This year was my first celebration of Thingyan i.e. Water Festival and Myanmar New Year. The festival is a Buddhist celebration, so there are Buddhist elements to fully celebrate the New Year. People will provide offerings of coconut, bananas, water, and other items to monks and Buddha images. The unique aspect of this holiday is … More Water Festival and Lots of it
Before the school closed for Thingyan, we had a celebration. Thingyan, also known as the Water Festival, is the Myanmar New Year. People often celebrate the holiday by throwing water at each other, hence Water Festival, which is especially refreshing because the holiday takes place over the peak of hot season. At school, the students … More Thingyan Celebration at School
For the first two-thirds of my time in Myanmar, I taught Southeast Asian history to grade 7 students and world history to grade 8 students at a private, non-international school. Overall, I taught 4 classes so I had about 70 students in total. I had a lot of flexibility, so I could create my own … More A Semester of Teaching Finishes–Some Thoughts
Kuala Lumpur means muddy confluence, which seems fairly fitting (if you use the second definitions of both words even though this was probably not the intended interpretation) as the city to has a unique culture that’s truly a blend of Malay, Chinese, and Indian cultures. I had a short stay in the city, but had enough … More The Muddy Confluence–Kuala Lumpur
Immediately after landing in Yogyakarta, I could sense the relaxed vibe of the city. The area I stayed in had a backpacker feel, but walking a few blocks away you could escape from the more western oriented restaurants and bars. Visiting in March, it was during the rainy season, which I had not expected so … More Yogyakarta
After some time in Southeast Asia, I was excited to visit Singapore to reap all of its modern amenities. I found the architecture of the skyscrapers throughout the city to be fascinating. Despite the stringent government regulations, I couldn’t help but awe at the transformation that the city has undergone over the past few decades. … More A Step into a Futuristic City–Sinagpore
The Ginger Globetrotter 