On My Way Home with Lots of "Add On" Thoughts

As we travel home... Bangkok to Tokyo to San Francisco to Boston to Marshfield, I'm full of thoughts of what I've lived over the past 10 days.

I've been so fortunate to travel with such wonderful people on this trip. 24 educators of different ages who teach or administer to different ages and different content areas, all under the great and passionate global leadership of Dr. Mary Ann DeMello. 

I'm proud to be an American, the land of the free and the brave. I loved witnessing Louis, our Thai tour guide who was with us every waking moment of this trip, showing such pride in his country, its people, it's Buddhism, it's landscape, its history, it's food.

A few additional things that I must add before this blog or journal of this 10 day trip is complete.

Tuk Tuks:

An important mode of transportation. These 3 wheeled vehicles are seen everywhere in Bangkok and Chiang Mai. We all were dropped off at the Niht Market in Chiang Mai by bus one evening after a diner out. As we finished at the Market, we all hired a driver and took a TukTuk ride back to the hotel, a few miles away. I shared my TukTuk ride with Mary Ann and Melanie, lots and lots of laughs!

The vendors and their markets:

They are everywhere! So much to buy, such pressure to buy, even from children. The food and handmade crafts are often just beautifully displayed.

The Buddhist Monks:

We saw Monks all over Thailand. About 98% of the Thai people are Buddhist. Every Buddhist man must be a Monk for at least a 3 month period of time by the time they are 20 or so years old. Young boys sometimes have some Monk training between he ages of 9 and 12 or so years old.  It's easy to pick the Monks out of a crowd, as they always wear an orange gown of sorts.

Any day of the week at any time during the day, people can be found meditating/worshipping at the temples. As i blogged a few weeks ago after our Raynham temple trip, Buddhism is a way of life.

I'm so elated that I chose to go on this trip. I dont think I'll forget what I saw and how I felt over the last 10 days. What I've really thought about is "way of life.". Our way of life in America is our way of life. As a country, but even more so as communities and as individuals. The same can be said for Thailand. We need to be at peace with how we live and to keep our minds and eyes open to all ways of life.

Global learning should not be a just a subject in our schools. It shouldn't simply be in a social studies unit or in a geography unit. It should be interwoven into all subjects and not just from a story or textbook. Global learning needs to be experiential, whether by travel or within the walls of a classroom.

The more we can learn about other cultures, languages, landmarks, landforms, people and ways of life, the more we will grow as individuals, and the smaller our world will become.  It is our job as educators to teach with a global perspective. I will.  I'll end with my favorite picture I took on the trip. This little girl showing gratitude for her lunch at school. Fish stew.