Pre-trip Reflection

Having visited Thailand a couple of times on family trips, I was only exposed to the bright city lights and the busy streets of Bangkok, which was a food and shopping paradise for me. However, I have never travelled out of Bangkok and thus, am unaware of the culture and ways of life outside of it. When I discovered that I would be travelling to Chiang Mai for the USP Overseas trip, I realized how little I knew about it. I merely had the impression that Chiang Mai is a ‘village’ in Thailand that is very much less developed than the side of Thailand I had only seen. However, upon researching more on Chiang Mai, I realized that I indeed had wrong preconceptions, which shows my lack of global awareness. Therefore, having a trip to Chiang Mai would indeed be useful in broadening my perspectives and knowledge about the culture differences and the standards of living there. It was also interesting to find out about the various sides to Chiang Mai online which adds onto my excitement towards this trip. Chiang Mai takes pride in its long and strong history, and its beautiful architectures in the form of Temples. However, at the same time, it is known as a ‘Creative City’ and boasts of an exciting night life. Chiang Mai is a city with a mixture of traditional and modern elements and I am sure that there would be plenty that my group and I can learn from this experience.

At this point in time, we have already completed our Work Plans and it is not far off that we will depart Singapore for Chiang Mai. I am really excited to discover more things I never knew, especially with respect to my OST group’s Healthcare topic on Nutritional Food Labels.  Having this overseas trip would be fulfilling and meaningful in various aspects. Besides obtaining secondary data online on the awareness, understanding and behavioral impact of Nutritional Food Labels in Chiang Mai, I would be able to interact with the locals there personally to obtain primary information. This intercultural exchange enhances my college education as it provides me with an experience I never had before. This trip being my first time in Chiang Mai, everything I would potentially be experiencing is brand new. Conducting interviews and surveys on consumers in Chiang Mai, interacting with the Chiang Mai University students and having the privilege to speak to Doctors and Professors are definitely the highlights of the work to be done. This would help increase my exposure in communicating and interacting with others, allowing me to brush up on my social skills. Furthermore, I believe that through all these new experiences, I would be able to develop a better understanding of the differences in culture and lifestyle that Chiang Mai has as compared to Singapore. Hopefully, we would be able to obtain data to reflect upon the different social, economic or cultural factors that may have affected the Chiang Mai locals’ knowledge and attitude towards nutrition food labels. I would also be able to learn about the different methods of obtaining information and feedback, and documenting them.

As a USP Scholar, this trip would help me in developing myself as I get to learn beyond the classroom and my course of studies. This would serve to benefit me as I grow and learn not only as a student but as a person, allowing me to become more open-minded and sensitive to other cultures. It is definitely a trip filled with learning opportunities, allowing me to step out of my comfort zone to explore and understand Chiang Mai better. There would be challenges along the way like having things turn out opposite of the way we have expected, hence, I believe this experience would help me in becoming more flexible and to adapt quickly to new circumstances, increasing my ability to think critically and independently. Having to write reflective diaries, a personal report and a group report would also allow me to brush up on my writing and reasoning skills, as I learn how to organize all the data collected throughout the trip and possibly come up with my own interpretation towards certain information.

On a personal level, I do have some goals for myself that I would like to achieve at the end of the OST. Firstly, I hope that this trip serves as an opportunity for me to make friends. As I was absent from the USP Camp due to personal reasons, I am unfamiliar with the USP Culture and the other USP Year 1 students. Therefore, I believe that this would be a perfect opportunity for me to acquaint myself with my USP peers and hopefully, make new friends. I also hope to be able learn different skills from them, for example, communication, written, camera-work and video-editing skills. Furthermore, it would be a delight to be able to make new friends with the locals in Chiang Mai, possibly the Chiang Mai university students who are offering their time to help us. Secondly, I would want to gain a deeper understanding of the way of life for the people of Chiang Mai to broaden my global perspective by engaging with the new environment and people. I hope that I would be able to overcome my nerves and my relatively shy personality when it comes to strangers, to reach out to the locals. Furthermore, I hope that I would be able to immerse myself in the culture and history of Chiang Mai even with the research as priority.  Also, I would love to be able to do some touristy activities like visiting the Temple, the night market and doing some shopping along the way. Last but not least, the most important achievement to me would be that I would be able to make the most of this trip so that my group and I can produce a deliverable that all of us find satisfactory.