Pre-Departure Meeting #1 - Thailand Classes

Today we had our first Thailand pre-departure meeting!  Both of the Cal Poly professors that are going on the trip were there and they talked a little bit about the classes they are going to be teaching abroad.  I will be taking three, four-unit classes, all taught Professor Daniel Levi.  Here is an overview of the classes I will be taking:

Humanities 310 - Humanities in World Cultures (4 units)
~ This class covers my General Education area C4
~ Everyone going on the Thailand Study Abroad trip will take this course
~ Most of the class will consist of Thai language courses and guest lecturers
~ To complete the writing requirement for the class, we will write four, short papers about four of the places we will be visiting

Psychology 311 - Environmental Psychology (4 units)
~ This class will be used towards my Child Development/Psychology Emphasis
~ We will be using the third edition of the textbook Cross-Cultural Psychology by Eric Shiraev and David Levy 
~ We will be having a lot of discussions about the differences and similarities between the types of environments we will be experiencing in Thailand
~ Our final assignment will a project/essay about the differences between American culture and Thai culture

Psychology 350 - Group Dynamics for Teams (4 units)
~ This class will be used towards my Child Development/Psychology Emphasis
~  We will be using the textbook Group Dynamics for Teams by Daniel Levi
~  Our final assignment will be a surprise, but he said that it would be about someone going on the trip and that was the only clue he gave us





We have another pre-departure meeting this Thursday, March 25th so I will have more information to share with you after that as well.  Until next time!

Michelle <3

I have my airline tickets!

A few weeks ago my parents let me purchase my airline tickets for Thailand and they arrived in the mail so I got to see them last weekend when I went home.  I am flying over with two other girls going on the Thailand Study Abroad trip.  This is our flight path:

Friday, March 26th

- Depart San Francisco 9pm
- Arrive in Los Angeles 10:30pm

Saturday, March 27th

- Depart Los Angeles 12:30am 

Sunday, March 28th
- Arrive in Taipei, Taiwan 6:00am
- Depart Taipei, Taiwan 9:45am
- Arrive in Chiang Mai, Thailand 1:00pm

The three of us are also flying back together after the program ends.  Here is our flight path:

Sunday, May 23rd
- Depart Bangkok 5pm
- Arrive in Taipei, Taiwan 9:45am
- Depart Taipei, Taiwan 11am
- Arrive in San Francisco, 7:30pm

It will be nice that the flight back will have less stops, and because of the time changes it will only take one day to fly back, but it will feel like the longest day ever!

Michelle <3

I am going to Thailand!!

Hello everyone and welcome to my Thailand adventures blog!  As you know or are finding out, I will be studying abroad in Thailand this Spring.  It is an eight-week program running from March 28th-May 22nd and we will be staying mainly in Chiang Mai and Bangkok.   There are about 35 other Cal Poly students and two Cal Poly professors going on the trip as well.  A lot of things are still in the works such as our detailed itinerary, flights, and packing instructions so I will update you as I find things out.  For information about the program, click on this link to go to the Cal Poly Thailand Study Abroad website.  I hope you will continue to follow my blog and share this great adventure with me!

Michelle <3 

This is a map of Thailand where I have drawn in an overview of the places we will be staying.  The order is Chiang Mai, Sukhothai, Bangkok, and Ayutthaya.  I got this information from "Program Dates & Itinerary" on the Cal Poly Thai Study website (see above link).