It's been a while!

Hello everyone. I know it’s been a while since the last post, so here goes!

Since the last time I wrote some exciting stuff has been going on here in Hua Hin. We’ll start off with the stuff that concerns school. We started a new course as I mentioned last time called CSR(corporate social responsibility) which has been a very interesting experience. It sure made everyone think once or twice extra about what their everyday choices are and how responsible those choices actually are. Since the last post we’ve had more lectures and also had the time to take a bit of a deeper dive into a case study of our choice. The case study is part of the grading for the course and it is due this Friday. I chose to write about a telecommunications company in Malaysia called DiGi and how they were struggling with their CO2 emissions. I never actually realised that telecommunication companies had such high CO2 emissions, but after doing the case study I realised that there is a major impact and a huge CO2 footprint from such companies.
The remainder of the lectures in CSR were all interesting and necessary to be able to get a grasp of how large an area CSR actually covers. Most people were quite stunned at how much work has to go in to an organisation’s efforts if they are to be successful in implementing CSR into the organisation.

7/11 is supposed to be really good when it comes to logistics, I rest my case.

On Monday we had a presentation for our logistics group work that went really well, we got some good feedback about what a presentation really is about and so forth that we are sure to take with us when doing future presentations. On Monday we have an exam in logistics as well and that will be the end of that course. It’s been quite useful to do the group work because the work that has gone in to the report and the presentation are all stuff that surely will help us get through the exam. So this week people are all about studying for the exam and not a whole lot is really going on, but it’s the same when you’re back in Sweden, a week before the exam people tend to go into isolation.

The most exciting bit about school is the field trip we’re planning in the CSR course. In late march we’re all flying to Cambodia to visit a few of IKEA’s suppliers which will offer a really good opportunity to take the theoretical knowledge from the lectures and compare it to reality. The trip also offers a good chance to see the capital of Cambodia, Phnom Penh and a good portion of the class will be flying out on the 26^th of march and then have a few days before the school work actually starts in the morning of the 29^th.

Alright, that is the school update for you.. As you can tell we’ve been quite busy with school, a lote more than when January turned into February. Keep an eye out for the update about my adventures biking around Phetchaburi and scuba diving in Koh Tao!

Until then, peace out!

 // Sebbe

School in Hua Hin

So, I promised you an update about school in Hua Hin and it’s time to deliver on that promise!

The past two weeks have been busier than the first couple of weeks in Thailand for sure. Most of the groups have started on their logistics projects and have gotten a fair bit underway. We’re doing a case study on a fictive company called Steelglove Ltd and if you’ve done an engineering degree in Sweden it’s likely that you’ve done the same case study. It is actually rather tricky, but I like how it challenges us in finding knowledge that we don’t have. My group is probably sort of half way through the process of completing the project and we aim to finish it off this week. I’ll get back to you and update you further on the process of how we’re doing.

The most interesting bit about school over the last few weeks is that we’ve started a new course, Corporate Social Responsibility, CSR. It is hard to define CSR in a short and concise way but it is the study and methodology of how companies work to make sure their business is ethical, environmentally and socially sustainable. It deals with human rights, labour practices, environmental issues and so on. This is the course that I have been looking forward to the most since I started the IBE programme, hence I had high expectations on the course. So far we’ve only done two days of CSR, but during those two days I don’t think that it left anyone untouched. A few people have already said that “I want to work with CSR when I graduate.”. The course is headed by a Richard Welford who is the chairman and founder of CSR Asia, one of the biggest CSR consultancy businesses in the Asia Pacific region. Richard was a really good lecturer and super inspiring to listen to.

The CSR course will include a field trip later on in the course which most of us are really looking forward to. It is not yet confirmed where it will go or the exact dates, but preliminary info points to that we will be going to Cambodia to visit a factory in late march. Super exciting stuff!

When it comes to exams we will have the logistics exam on the 1^st of March and the presentation for the project on the 2^nd of March.

Alright, for now, peace out!

// Sebbe

AIT Campus

While I’m waiting for the next funny thing to happen here I thought I write some things about our lovely campus here at AIT.  As I already mentioned we have a lot of possibilities to do sports. Two bigger shops were you can buy fresh fruit, snacks and other useful stuff for your dorm. I usually buy breakfast, like eggs and choco pops thereJ

There are also many different kinds of restaurants. Indian, Vietnamese, Thai and then we have the SU café which provides all sorts of different meals. There are also three or four different cafes where you can have what we in Sweden call “fika”. The best of them is Hon Krum but it is fair enough a bit more expensive than the other ones.

There are also laundry service, dry cleaning, travel agency, hair salon and a massage place on campus so you can easily get stuff fixed here. The facilities when it comes to classrooms and such are in good quality. Equipment that works and a lot of friendly staff helping us with different kind of problems.

Right now I am studying for our midterm exam in Business Economics tomorrow. I hope it will be fine, and afterwards I´m going to Bangkok for an event that will be a lot of fun.

You can see some pictures of campus on http://www.campusbangkok.se/ - there is a link here.  

Pilip   

Results from exams and final coming up in Tug of war

Got my results back from our two first courses this week, it was in Logistics and Design of experiments. I passed both of them and even managed to get good gradesJ I am proud of myself right now haha!

So after another Bangkok weekend I'm back at AIT. Everything is as usual except for the heat. It is extremely hot here today. Morning class in business economics and then went home to use that knowledge to buy stocks for my future fortune haha after sitting a couple of hours I really feel like going for a run and get rid of some energy.

We played football yesterday also, an easy 4-0 victory against some young British guys. After the game I went to see Chelsea-Manchester city and it was a wonderful performance by the bluesJ

Tomorrow is the Tug of war final and I just saw that we are going to meet Portugal again! They had a little bit of a struggle against Pakistan in the semi final but they still won 2-0. So we really have to be ready for a tough fight tomorrow, and I'm really looking forward to it. Hope all spectators will cheer for the Vikings and push us even moreJ Tell you the result as soon as I can!

Pilip

First loss and a nice night out

The midterm in Thai economy felt ok but I don’t really know if I had my focus on the right things. Anyway it felt like I understood the questions and could answer them quite fine. After the exam I just sat quiet with my computer the whole evening, I was so tired.

Saturday was as said match day, me and Daniel woke up and went to have breakfast on campus. The regular place I usually go to was closed so I just found a disgusting sandwich and bad coffee. This day didn’t start in the way I wanted. I had the same feeling after the game this time. After a loss 4-3 and the referee taking away two goals from us by calling bad offsides. To get myself to think about other things I had a couple of beers afterwards and it was quick to forget.

Then a long night out startedJ First went for pub food at Londoners pub and couple of pints. Then for my first time in Bangkok we visited the party street RCA, a really cool place. Many nice nightclubs and a lot of new people to meet. After drinking some whisky-soda we finished off in the nightclub Narz with some dancing. Overall a really good night but now its time for me to cut down on my alcohol consumption, it has been too much these last couple of weeksJ

The Thai sentence of the day is Chan cha pai and means I am going to… Good things to use in the taxis which you use frequently here.

My schedule this week is only three classes and one presentation to take care of in Thai economy. I think it will be a good week.

Pilip   

Logistics exam and Bangkok

This week has been kind of hectic. On Thursday we had the logistics exam which I hope was alright! After that we went to Huntsman pub for the third networking meeting with the Scandinavian society here in Bangkok. It was a lot of people and so much fun speaking and sharing stories with them. Friday was only afternoon class in political thai economy and then just relaxing in our houseJ really needed that.

Saturday was matchday with football and this time we managed to play a good game. Final score 5-0 win!! The weather is crazy right now. Its so hot you don’t even want to be outside and this is just the beginning, all Thai people I meet only says “ yeah, wait until April” haha. After the game me and Daniel went to a pub, watched some football and had a pint.

If we go back to the Thai lesson I guess I should continue teaching to count to ten. 2 - song
3 - sam
4 - si
5 - ha

Also I should tell you about a cultural crash I just came to understandJ In Sweden its very common to hug friends doesn’t matter which gender. But here if you meet a girl and just hang out you cannot hug her good bye, hugging and kissing is when you have a relationship here. Good to know when you come hereJ

This week I´m preparing for midterm in Thai economy and I will try to focus on things I forgot to do this last couple of weeks. Just got a picture on my mail, do you think this is true? J

See you

Pilip

Chatuchak – Weekend market

After a week of studies and more studies it was very nice that the weekend came! Friday was very slow and I just attended class and saw a film that me and Daniel bought at MBK, the big shopping mall, two weeks ago.

Then Saturday came and I had planned with an Austrian friend named Chris that we were going to check the “famous” weekend market out. We went there with the Thammasat minivans again and had a really nice day! There were so many shops and stuff to check though so I am so exhausted now. I promise you, that market had everything you will ever need. From earrings to lampsJ  there was a lot of nice clothing shops as well but to bad for me nothing fit me today haha I am too big for this country. I guess I have to go to a tailor and fix all my clothes when I need something. We had some really good dinner at the market and when night came we realized that it would be a nice place to have a pre-party at. Tomorrow Chris is going back to Austria for some work so we said we´re going to do it when he gets backJ. When you come to Thailand you have to go to this market, it is something you won’t forget.

I´m playing football with the Vikings tomorrow again so I need to rest now! Ciao

Pilip     

Another of the most amazing weekends ever!

The weekend started after my political Thai economy class which is my elective course here at AIT. I went home and quickly changed because I was going in to Bangkok for a dinner. I took the Thamasat van in to Mo Chit which is the closest sky-train stop. It costs 30 baht which is around 6 Swedish kronor  and actually really comfortable! The dinner was the best I had in Thailand so far, we were sitting in a garden by a really trendy house and they served like international Thai-food. I had something called Shanghai noodles and it was great. I think it will be to hard to explain where the restaurant is located but it was close to Sukhumvit road which off course is very large;)

Saturday and Sunday was all about the football and golf tournament. First time I met the guys playing in Scandinavian Vikings and they were really cool guys. Of course we won the game by 5-0 and one of the guys scored two amazing goals, one directly on a corner kick. The golf was also a Scandinavian tournament with people from Denmark, Sweden, Norway, Thailand and I think someone from Island but I’m not sure. I played with three Danish guys and one Thai girl and it was so much fun, even though I played like crap! The end of Sunday night was drinking whisky/soda to celebrate a good dayJ.

Monday came and we were back to school, this time with a new professor. Jonas Stray is his name and so far he has shown us some really good teaching skills by the blackboard. Also a very nice guy having a conversation with.

The Team

After class a few of us had signed up to play football for the president team in some sort of AIT sports event. Said - the president of AIT - had managed to recruit some real talent and we were ready for a tough game against the student team. It ended 2-2 but we won on a penalty shootout which by the way consisted of nine penalties and only three of them went in J haha.

This week two things that I know will happen is the Chinese new year and the second time of Swedish networking in Bangkok!

I´ll be back.

Pilip