Ben’s Letter for Thailand: Cultural Kaleidoscope to You All at Tianna
One of my fondest memories from GLA was during the last week, of the last program, at the end of a long summer with GLA Thailand. We were on an inter school exchange at a local high school and it’d been a fantastic day so far, we’d finished all of the formalities for the day, giving our international students a chance to socialise with the local students and make there own fun for the afternoon.
After about an hour wandering the school and meeting with staff we were drawn to a large crowd gathered around booming pop music, myself and another GLA staffer late to the game but, I think it was some kind of dance off.
My favourite point was when one of our quieter students on the program not (up until this point at least!) renowned for his dancing, and he just starts to break-it-down and he is AWESOME! The girls in the crowd are going off cheering him on and everybody is in a mix of hysterics and wild applause.
After so much laughter, tears (happy and homesick), and amazing sites, this was special! Rather than snapping pics at Doi Suthep, Zip-lining through the tropical jungle or spending time in the river with Thailand’s revered elephants, for me it’s the moments of human interaction and our ability to find wonder in each other that make life, and GLA amazing!
-Ben
Keith’s Letters to You All at Joy’s House
June 14 – June 27, 2015
Hey guys! To everyone from Session 1 of Thailand: Cultural Kaleidoscope at Joy’s House, we hope you are all doing well! It is a little crazy to realize how many months have passed since we were fortunate enough to spend an incredibly memorable two weeks together in Chiang Mai. This ‘Time Capsule Letter’ is a great way to look back on the people we met, the places we saw, and the experiences we shared. Hopefully all of you are able to think back to your time walking through one of the many temples we visited, or one of the classes you taught at Chumchon Wat Tha Deu School or Anuban Baan Tor Muang Lang School, or the relationships you built with the local community, the Thai school children, and each other, and you are able to smile, laugh, and appreciate what a unique opportunity it was.
As you all know, your group was the first of the summer, and the first experience our entire staff team had with GLA, and we couldn’t have been happier with how great it turned out! We were incredibly fortunate to have such an interesting group of people that supported each other and got along so well. You guys were all awesome and it made the experience so much more rewarding to have been able to share it with so many other great people, and it made our job that much easier. That’s not to say everything was wonderful sunshine and rainbows all day, every day. There were mosquitos (lots of them); there were cold showers; there was Martyna getting bit by a dog; there were upset stomachs and other various illnesses; there were schedule changes and long van rides and nightly curfew checks. But that’s all part of what makes traveling to new countries and experiencing new cultures such a rewarding experience: you never know exactly what you will get. It’s all about making the most of those experiences while you are there, and you guys were all great at that.
GLA programs can be exciting, a little overwhelming, and a whole lot of fun, but one thing GLA hopes to stress is how the experience you have while in Thailand, Costa Rica, Ghana, or wherever else you may travel with GLA can be an opportunity to learn about a new culture, become more informed about how interconnected the world has become, and reflect on ways you can make a positive impact on the world around you. In addition to being an opportunity to travel and learn about what life is like in a different place and culture, a GLA trip can also be a valuable opportunity to grow and learn more about yourself, about your strengths and values, and about what motivates you to be the best person you can be. So as you make your way through your high school classes, or as you settle in to your new surroundings on a college campus, or wherever life takes you this fall, winter, and beyond, remember to think back to your experiences and the relationships you built last summer in Chiang Mai, to cherish them, and to use them as a part of what makes each of you unique. And then go out there and keep being awesome!
Before we wrap this up, here a few of our favorite memories from Session 1:
- All the priceless facial expressions on elephant day (and the 600 pictures that were taken)
- The Epic Muay Thai Fight between Martyna and Aryana
- Davin destroying 3 racks of ribs at DUKE’S (DUUUUUKE’S!!!)
- Splashing around and playing games during the Pool Party
- Merina wearing her mom pants to school
- Dylan’s wonderful way with words
- Emma rocking the cultural exchange
- Tara O’Malley teaching everyone what an “RBF” is
- Being serenaded by the coolest boy band in Chiang Mai
- Dancing the Cha-Cha Slide in the rain at the English camp at Martyna’s school
- SME and Mackie leaving Ryan their pillows, which he happily used for the rest of his time in Thailand
- Lord of the Dance on the final evening, and Kelsey’s surprising and awesome dance moves
- Caylin finally losing “what are the odds” and getting a snail to the face on the last day!
Finally, from all of us that had the pleasure of meeting you guys last summer – P’ Aey, Five, Paa, Dew, Martyna, Ryan, and Keith – Thank you again for being such a great group and we wish you all the best in wherever your future takes you! You are all superstars!!!
Slideshow for this session: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RyhBlRrJg0c
July 1 – July 21, 2015
Hello to Session 2 of Thailand: Cultural Kaleidoscope at Joy’s House!!! We hope you are all doing well! Time has flown by and it has somehow been over three months since we last said our goodbyes at the Chiang Mai airport. While we all eventually made it back to our homes and returned to our normal lives, we will always have the memories from an incredible three weeks together in Chiang Mai. This ‘Time Capsule Letter’ is a great way to look back on the people we met, the places we saw, and the experiences we shared. Hopefully all of you are able to think back to your time walking through one of the many temples we visited, or one of the classes you taught at Wat Kha Jao School, or the relationships you built with the kids from the Nimit Foundation, the local community, the Thai school children, and each other, and you are able to smile, laugh, and appreciate what a unique opportunity you all had.
Your group will always hold a special place in our collective hearts since we were able to spend a full three weeks together. Being thrown into a situation where you spend so much time with a group of people that were mostly strangers before coming together as a group means you learn a lot about the other people on your trip in a very short time. It happens on 10-day trips and 14-day trips, but spending a whopping 21 days together in Thailand in the middle of July is a whole different level. We were incredibly fortunate to have such an interesting group of people that supported each other and got along so well. You guys were all awesome and it made the experience so much more rewarding to have been able to share it with so many other great people. That’s not to say everything was wonderful sunshine and rainbows all day, every day. There were mosquitos (lots of them); there were classes where students didn’t listen; there were upset stomachs and other illnesses; there were was a whole lot of rice; there were literally rainy days; there were schedule changes and long van rides and nightly curfew checks. But that’s all part of what makes traveling to new countries and experiencing new cultures such a rewarding experience: you never know exactly what you will get. It’s all about making the most of those experiences while you are there, and you guys were all great at that.
GLA programs can be exciting, a little overwhelming, and a whole lot of fun, but one thing GLA hopes to stress is how the experience you have while in Thailand, Costa Rica, Ghana, or wherever else you may travel with GLA can be an opportunity to learn about a new culture, become more informed about how interconnected the world has become, and reflect on ways you can make a positive impact on the world around you. In addition to being an opportunity to travel and learn about what life is like in a different place and culture, a GLA trip can also be a valuable opportunity to grow and learn more about yourself, about your strengths and values, and about what motivates you to be the best person you can be. So as you make your way through your high school classes, or as you settle in to your new surroundings on a college campus, or wherever life takes you this fall, winter, and beyond, remember to think back to your experiences and the relationships you built last summer in Chiang Mai, to cherish them, and to use them as a part of what makes each of you unique. And then go out there and keep being awesome!
Before we wrap this up, here are a few of our favorite memories from Session 2:
- Playing Jenga with Miz and Avisya on arrival day
- Van 3 singing Cee Lo (Rot Saam!!!)
- Watching fireworks and drinking root beer floats on the 4thof July
- Alyssa sharing her Tiger Balm with everyone
- Free-style dancing during dancing classes at the Lanna Cultural Center
- J-Qwellin busting out windows, and “always” being asleep at lights out
- Robert being the only male on the trip, and also being hands down the biggest shopper. It seriously wasn’t even close…. He got like 3 full blankets! How did it all fit in his suitcase?
- Canning eating a hamburger after the entire Duke’s meal and proving Keith wrong. We’re still not sure how it was possible.
- Ghizzmo’s epic playlist
- Keith and Ryan buying and wearing totally awesome and super cool pants. Man, those guys are so cool.
- Camryn’s speech at the cultural exchange
- Hanna shouting “Pi Kan”
- Hannah’s ability to ‘stealth’ photo bomb
- Spotting people with umbrellas, neon clothing, and fanny packs while wandering around Doi Suthep temple
- The 1st ever GLA Thailand Olympic games Opening Ceremony and walking around Joy’s House
- Team Pringle’s “Official” victory at the Olympics
- Anna’s run in with wasps (yikes…)
- Keith convincing everyone to try durian in the park, and the facial expressions of Hannah and Camryn after eating it
- Jacky’s struggles in the Blind Maze
- Everyone cheering at the soccer match
- Erin and Camryn leading the Chiang Mai FC super soccer fan chants
- Jessie and Alyssa finishing the mountain biking adventure without any injuries and Jes G deciding it was a good idea to hit every puddle possible during the biking
Finally, from all of us that had the pleasure of meeting you guys last summer – P’ Aey, Five, Paa, Dew, Martyna, Ryan, and Keith – Thank you again for being such a great group and we wish you all the best in wherever your future takes you! Keep doing amazing things!!!
Slideshow for this session: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xt8F8063kWY
July 24 – August 6, 2015
A great big hello to Session 3 of Thailand: Cultural Kaleidoscope at Joy’s House, we hope you are all doing well!!! It is a little crazy to realize how quickly time has passed since we were fortunate enough to spend an incredibly memorable two weeks together in Chiang Mai (wait, November? How did we get to November already???). This ‘Time Capsule Letter’ is a great way to look back at the people we met, the places we saw, and the experiences we shared. Hopefully all of you are able to think back to your time walking through one of the many temples we visited, or one of the classes you taught, or the relationships you built with the local community, the Thai school children, and each other, and you are able to smile, laugh, and appreciate what a unique opportunity you all had.
As the third and final group of the summer, we were hoping as a staff team for an energetic group that would keep as going all the way to the finish line, and you guys did not disappoint! We were incredibly fortunate to have such an interesting group of people that supported each other and got along so well. Your group seemed to click from Day 1 and it was amazing to see how the group interacted over the course of the two weeks together. You guys were all awesome and it made the experience so much more rewarding to have been able to share it with so many other great people. That’s not to say everything was wonderful sunshine and rainbows all day, every day. There were mosquitos (lots of them); there were hospital visits (too many of them); there were upset stomachs and other various illnesses; there were early mornings and late nights; there were schedule changes and long van rides and nightly curfew checks. But that’s all part of what makes traveling to new countries and experiencing new cultures such a rewarding experience: you never know exactly what you will get. It’s all about making the most of those experiences while you are there, and you guys made that happen.
GLA programs can be exciting, a little overwhelming, and a whole lot of fun, but one thing GLA hopes to stress is how the experience you have while in Thailand, Costa Rica, Ghana, or wherever else you may travel with GLA can be an opportunity to learn about a new culture, become more informed about how interconnected the world has become, and reflect on ways you can make a positive impact on the world around you. In addition to being an opportunity to travel and learn about what life is like in a different place and culture, a GLA trip can also be a valuable opportunity to grow and learn more about yourself, about your strengths and values, and about what motivates you to be the best person you can be. So as you make your way through your high school classes, or as you settle in to your new surroundings on a college campus, or wherever life takes you this fall, winter, and beyond, remember to think back to your experiences and the relationships you built last summer in Chiang Mai, to cherish them, and to use them as a part of what makes each of you unique. And then go out there and keep being awesome!
Before we wrap this up, here are a few of our favorite memories from Session 3:
- Writing and drawing the schedule on Arrival Day, especially the way everyone saw Ryan and Martyna
- Ryan explaining the use of the bum gun and mosquito repellent
- Meeting KK and learning about Buddhism
- DJ P’ Aey in Van 1 and singing along to all the Disney songs
- Emma singing the cup song with Fah at school
- Bella creating a devoted following at school
- Buerkle and McKayla trying unsuccessfully to trick Ryan at lights out checks
- Learning about Mychaela’s tiny little Canadian town
- Alex realizing her rolex wasn’t real
- “Mom” and “Dad” doing mom and dad things
- Joyce being Joyce, in all her glory
- Karaoke night (especially that stunning duet performance of Katy Perry’s ‘Firework’)
- Becky doing the maze challenge and refusing to raise her hand
- All the nicknames: CMPW, Pickle, Buerkle, Mom, and Dad
- Becky fighting with the Muay Thai coach
- Japanese English language/aerobic lessons: “I have a bad case of diarrhea”; “Spare me my life”; “I want to be more than just friends”; and “Are you serious about anyone?”
- Joyce singing “This is for your beautiful eyes” to random Thai people from the boat
Finally, from all of us that had the pleasure of meeting you guys last summer – P’ Aey, Five, Paa, Dew, Martyna, Ryan, and Keith – Thank you again for being such a great group and we wish you all the best in wherever your future takes you! You are all awesome!!!
Slideshow for this session: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3BL3kfYSk98
Martyna’s Letter to You All at Joy’s House
To my dear amazing friends I met in Chiang Mai this summer
I’m packing now to go for another adrenvure, to travel to another continent. I look at my bags and recall the moment from the beginning of June when I was preparing to go to Thailand. I can’t believe it’s already been a few months since we all said „Goodbye”. I can still smell Thai food and mosquito repelent and taste weird Thai snacks. All those memories came back. I look at our photos and would like to be back in Thailand with all of you.
This last summer was incredible. Thailand, which I new before but re-discovered together with you, thanks to your amazing Thai staff: PA, Five, Dew and Pa. I won’t foget our temple trips, monk chat, ziplining and mentor groups. Maybe thery were not always fun but after all those weeks and month they are still in my head and I can recall thought we shared and what we felt at that time.
I can still see faces of our students and thei smile while we were there. I can’t forget tiers when we said „Goodbye” to them on the last day on the school service. You all should know what impact you made while your ward work in those schools.
Past summer was unforgetable. It impacted all of us. I hope you are ahppy to be back at school with your friends, getting adjusted to that life style. I also hope that this experienced changed you in a way no one ever expected and you will charish those memories and use all you learned to implement in your communities.
All the best to all of you.
Martyna
June 14 – June 27, 2015
Ryan’s Favorite Memories:
Priceless facial expressions on elephant day.
The Epic Muay Thai fight between Martyna and Aryanna.
Davin destroying 3 racks of ribs at DUKES.
Merina wearing her mom pants to school.
Dylans way with words
Emma rocking the cultural exchange
Tara O’malley teaching everyone what a “RBF” is.
Kelseys surprising dance moves during lord of the dance
Caylin finally losing “what are the odds” and getting a snail to the face on the last day!
SME and Mackie leaving Ryan their pillows, which he happily used for the rest of his time in Thailand.
Joelle noticing that Ryan doesn’t have any hair and asking him “are you like…bald?”
Martyna’s Favorite Memories:
July 1 – July 21, 2015
Ryan’s Favorite Memories:
Robert being the only male on the trip, and also being the hands down biggest shopper, it seriously wasn’t even close…. He got like 3 full blankets!
Van 3 singing Cee Lo
Jessy and Alyssa finishing the mountain biking adventure without any injuries and Jess G deciding it was a good idea to hit every puddle possible during the biking.
J-Quellin busting out windows, and “always” being asleep at lights out.
Canning eating a hamburger after the entire Dukes meal and proving Keith wrong. Were still not sure how it was possible.
Ghizzmos epic playlist.
Keith and Ryan buying and wearing totally awesome and super cool pants.
Camryns speech at the cultural exchange.
Watching fireworks and drinking rootbeer floats on the 4th of July
Team Pringle’s Official victory at the Olympics
Hannah’s ability to stealth photo bomb.
Annas run in with wasps
Martyna’s Favorite Memories:
July 24 – August 6, 2015
Ryan’s Favorite Memories:
Emma singing the cup song with Fah at school.
Meeting KK and learning about Buddhism
Burkel and McKayla trying unsuccessfully to trick Ryan at lights out checks.
Bella creating a devoted following at school
Learning about Mychaelas tiny little Canadian town.
Alex realizing her rolex wasn’t real.
“Mom” and “Dad” doing mom and dad things.
Joyce being Joyce, in all her glory.
Becky doing the maze challenge
All the nicknames, CMPW, Pickle, Burkel, Mom and Dad
Martyna’s Favorite Memories:
Jennifer’s Letter to You All at Joy’s House
Hello all!
I hope this finds you all healthy, happy and living your life to the fullest. It was beautiful to see all of you open up to exploration and the adventures of being in a new land. When many of you arrived in Thailand, you were unsure and exhausted and when you left, you were grateful for your experiences. Remember that amazing lesson as you go through life on your incredible journey- beginnings are often a bit unsettling for most, but you will learn so much and be so grateful for what you learn and you will be all the better because of those experiences!
As the awesome Irish poet, W.B. Yeats once said, “education is not the filling of a pail, but the lighting of a fire.” Go forward and continue to light the fire from within!
I am grateful for the experiences that I had while in Thailand, with each and every one of you. I learned a lot and it was a beautiful experience for me. I hope and wish the best for all of you. May you go out and show the world the best version of yourself. And may you always chase your dreams and be the wonderful ambassadors that you are. thank you again for your service in Thailand and for making the world a better place through your open hearts and open minds.
And you know I am writer at heart because I can’t stop without adding one more important quote here. Remember what the American-born poet T.S. Eliot left in the wake of his legacy, “we shall not cease from exploration, and the end of all our exploring will be to arrive where we started and know the place for the first time.”
Jenn’s Favorite Memories:
- Getting hugs from you
- Sharing community service experience with everyone
- Going ziplining with you
- Singing songs to you before bed (with the fabulous musician/mentor Ben)
- Watching formulate a strong bond with electrolyte packets, no matter how much water you already drank or how healthy you are actually felt
- Dancing and singing with the mentor group, especially to “Brave” by Sarah Bareilles (I didn’t even like that song until you all showed me the way!)
- Laughing with you, especially over my terrible rapping skills (you know I am not that bad in some circles. lol.)
- Participating in beautiful interactive activities like tap someone’s shoulder who…
- Sharing amazing cultural experiences with you (I.e. food and interacting with people, participating in fun, new projects like painting umbrellas or chatting with Buddhist monks)
- Watching you all grow and evolve on your journey in Thailand and being so excited for all of you as you walked through customs to embark on your next adventure!
