Thoughts and Reflections

You are amazing.

Your surprise on Saturday was too much for me to understand. I had nothing to say, and I still don't. I just hope that I can express to you all how much you mean to me. It is easy to be a good teacher if one has good students. If you think that I am great, it is only because you are great. (I am me because of you.) You have a special place in my heart.

For this blog posting, there is no obligation. I will leave the blog open for the next two weeks while you prepare for and perform your panel discussions. Please sign in here and describe your experience of the panel discussion. What are your comments or difficulties? If there are cultural issues on your mind that you want to discuss further, please post your ideas here, and we can continue... I am happy to hear your thoughts.

Thank you again for an excellent semester. Aj. M

"Every view of the world that becomes extinct, every culture that disappears, diminishes a possibility of life." Octavio Paz

Ethnic Minorities and Majorities

The discussion about language and identity was very interesting last week. As we could see, language and culture cannot be separated, but on the other hand, maybe more than one culture can be attached to a language. As cultures mix together, new identities come out in us.

This week, we will read a case study about Hmong people in Chiang Mai. We will study about the effects of culture and identity for a small group of people who live together within the larger majority Thai culture.

I think we are all proud of our culture and we all want to keep it, protect it, and preserve it. This is why we get annoyed with teenagers who seem to disrespect it or lose interest in it, or why we worry about new technologies and developments that replace old cultural customs. Ethnic minorities such as the Hmong also have a rich and strong cultural tradition, and like anyone else, there is a feeling of pride and history in their identity, yet it is also challenged by the pressures of majority culture: the need to modernize and participate in the larger society and in globalization.

How does one balance their own cultural identity with the attractions of other cultural identities? Is cultural change a negative thing? Or, is it just a natural part of history and life: the future is more important than the past... what do you think?

P.S.: This is the last topic for us to study before we shift to the panel discussions, so this may be the last blog... unless we are interested to continue. I just want to say thank you for your participation and knowledge. You are very impressive for me. Some people have heard the rumour that I will move to Phitsanulok to work at NU, so I just want to confirm it. I will be moving after the semester. In fact, I'm very sad to leave MFU, but on the other hand, I am so thankful that I had the chance to meet you all this semester. It has been my happiest semester ever, and you have given me so much. You are a very special group of students and I hope to follow your futures. I am me because of you.

Let's keep this great flow of ideas for the last few weeks of the semester. Aj. M

"Be the change you want to see in the world." Mahatma Gandhi

making merit

The last discussion about globalization brought some interesting comments. A couple of students mentioned that globalization has made the world "flat," a term made popular by Thomas Friedman's famous book: This means that globalization has made the world equal in some ways. You can find kids in the poorest hill tribe villages with a Facebook or Twitter account. You can go to a rural African village and everyone has a mobile phone and wifi. More people are connected globally and more people have access to information than ever before.

But when they get connected, how do they communicate? By the accidents of history, English has emerged as the supreme international language. Now people around the world invest a lot of time and money to learn English, or at least a little English, so they can gain more benefits from globalization.

We all know what Thai dance is. We know what German sausage is. We also know about Indian dress, Chinese opera, and French wine. These cultures are famous for their identities, and much of this is shaped by language: Thai language, German language, Hindi, Chinese, and French...

So, what is an international language? Who owns it? Who does it belong to? Who decides the rules and proper ways to use it? What culture defines it? We know that Thai dance belongs to Thai culture. To what culture does an international language belong?

Many will say that native English speakers are the "owners." If the world is flat and equal because of globalization, then do cultures around the world have the equal right to take English and adapt it and use it in their own cultural way? After all, English is an international language... Or is it the language of the native speakers, people like me, who are invited by many countries to travel abroad to teach their citizens how to speak English... like me.

As advanced learners of English, describe your relationship to this language. Do your English skills belong to you? Or do you follow the language rules from somewhere else? How do you play the game?

Aj. M

“The limits of my language mean the limits of my world.” Ludwig Wittgenstein

Globalization... Internationalism... Nationalism... And Culture?

We're back to class and back to the book. For the first half of the semester, we have focussed on Who and Why am I. We have tried to study and learn about how our culture helps us to construct our identity: what we think, what we believe, what we hope for, and how we communicate it to other people.

For the rest of the semester, we are going to think and study about the effects of other cultures on us: We are now experiencing a more global and interconnected world because of many reasons such as business, technology, politics, war, and the environment. Cross cultural communication is more important now than ever before in history.

We will study about some cultural issues that we are facing everyday. What is globalization? Internationalization? Nationalism? And what does that mean for Culture?

Globalization is a popular word these days, and I always hear people say it. However, no one can ever really explain what it means. For this week, I am interested to know what you think. Make your best try at defining this word: globalization. Good luck. Aj. M

“We must take care that globalization does not become something people become afraid of.” Gerhard Schroeder

Who and Why am I? Thoughts and Reflections

Welcome back and happy new year.

This week, you will present a topic about Who and Why am I? You will present for two days. If after the first day, your group finds that there were some mistakes, problems, or improvements to be made, you can adjust for the second-day presentation.

While you are presenting this week, please share your thoughts and reflections of your exhibition. Are people discovering things about culture that they never knew before? Does your topic help people to show how our cultural identity deeply affects our way of communication? This is our objective. The exhibition is our way to make our knowledge public and open to other people and not just to us in our class.

On this week's blog, please share your experience, comments from teachers, or any difficulties you are having. Good luck with your presentations. I'm looking forward to it. Aj. M

"The beginning of knowledge is the discovery of something we do not understand." Frank Herbert

CCC Exhibition

This is just a short blog announcement for the CCC Exhibition next week.

I want to remind you to remind your guest teachers about the exhibiton. You will present two days. You must have one teacher for each day.

Section 3: Please remember that your exhibition days are Thursday (10-12) and Friday (1100-1300).

Everyone must participate equally during the exhibition. Some groups have not met with me about their exhibition topics, so I am worried about them. I hope they are ready.

This exhibition is 20% of your final grade.

Good luck to everyone. I hope this will be an enjoyable experience for you. Aj. M

Happy 2010!

The first decade of the new millenium is already finished. I remember at this time 10 years ago, we were all preparing for Y2K, backing up our computers and getting extra water and food in the house, because we were all afraid that the power would shut down and the world would end.

But it didn't. And we are here.

When I graduated my bachelor degree in 2001, I taught high school in Canada for a short time, and then decided to move to Thailand to try teaching English. I fell in love with Thailand, and instantly felt changed by the people and the culture. I went back to Canada to study my Master degree, and many of my old friends and family noticed that I was different after Thailand. After finishing my MA and moving to India for a while, I came back to Thailand almost two years ago. When I arrived back here, in a strange way, I felt like I was home again. This is a feeling that is difficult to describe. These 10 years has really been the 'decade of Thailand' for me.

When I was in Canada, I was homesick for Chiang Rai. Now I'm homesick for Vancouver. I'm always homesick for "home," wherever that is. Home is an imaginary place.

The CCC blog will take a break for a couple of weeks, and we will start again when we come back to class in the new year. For this blog, feel free to share your experiences of the last decade (2000-2010), and comment about how you have changed, or how your culture has changed, and what are your expectations for the future. I think this is an exciting time to be alive.

I wish you all a very happy new year and my best for you and your life in 2010. Aj. M

"For last year's words belong to last year's language and next year's words await another voice." T. S. Eliot