Textbooks are a funny story here. I’m not really sure how the legality works, but I don’t think there are any copyright rules here, or, if there are, they are blatantly ignored. I purchased one textbook in a normal fashion (albeit waaay cheaper than it would’ve been in the states,) but my other textbook is a photo copy of the original book, bound with plastic and with a clear cover. My teacher took me to the copy center to purchase the book for his class (I unsuccessfully tried to go without him, as it’s very hard to ask for a Foundations of Comparative Politics textbook without speaking the language,) and, after giving the copy center his textbook, he told me to come back in a few hours to pick up mine. I come back, grab my new textbook, give the copy center 290 Baht (~$8,) and now I can study. I haven’t looked into Thai copyright laws, but I’m guessing they’re fairly lax if a professor at a public institution encourages photocopying textbooks.
My other textbook, for Thai Language & Culture, is a cheap, small book written by the professor who currently teaches the class. Because the International College at Mahidol is so popular, they created a curriculum to assist foreign students in acclimating to the new culture, and the textbook is a pretty good intro to Thai way of life, complete with cultural tips and basic Thai.
Comparing the cost of these textbooks to those at Northeastern is laughable. I spent, at most, 10% of the cost of one Northeastern textbook on two textbooks here. The professors are pretty lax about the textbooks, and there isn’t as much fuss about having the textbook from day 1, reading x amount of pages every night, or having the most recent edition every year. The teachers post their notes online, and the textbooks are typically supplemental to the class, as opposed to being the backbone of the curriculum.
First impressions of classes. A big one is students wai’ing to teachers. It’s not done all of the time, but it’s very, very typical for a student to say hi or bye to a professor with a wai (bow.) You’d never see that in the states, and I don’t think a professor would know what to do if I bowed to them.
A fairly annoying, for me personally, difference between classrooms in the US and here is the lack of student interaction. The students don’t speak up or share their opinions nearly as much as those in the states, and I really, really enjoy class discussions, especially when the students come from such a radically different background to what I’m used to. This is amplified as a Sociology major, where pretty much everything that I’m learning is based on the understanding of various cultures and demographics, and that learning is very much lessened when you aren’t hearing the opinions of all cultures and demographics. Sometimes the professors are to blame for not encouraging discussion, but, most of the time, the students don’t volunteer any information, and the class discussions are thus very limited.
Another difference between classes here and the States is the lack of homework. For the most part, my classes don’t give me daily homework or assignments. Grades are largely based on midterms, finals, projects, and attendance, and this places almost all of the responsibility on the students to keep up with their studying and ensure that they’re grasping the material. When you don’t have daily checks on your understanding, it becomes easy to slip into not studying at all, and it requires more willpower to stay up to date with classes and study every day (something I need to learn how to do.)
Uniforms are mandatory here, belt buckle, lanyard, and all, and there are signs all around campus that say “wearing uniforms breeds unity” and other chauvinistic buzz-phrases. On almost all classroom doors, it says that you will not be allowed entry if your uniform isn’t perfect. I haven’t really seen this enforced, and it’s very common to see people walking around with non-uniform pants or shirts, but it’s something that you don’t really see much of in the states, at least in my experience.
One aspect of classes that I wasn’t really used to is having a break in the middle. For a couple of my classes, the teacher gives us a 15 minute break half way through the 2 hour class. I’m definitely not complaining, but it isn’t something that I’ve experienced before.
Something else to think about is the setting in which I am taking my classes. Although I’m in Thailand, I’m studying at an international college. I never really thought about that concept, but it’s the exact same thing as an international high school. The style of teaching is changed to fit that mold, which is why they teach in English, and it’s thus much closer to the style of teaching that I’m used to, as opposed to being a class aimed directly at teaching Thai students. I’ve met students in the international college that have been in international schools their entire lives and don’t speak any Thai, and it’s very easy to pick them out of a crowd because of how open and friendly they are. That’s not to say that Thai people aren’t friendly, they’re incredibly friendly and nice, but they’re less likely to make the first move or speak first when compared to people that were raised in a western style of teaching. Because of this, while there are differences in teaching when comparing Mahidol to Northeastern, they’re not as extreme as one may think when comparing a school in Thailand to a school in the US.
Ah, one story that is interesting and completely new to me:
In my comparative politics class, we were discussing Southeast Asian politics, and got to Thailand and began speaking about the monarchy. This discussion was cut short, because, in Thailand, there are rules surrounding the discussion of the royal family. There isn’t complete free speech here, and the students and professor take this very seriously. We had to stop the discussion and change the subject, because the Thai students and the professor didn’t feel comfortable continuing down that line of conversation. I had never experienced that before, and it was a surprise for that to happen in my comparative politics class, as a lack of free speech makes it very difficult to compare politics. I was a bit speechless when it happened, and did not really know how to react after that.
