so even though i didn't know the words and didn't have the script i just made some mouth gestures or finished the lines as the song went on.




This was followed by the conclusion of the session by the lecturer and so she urged them to pose any pending questions, after that the Thai student's presented Traditional Hand Woven Fan's for us with their names written on them in hearts , i thought it was really generous,cute and friendly of them to give us gifts after the almost brief session, this goes to show how 'Gift Giving' is important in Thai Culture .
After this, we said our farewells and all did a standing ovation and so we proceeded to our Thai class with Ajan Boy.

I will keep you posted on other subsequent activities.
Pai Gon Nai Kha( i've got to go) but,
Pob Gan Mai Kha( see you soon) =)

Travelling Around In Chaing Mia

Cabs... Yellow Cabs may be what you are familiar with as a swift and popular means of transportation.. you see them drive around almost simultaneously on the streets of New york,Boston, Banjul and a host of other cities.. In Thailand However, there are several modes of transportation, but when it comes to automobiles,while walking on the streets of chiang mai,(which is the second largest city in Thailand), the most popular means of travelling is the motorbike. Many people choose it because it is regarded as the best way to get around during traffic congestion as it is small and easily navigated.

But the one that really caught my attention is the "songtheaw" it literally means "two rows") this explains why it has a bench like structure on the inside, also known in English as a baht bus,it is a passenger vehicle in Thailand adapted from a pick-up or a larger truck and used as a share taxi.Songthaews are used both within towns and cities and for longer routes between towns and villages, many students use it to go to their placements, Sunday night markets(which is really popular), the ever exciting Night Bazaar's this is mostly for people who like shopping or maybe just walking around and enjoying the night breeze.




As a study abroad student using this form of transport is prevalent, so it is always interesting to get into conversations with songtheaw drivers, the chatting sessions are usually about yourself,where you come from,and sometimes what your studying and so this opportunity is used to test your Thai language and proficiency. I particularly enjoyed one of the drives back from the Robinson Mall, so i flagged down one of the rides,gave my residential map to driver and he looked at it weirdly so i figured he couldn't read the map, i decided to speak my newly learned Thai so i described the place and he was like "Krab krab" i assumed he understood what i said then i said 'Tao Rai Kha'?(how much is it) nueng Khon(for one person) and he said Nueng roi Har Sib Baht(150 baht), i tried saying "Lot Dai Mai kha?(can you please reduce the price? then i bargained and eventually got to a hundred baht, with a sigh of relief and got on the songtheaw. On our drive home he talked about how he wanted a new car and that the one he had was old and weary, then we got into the introduction and it was a good way of killing the approximately 15 minutes ride back to the Dorm.
Eventually i arrived and said the customary Khob Khoon Kha(which means Thank you), he beeped his horn and drove away, it was an exciting ride and experience,and i urge anyone coming to Thailand to endeavor to hop in for a ride,I'm sure its going to be a unique and exciting experience
Pob Gan Mai Kha (see you soo) =)

ICU:Lunch with Students from the English Department

Hi people,
so last week about 7 students from the Thai studies group got to meet a relatively larger group of students from the english Department for lunch at the canteen, this meeting was both Academic and social.. social in the sense that we talked casually about daily activities, our various fields of studies, one of the girls Kate challenged me to speak Thai so i started by saying "chan chu bintou(my name is bintou), namsakun sonko(surname sonko), chan Majak prated Gmabia Kha(i come from the Gambia, Chan Ayu sib bpeed bpee(i am 18 years old)" they were all like oh my gosh..you can speak a bit of Thai and so this basically launched the chat as we got into other details about assignments, course requirements, shopping,movies etc.

Once thing remarkable about Thai students is that they were all excited about meeting the Thai Studies group so they quickly introduced themselves and did so almost at the same time so i grabbed a few names particularly Kate because she seemed to studied french for five years which is a language i like and asppire to be able to speak someday, and she was quite enthusiastic in getting her grades up through this exchange, the other members of the grouptalked about various other topics and talked about how their lecturer Ajan Racheal was rapidly improved her Thai Vocabulary and Language, from what i observed she was passionate about her students making the most of this exchange.

However we had like 10 minutes to get back to Graduate building for a quize with Ajan Boy, so we said our quick farewells and rushed for class. It was an interactive encounter, and i enjoyed it.

See you soon.=)

ICU: Traditional Thai Theater performance

Hello Everyone,

So after a Thai friend of mine called me on a saturday and told me if a was interested in seeing a traditional Thai theater performance i was more than willing to attend, i was more excited because she told me she never had the oppurtunity to see such a perfomance and only saw it on Tv and learnt about it in when she was like 5th grade, this made me feel lucky to witness this rather rare perfomance. so i biked over there and arrived in like 7 minutes later, went through the regisration and proceeded to the hall.

Arriving at the hall the event was graced mostly by students from The university but also students from Chiang Mai University,Chiang Rai, lecturers(Ajan's), even the Television Crew and a host of other personalities and representatives. The event began with prayers which was followed by a speech by the President of our university, in his speech he pointed out the significance of maintaining Thai culture and that this was a step in equipping the audience with an insight as to what it loooks like and means.

Arter about 3 minutes into the performance i couldnt help but notice two unique statues, i was later told by my friend that they were named a Khon(which is a mask that was worn mostly by a male and only performed for special occassions) this character was accompanied by an almost similiar but female like structured mask called( Likay)she was quick to add that it usually performed for celebrities and basically for the general public.

To carry out the musical background needed for the performance, a band is needed..but in this case the members of the band were students like me but more skilled with the art of playing musical insrtuments,these musical instruments includes Kont tap(drum), ching(bell like stucture), long, lanna etc.. these are uniquely structured insruments and as such produce a unique and interesting sounds. I was told that it takes about six(6) to seven(7) years to perfect this skill.

Other characters such as Lam Kean is a character that has been famous for over 400 years, Ramakean( the monkey masquerade)is quite famous amongst little children.

The performance
was later graced by other characters such as "palam" and "likay's performance" that told different stories about Thai culture this was important because i saw the students scribble some important names and details so i evalutated the play as very vital. This was in general a very educative, fun and funny performance as they were severtal comedy sections.
I will keep you updated on other subsuquent events till then Pog Gan Mai Kha( see you soon).