The end is the beginning of something new.
Although Joshua’s journey has come to an end, he will face new experience back
in Bali and also in the Netherlands when he flies there in September. But
first, let’s read his activities in his last week in Thailand.
It Is Just the Beginning…
It is
unbelievable how time flies. Having “resided” in Thailand for about 10 weeks
for a Grand Tour, the journey has finally come to an end. You may be wondering:
If this ends, then why the title says “the beginning”? Such a contrary indeed,
but this is true as I am embarking upon new journey in Bali again for my second
year’s last Module and eventually, The Netherlands next academic year! For me,
this year is probably the most exciting one as by the end of this year, I will
have both the opportunity to study abroad and travel to the other parts of the
world. Moreover, I believe that many more opportunities await…
Is it a
farewell? Well, it is not certainly true since I will see many of my Grand Tour
colleagues again in Bali or Leeuwarden. On the other hand, of course, it is so
sad leaving a great country like Thailand where people are so friendly and
respectful despite of the language barrier sometimes. Furthermore, I will
surely miss Stenden Rangsit University and the faculty who has been so helpful
as well as supportive throughout my intensive International Business
Communication (or Spanish) Module. I really hope that I could still keep in
touch with them and of course, with my classmates.
My last
week in Thailand does not mean I mostly waste my time by chilling or just going
out. Instead, this week was actually my Exam Week. Luckily, I only had two
exams on Monday and Wednesday so I could spend the rest of the days with my friends before departure. On the other hand, I
cannot experience the Thai New Year called Songkran Festival from 13 April to
15 April as I would already leave Thailand by then. On this occasion, everyone
gets wet as people on the road will splash you with water. This action
symbolises one’s purification in the New Year. It is likely to be the biggest
(water) celebration in Thailand. Nevertheless, I would like to wish all Thai
people a happy Songkran Festival!
Although
a farewell dinner has been organised last week – which was a blast for sure – I
filled up my last two days by hanging out with my friends in Dream World
Rangsit, a well-known theme park in Thailand and going for a day trip to
Ayutthaya, former capital of Siamese Kingdom.
In
Dream World, there is “Snow Town”, which is an indoor artificial icy park where
you can play snow sledge in this -5.5oC “town”. It is such a weird
feeling to be freezing inside but extremely hot outside. Anyway, I think it was
a well-spent time with my friends by getting drenched of “Giant Splash” or sick
of “Viking” and “Tornado” rides.
I also gained another insight into Thailand by
visiting Ayutthaya. From Rangsit, the city can be reached within less than half
an hour by train. Guess what! After three months not riding my scooter in Bali,
I get the chance to ride it again to get around the city since this is probably
a cheaper alternative compared to renting a tuk-tuk. Thank to the traffic in
Ayutthaya that is not as bad as Bangkok as well as GPS technology (of course),
my friends and I managed to “survive” to see different ruins of temples. To be
honest, I really like the city layout since it is much organised even though
three different rivers lock the land. Various historical Buddhist artefacts can
be found here due to its history being the capital of Siamese Kingdom. Ayutthaya
is probably 360o the other way around than Bangkok as it is peaceful
and a little bit quiet even in daytime.
Lastly, I am super glad that I have decided to do my
Grand Tour in Thailand. In general, I would say this is the best decision and
the perfect moment since this Module does not really have a lot of assignments
or exams to be done. In other words, there were more travelling and leisure
chances for me to explore the country, the culture and the people. In my
opinion, Grand Tour offers you a win-win situation to continue your studies
without any delay besides travelling abroad. So, why don’t you join Stenden and
go for a Grand Tour in other Stenden campus sites? You will never forget this
one-time, wonderful experience for sure!
Quoting from Sita Villa Facebook’s comment on my
farewell post “Choke Dee, La Gorn”
that literally means “Good luck and goodbye!” in Thai, I think it is also the
time for me to say the same thing to Thailand, the Land of Smiles. Surely, you
will be missed a lot!
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