Heading into this study abroad experience, I expected that we would simply go to local businesses, eat some local food, and go about our days abroad just as normal tourists would. However, since Day 1 of my CSR 490 trip directed by James Reinnoldt, my expectations were completely flipped upside down, and my experience in Southeast became much more meaningful than I could have ever imagined.
As a first-gen American-born Filipina, I’ve always tried to and have been immersed in my culture. Whether it be talking with family abroad, visiting local Filipino restaurants and stores, or even just speaking the language, I have always been somewhat immersed in my Southeast Asian culture. Especially when I traveled there at a young age, and got to experience how my family lived in the provinces of Pangasinan.
The biggest thing that I wasn’t expecting to have on this trip was the feeling of familiarity. Right when we landed in the heart of Bangkok, Thailand, I felt a sense of belonging that I hadn’t felt in a long time, and that feeling echoed even louder when visiting Siem Reap, Cambodia, for the first time. The people and environments in all these areas had a profoundly positive impact on my experience, and their hard work and dedication to their crafts, as well as their efforts to support their families, reminded me of my family back home.
Thailand was a beautiful experience to say the least. The first thing I noticed when walking through the streets of Bangkok was how rich the culture was. Throughout the various buildings and motifs, you can notice the beautiful architecture, buddhas, and spirit houses that surround many buildings that are very important to their Buddhist culture. These elements were even bigger and more beautiful when our group visited the Royal Palace Grounds in the Rattanakosin Area.
Along with that, many of the locals that my peers and I met and interacted with throughout the trip were some of the nicest people you will ever meet. Whether it was street vendors that we met across the street from our hotel, workers in corporate offices, founders of NGO’s, and all of our local tour guides, they were all willing to try to have a conversation and create a genuine connection with one another.
Throughout the trip, our professor wanted us to focus on the topic of gratitude and giving back. These values especially kicked in when we visited the NGO called LPN. LPN stands for the Labour Protection Network and is a foundation that was founded to help trafficked workers and individuals from various surrounding countries find a sense of belonging and peace after being put through inhumane and treacherous work conditions. During this visit, we were able to hear from multiple men about their experiences being trafficked at sea or in construction zones, with some of them even having their arms amputated. Their stories of how they had to work 24-hour shifts while being drugged, and losing their families and past lives along with that, made everyone in our group feel shock and a level of gratitude for our lives in America that we have never felt before. Being able to donate to their charity and being able to talk with some of the men affected by the trafficking was an experience that I will never forget and will forever cherish. You can find more information about their cause at the link here: https://www.lpnfoundation.org/
Ever since that day, gratitude became a huge factor in how I was experiencing the trip. Being able to visit the country in general and having the opportunity to meet all these wonderful people was something that I realized I shouldn’t be taking for granted. I especially felt more gratitude when our group traveled to Southern Thailand, where we had a long beach walk to our beachside dinner. The beautiful sun glistening on the sandy beaches of Khao Lak was something that I needed to reflect on and meditate on how grateful I was to be there. A huge fact that kept running through my mind was that my family gave up their lives in Southeast Asia to start anew in America, and realizing that I was able to return there to study and learn feels like a powerful, full-circle moment that I’m truly grateful for.
In Cambodia, these feelings of community and gratitude were amplified even more when staying in the city of Siem Reap. Upon arriving in Cambodia, I didn’t know much about the language, how their communities run, or even that they use USD currency. But once we landed in the area, everything seemed more familiar and similar to how the Philippines is. Similar to Thailand, the people were also very genuine and wanted to make connections as well. The smaller and more rural cities, the people working day and night in the markets, and even the more rural village areas, all reminded me of where my family is from. I felt this familiar feeling, especially when we visited a local village where the organization Husk, with whom we were doing our Cambodia trip, had its school. During our visits there, we got to play soccer and tag with the local kids, teach English to them, and we even got to visit a water well that our program donated with some of our tuition for a family of 15+ that didn’t have access to clean water. After all this, we were able to thank every single one of them for letting us visit their homes and communities and for being able to witness their lives in Cambodia.
During these village visits, especially, is when I realized that this area was super similar to how my family lived in the Philippines. I vaguely remember also seeing the water wells being pumped for my family just to shower, rice fields galore surrounding the homes in the provinces, and the multi-generational family homes being built from slabs of wood and concrete that weren’t air-conditioned and sometimes not even properly built. This part of the trip in Cambodia made me feel a feeling of gratitude not only for the people we were able to talk to and visit, but for my family as well, who worked so hard to get to where they are in America today.
All in all, this trip to Thailand and Cambodia has been so much more than just an academic study abroad. It’s been a journey of rediscovery, gratitude, and connection. From hearing the powerful stories of resilience at LPN in Bangkok to playing with children in the villages of Siem Reap, every moment reminded me of the sacrifices my own family made and the strength that continues to live within Southeast Asian communities. What started as an expectation of simply traveling and sightseeing became an experience that reconnected me with my roots and deepened my understanding of what it means to belong. I leave this experience not only with cherished memories that I will never forget, but also with a renewed sense of responsibility to honor those sacrifices through gratitude, compassion, and giving back, both at home and abroad. I’d like to thank James Reinnoldt for organizing this trip, as well as some of the locals I met who exchanged their stories and had so much ambition to teach my peers and I about their countries and cultures.
Kap Khun Ka and Arkun Study Abroad!
