Hello community! Okay so I know a lot of you guys may not be very interested in what I've been doing for the last three months in southeast asia. And a lot of you could care less. But I thought I should explain my absence from the osu! community in detail in case anyone was interested or curious about it.
So for the past three months I've been doing a gap year- studying abroad through Portland State University for university credits. You're probably wondering "Oh, what are you studying?" The answer to that is that I have (over the course of this gap year) decided that I don't want to get a university education and would rather self-study. With self-study I will be able to learn things that are exclusively relevant to what I want to learn in a shorter time with good cost-efficiency. I'll be self-studying a variety of subjects of my choice ranging from web design to psychology to physics. I'm going to prioritize web design for the sake of money making. But enough about my plans for the future. I'll explain exactly WHAT I've been doing for these last three months.
So over these last three months I've visited a variety of places in southeast asia. These places have included Thailand, Cambodia, and Vietnam. In northern Thailand outside of Chiang Mai I've visited a variety of places, all of which have been unique and enjoyable experiences. I started out the trip with a home stay in Mae Rim, just a couple of minutes outside Chiang Mai. I stayed there for two weeks, learning the Thai language and getting to know the culture first hand from a very rustic setting. It was very hard for me to get used to, since I have always been a spoiled North American with lots of conveniences and comforts. Overall that experience was very enjoyable and it was a lot of fun. After that, we left Mae Rim for Chiang Rai. From Chiang Rai we trekked towards the border of Laos to see the hill tribes that were living there. When I said that the homestays were very rustic, they were nothing in comparison to the hill tribes. In these hill tribes I slept on a small foam mat inside a bamboo hut with nothing but a blanket, no pillow, and a mosquito net. The animals were very loud all night and it was quite difficult to sleep. However it was amazing to make a difference in these people's lives; we helped build their houses and make their village a better place to live in. Eventually after another week or so, we left the hill tribes. We descended the mountains riding on the back of an elephant. (You can see said elephant inside the "Post a picture of yourself in real life" thread). After the hill tribes, we headed to the eco-friendly Pun Pun farm. Pun Pun was an eco-friendly farm ran by North Americans who had moved to Thailand in order to live off the land and help the local community. They saved their seeds and were very resourceful with all of their establishments and systems (they had adobe houses, recycled their water, and more). It was again a unique experience that would be very hard if not impossible to find in North America due to how our food industries work to make you buy from them. So after we left Pun Pun, we visited an orphanage outside Chiang Mai. We shared a lot of experiences with these kids. We extended our friendship with volunteer work (doing anything from planting coffee plants to building dams). In the evenings we enjoyed playing footbal (or as the North Americans call it, soccer) and badmiton with the kids as well. We showed them how we celebrate Halloween in North America as well by decorating masks and hosting a makeshift "Trick or Treat" with them. After a few days there, we finally left the orphanage to go to the Dharma Center in Northern Thailand. The Dharma Center was a wonderful place-- it was a Buddhist retreat where we were able to learn a lot about Buddhism from an Austrailian who had devoted his life to it. It was there that I gained some insight about my plans for the future; it helped me realize that I want to study and become a knowledgeable person simply for my own leisure. The Dharma Center was the end of our trip in Northern Thailand. From there we left for Ayutthaya which was in southern Thailand. Ayutthaya was an interesting place to see. After a long and tiring bike ride seeing the temples in the heat, we crashed at a hostel I had booked for the night. The live music there lasted late into the night and disturbed our sleep. The next morning we had to leave to catch a train for Bangkok bright and early. To our chagrin, we had been locked into the hostel. That was probably the one and only time I will ever have to break out of a hostel to make a ferry/ train somewhere. Fortunately, we had paid. Unfortunately, we caused some property damage (one of the students fell through the roof LOL). We made the train on time and made it to Bangkok. Bangkok was a really upbeat and busy place. Some of the students called it "New York with motorcycles." We saw the red light district and some of the stalls there. Let's just say it was a good thing we all left before things picked up later in the night.... We finally left Bangkok for the Cambodia border.
The border was full of casinos and other commodities that weren't legal in the bordering countries. It was an interesting place to see. One of the students got pickpocketed. We even had to bribe some of the officials to expedite the visa process. We eventually made it into Bangkok and made it to Siam Reap. Angkorwat was one of the places we saw there. To some guides and articles it is one of the seven wonders of the world. On our first night there we saw these ruins in the sunset and it was one of the most awe inspiring things I have ever seen in my life. The next morning we woke up bright and early to see the sunrise and see the rest of Angkorwat. I saw wild monkeys that day and had my picture taken with them. I of course was a little more interested in the monkeys than I was in the ruins themselves. That was a little immature of me and I should have spent more time observing the ruins. On the bright side I got plenty of pictures of me and the other students that I will have with me for the rest of my life. We left Angkorwat mid afternoon due to the rain. After Siam Reap we left for Battambang, Cambodia. Battambang was where we went to PTD. PTD was a retreat for women who had been victims of sex or drug trafficking. Meeting these women and talking/ playing with them was very fun and I hope I made a difference in their lives. We also had fun teaching some of the students that came to the same retreat some English, which was really cool. After we left PTD we began doing a few more tourist-like activities. We saw the killing fields and s21 which was a testament to the genocides that happened on behalf of the Khmer Rouge. Cambodia's bloody history was very sobering and made me think about the value of life. We left Phnom Penh, Cambodia, on our way to Ho Chi Minh, Vietnam for the free travel portion of the trip.
The free travel portion of the trip has been very enjoyable. It was our (the students) responsibility to plan this portion of the trip. Of course, we all decided on spending our time having fun. We played at a water park inside Ho Chi Minh. We saw the night markets there and enjoyed a lot of the fun Ho Chi Minh had to offer. After we left Ho Chi Minh, we left for the Mekong River Delta. We made it to Cantho where we saw the floating markets over there (a supermarket on a boat literally drove up to us and offered us food and drink!) I bought some pineapple juice, fried banana, and some noodles. They were very delectable, suprisingly enough. As we left Cantho we headed for Ha Tien. Ha Tien was a coastal port town without many tourists. It was very relaxing and it was there that we enjoyed our first day on the beach. That day included playing basketball and ultimate frisbee on the water and getting some vicious sunburns. The next day, we left Ha Tien for our final destination, Phu Quoc island. Phu Quoc has been very very relaxing. We've spent most of our time enjoying the weather, the beach, the sunsets, and the food. We went squid fishing once, biked 36 km across the island once, and we even eventually did some scuba diving.
Ultimately, the trip has been a very genuinely unique and interesting experience. I recommend spending a gap year to ANYONE here considering studying abroad or anyone that is even interested in travelling/ studying. I spent the same amount most North Americans will spend on 1-2 semesters of university. I feel like I have personally gained more out of this single semester than I would have out of an entire four years of college. After all, you can't really learn very much about the world sitting in front of a computer every day.
TL;DR: I've been in Thailand, Cambodia, and Vietnam studying over the last three months.
If anyone is interested in seeing pictures, has any comments or questions about my travels leave them here! I'll be more than happy to answer them!
So for the past three months I've been doing a gap year- studying abroad through Portland State University for university credits. You're probably wondering "Oh, what are you studying?" The answer to that is that I have (over the course of this gap year) decided that I don't want to get a university education and would rather self-study. With self-study I will be able to learn things that are exclusively relevant to what I want to learn in a shorter time with good cost-efficiency. I'll be self-studying a variety of subjects of my choice ranging from web design to psychology to physics. I'm going to prioritize web design for the sake of money making. But enough about my plans for the future. I'll explain exactly WHAT I've been doing for these last three months.
So over these last three months I've visited a variety of places in southeast asia. These places have included Thailand, Cambodia, and Vietnam. In northern Thailand outside of Chiang Mai I've visited a variety of places, all of which have been unique and enjoyable experiences. I started out the trip with a home stay in Mae Rim, just a couple of minutes outside Chiang Mai. I stayed there for two weeks, learning the Thai language and getting to know the culture first hand from a very rustic setting. It was very hard for me to get used to, since I have always been a spoiled North American with lots of conveniences and comforts. Overall that experience was very enjoyable and it was a lot of fun. After that, we left Mae Rim for Chiang Rai. From Chiang Rai we trekked towards the border of Laos to see the hill tribes that were living there. When I said that the homestays were very rustic, they were nothing in comparison to the hill tribes. In these hill tribes I slept on a small foam mat inside a bamboo hut with nothing but a blanket, no pillow, and a mosquito net. The animals were very loud all night and it was quite difficult to sleep. However it was amazing to make a difference in these people's lives; we helped build their houses and make their village a better place to live in. Eventually after another week or so, we left the hill tribes. We descended the mountains riding on the back of an elephant. (You can see said elephant inside the "Post a picture of yourself in real life" thread). After the hill tribes, we headed to the eco-friendly Pun Pun farm. Pun Pun was an eco-friendly farm ran by North Americans who had moved to Thailand in order to live off the land and help the local community. They saved their seeds and were very resourceful with all of their establishments and systems (they had adobe houses, recycled their water, and more). It was again a unique experience that would be very hard if not impossible to find in North America due to how our food industries work to make you buy from them. So after we left Pun Pun, we visited an orphanage outside Chiang Mai. We shared a lot of experiences with these kids. We extended our friendship with volunteer work (doing anything from planting coffee plants to building dams). In the evenings we enjoyed playing footbal (or as the North Americans call it, soccer) and badmiton with the kids as well. We showed them how we celebrate Halloween in North America as well by decorating masks and hosting a makeshift "Trick or Treat" with them. After a few days there, we finally left the orphanage to go to the Dharma Center in Northern Thailand. The Dharma Center was a wonderful place-- it was a Buddhist retreat where we were able to learn a lot about Buddhism from an Austrailian who had devoted his life to it. It was there that I gained some insight about my plans for the future; it helped me realize that I want to study and become a knowledgeable person simply for my own leisure. The Dharma Center was the end of our trip in Northern Thailand. From there we left for Ayutthaya which was in southern Thailand. Ayutthaya was an interesting place to see. After a long and tiring bike ride seeing the temples in the heat, we crashed at a hostel I had booked for the night. The live music there lasted late into the night and disturbed our sleep. The next morning we had to leave to catch a train for Bangkok bright and early. To our chagrin, we had been locked into the hostel. That was probably the one and only time I will ever have to break out of a hostel to make a ferry/ train somewhere. Fortunately, we had paid. Unfortunately, we caused some property damage (one of the students fell through the roof LOL). We made the train on time and made it to Bangkok. Bangkok was a really upbeat and busy place. Some of the students called it "New York with motorcycles." We saw the red light district and some of the stalls there. Let's just say it was a good thing we all left before things picked up later in the night.... We finally left Bangkok for the Cambodia border.
The border was full of casinos and other commodities that weren't legal in the bordering countries. It was an interesting place to see. One of the students got pickpocketed. We even had to bribe some of the officials to expedite the visa process. We eventually made it into Bangkok and made it to Siam Reap. Angkorwat was one of the places we saw there. To some guides and articles it is one of the seven wonders of the world. On our first night there we saw these ruins in the sunset and it was one of the most awe inspiring things I have ever seen in my life. The next morning we woke up bright and early to see the sunrise and see the rest of Angkorwat. I saw wild monkeys that day and had my picture taken with them. I of course was a little more interested in the monkeys than I was in the ruins themselves. That was a little immature of me and I should have spent more time observing the ruins. On the bright side I got plenty of pictures of me and the other students that I will have with me for the rest of my life. We left Angkorwat mid afternoon due to the rain. After Siam Reap we left for Battambang, Cambodia. Battambang was where we went to PTD. PTD was a retreat for women who had been victims of sex or drug trafficking. Meeting these women and talking/ playing with them was very fun and I hope I made a difference in their lives. We also had fun teaching some of the students that came to the same retreat some English, which was really cool. After we left PTD we began doing a few more tourist-like activities. We saw the killing fields and s21 which was a testament to the genocides that happened on behalf of the Khmer Rouge. Cambodia's bloody history was very sobering and made me think about the value of life. We left Phnom Penh, Cambodia, on our way to Ho Chi Minh, Vietnam for the free travel portion of the trip.
The free travel portion of the trip has been very enjoyable. It was our (the students) responsibility to plan this portion of the trip. Of course, we all decided on spending our time having fun. We played at a water park inside Ho Chi Minh. We saw the night markets there and enjoyed a lot of the fun Ho Chi Minh had to offer. After we left Ho Chi Minh, we left for the Mekong River Delta. We made it to Cantho where we saw the floating markets over there (a supermarket on a boat literally drove up to us and offered us food and drink!) I bought some pineapple juice, fried banana, and some noodles. They were very delectable, suprisingly enough. As we left Cantho we headed for Ha Tien. Ha Tien was a coastal port town without many tourists. It was very relaxing and it was there that we enjoyed our first day on the beach. That day included playing basketball and ultimate frisbee on the water and getting some vicious sunburns. The next day, we left Ha Tien for our final destination, Phu Quoc island. Phu Quoc has been very very relaxing. We've spent most of our time enjoying the weather, the beach, the sunsets, and the food. We went squid fishing once, biked 36 km across the island once, and we even eventually did some scuba diving.
Ultimately, the trip has been a very genuinely unique and interesting experience. I recommend spending a gap year to ANYONE here considering studying abroad or anyone that is even interested in travelling/ studying. I spent the same amount most North Americans will spend on 1-2 semesters of university. I feel like I have personally gained more out of this single semester than I would have out of an entire four years of college. After all, you can't really learn very much about the world sitting in front of a computer every day.
TL;DR: I've been in Thailand, Cambodia, and Vietnam studying over the last three months.
If anyone is interested in seeing pictures, has any comments or questions about my travels leave them here! I'll be more than happy to answer them!
