Day 4: A Trip to Japan

Why do you go away? So that you can come back. So that you can see the place you came from with new eyes and extra colours. ~ Terry Pratchett

On the morning of our penultimate day in Chiang Mai, all the students paid a visit to Chiang Mai University (CMU). There, we were treated to an exclusive lecture about Chiang Mai and the effects of globalization and diversification within the city.

I learned about many different inter-related topics at the same time, ranging from local culture and youth to geopolitical and environmental issues. Not only the lecture was an alarm bell warning me to work hard for the following semester, it was also an interesting experience as I had to make use of my knowledge from many different areas to fully understand the content. The content was a good example of what it meant to receive a humanities-based education, as it concentrated on the broader contexts of a situation and focused on interdisciplinary understanding and mastery.

The most beautiful part of the day came in the afternoon when Pro, our CMU student host, brought us to villages near the rural countryside, nestled high up in the hills. The villages were famous for their sakura-, or cherry blossom, -like trees. Momentarily, our group forgot that we were still in Thailand. It was almost as if the blossoms themselves were enough to teleport us to Japan. According to Pro, it was extremely fortunate that we arrived in Chiang Mai when we did, as these pretty flowers only bloomed in the month of January.

The pink blossoms contrasted amazingly with the striking clear sky.

The flowers brought vibrant colour to an otherwise bitingly cold and grey hilltop. Being a Singaporean, who is so used to seeing greenery wherever I went, the sakuras taught me to appreciate the surrounding flora more. I return home with fresh eyes and newfound thankfulness for the wonderful garden city that I was born in.