From Bhutan
to AIT, Bangkok!
Yes, I come from Bhutan. That small
nation that is ensconced between India and China, and the very one that
introduced the concept of Gross national Happiness to the world. In Bhutan, we
calculate GNH as a measure of the country’s development, and not GDP.
Surprised? I do look like I am from India, or Bangladesh or Nepal. Depends on
how you look at it. We are called the “Lhotshampas” in Bhutan, rather fondly, I
would say, and loosely translates to “one from the southern fringes of the
country”. Well, once upon a time my ancestors came from somewhere and settled
in Bhutan. But me and my family (and my
grandfather before that) are firmly Bhutanese, although we also celebrate Hindu
festivals like the Dasain, along with all the Buddhist ones. You see, in
Bhutan, Hinduism and Buddhism are the two state religions, and English and
Dzongkha are the popular two languages, apart from other vernaculars. Yes,
English, because the education in Bhutan is all conducted in English from the
beginning, which is the official language of communication, along with
Dzongkha.
Well, that’s it for the
introduction. Do let us move to AIT now.
Along with my 18 colleagues
(comprising of Bangladeshi, Myanmarese & Bhutanese nationals), I am doing
my Professional Masters in Banking and Finance here. As far as AIT is concerned, we joined the
institute in January 2013. My student ID says I joined the program officially
on 7th January 2013, although I arrived here only on the 31st
March, with a further wait of another month for my friends from other countries
to arrive, before our course actually started. I graduate in December 2013,
which gives me an effective period of seven months for full-time study, to
complete all the course modules plus a research project.
It seems ironic now, that my first
impression of AIT was of the silence that was prevalent. Yes, it was silent,
very much so. That was so, now I realize, because I landed here at the wrong
time! Everyone was either readying their thesis defenses or studying for their
final exams, except for a few hours of sports in the evenings. Well, that made
us odd men out. No friends to speak of, till the new semester started.
The other impression that I had was
the speed of internet connection available in the rooms. I come from a country
where the net penetrated very late, and the fastest speed, from the recently
popular broadband connection, was at least ten times slower than what we got
here! You see what I mean: a streaming YouTube video playing without buffering
was a novelty to us! And, obviously, we got hooked immediately. It is another
long story that we had to wait for another week to get our student IDs, and
therefore the net connections (despite being “officially” a student since
January).
During the entire month of waiting
for our other colleagues to arrive, we were made to study a “bridging course”.
I have no idea now what the bridge helped us cross, because all we were taught
were how to calculate sums in excel (which most of us were already very
proficient, having worked in a Bank), how to write in English (which I realize
now was an exercise to make use of the abundant time we had at our disposal,
and which I believe, frankly, was not required) and some introductory economics
(which was useful, providing a background for Professor Juthathip’s intensive
lectures later on), which were basically meant to get us used to the classroom-
which we had forgotten for the last 10-15 years. The problem was, the useful
part I mentioned was covered through online materials, which gave us an added
incentive to get hooked more than ever to the internet.
Now AIT seems a little different. I
have made quite a few friends. We see a lot of activities going on. That brings
me to a conundrum: that of being a new student, but neither being
considered “new” (as in having joined in
August of this year), nor “old”, because
we started our studies not in August last year, but May this year! Of course,
thanks to the SU team, that was solved soon enough- at least starting from the
weekend trip. And another one: not being fully considered a part of SOM, since
our classes are always held at AITCC, although our course is coordinated
through the SOM: which meant missing a lot of things there!
On to other things now: As I said
before, we had a quite a bit of time on our hands initially (a month, to be
precise), and with the new found wealth (the allowance for books and research
that our company kindly paid us, apart from the 3-months stipend), we got a lot
of opportunities to visit Bangkok, which was the nearest place to us then,
since we had no idea that the Future Park was nearer. So we went, almost daily,
to Anud Sawari Xaisa Maraphoom by taxi, no less- we were wealthy, you know, and
no one advised us that bus no. 29 & 510 were far cheaper alternatives. And
so we went: and KFC , MacDonalds & Burger King (at the MBK or the Siam
Paragon, obviously) became our regular haunts, not to forget the Asiatic pier,
the Baiyoke tower, the Bobae and the Indian market. Our taste buds are used to
spicy food (spicy meaning lot of chillies, since a dish called ema-datshi,
literally chillies cooked with cheese, is our national dish), and the “spicy”
Thai dishes, which meant sweet (“Hwan”?) were not our kind. So the last minute
realization that we would need some rice & curry cookers, so we could
sometimes- at least at times when we were not too lazy- cook dishes to our own
likings, despite having never cooked before! Cooking in the balcony sometimes
is indeed fun- with people at the badminton court looking up and wondering what
this strange man was cooking, at such odd times. See, the life at AIT begins at
9 pm.
Then the realization that we were
almost done with all our allowances, supposed to last the next three months! You see, Bangkok is such a bargain place, where
everything under the sun is available so very cheap- until we realize, too late,
that the value of things here become twice when we convert to our own currency.
But well... we all learnt the English the Thai shopkeepers knew- four complex
words: Have? No Have! Discount? Cannot, Mistah!
And, thank god for the AIT Dorm rooms,
which we found very tiny when we first came, but which now seem large enough to
accommodate us plus all the junk we purchased at the time, including that funny
sun-hat from Pattaya (we did visit the place anyway), the picture-on-a-plate
from Phuket & Dreamworld, and so on. Who says it doesn’t pay to stay in
campus? It is so cheap after all. I have to just conveniently forget, for now,
the excess baggage when I go back, collected from those shopping jaunts - not
counting the course books (by themselves no less than 15 kgs) although we
hardly refer them now- we prefer uncle Google, who is so very generous in
providing suitable materials, especially when throwing silly questions at
whoever is lecturing to you in class. And the Facebook experience. Don’t let’s talk of that… just rest assured
that I am now blocked from sending friend requests, because I sent too many to
people I saw were in AIT, and someone very kindly answered “No” when it asked
“Do you know Hem outside of Facebook?”. Ha ha, so very funny.
So- the life goes on.
AIT is a huge community- with
scholars from countries that we common people have never heard of, congregating
here. The Sodexo cafeteria is fun- although the food is a tad too sweet, we
like it much better now, thank you. With the added green chillies, of course.
And there is always the SU café, with the deafening noise inside, despite there
being only around 10 people- everyone trying their best to make themselves
heard, and vying for the attention of our homely Aunty at the India counter. Also,
who can forget the coffee at Hom Krun & UFM café. And the Friday nights!
Interesting is hardly the word for it.
Well, this is adaptation now. From sitting
in the office on a revolving chair, commanding people to do your bidding for
the last 10 years, to being a student again. Life is good now, fallen into the
rhythmic pattern of a student’s life. AIT, thank you for the experience. I am
going to miss the ambiance after December 2013. Even though I am counting
backwards to be back home: hok..ha..si..sam..song…..nguen.
Yes, mistah, I lie. Really, I do.
Khop khun khrap.
***
