ICU Observation - Warorot Market

This picture was not taken by me but it was taken from a footbridge connecting two multistory buildings which were filled with vendors. You can see songtaews (red trucks) and tuk tuks (blue smaller vehicles) lined up along the side of the road ready to transport market goers since parking is near impossible.
For this assignment we chose a place in Chiang Mai to hangout at and observe our surroundings. I am going to write a little bit about Warorot Market which is located a bit north of the Night Bazaar. It was my first trip to this market and it was quite overwhelming! You can find anything from fresh food and fresh flowers to jewelry and hill tribe clothing, all at great prices! Every direction you turn, down every alley, you will find vendors ready to bargain with you for their products. It was not unusual for vendors to venture away from their stalls for a bit while their neighbors looked after their products.

I noticed all types of people wandering around the market including Monks, locals, and farang. I never saw any of the Monks purchase anything at the market but there were a few who were enjoying lunch at one of the food areas where I ate. The locals I assume were the majority of the vendors and people purchasing goods from the market and the farang who included myself were minimal but well dispersed.

Communication between vendors and shopkeepers and customers was very civilized and mostly to the point. There didn't appear to be any sort of hierarchical status between seller and buyer because one held the power of having the product and the other held the power of having money to buy the product. All bargaining I witnessed seemed to flow smoothly because most of the people who were buying seemed to know exactly what they wanted and what kind of price they usually buy it for.

It was a lot of fun to bargain prices for products now that I have learned how to do so in Thai! Great time at Warorot Market!

Guest in Customs & Holidays in English-Speaking Countries

One of the activities for the ICU course was to help teach English major Thai students more about customs & holidays in English-speaking countries. The class I attented with two other Thai studies students was specifically for Valentine's Day. We talked with the students about what it's like living as a student in America and about what we traditionally do on Valentine's Day. Towards the end of the class we all made Valentine's cards and played 'love' music!

Language Lunch Exchange

Two out of four of the activities scheduled for the ICU course were called Language Lunch Exchange. A few students from the Thai studies program and myself met some of the students majoring in English at the cantene on campus. We sat and talked for about an hour on two separate occasions so we could get to know each other better. It gave us all the opportunity to learn more about each others' cultures and ask any questions we wanted to ask. It was a fun experience and we made some new friends out of it.

ICU

ดอกไม้

Dok Mai - my Thai nickname which means flower
One of the courses we are taking while studying here is called Intercultural Understanding. For this course we are expected to post on certain topics throughout the semester so I decided to keep everything on the same blog. Just a heads up! :)

Mae Chaem

Local village temple
Home in the village
Walking to the crematorium site
Bintou, our host Mom, her daughter and grandchild
Playing in the river before dinner

Hi! I haven't posted in awhile but I hope you have all been checking out pics on Facebook. Two weeks ago our Thai studies group went to stay in a village for a week with host families. There were two of us to each family and for the first half of the week our Thai buddies came to stay with us. Thai buddies are students from Payap who are involved with helping the Thai studies group. It was very helpful while they were staying with us because they were able to help make communication a lot easier. My friend Bintou and I stayed with our 'Meh' (Mom) and her two grandchildren. It was a great experience to see how some villagers live. It was very old-fashioned by our standards but simple and more stress-free. We attended Thai language class everyday outside in front of the village's wat (temple). During the trip we helped build a new crematorium... although it sounds creepy it was a lot of fun. We also visited some local waterfalls which I hope you have seen pictures of already. Despite my new found dismay for roosters which were all over the village and didn't just 'cock-a-doodle-do' at dawn but all throughout the day/night... the trip was great and we were fed great home-cooked meals everyday!

Much love!