Question: What do Nelson Mandela, Bill Clinton, and little old Wren all have in common?
Answer: We’ve all studied at Chulalongkorn University in Bangkok!
Well let’s be honest, Bill and Nelson were handed their honorary degrees on a plate. Little Wren is working so very hard trying not to confuse her Dvaravati’s from her Srivijaya’s, and that’s after she managed to navigate through peak hour traffic jams to get there. Of course, the trendy way for students to arrive would be on the back of a motorcycle taxi, but I can’t quite brave this.
I’m getting such a kick being back at Uni, as we Aussie’s love to call it. Chulalongkorn University is one of Thailand’s oldest and most prestigious ones at that. Mind you I feel like a 5-year-old again, just trying to find the right building for our classes is all a bit confusing. My Thai has not progressed as well as it should have…
The building to the right below is what I am looking for. Hmmm I am thinking I need a PHD in Asian studies, majoring in the Thai language just to find the place.
By the time I have walked around the huge campus, and determined that not a single security guard has been recruited for his English language skills, fair enough too, I begin to get delirious.
I’m wondering whether my hot flush is menopause or the joy of joys of living in a climate with 90% humidity? A quick thought goes to whether I would make a good case study for the College of Public Health if I ever find it. I was certainly ready to join my fellow classmates in the ice chamber that will be our classroom for the next six weeks.
Note to self – bring a scarf. That air conditioning is worse than the Beast from the East storm that hit the UK earlier this year.
It’s been a long time since I was last a Uni student, a good thirty plus years, but we have kept up with what’s what in the world of Higher Education through our kids who have studied at British, American and Australian Universities. Move over New York and Melbourne Universities, have you seen what Wren is learning at Chulalongkorn?
Monash University may have given Daughter No 1 the opportunity to study genocide in Rwanda and Apartheid in South Africa, NYU gave daughter No 2 the chance to work on a marketing project with Google, but Wren is learning all about Indian cosmology in South East Asian architecture and the like! What do you think of that?
I’m acquiring Knowledge with Virtue, that’s our Uni motto and this will do me quite nicely!
Now I probably should confess that my course is not actually world recognised as one of the mainstream courses on offer at Chulalongkorn. Rather that the university has very kindly offered us a classroom in the College of Public Health, as a central base, whilst we learn to become National Museum Volunteers.
Linking with thanks to all the hosts at Our World Tuesday
U is for University life in Bangkok and part of
Blogging from A to Z April (2018) Challenge.
Click here to see the list of all participants!
Thanks so much to the organisers
12 comments
How cool! Good for you.
Thank you, Fiona, I knew you’d approve 🙂 Thanks for hosting Our World Tuesday.
Wren x
Navigating a college campus is hard. I know what you mean. I hope you enjoy your volunteering.
Sounds exciting, Wren. Life-long learning keeps us young! The campus looks very beautiful, too. A nice way to meet friends, too. x Karen
I am very happy to have found the NMV course, I moved to Bangkok, not knowing anyone, but also not knowing a tremendous amount about Thailand and it’s culture. This has been a fun way to learn, stay young as you say Karen, and meet new friends.
The fact that I am acquiring new knowledge with our classrooms either at a prestigious Thailand University or inside a Royal palace, with some of our teachers being part of the Thai royal family has been amazing !
Wren x
How wonderful that you are grabbing this opportunity ~ Great experience and photos!
Happy Week to you,
A ShutterBug Explores,
aka (A Creative Harbor)
Thank you, Carol. Yes, life is all about grabbing opportunities isn’t it? I knew as soon as I heard such good reports from friends who had participated in the course that I had to try and do everything to arrange my schedule to be in Bangkok for the course. It has been totally worth it.
Happy week to you too.
Wren x
So cool! Being a museum guide sounds fun.
The look of Thai language has me thinking of the way music looks. Both are beautiful. I would find learning fluent Thai overwhelming, but I think I could manage learning basic words.
You are right it is a beautiful language to look at but very tricky to learn, it is different to Western languages because it is tonal. Learning a new language is one of those good for the brain activities isn’t it? I haven’t progressed as well as I should have… and there have been many occasions when I wished I knew more words!
The museum guiding course has taken up quite a bit of time but is definitely fun!
Wren x
Wow. I think I’m jealous of going back to school, but I also know I couldn’t handle it as well as you are doing. And those honorary diplomas for Bill Clinton and Nelson Mandela? I’m of the opinion that Mandela earned his, while Bill had the proverbial plate!
Thank you for sharing!
Kay
An Unfittie’s Guide to Adventurous Travel
How wonderful Wren, we’re never too old to learn and it will be exciting to become a Museum volunteer in the near future.
I was imagining you were doing a degree in Thai…lol.
Hi Sami – I agree I have really enjoyed this course, it is good to challenge the brain. The next challenge for me is to find a time when my travels are such that I can really commit to throwing myself into volunteering at the National Museum!
Wren x