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Karina Sahagian If there were a theme to describe my experiences here in Bangkok thus far, I think that term would be tension. It is so odd to me to see the people, architecture and even the way of life here is now consistently in a state of change--but it may just be the outsiders, the influencers, who are resisting the modern and Western influences. Something about it makes me very uneasy, and I don't really know how to process it. Are these influences positive for these people? This unease that I speak of was seen at the various wats (temples) that we saw today, as well as through the architecture throughout Bangkok and its outlying areas and it seems to be the theme in everything I have experienced in the 48 hours I have been here. The East and the West coexisting is interesting to see: the old man sweeping with an old-style Thai broom wearing a Chicago Bears tee-shirt; the shack on the water, falling apart, covered in rubbish, with a huge "The Perfect Storm" movie poster on the front porch; the white Georgian-style mansion with its winding veranda and slow-moving fans in the Summer Palace, next to the ancient temple painted in bright yellow colors, its roof swirling up to the sky. The more difficult for me is the old existing with the modern: The young monk accepting donations while playing a game on his cell phone; the old monk chanting prayer requests sitting next to a fax machine inside the most beautiful temple I've seen yet, or the ruins of 700-year-old-temples that must be fenced off with a chain-link-fence because of the traffic. It bothered me for a while until I was reminded of my American heritage... and the fact that we are a mere 200 years old; we haven't grown accustomed to living among history. We are a nation of immigrants, but confine our influences to neighborhoods and "towns." We haven't learned to coexist in this way and I doubt that we ever will. Thailand has mastered these two concepts, and perhaps this comes from years of practice. I admire them for this, and I am honored to be an observer taking it all in, and feeling the unease makes it that much more memorable. Lars Olson, '04 Today we began with a sky train ride (the sky train is Bangkok's elevated train) to the U.S. Consulate. Riding the sky train is quite fun because one is able to look out and see the city from up high. On our ride we passed over large green parks and under bright shiny new skyscrapers. At the Consulate we met with three different speakers (whose names I have forgotten, unfortunately). The first gentleman spoke to us of his work in the cultural exchange office. He works to foster understanding between the United States and Thailand . Some of the ways this is done is through various exchange programs (e.g. Fulbright) and through music and the arts (bringing jazz musicians to Bangkok ). Our second presentation was from a foreign officer who worked on the economic side of things. He was very knowledgeable about current macroeconomic trends and explained U.S. views towards Thai policy. Our final speaker was from the political office of the embassy. She told us about the United States' relationship with the current Thai Prime Minister, Taksin, and also talked about some of the human rights challenges with in Southeast Asia . We finished up about noon and the business group split off to attend a meeting at the American Chamber of commerce in Bangkok , which I heard was quite interesting. The rest of us had the afternoon free and so we all spent it different ways. Some people went to check out a Thai shopping center, others went to wander around in the neighborhoods near the Palace, and some went to the Jim Thompson house to buy fine Thai silks, just to name a few. We reconvened at 6:30 to discuss cross cultural issues and since then we have all been on our own for dinner. It is hard to write a summary of what we did today, since everybody sort of went their own way, but I think we all enjoyed the chance to go to the areas of Bangkok that interested us personally.
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