|
Field Trip: MV Doulos International Book Fair
Miss Wacharin Chaisiriphan (First),
3rd year Asian University BA student
Our class, third-year Bachelor of Arts students at Asian University,
studying Intercultural Communication this semester, visited the MV Doulos
while it was berthed at the Thai Navy docks in Sattahip.
 Miss
Wacharin Chaisiriphan (First)
We learned a lot about training to prepare people to work in intercultural
situations, and some of the problems and opportunities such situations
present.
Everybody who works on this ship is a volunteer. They even have to pay to be
on board. They are basically supported by their family or people back home
such as church communities.
Training
Before joining this program, applicants are required to take
tests, including an interview, in order to test their attitudes toward other
cultures.
When they were accepted, the crew members all took a course in intercultural
communication before working on the ship in order to learn to behave
appropriately among 45 nationalities. For example, Brazilians are very open.
They hug and kiss each other all the time. Junior, the Brazilian we spoke
to, calls it “touchy”. They have to try to understand other cultures which
are not “touchy”, like Thai culture!
The training depends on each country’s traditional culture. For Koreans, it
may take five months of cultural training before going on board. For
Germans, they have to read books in order to study multicultural issues and
they also have to do a few weeks of training. Most volunteers practiced
survival training for the sea and firefighting.
Everybody who was new to the ship came together in Holland in September
2005. The whole group was trained in more than technical things; they had to
learn how to live together on the ship. The working culture on the ship is
pretty much based on western ways. That’s why people from Asian countries
may find it hard to adapt themselves to it.
Benefits of training
* They got to know why people act differently by studying their
cultural backgrounds.
* They are able to apply specific rules in different countries. For example,
the women crew members wear long skirts and headwear while visiting the
Middle East.
* They have to respect others’ needs since they won’t all have their own
private space. There’ll be 3-4 people from different countries living in a
small cabin together. These people never had a chance to get to know each
other before.
Normally, people join this program for two years. It usually takes them
about six months to really feel at home.
Culture on the ship
Do they have problems and conflicts over values and
personal/cultural preferences? How do they deal with this?
The crew members don’t just try to adapt their whole personality to other
cultures. If they feel offended by other people, they can’t just go tell
that person. They have to try to understand that all cultures are different.
The whole organization is different since life on board is multicultural.
The MV Doulos organisation even has people in different countries the crew
members can contact for help when they have problems. Sometimes, the
volunteers make mistakes. They have to learn, and get used to new ways.
Another thing is homesickness. People get really homesick when they stay on
the ship for a while. They just miss things they used to do at home.
After the crew members stayed together for awhile, they started to discover
different personalities in other, new cultures. It was a challenge, and it
was interesting too, to make friends outside their own culture.
 Students
on board MV Doulos
The style of clothing the crew wears while in port depends on the place
they’re visiting.
For example, at Phuket, they were allowed to wear sleeveless shirts, unlike
most places they visit. For example, in India and Middle Eastern countries
they had to always wear long sleeves.
They do have fixed rules about dress, though. Women are not allowed to wear
mini skirts. They can’t wear clothes which are too tight, too short, and no
tank-tops. This idea is for protection. Women crew members reported that
when they dress like that other people (men!) focus on the person more than
what they look like.
When there’s a lack of communication between different groups, the
volunteers have to talk to each other in order to come up with a plan to
help them communicate better. The best way is to talk to people yourself. If
you treat people well, they treat you the same way. The crew members always
meet at least once a week in order to talk about anything.
When everyone is used to the other cultures on the ship, homogenous cultural
grouping becomes less. “Loud” people tend to mix with other “loud” people
and quiet people tend to stay in a group of quiet people.
In order to make people feel welcomed on this ship, everybody needs to care
about others more than themselves. They always help each other when they’re
working.
When crew members finally go home, they get some kind of reverse culture
shock too, since they have been away from their home countries for a long
period of time. They find that people in their home countries seem to be
strange. Even things that they think are very normal, people in their
countries may not do. They have to learn to adjust themselves all over
again!
The thing that impressed me most was: Everyone has equal rights on this
ship. Even the captain follows the same rules as everyone else. Wow!
The more this ship travels, the more people want to join it.
Want to find out more about the MV Doulos? Check this out: www.mvdoulos.org
Asian University Student Union elects first non-Thai President
This year’s Asian
University Student Union annual general meeting filled the auditorium.
On 28 September the Annual General Meeting of the
Asian University Student Union was held with the aim of appraising the
excellent performance of the former student union members and to
introduce the newly elected members.
The Asian U Student Union was established in 1997 to act as one voice to
express the students’ opinions. It has been actively developing internal
and external activities which create harmony and unity among the
university students, college students, staff and the community.
 Last
year’s Student Union vice president, Chaiyaporn Hopornsiri (Jai): “I
have gained a lot of new experiences.”
The three committees within the Union are Community Service, Social
Activities and Sports. These are headed by their respective chairpersons
and team members.
Last year students and staff participated in many activities provided by
the Student Union. For example; the Chiang Mai Community Service Trip
(which included putting on a play and helping at a local school),
Mangrove Forest Rehabilitation Project, Halloween Party, Loy Krathong
Festival, Mini Marathon and the Burapha Games.
The AGM started by welcoming all attendees and presenting awards to all
35 former Student Union committee members. This was then followed by the
introduction of the new Student Union representatives.
Fourth year Engineering student and last year’s Student Union vice
president, Mr. Chaiyaporn Hopornsiri (Jai) said, “I have gained a lot of
new experiences through various activities and events. I have also
learned to accept other people’s opinions and to defend my own, to
hopefully arrive at the right balance. The more arguments and
discussions that we have, the better balanced results we achieve.”
Mr. Natchapohol Changsatitwong (Wen), a Taiwanese student from the third
year of the Faculty of Business Administration, was elected the new
Student Union President for 2006-07. He added, “There is more power in a
group of people than in one person. Being part of the Student Union is
taking care of everyone and the university.”
With the excitement of seeing all the new and interesting activities
planned for students at Asian U in the coming twelve months, it is no
wonder that there is an air of excitement from everyone belonging to all
three Faculties: Business, Liberal Arts and Engineering.
Planned events include Loy Krathong festivities, Mr. and Mrs. Asian U
Fantasy Day, a visit to an Elephant project in Chiang Rai, a visit to a
School for the Blind, Valentine’s Day party, and lots more. A balanced
programme of Community service, Social and Sports events is open to all
Asian U students.
President Wen will be supported by two vice presidents: Miss Namwern and
Mr. Nat. All three are third year BBA students.
PILC visits their 35 scholarships children
Some of the children who have
received school uniforms and other school equipment. All children are from
school number 7.
Helle Rantsen
PILC welfare chairperson
I always enjoy visiting the many different PILC projects and today was no
difference. PILC had the opportunity to say hello to their 35 scholarship
kids and visit their school, number 7, which is a very big school in
Pattaya.
PILC have for the past 4 years supported a group of children from very low
income families who would not have had the chance to purchase the necessary
items for school if PILC did not support them. The children are being picked
by members of staff working together with staff from Mercy Centre. The Mercy
Centre has for many years done very important work trying to support the
children from low income families. Not only by finding them sponsors for
their schooling, but also supporting them in their homes with food and
counselling. This is of the utmost importance for them and their families.
There was all sorts of school equipment, beside uniforms and shoes, inside
all of the children's bags and by the look of all the children's faces you
could see just how much they appreciated the support.
After all the bags were handed out it was finally time for lunch. The lunch
had very kindly been donated by Café New Orleans. It was a special treat for
the 35 children and enjoyed by all. It is not every day the children have
two special treats in one day.
Part of the money from the PILC holiday bazaar this year, which took place
on October 7 at Royal Cliff Beach Resort, will be used to support these
children next year when a new school year starts.
The Fobissea Music Festival at Garden International School
7th - 12th November 2006
Principal Richard Hayward;
he’s an impressive man.
by Andrew Watson
 This week’s visit to GIS was particularly delightful. Preparations for
the Fobissea music festival are in full swing and there is a strong
sense of gathering momentum. Excited chatter is all around, most of it
centred on this ambitious undertaking. There comes a time when students
realise that something is actually going to happen; suddenly it’s for
real. With just four weeks to go, panic could set in, if the project
were not in the expert and reassuring hands of Shane O’Shea, Chris
Stokes and the rest of the team.
One quiet, modest, yet vital member of the team is Principal Richard
Hayward, a man of powerful intellect and consummate sartorial splendour,
possessing an evident passion for education. He spoke of the meticulous
attention to detail which has characterised the planning of the festival
and the sense of excitement permeating the school; as well as the sense
of relief he thought he might very well feel, when the festival finally
arrives. Typically, as all leaders of integrity do, he deflected praise
away from himself and on to the team.
“I wonder whether the festival would actually have happened without
Shane being here?” he conjectured. “He works so many hours on the
project, he’s keeping it together ... because of his popularity, the
committee has grown. Sometimes, people don’t want to take on these
tasks, but because he’s a special type of character, with such presence
and energy, colleagues have been almost lining up to help. Not because
they want to be in the limelight; everyone realises that it’s a really
good thing that’s happening.”
Richard exudes the kind of unruffled composure that can only come from
experience of significant project management and an education to match.
I wasn’t in the least surprised to learn that Cambridge had featured in
a journey through life which has taken him around the world. But more of
that in the “Learn to Live to Learn” series, “Act Local, Think Global”
coming up soon.
Richard is clearly acting locally and thinking globally as he revels in
the variety of music which is going to be showcased at the festival;
“We’ve got samba drums, baroque, choirs and rock and that’s because we
want it to be less a conventional show, more a celebration of music,
culture and the arts.”
What, I wondered, does Richard hope the festival will do for the school?
“It’s going to do some obvious things. It’s going to raise the profile
of the school, locally and regionally. It says that we are a big enough
school now to put this on. It’s a high profile event and an important
moment in the history of the school. It’s a milestone in terms of our
maturity.
In the past we might have steered away from this kind of thing, but
we’re ready to take our place now alongside regionally established
schools like Tanglin (in Singapore) and GIS, Kuala Lumpur. Most
importantly, it’s going to be a great experience for the students.”
Richard Hayward; he’s an impressive man.
Watch TV coverage of the unfolding Fobissea festival at GIS every Friday
on PMTV.
For further information, please email music.fest@ gardenrayong.com or
check at the GIS website; www. gardenrayong.com
|
