Sawat dii, Krap.
This is the inaugural posting to the freshly minted ‘The Global Corps Experience Told By You’ blog. I know it’s a painfully long name, so I am open to suggestions. Or, we can just begin by starting to call it ‘TGSCETBY’. It just rolls right off the tongue.
Just for a little bit of background, I coordinated the GSC Thailand program in Singburi for the past year. Month after month I would make the obligatory pilgrimage down to Suvarmabumi Airport in Bangkok to pick up the new groups. I wouldn’t know too much about the volunteers prior to their arrival and there was always a little twinge of nervousness because you just never know who is going to step off that plane. I would have a little background as I would frequently check people out on myspace or Facebook to try to get a better picture of who was coming. Yes, I did check out volunteers on myspace. Why wouldn’t I?
Following the pick up, we’d spend a fews days in Bangkok before heading up to the orientation center in Singburi. Throughout these first days of the program, I’d often felt that I had a big tattoo on my forehead that said, ‘Ask me any question, no matter how ridiculous .’ Granted, a huge part of my job was to answer volunteers questions, point them in the right direction, and generally just help them in adjusting to their new surroundings. But, I must admit, I was always a little suprised at some of questions that were asked and would think to myself, ‘Shouldn’t they know that???’
That is primarily the reason why I wanted to start to this blog. I want to get stories out there from past volunteers in order to give future volunteers the information they’ll need and what to expect when coming to Thailand. There is always some degree of culture shock when arriving in a new country and experiencing a totally new culture. I believe that the quicker you get over this culture shock, the quicker you’ll settle into your new life, and the quicker you’ll start to gain from the rich culture of Thailand.
I’ll be periodically posting to this blog my own stories and adventures over the past year, my reflections, and my observations. But, this purpose of this blog is not me, it’s the volunteers. I want to this to be a forum and space to bring together all the unique stories of the people who make up Global Service Corps: the volunteers. So, I encourage all volunteers, past and present to submit their writings about life in Thailand.
Brian
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