Expectations

"Pre-field preparations move us beyond discussions of packing lists and assorted "dos" and "don'ts" to consider the ultimate purposes and practical learning strategies needed for us to enter deeply into our host culture" (Becoming World Wise, 10).

This is a very important post that I have known I needed to write, but have been putting off. I can't put it off much longer seeing as I'M LEAVING IN LESS THAN A WEEK!  My expectations are extremely important to have written down because this is the post that will help me reflect when I return  from the program and will help me be in the proper mindset for departure and throughout the program.

What I'm hoping to get from this trip:

The question overwhelms me. I chose ISDSI because I wanted a structured and engaging program that would push me outside of my comfort zone. Many people chose to galavant around Europe, visit pubs, and simply attend school in a foreign county. That is an excellent way to spend a term abroad for many students, but it was not what I was hoping for in a study abroad program. When I realized the extent of my study abroad options, I realized I had to figure out what it was I wanted out of a program to help me narrow down my options:


I knew I wanted a home-stay, because I hoped I could create connections to a family, have a home base where someone expected me for dinner, and learn about culture from an inside perspective. I knew that in having a home-stay I might sacrifice some freedoms, but what I gain will be more valuable.

I knew I wanted to learn the local language. In third grade, after singing a German song in Choir class, I decided I wanted to be a linguist and learn a ton of languages. I've always loved learning language and had a knack for it if I do say so myself. Wherever I ended up, I wanted to speak the local language.

I knew I didn't care if the program fit my major, because the time in another country and studying something I loved was the important part for me. I wanted to make sure I had time to experience the country and wouldn't be overwhelmed with course work or stressed. And I knew that I wanted to find a program that dealt with social justice.

Through all my interactions with ISDSI so far, they seem so vested in all of us as students and individuals. They have goals and expectations for us on this program and thus, I have goals and expectations for myself.

I am so thankful that the instructors for ISDSI gave us Slimbach's Becoming World Wise for pre-trip reading. It has been immensely helpful in framing my study abroad experience and for the most part, I've loved reading it. The book is modern and mixes textbook facts, with social justice considerations, and a lot of hippy-dippy spiritual world loving stuff. It does, at some points, manage to get a bit *too* hippy dippy for me, and that is an accomplishment because I'm pretty damn hippy dippy.

One of my favorite more laughable "out there" parts is this:

"Grounding our global learning in a liberated imagination enables us to break through cultural illusions and ethical paralysis into a more radical ( from the Latin radix, meaning "root") understanding of what is going on. In "Redemption Song," Bob Marley sings of freedom in terms of emancipating ourselves from mental slavery. Only as our minds are set free can we see and experience the world as it truly is. At the point of our overarching purpose and underlying passion, our imagination is released from captivity to a culture of programmed self-gratification into a life committed to the common good" (Becoming World Wise, 53). 

Seriously, Slimbach? Let's get the drum circle going and somebody light up the peace pipe. amirite? All this text needed was a few choicely placed "dudes" and "mans" and it would fit perfect at any drug infested music festival.

But for its flaws, the book does manage to communicate exactly what it is I want from my experience: to travel for the good of the world and to balance my desire for self-improvement with my desire to better the world. The book challenges the traveler to be more selfless in their sojourns and seriously makes you believe that through the collective power of thousands of students studying abroad, we can start a revolution in global consciousness. How cool is that?

Being put into a new place I will experience strangeness and vulnerability, but in these periods of instability we are best able to examine ourselves, our values, and our choices, to make changes to our life's path. As a twenty year old unsure of the rest of my life, I want and need all of this for myself, selfishly. But, hopefully these changes lead me to being more vested with the fate of the world. I am very involved in the domestic social justice world, but I want to be involved in global social justice as well, in a nitty-gritty way. I will finally stop talking about the "increasingly smaller/globalized/ modern world" and be a part of it when I make connections to those in Thailand. I will be challenged to look past differences in people to find commonalities and be more connected to humanity, not just by my experiences with Thai people, but by the lifestyle choices I make during and after the program, and the issues I will be better able to shed light on. 

As I read further into the book, new issues and ideas about travel abroad are swimming through my head, but I need to get this posted for now. With much further reflecting to be done, here is a list of some of my expectations: 

I expect: 

1. to be semi-fluent in Thai
2. to shop in Thailand
3. to try new foods
4. to feel sick from trying new foods
5. to dislike some of the field work
6. to yearn for my computer and Netflix account
7. to offend some Thais with my garish American ways
8. to be offended by some Thai cultural ways 
9. to embarrass myself often
10. to gain better cross-cultural understanding
11. to learn about sustainable development in a practical way
12. to explore alternative concepts of justice
13. to learn about global challenges from a new perspective
14. to become more effective in global social justice pursuits 
15. to bridge my culture with another's culture
16. to find differences and celebrate commonalities
17. to have better understanding of what it means to be a global citizen
18. to leave my host community better than when I found it
19. to question a lot, and listen even more
20. to communicate in different ways
21. to be stared at as a dark-haired fair skinned Westerner
22. to make a traditional Buddhist offering in the Tai Wats (temples)
23. to push my limits 
24. to feel vulnerable, unstable, homesick, elated, disgusted, anxious, awkward, empowered, accomplished, tired, dirty, 
25. to have know idea what I'm doing
26. to figure it all out