exchange report

REPORT OF MY EXCHANGE

PROGRAM TO THAILAND

NAME:VANITHAA A/P PONNAIAH

ID MATRIC:AA13272

IC NO:931006016528

PHONE NO:0169403665

AIESEC in MalaysiaBlock E-51-2, Zenith Corporate Park, Jalan SS7/26, 47301 Petaling Jaya, Selangor,

MalaysiaT: (60)3 7887 1624 | W: www.AIESEC.my

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT I would like to honor and privilege, to thank AIESEC of University Malaysia Pahang and Bangkok University to ensure that the exchange program is a success. I also accord my appreciations to University Malaysia Pahang for the support accorded and for granting me an opportunity to explore a new place and experience a new culture, where the language, ideas, and people are so different. This has greatly impacted both my social and academic life. Secondly, I would also like to thank my parents and friends who helped me a lot in finalizing this exchange program within the limited time frame. Last but not least, I would like to thank Sri Sawat Pithayakkom School for letting me to do my voluntary service in their school without any hesitation. In fact, it was a very maturing moment; It was one of the first time I ever felt like I was truly alone, which was surprisingly very empowering and motivating.

1.0 Introduction

This report is a brief of the activities that took place during my stay in Thailand. It also contains valuable lessons that I have learnt and personal views of the different aspects of the organization, people and work during my exchange program period. Exchange program is an indispensable opportunity that allows a student to appreciate the people's diverse cultures as well as the beauty of this planet. It also prepares the student broadly for the working world instead of only concentrating on one's country alone.

2.1. General description of the organization.

Thailand is a home to a number of diverse people and cultures, all coexisting peacefully in a country that is modernizing quickly. Tourism is presently its third biggest source of foreign capital. The name of the project that I have volunteered is Sawaddee. The project starts on 16th July and ends on 28th august 2015. The duration of my stay in Thailand is about 6 weeks. The objective of the project is to teach Basic English conversations and vocabularies to Thai kids and sharing of cultures among participants. I was posted to Sri Sawat Pithayakkom School by AIESEC of Bangkok University. Sri Sawat Pithayakkom School is located in Kanchanaburi province which is about 5 hours away from Bangkok. There, I taught students of Mathayung 1 to Mathayung 6.They are in the range of 13 to 17 years old teens. The amount of students in a class room is about 20 to 30.I stayed in teacher’s doom together with other participants from Taiwan and Malaysia. We were took care by a teacher named Amp. He is an English teacher in the school. The working hours are from Monday to Friday from 8.00am to 4.00pm.

2.2. Project timeline

PROJECT START: 17 JULY 2015 & END DATES: 28 AUGUST 2015JULY 2015 16th Interns arrive+ Airport Pick-up 17th Opening + Cultural Preparation (Preparation Camp)18th HOW TO teach English in Thailand! (Preparation Camp) 19th LEAD your journey (Preparation Camp) + Send interns to schools 20th Interns start working in school Have Welcome Ceremony from schools to interns13th AUGUST, Evaluation Day 24-27th AUGUST, English Day & Closing Ceremony in school 28th AUGUST, Pick-up and Farewell party in Bangkok



3.1. Academics During my stay in Thailand, I managed to learn about:

Leadership and professional management Facility management Strategic management

The main purpose of taking part in the exchange program was to experience life away from home comforts; I learn how to be tolerant, patient, understanding, fun and how to make a difference. For example, I was living in teacher’s doom with a Taiwanese and a Malaysian. We have. The best part was represented by the courses I enrolled in, and the professors’ way of teaching literally enchanted me. I could feel a “human” relation between teacher and student. A relation, almost completely absent in the Malaysian system.

3.2 Student Exchange program provides students the opportunity to:

Broaden personal and educational perspectives Explore and appreciate new cultures Learn from prominent professors Explore new areas of study Live in different geographic areas Look for future employment opportunities

4.0 Challenges during exchange:

Lack of choice The main problem I was facing is food. Their food variation is totally different from the food variation that we have back in Malaysia. This is because their main dish is pork and I don’t consume pork. As I was staying in teacher’s doom, the food I ate is cook by the students and I don’t have a proper diet meal. To overcome this problem, I try to adjust with own food and ate when chicken is served.

Lack of information This leads to a small number of possibilities. As Thai language is their main language, the instructions and advertisement are all in Thai language. People in Thailand speak limited English and it is hard to communicate with them. For instance one cannot adjust to what he or she wanted to do or buy. To overcome this problem, I learned few words in Thai language to communicate.



5.0 Conclusion To sum up, the exchange program is an indefatigable promoter of learning, and vital in breaking down the barriers to cultural understanding and securing world peace for future. In fact, it is a key to achieving international competence hence should be encouraged by all means possible.Actually, the benefits of an exchange program are very clear and even if the program is a total failure one always learns something new. In general you get more than you were expecting, but sometimes you do not realize, you just get it step by step. Fortunately, all my main expectations were met. However, there are many challenges to meet some other expectations. For instance there are a lot of difficulties in getting adapted with the local people. Just to say, it is difficult to know the credits you have been doing once you are back at home. Hence a lot of efforts have to be put in place to lighten the bureaucratic load of the program.



Testimonial

The project I participated is Sawaddee Thailand. The project started on 16th July and ended on 28th august 2015. The project was mainly a volunteering program to teach the Thai kids Basic English conversation and vocabularies. The main purpose of the exchange was to develop the ability of speaking English for the students in rural areas and I learnt different religious and cultural background of my own. I taught English in Sri Sawat Pithayakkom School. The school is located in Kanchaburi province, which is about 5 hours away from Bangkok. My students were in the range of 13 years old to 17 years old teen. I was there for 6 weeks. I gained a lot of experience about living and working there. For me, seeing a new culture was one which could not be achieved in any other way than exchange. I also taught Sri Sawat Pithayakkom sub campus which emphasis more on agriculture. I was teaching the teaching the kids from that school only on Tuesday. We have farming day on Tuesday, where the students together with me will be farming in the morning and in the evening; I will be teaching them English.

You can’t put a price on these things: an experience away from home, gaining independence and making new friends for life. As an exchange participant, it prepares me for life away from home comforts; I learn how to be tolerant, patient, understanding, fun and how to make a difference. For example, I was living in teacher’s doom with a Taiwanese and a Malaysian. We have different understanding about cleanliness and language but end of the day we able to tolerate and live happily till end of the exchange. The facilities provided were very basic and people there talk very limited English. So, we have language barrier to communicate. Together with my friends from other countries, we learned basic Thai language to communicate with them. As well as the setting being a cultural experience, the beauty of the exchange is to live and work with people from Poland, Egypt, China, Morocco, Indonesia, America, Taiwan and Pakistan. I don't think I've ever been in a more diverse setting before for such a long period of time. It has given an advantage to me.

In today’s digital world we forget how important being outside in the fresh air is, we forget how we can have fun without electronic devices. I visited few caves, resorts and dam which carry me away to nature. I have experienced religious festivals, visited the temple with students and learnt about a new way of life while ensuring that the students also had a great time. Now, I am back from exchange and would like to work in diverse areas. I have overcome the language barriers and appreciating the differences and using the strengths that I have learned in daily life. There was also an opportunity to travel during the weekends. It was interesting to see other side of Thailand. It was different in few ways compared to Malaysia. Thailand was so colorful. Thailand is rich with culture and the Thai is very loyal towards their king and Queen .I think the exchange has made me more independent and confident. It is something that everyone should try.I will definitely recommend this project to my friends in future.



My Expenses

Title Amount (RM)Accommodation -Meals Rm 10x42days=rm 420Transport -Souvenir Rm100Flight ticket Rm688Insurance Rm150Visa -Others -

Total=Rm1358



APPENDICES

Figure 1 shows the receipt of my flight tickets.

Figure 2 shows my travelling insurances



Figure 3 shows my students doing mother’s day card

Figure 4 shows one of my classes



exchange report

Documents

sri sawat pithayakkom

exchange program period

project timeline project

aiesec of bangkok university

english teacher

working hours

journey preparation

english day closing