If traditional spring break offerings do not appeal to you, ECIR is offering two very different alternatives for spring break:

• Anishinaabeg (Ojibwe) Cultural Engagement Program, Bay Mills Indian (Ojibwe) Community Spring Break Trip :  This cultural engagement and educational program will provide an introduction to the history, language, culture, lifeways,and worldview of our indigenous neighbors. The program will include teachings by Ojibwe elders, cultural knowledge holders, educators, ceremonial leaders, artists, storytellers, drummers, and more.
• Appalachian Service Learning Program, St. Paul, VA Alternative Spring Break Trip:  Spend your break volunteering in a rural mountain community, while participating in cultural experiences to enhance your understanding of the area’s rich history. All of this will take place in the context of a pluralistic, interreligious environment. Participants are encouraged to examine the relationship between spirituality and its relation to service work.

Everyone is welcome to join. To register for either of these, look for the registration form under the Educational Programs tab and select the appropriate program from the drop down menu.

My parents always taught me a belief that is best summarized by author Kalia Yang: “…that we have chosen our lives. That the people who we would become we had inside of us from the beginning, and the people whose worlds we share, whose memories we hold strong inside us, we have always known.” My trip to Thailand this summer taught me this belief.

My first two weeks in Thailand consisted of language and culture courses through the University of Michigan and the remainder of my trip, I was a Summer Undergraduate Foreign Language and Area Studies Fellowship (FLAS) fellow studying intensive Thai in ChiangMai. The FLAS gives undergraduate students the opportunity to participate in modern language study in a summer intensive language program.

The moment I landed on Thai soil, the smell, the hot and humid air, the culture and the people looked unfamiliar to me. As I walked throughout the airport, Thai people were everywhere speaking their beautiful and gentle language. ATMs, bathrooms, restaurants and bookstores signs were written in Thai. I stopped for a moment and asked myself, “Is this a dream or am I really here in Thailand?” I was so excited to be in Thailand but at the same time, I was so afraid of failure and disappointment. Will I disappoint my family and the University of Michigan if I do not well in Thailand? Will the Thais accept me as a Hmong-American? Will I be able to contribute to Thailand and if so, how will I be able to do this? What if I fail everything? These were questions constantly running through my little mind. However, I stayed positive and believed that I should keep an open-mind and learn from every person I would encounter during my journey in Thailand.

During my first two weeks in Thailand from May 5 through 22, I had the opportunity to visit some of Thailand’s most beautiful and ancient provinces: Ayutthaya, Kanchanaburi, Uthai Thani, Sukhothai, ChiangMai, ChiangRai, and Nan. In ChiangMai, ChiangRai and Nan I found myself at home and myself asking “what if?”

In ChiangMai, I visited Doi Suthep, a temple located at the top of a mountain, where I climbed 309 steps to reach the pagodas. During my way up to the 309 steps, I, for the first time, met Hmong people, a little Hmong boy who was eight years old and his little sister who was three years old. I spoke Hmong with the children and it brought so much love to my heart. But I also felt a deep sadness as I realized the children were there to beg for money. I began asking myself what if I was one of these children? Will I, too, be begging for money? What would my life be like?

After visiting ChiangMai, we went to ChiangRai. We visited the Golden Triangle, where we took a boat across the Mekong River, one of the ten largest rivers in the world and where so many lives were lost, to Laos. In Laos, I saw little children begging foreigners for money. My heart melted into small pieces as I watched them cry and walk around asking foreigners for money. I began asking myself again what if I was one of these children? Will my little belly constantly be hungry? Will I be begging or wait for foreigners to hand me their money so I could eat and survive for today? I was not sure but I like to believe that these children will one day get the opportunity to dream beyond that of starvation and survival. I hope they will get the chance to dream about their future aspirations.

Lastly, our last stop was in Nan where I had the opportunity to celebrate the Buddha’s birthday. This was an experience I would never forget. We walked around the temple three times and then had the chance to talk to a head monk and later lit a lantern. Everyone was holding onto the lantern and before we let it go, my Thai teacher said that if we put all our worries into this lantern, it would float away into the sky. As my Thai classmates and I released the lantern from our hands, it flew slowly away, high into the sky, lighting the dark night. It made me feel like I was starting a new beginning and it also gave me the strength to believe in myself that I would not fail.

When my two weeks summer course ended, I went to ChiangMai as a 2011 Summer Foreign Language and Area Studies Fellowship fellow and studied intensive Thai at Payap University. In ChiangMai, I was able to engage with the Thai and ethnic minorities at a temple called Wat Don Chan, a temple school for over 500 highland ethnic minority orphans.

My journey in Thailand could not be explain and express in words. But if it could, it would be found in Michael Jackson’s song “We are the World”. He wrote, “There are people [suffering]. We can’t go on  pretending day by day that someone, somewhere will soon make a change. The world must come together as one.” This song illustrates my journey in Thailand and how Thailand has challenged me to think about my dreams and my duty and my responsibility as a Hmong-American. But of all, this song captures what my parents have always taught me and that is…I have always known from the very beginning who I am.

Volunteer Brunch

Date: Friday, October 28th, 2011

Time: 10:00 AM

The ECIR will be hosting a volunteer brunch to honor past, present, and future volunteers. The special guest speaker for the brunch will be Terry Gallagher.

Global Village Square continues throughout the semester with the following upcoming events!

Oct. 4, Tues. – 6:00pm – Global Village Cafe

Oct. 12, Wed. – 7:00pm – Global Village Lifeways

Oct. 25, Tues. – 7:00pm – Global Village Voices

For details of each event and to view the full Global Village Square Calendar, please visit the main GVS page.

September 24th – 25th

ECIR residents and friends leave on Saturday morning, September 24th to travel to the beautiful YMCA Storer Camp in Jackson, MI. This one night trip is ideal for relaxation and getting to know one another. Activities scheduled may include hiking, a ropes course, a campfire, games, and more. Meals and accomodation are provided.

Cost will be $20 for Current ECIR Residents, and $25 for Non-ECIR residents.

The deadline to register is September 8th.

For more information, contact Rosana Lee  rlee@ecir.org

12:30pm-4:30pm at Island Park in Ann Arbor

Admission is free and all are welcome! Come meet new friends and share in a traditional American picnic with food and games.

It will be co-hosted by ECIR and the U of M International Center.

• Director’s Message
• Dr. Sethuraman’s Nostalgia
• Meet Brandy Li
• Advocating for Service-Learning in Japan
• The Long Stay Home of Motumbo
• How My Parents Met
• Join Us
• Why They Serve
• Redecorating ECIR
• Friendship Without Borders
• Announcements
• Getting Involved