My history with Mukdahan - 2011

While we were in Thailand in 2010, we had other adventures planned and consequently, we did not visit Mukdahan. In 2011 Anchalee's friend Gick, was hired by the Ubon Ratchathani University (UBU) in Mukdahan to lead their international program effort. After Gick was hired, we decided to visit the university in Mukdahan in an official capacity. The goal of our visit was to establish an international faculty/student exchange agreement between Florida State University and UBU Mukdahan campus. Gick arranged a one-day seminar and planned for both Anchalee and I to speak on different topics.

Our hosts drove down to Ubon and collected Anchalee and I at the airport. When we arrived in Mukdahan, our driver said "I have a surprise for you. Look to your right when we turn on to main street." What we saw was a giant billboard with our pictures announcing the conference!

We presented at a one-day conference. Anchalee presented research on intercultural issues, while I focused on new learning technologies. It was quite a day, with many presentations from government leaders, college directors and speakers from UBU.

After our tour was done in Mukdahan, we visited the UBU main campus for a ceremony to acknowledge the cooperative faculty and student exchange agreement between FSU and UBU.

We also took time to visit local colleges, including a trip into Laos to visit an elementary / junior high school in Savannakhét. When I met the children and witnessed the condition of the schools it was obvious that it would be possible to make a big difference for these children if the right opportunity came about. Being awarded a Fulbright scholarship to actually have the opportunity to make a difference has been a stroke of luck -- the opportunity that I had hoped for back in 2011.

When we returned to Bangkok, we went on an excursion to Hua Hin. My wife and I had been there once before, so we were looking forward to seeing how things had changed so many years later. It was surprising to see how much Hua Hin had grown, a favorite for Bangkok Thai. The area has fewer westerners so the less appealing aspects of other beach resorts are not in-your-face or imposing. We remembered the night market as absolutely fabulous, and so it was nice to see how that -- while larger now -- hasn't changed much. Here's a photo that includes my wife, brothers, sisters and parents -- and the extended family  :-)