Cultural Post 7: Other Culture Projects

[Samuel Benjamin Washburne]

Unfortunately I was only able to make it to 2 of the 3 presenting days but I really enjoyed what I learned.  The presentations on Bangladesh and Thailand were the most fascinating to me because I had never learned anything about either of those places before.  I really liked the presentation on Tea in Bangladesh.  It's pretty amazing how much of a staple it is to their society as well as how little the tea merchants make! (on a side note the word for Tea in Bengali is the exact same word in Turkish, Çay).  I found the politics in Thailand also to be interesting in regards to the region that was presented on.  The people there mostly coming from Laos and speaking Lao but being pressed to learn Thai in school. It's kind of a similar situation to Easter Turkey where there is a Kurdish majority that has its own language, own customs but is still an integral part to Turkish society.  After hearing these presentations, including the one on India, I would really like to travel to Southeast Asia sometime in the near future.  I have always found myself more European oriented in terms of my studies but after studying in Turkey and learning a little about Thailand and Bangladesh, I find myself wanting to continue moving East.