Study Abroad in Phuket, Thailand (Prince of Songkla University)

Why did you decide to go abroad with your provider?

Dorothea: When I decided to go abroad it was already November and I could just graduate and go with my Master’s. But I decided to do something different.

I was too late for all deadlines. I didn’t have a lot of money and I just started to google “cheap semester abroad in Asia”. Some friends had just come back from their backpacking tour in Asia and made me all excited about the cultures, food and affordable prices. After going through some organizations I found the website from Asia Exchange.

I read some of the students’ reports and blogs and became more and more convinced that Asia must be an awesome place.

The tuition fees were pretty low comparing to American or Australian universities’ fees and the deadline for Thailand was still a week ahead. The people from Asia Exchange answered my questions via email in a day and were very supportive during the whole process.

Describe your program socially and academically.

Dorothea: We international students hung out a lot because we were living in the same small local village named Kathu. We met for pool parties after school, drove to some beaches, explored different local restaurants but also studied for exams together.

During the classes we met at our favorite restaurant for lunch. The courses at the universities were ranged from "okay" to even better than in my home university. Like everywhere else, it depends mostly on the professor, but most of mine came from international backgrounds and really made the lectures interesting.

It didn’t seem as stressful as it had been sometimes in Germany even though we had a lot of workload. But I enjoyed the perfect Work-Life-Balance while writing my essays next to my own pool!

What was the best place you visited outside of your home-base city?

Dorothea: There were so many awesome places I have been to during my studies so it is hard to say which one was the best. But I think there were two outstanding places I have to mention.

The first one were the Similan Islands. We went with a group of students to the beautiful islands in the Andaman Sea. Never have I ever seen such beautiful water. We spend a night in tents, enjoyed the abandoned beaches, swam with turtles and went out for awesome snorkeling trips.

The other place was near to Hatyai. Some of us were visiting our Thai Buddys’ families in southern Thailand and we went with them to a beautiful lake. It was huge that there were just lotus flowers as far as you could see. We made a boat tour through the lotus, saw some celebrity and enjoyed the nature, the fishermen and the silence. It was a different world.

How has this experience impacted your future?

Dorothea: During my studies I learned not only about the Thai culture but also about the cultures of the other international students. It was interesting and sometimes funny to see how different everyone behaved.

Also, I was shocked by the different goals the Thais and we Europeans set ourselves with our university degree. I noticed that it is so important to really ask yourself what you want from life. We sometimes forget to enjoy the little things and are stressed out by trying to run through our university program as fast as possible.

I decided to work a year before I would start my post graduate degree. Therefore, I was happy to find an internship position at Asia Exchange. Now I can live and work in Finland for a bit and encourage students to do their semester abroad and to actually start to think out of the box and not just talking about doing it.

What does the future hold for Asia Exchange - any exciting new programs to share?

Emma: I’m delighted to be working with a company that is always moving forward. Our team is young but the freshness translates into creative and energetic work environment.

We were extremely excited to open a new study destination in the Indonesian island of Lombok in the spring 2016. The place is a paradise and the university of high quality. We are so much looking forward to a cooperation with them! There are even more exciting news to come, as it looks like we are able to open two new destinations in the very near future. That helps us to a whole new country as well, so we can’t wait to be honest!

What about the future of the industry? How do you think intern abroad and international education will change over the next 10 years?

Emma: This position is my first job out of college and I got it because I had experience of living and studying in different countries, and the language skills to match. The job industries of the future are only going to become more and more unpredictable and traditional work experience doesn’t always cut it anymore.

I would encourage all students to learn languages, take risks, network with people from different countries and, most of all, learn to jump out of your comfort zone because whatever you do, you need those skills and that confidence.

What was your favorite traveling experience?

Emma: My favorite traveling experience was going to Seoul, South Korea, with my cousins who are half Finnish, half Korean. I have always loved Korean food and pretty much bought my flights to Seoul because of the deliciousness awaiting, but Seoul and Korea was so much more than I ever imagined. If I could go on a study abroad semester again I would absolutely go to Korea.

What unique qualities does your company possess?

Emma: Everyone who works for Asia Exchange is really excited about what we are doing and sometimes it’s hard to slow down when you feel like there is so much untapped potential and opportunities we want to open up for our students.

What is the best story you've heard from a return student?

Emma: Well, my two bosses and co-founders at Asia Exchange are former exchange students in Asia and they both found their future wives during their time in Asia. It seems to be something of an endemic; I, too, found my fiancé during an exchange abroad.