Holistic, Enriching, Personal, Relational

My favorite part about the Go ED. Mekong program is its holistic nature - the academics were challenging and insightful, we were able to stay both on a small campus and do village home-stays throughout the semester, we engaged with the local community, we had opportunities to do some of the more touristy excursions (like riding elephants, speed-boating around the islands of Phuket, sight-seeing in Bangkok...), we ate delicious food (the program has a wonderful cook!), we had a month-long internship at various organizations, and overall we learned about how God is at work in another culture and how faith plays a role in all the aspects of what we experienced. Go ED. does a wonderful job of making sure the students are taken care of, whether through providing three meals a day, organizing transportation for trips and travel, coordinating visa renewals, etc. There were very few instances where I questioned any kind of safety.

Of course, Thailand is very beautiful. The housing for students is on a fourth story, overlooking the lush rice fields and mountains of northern Thailand - a great view to wake up to in the morning and to watch the sun set in the evening! The weather is fairly hot and humid, which was a little hard to get used to at first due to the fact that most place did not have air conditioning. There is pretty stable internet connection at the house, but it did go out a few times. Cell phones are provided by the program.

The semester is split into three sections - there are two classes for the first 4 weeks, a month long practicum, and then 2 classes to finish out the semester. When classes are in session, it's a little harder to find free time to explore the city, but practicum and breaks in between allow for a lot of time to engage with the communities. There is a nice coffeeshop nearby the house, which is a great place to study (and get great coffee for very cheap - the food and drinks in Thailand are comparatively much cheaper than in the U.S.). We also were able to visit the markets in Chiang Mai pretty frequently, and attended the country-wide lantern festival (in the fall semester)!

The Mekong program is fairly small in size. We had six students when I went, so we all got to know each other very well as we did most things together. Everyone takes the same classes, but we were split up for practicum. I really appreciated the relational aspect of the program - I felt fully supported and was able to build relationships with the Student Life Coordinators, the students, and the local Thai and hill tribe people.