Some slices of Cultural Life at BU

BU's slogan is *Bangkok University - Creative University*. And from the perspective of arranging cultural events it really is. To be creative throughout everyday education is not an easy matter as the fabrics of society and the institutional approach to education do not change in a trice.

As we well know in our brand-new Innovative Business Services programme at SAMK,  the only way to make the general impression and the workings renew, is to start from the scratch, with truly reformist attitude and commitment even though there are lots of question marks and uncertainty factors. Support from the management is an essential facilitator. Nobody can do it all by oneself, not the mundane pioneers nor the managers only - it needs amazingly much empowered willpower combined with openminded co-operation. And I guess that some of the traditional patterns are useful too ;)

Recently I have attended two really greatly organized cultural events, and some more is to come. At City Campus Gallery there was an exhibition opening week ago. Brand New 2010 introduces exhibitions by Dusadee Huntracul presenting his interesting collages, and Mute Mute, an experimental group to promote creativity and to support artists' survival in this business oriented world. Art360 Project administered by SAMK has pretty much the same objectives but more formal organization.

In the first photo: The two great Art Lovers of BU, President Dr. Mathana and Creative Manager of BU, Petch Osathanugrah, the present owner of BU, an artist himself.

This week I had an opportunity to be in the opening ceremonies of the 1st Bangkok International Student Film Festival at Bangkok Art and Culture Center BACC. Aalto University School of Art and Design had their films screened during the six-day festival. I experienced a funny surprise while watching one of their films: suddenly there was an acquaintance of mine acting on the screen! A former boyfriend of my friend from Tampere! What a small world we are living in...

The opening ceremony was extremely professionally organized - by BU Students and their supervisors. The students get brilliant work experience through both these public events and those ceremonious internal events. So do they get at SAMK too, but the scale is totally different here. As well is the support from sponsors, or more like from co-operative partners, too.

Bangkok Art and Culture Center is situated next to the MBK Shopping Center and is really easy to reach. You can easily spend hours at BACC checking out all those small galleries and boutiques. 

I highly recommend!

Working at BUIC - continued

There has been some alterations in the organizational culture since my colleagues have been at BUIC, obviously due to the change of generation: the present owner, son of the founder of BU is an artist himself. The practical changes can be seen for example in dress code: there is no more jacket suit & tights regulation for female (nor male) teachers. The general guideline is to dress so that it's polite ;) I am mostly wearing a light dress, can you imagine!? Black'n White though as you can see in the picture below.

There are smoking areas around the campus nowadays, but I do not smoke myself during working days. Most of the students wear school uniforms but it is up to the teacher if (s)he requires students dress up like that in class. Academic week used to start on Tuesday and end on Saturday - this summer session is the very first to be conducted in western way, starting on Monday and being off on Saturday and Sunday.

Right now I'm busy with designing the final exams, and, coaching the groups with their final presentations. The colleagues have been surprised to notice that my students pop in to my office and use the possibility for on-demand coaching. As well they ask questions in class, which also amazes some of my local colleagues. The set of 3 x 45 minutes lectures daily should have a break of 10 minutes in between, but I never have it as the kids are queuing to me with their questions. I am utterly (this expression is especially for all my IBS colleagues) pleased and content with this success.

Let's see how it goes next week as the final presentations are to come. I hope I'll have lots of reasons to be delighted with the students and their performance.

After seven weeks I'll be back in IBSness!

Internet connections work - no worries anymore!

Every now and then I get surprised of my addiction to Internet. This week's homesickness attack was highly derived from inoperative online connections at home. Right now I feel childish of it, but that's the way it goes as one is so used to get connected anytime and wherever. Anyway, now the connection works well, and awareness of it is enough - no need to get connected round the clock anymore ;)

On Saturday I had a pampering day from tip to toes: I went to the hairdresser's and foot masage.

Monsieur Toom at one of the MBK's hair salons seemd to be pretty comfortable and confident with my thin and soft hair. As my friends back home know, I am really selective and particular with hairdressers but he managed to please me with a reasonable result.

MBK offers the clients a possibility to have a fish spa which I did not want to experience though it is claimed to be very healthy, refreshing and relaxing. Maybe some other time then. Instead I had a traditional foot massage, really relaxing one too.

All this pampering took nearly six hours, and I was so relaxed after this all (including a tasty late lunch) that had to take BTS Skytrain to home and sleep tight. So, I have come through the homesickness and I am again feeling happy and priviledged to be here!

Feeling homesick? Yes...

Before this I thought that I'd be the last person to be feeling homesick. But now I am, seriously.
I've been figuring out the reasons for that, and the conclusion is

1. The Internet connection at my local home is NOT working properly, so I cannot get connected to my closest people in Finland in the evenings, and I have a feeling of being isolated from my origins. So, my beautiful Mac is nearly useless without the possibility of concrete social networking through Internet.

2. I have been commenting on one thesis of my Finnish student (in English) and it is about experiencing culture shock during exchange period in Asia - so, it's a current issue.

3. My local pillows are uncomfortable and I do not sleep well. Have to fix it soon and purchase more suitable ones.

4. I've set pretty high objectives to my success in teaching & coaching on two courses - and the culture is so different that I cannot do my best.

5. It's so humid and hot outside - and so chilly in the office.

6. I do not get a faintest idea of Thai language... Sawat and some other very common phrases are the only ones to cope with. And I've succeeded only once to pronounce and articulate my home address in Thai to a taxi driver so that he got it... depressing :(

My Thai colleagues and students, who happen to read this: I emphasize that this is totally my problem, not yours, as I should be able to accommodate to your culture instead of trying to change yours.

And, all the readers of my blog should keep in their minds that this is kind of documentation combined with experience based commenting on the issues and phenomenon occurring, and not the Truth - only my way of paying attention to something and experiencing moments my way. And, actually, this at its best can be an interactive way to process my exchange period every time when someone comments on these observations and feelings of mine.

Keep on-line, every now and then. Be my guest! Be interactive! Reciprocity is the most beautiful word of my entire life.

PS. I've received two postcards from Finland and it makes me feel a VIP :) Snail Mail rules! Look at the stamp - only Finns can have such a stamp, I guess.

No Exams, No Teachers....in IBS

I have been working with SAMK Innovative Business Services Degree Programme (IBS) since last autumn in Finland as a bread-and-butter (from the bottom of my heart!), and the on-demand coaching in co-operation with an awesome team of seven pretty much like-minded colleagues, has proved to be my type of educational approach. It is demanding and challenging for both coachees and coaches - lots of work and profound learning experiences without traditional exams.

I love my work at BUIC too, but the exam procedures are not my favourite ones.

To examine two times - Midterm and Final - during the Summer Session is obligatory here at BUIC, and the weight is 60%  of grading. All too much, I think. Most of the students read hardly a few hours for the exam, to memorize essentials skin deep barely until the exam. And, after exam you'll just have to admit in class  that most of the students don't recall or seem to know even the basic stuff anymore.  It's the same all around the world, I guess. That's why I think that exams are very seldom - if ever - worthwhile. It is time-consuming to design dozens of open-ended multiple choice questions, as well as checking the papers. And, unfortunately it is not all that rewarding. This kind of exams don't give a faintest evidence of profound comprehension and ability to apply the learned. But so it goes in working life too often, unfortunately - formalities and formal qualifications are valued above adequacy and aptitude for work and team. 

Right at the moment I am relieved that I have done the exam checking of total 120 papers. The relief may last only a few days as I'll have to prepare the final exams to be submitted to the BUIC Faculty office during next week.

So, after getting all these exam duties done before I'll leave Bangkok, I swear that there will be zero exams in my life in near future, probably never :)

Working at BUIC - an overview

Students are the same everywhere. Are they? Of course there are some similarities as we are talking about Generation Y: they're craving attention in the forms of feedback and guidance after they feel comfortable enough to deal with a new teacher. "Generation Y is willing to trade high pay for fewer billable hours, flexible schedules and a better work/life balance" means in their student days that everything should be enterteining and easy and half-readymade by teacher, and they're living in accordance with their personal schedules, not with the official school timetable. In a way it's the same in Finland too, but Finnish student culture is a bit more punctual.

Added to this, the polychronic concept of time typical for Asian people, we punctual Finnish ones are in serious troubles - easily feeling offended because people do not respect your time and presence the way we are used to. Well, I have tried to change my attitude to cope with this - and pretty well succeeded so far.

Anyway, sometimes it is really frustrating to notice that there is only one or a few students present in the beginning of lecture. Then the others come and go as they wish, and sometimes even the whole group happens to be in class. I do not use such methods as locking the doors because it doesn't suit my democratic and on-demand coaching ideology.

In general, I enjoy my work here at BUIC really much - the students are lovely, and talkative. This experience is a good opportunity for me to learn several things about intercultural communication in practice!

to be continued...

It's hard to be on a holiday-like break - and it's great to be home!

I am more tired than before the Midterm Break - too much fresh air, too much sleeping in Hua Hin. Okey, that's a joke - I was just going to get bored in Hua Hin but otherwise I'm refreshed.

Now I'm back at work and it's Midsummer Eve in Finland. Here there is not a faintest idea for that kind of festivities which is only positive thing: I've never ever been a big fan of Finnish Midsummer traditions of boozing heavily somewhere in remote wilderness by a lake or at some overcrowded festival.

Hua Hin is a small tourist resort town, and after my 5 days' stay I can say: "been there, seen that" but no need to go back there. Somebody told me that Hua Hin is kind of a miniature of Pattaya. Anyway, it was an adequate choice for my relaxing and resting purposes. Night Market offered some aromatic and aesthetic experiences, more visual ones for me, though. For example these roasted bugs and worms are all too much for my not so madventurous taste. The more traditional ones instead make me enjoy Thailand by eating.

 

Hua Hin does not offer too much cultural experiences. I was lucky to stay there during the Hua Hin Jazzfestival, even though it was nothing compared to Pori Jazz (which is on the other hand too commercial and too overcrowded nowadays) by the list of performing artists - they're not worldwide famous but it did not impede the mood because jazz IS jazz.

A short visit to Chopstick Mountain and a monastery there, and approaching the hill from the beach seeing a 20 m high Buddha statue, facing seaward, standing amongst some rocks at the foot of the hill were the highlights. That was the very certain day not having the camera with me.

I decided to take a train back to Bangkok. A 2nd class AC ticket was over twice the bus fare. Hua Hin Railway Station is acclaimed as Thailand's most beautiful train station, and I had plenty of time to scrutinize it as the special express train of mine was over two hours late. The train journey took over 4 hours, and the Not So Very Special Express Train consisted of two cars and was more like a tram. I was the only Farang and people, not even the staff, did not speak English. Anyway, there was pretty cool in the car and I finally had a safe journey.

It was just wonderful to come home! And have a cold shower before hugging the pillows.