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Jan. 14, 2025
What's It Like Being An Exchange Student in Thailand? [S7.E53]
![What's It Like Being An Exchange Student in Thailand? [S7.E53]](https://getpodpage.com/image_transform_gate_v3/0sCEnF9R6qwSO8PESfIuyrQJ3l9tW6TnNdMKVx3xgTY=/?image_url=https%3A%2F%2Fstatic.libsyn.com%2Fp%2Fassets%2F1%2F9%2Fe%2F7%2F19e7f568fc4f701c16c3140a3186d450%2FBKP7_EP_LOGO_53_big.jpg&w=1200&h=630&fill=blur "What's It Like Being An Exchange Student in Thailand? [S7.E53]"){kind=logo}
Greg interviews our new friend Jannik Hiller about his experience as an exchange student in Thailand. Jannik explains that while a university student, he decided he wanted to do an exchange year in a country completely different from his native...
Greg interviews our new friend Jannik Hiller about his experience as an exchange student in Thailand. Jannik explains that while a university student, he decided he wanted to do an exchange year in a country completely different from his native Germany, so he settled on Thailand, despite never having been here before.
Greg wonders about the quality of education in Thailand versus Germany, and Jannik explains that he was willing to sacrifice some academic quality just for the experience of traveling and living in a foreign land. Jannik then recounts his first month in the country, getting ready for school to start. After an initial shock, he fell in love with exploring Bangkok and acclimated to a dorm at Chulalongkorn University for international students. He talks about interacting with students from the U.S., Mexico, Japan, and Italy, a cosmopolitan experience that led him to pursue a Master’s Degree outside of Germany.
Jannik then expounds on the differences in the academic experience: Thai university is more formal than in Germany, given that students have to wear uniforms and the professors are treated with more deference. Further, the courses involved more group work and presentations than his typical classes back home.
Overall, Jannik’s experience at a Thai university was a very positive contrast to his typical European education, and with the help of the Bangkok Podcast, he has become a true Thai-phile (like the rest of us!).
Don’t forget that Patrons get the ad-free version of the show as well as swag and other perks. We also sometimes post on Facebook, you can contact us on LINE and of course, head to our website (www.bangkokpodcast.com) to find out probably more info than you need to know.
Transcript
Greg 00:00:04 Now on this episode, we chat with German Janek Hiller about his experiences as a university exchange student in Thailand.
Ed 00:00:12 So if you've ever wondered what it's like to work your way through the Thai education system as a foreigner, you'll dig this episode of the Bangkok Podcast.
Greg 00:00:36 Sawat dee krap and welcome to the Bangkok Podcast. My name is Greg Jorgensen, a Canadian who came to Thailand in 2001 on a dare to see if I could learn the ways of the Muay Thai warrior. And spoiler alert, not even close.
Ed 00:00:48 And I'm Ed Knuth, an American who came to Thailand on a one year teaching contract 24 years ago, fell in love with seeing my friends leave Thailand, quote unquote, forever, only to return later. So I chose never to leave in the first place.
Greg 00:01:03 Yeah, man, I've known a few people and I tell them when they come back, I'm like, we already gave you a going away party. You don't get another one if you leave again.
Ed 00:01:09 That's right. Well, I, we will not mention him, but we do have a mutual friend who had 2 or 3 going away parties.
Greg 00:01:16 Now that's cheating. You only get one.
Ed 00:01:17 That's right, that's right. Now, the truth is, I do have somebody who left and have not come back. But, you know, they will. Eventually. They will.
Greg 00:01:24 Yeah. Bangkok has him. No.
Ed 00:01:26 That's right. We want to give a big thanks to all of our patrons who support the show. Patrons get every episode a day early. Behind the scenes photos of our interviews. Heads up to send questions to upcoming guests and access to our discord server to chat with me, Greg, and other listeners around the world. But best of all, patrons also get an unscripted, uncensored bonus episode every week where we riff on current events and Bangkok topics. On this week's bonus show, we chatted about my difficulty in explaining complex figures like Bob Dylan to young Thai students in my American music class. Greg's experience with a shoe painter at Chuck market, who turned his ratty old vans into incredible works of art and, you guessed it. More talk on I this time, how it's being used to generate fake video of the fires in Los Angeles and snowstorms in Bangkok, to learn how to become a patron and get all this good stuff, plus full access to over 700 bonus and regular back episodes.
Ed 00:02:23 Click this power button at the top of our website.
Greg 00:02:26 Yeah, that's right. And as always, if you have a comment to show ID or just want to say hi. Head to Bangkok podcast.com and click the little microphone button on the bottom right to leave us a voicemail, and we'll play it on the show for sure. All right, well, in this episode, we chat to a young fella by the name of Yannick Hila. Now, from time to time, we asked listeners to send us any show ideas they have, and Yannick did just that. He wrote to us saying how he'd like a show that discusses the process and experiences of a foreign student studying in a Thai university, just like he did. Now, first, that I was a little bit wishy washy, but the more I thought about it, the more I realized that I know absolutely nothing about this side of life here, and that it would be a really interesting discussion. And you probably know more about it than I do, but I don't know anything about it.
Greg 00:03:11 So that's what I was thinking, right? So I figured I would cut out the middleman, and I just asked Yannick if he'd like to do it, and he said, I guess, sure. So Yannick, who is from Germany, spent a semester studying at Chulalongkorn University and by all means had an excellent experience. But I still had a lot of questions. What did he study? How were the professors? What was the culture shock like? And most importantly, what advantages would you get from moving from a European university to a Thai university? Lots to discuss here. So here is my very interesting discussion with our pal Yannick Hila. All right. I am happy to be talking to a young fellow by the name of Yannick Hila, and I hope my, pathetic attempt at a German. It didn't come through too strongly there. Yannick, welcome to the Bangkok Podcast.
Yannik 00:04:04 Hi, Greg. No, your time was great. thank you for having me. I'm happy to. To talk to you.
Greg 00:04:10 No. That's great. Now, now, I discussed this a little bit in our intro that, we did a few minutes ago, but, you know, you, you reached out to us, and, you're a listener of the show from from Germany. but right now, you're not in Germany. You're in. You're in Copenhagen, right?
Yannik 00:04:27 Yeah, exactly. I was born in Germany, in a city called Mannheim. It's next to Frankfurt. and at the moment I'm doing my master's degree in Copenhagen. So actually, I'm located in Copenhagen right now.
Greg 00:04:39 Oh, wow. Great. Both places I would love to get to, but have yet to explore. But anyway, you reached out to us. And you. And you, you you, suggested an idea for a show, which I was actually quite intrigued by. And I thought it would be really interesting because personally, I have zero insight into this, and I know it's something that we've never covered on the show before, but you came to Thailand as an exchange student to go to university here, and I thought that was really interesting.
Greg 00:05:08 Like I said, I know nothing about it, so I want to hear what that was like because, I'm always surprised when I walk around a university campus here. I don't know why I'm surprised, but I'm always surprised when I see a lot of international students and I'm like, do people really come to Thailand for university? And I guess they do. So walk us through your thought process. I mean, you're sitting in Europe and you're thinking of like, what's my next step? And you settle on Thailand. How did that come about and why did it come about?
Yannik 00:05:39 Yeah, it all started 2019. I did my high school diploma in Germany in 2020, and after that I wanted to travel. I wanted to go to Thailand, but I had no opportunity because of Covid and because of that. It started after that. Yeah. So, during my bachelors, I my interest in Thailand grew and grew and grew, and I talked to a lot of people who have visited Thailand and said it was just an amazing country, an amazing experience.
Yannik 00:06:05 So I thought, why don't I do, exchange semester to Thailand? to Bangkok. So that's that's what I did in 2022. Then. So my fourth semester of university.
Greg 00:06:18 Okay. And you'd never been to Thailand before? Is that right?
Yannik 00:06:21 Exactly. I've never been to Thailand. It was a huge step for me. but I wanted to experience exactly that. I wanted to go as far away as possible from Germany. I didn't want to go to Europe because of some German or European influences. I wanted to see a completely different part of the world. so it was my first time, but it was not my last time in Thailand when I did the exchange semester. Wow.
Greg 00:06:43 So, you know, that's really great because, you know, thinking back to my early time here and, talking to a lot of people over the past 20 years, like moving to a new country with a with a totally different culture and a totally different language. It is very daunting and it can be downright scary.
Greg 00:07:00 And a lot of people just be like, well, I'll go to visit, but I won't move there. Like, moving there is crazy. But you know, it takes balls to do to do that, especially to a place you've never been before. So what? Like what about Thailand? Why didn't you go to to Japan or Vietnam or, you know, some other country or South America, you know, some other country with a different culture to to Europe?
Yannik 00:07:23 Yeah. I was always kind of amazed by Asia, by the food, by by the culture. And as you just mentioned, it's it's scary to, to be 4 or 5 months in a different country. So because I chose Thailand before I chose Thailand, I was very deep into research and reading books and listening to podcasts. That's how I came across your podcast also, and I did a lot of information seeking, maybe that's my personal trait that can be good, can be bad, but in that case, it helped me a lot to prepare to, to prepare myself to to go to Bangkok.
Yannik 00:08:00 And yeah, I just I just watched a lot of movies. I watched a lot of YouTube videos. And I was amazed by by all, everything I saw, even the downsides, that I saw in the videos. I was like, I want to experience that. So I chose Thailand.
Greg 00:08:16 That's amazing. And it doesn't surprise me. You did a lot of research. I mean, let's just lean right into the German stereotypes of, like, there are rules we must research. Yeah.
Yannik 00:08:27 But maybe, I, I embody the, the the them. Very good. So like, it's kind of my try to, to do a lot of research and if I like something, I read into it and I can't wait till I experience it.
Greg 00:08:41 Oh that's great. But you know, now let's let's be honest here, like ad is a professor at a Thai university and he teaches for, for an international style Dial course, and I don't know the nuances of this, but from what I understand, Thai universities are not considered among the world's best.
Greg 00:09:04 So when you were thinking of furthering your education, did that enter into it? Like, you know, Thailand's universities, are pretty good. And you went to Chula Chulalongkorn, is that right? Yeah, exactly. Yeah. So Chula is widely considered one of, if not the quote unquote best university in Thailand. Your results may mileage may vary depending on who you are and what you do. But when you compare them against other universities, for instance, in Germany, they probably don't stack up that well. Am I right with that?
Yannik 00:09:36 Yeah, you're completely right with that. And I was aware of that. But my line of thinking was that I'm doing a bachelor's degree and a very known German university. I want to do a good master's degree, but I want to live. But like, I want to have the professional side, but I also want to experience something. I want to live. I want to to enjoy a little bit of my life before I start working and stuff like that.
Yannik 00:10:01 so for me, it was fine to to downgrade the education a little bit to experience something amazing. I heard from a lot of friends that went to very good universities. As I changed that, they were studying all the time and didn't even experience the country and I loved, I thought, I like, I could imagine that I will love Thailand, so I wanted to experience Thailand. I want to see the culture, the people and stuff. So for me, that was worth more than getting a little better education. I mean, you could also do internships after that. So for me that was no problem. to choose Thailand as a destination.
Greg 00:10:38 That's really interesting. You know, you use the word downgrade. and I think that's a good word, although it might have a more negative connotation than I think we want to use here, because let me use let me use my my my, my son as an example. Now he goes to an international school, but it is a quote unquote affordable international school.
Greg 00:10:59 So it's not ISB or Patna or Harrow or one of these schools that costs a million baht a year. And so my thought with that was like, well, he's not going to one of the best schools, but he's going to a school that's good enough. And as long as he's happy and enjoying himself, that's what I'm most interested in. And most art I think is most important. But on the flip side of that, because he's not getting this, you know, highest standard in the world, highest possible level of education, hopefully that I can supplement that as a parent. So he can sort of downgrade his educational, you know, career. But at the same time, I can maybe provide some, some help to fill in the blanks. And I think maybe that's what you were thinking, too, like maybe the focus on the top, top, top education is not so important right now. What I want to do is supplement that with cultural understanding and travel understanding, which, you know, some people may say is even more important than hitting the books for 25 hours a day.
Greg 00:12:03 Like you said, some of your friends did.
Yannik 00:12:05 Exactly. Yeah, that's exactly what I meant. Maybe I downgraded my education from a German perspective, but for me, perspective, for a life perspective, I upgraded the part of my life to like, just just enjoy a little bit and just just to live and to to get some experiences and to find new friends and stuff. I think it can also harm yourself if you're just focused on career all the time. So. Right. That's exactly what what I meant. Yeah.
Greg 00:12:35 That's a very mature outlook for such a young a young fella like yourself. You usually only learn that when you're old and bitter like me through cold, hard experience. So. So what was the research like when you were looking into where to go in Thailand? How did you settle on Chula and what was your criteria for selecting that?
Yannik 00:12:57 Yeah, so we at the university I studied, we had a list of different universities that we could choose to go to exchange. And as I mentioned before, I wanted to go to Thailand and there were a few universities that we could choose from in Thailand, which was, I think, Temasek, Mahidol and Tchula.
Yannik 00:13:15 And I chose Tchula because it was well known, as you mentioned. I looked at a lot of pictures and also the locations, and I thought it was very central in Bangkok. and I also had a friend that went there, and he said to me that it was an amazing experience. So that helped a lot to so I put Tula in my first place and luckily I got accepted. And yeah, that's that was my kind of research. I did less educational research for the universities, but like more about the country and the culture and a lot of videos and stuff like that.
Greg 00:13:49 That's cool. So. So how long? How long were you? Were you a student there? And when?
Yannik 00:13:54 Yeah, it was 20, 22 from August to December. So four months. But I travel I think it was one month before I arrived to to. Travel a little bit and like to, to find myself around and just I didn't want to. To come there and on the next day I have to start my university life.
Yannik 00:14:13 So just to get to know some people and to get to know, how to get around, maybe download grab or something like that. It's like it's the first steps. The first steps. I wanted to be there a little bit early. So I arrived, one month early. Then it was August till December, and then I left, I think two days before Christmas Eve.
Greg 00:14:32 Oh, wow. Okay, okay. And so what was it like, man? Like, when you showed up? what was that first month, like, getting prepped? And the next question is, what was your first day? Week? Month of of school. Like, what were your thoughts?
Yannik 00:14:48 So. Honest. In my honest opinion, the first day was horrible because everything went wrong. I arrived, it was so hot I had too much clothes on. I went to the hotel and they said my room wasn't booked and so I had to go to another hotel and there I fall asleep. And then I woke up because of like the time gap between Germany and Thailand.
Yannik 00:15:10 And I woke up and I walked the wrong areas and it was a little bit smelly, but it was just the first day. And when I woke up the next day, I just just walked the streets again and I just fell in love with everything. Like it amazed me a lot. and in the first month it was it was before university started. It was it was amazing because I, I would describe it like I didn't think a lot. I just did stuff like I didn't think I didn't plan my day like I do in Germany. I just did my stuff. it was also overwhelming because in Tula you have a school uniform, for example, that we don't have in Germany. So I needed to get my school uniforms. I needed to go to the university to get some documents ready. So I did all that organizational stuff and I traveled a little bit, and during that month, I just completely fell in love to Thailand. I moved into my dormitory. It was like a big apartment complex in Soi Naveen, where I think it was approximately 100 to 200 international students from Tula who lived there with a pool, with a gym.
Yannik 00:16:22 And it was amazing. That was my first month, so the first day was horrible. But then it just went went up and I just fell in love more and more.
Greg 00:16:30 Oh that's great, that's great. My first, my first couple of, of months in Thailand were not very enjoyable either, especially when I first moved to Chiang Mai. And that was fine because I was basically on vacation. But when I moved to to Bangkok to get a job, my first few months were really not very enjoyable. It enjoyable. I was very lonely. I was broke, you know, I was lost. So I know what you want. I know what you went through. What was your living situation like in the dormitory? Did you share with someone or.
Yannik 00:16:56 They were different possibilities. I could share a room with two, 3 or 4 people. So in total, there would be four free or two. Or you could get your own room. And I had my own room and it was it was very big.
Yannik 00:17:09 I think it was 60m² and I think I paid €350. I don't know the calculation out of my head and but but.
Greg 00:17:20 let me let me do that right now. €350 in bot. Help me out here. Good. That's 12,400 baht a month.
Yannik 00:17:27 Exactly. Right. That and I think the the most expensive thing there was the AC, because I am used to to sleep with AC all night so that that was the only expensive thing there. But we had a pool. We had a gym. every day there was like a shuttle service to university, so every morning, but I didn't. I never used that. I just booked a bolt or grabbed like a motorcycle, and I just rolled a rider to through the traffic to the university. It was.
Greg 00:17:55 The most right.
Yannik 00:17:56 For me. and it was it was also very, surprising. the first day compared to the last day, like the first day clinging onto the motorcycle guy. No phone in your hand with a helmet on. Very scared.
Yannik 00:18:09 And on the last day, like, chilling. chilling on the bike and not being afraid anymore.
Greg 00:18:14 And, yeah, you're sitting sidesaddle like a girl and checking your phone and carrying a carrying a box under the other arm.
Yannik 00:18:20 Like some makeup and something like that.
Greg 00:18:24 That was funny. What was the, what were the other students like? I remember thinking back to my university days. you know, your fellow classmates who are strangers on day one eventually sort of end up becoming your friends and your little social group. And where were your fellow students from? And how did those relationships form.
Yannik 00:18:46 I was very lucky because actually one person from my home university also went to Tchula and had the same program as me. You could also choose different programs. So I was very lucky that I knew one person. But if I think again, we had people from Mexico, Colombia, the US, a lot of Italians, there were a lot of Germans, surprisingly, I think we were like 15 German people. And there were people from Japan, too, from China.
Yannik 00:19:17 So it was very mixed every continent. Some of South Africa. It was very mixed. And that's exactly what I wanted. I wanted to see, like to to feel. I love international, so that's why I'm doing my master's also in Copenhagen right now. And that's the first time I experienced different cultures coming together, understand each other. So yeah, from all the different countries of the world.
Greg 00:19:41 That must be very encouraging And like, exciting, you know, like you're like, yes, this is what I wanted. This is exactly what I want.
Yannik 00:19:48 Exactly.
Greg 00:19:48 Yeah. Yeah. going back a little bit when you when you announced that you were going to Thailand for school, did anyone at home go? What? Why?
Yannik 00:19:57 A lot of people. A lot of people. But because they just told me, just go. Go to Italy or something. And after your bachelor degree, just travel there. But for me, I also wanted to see the university system in Bangkok. I wanted to see, other students that study there.
Yannik 00:20:13 So. So for me, it was a different picture, but there were a lot of people who quite didn't understand. But there was on the flip side also, a lot of people who said, oh, that's so amazing. Like, we just heard about people that travel there, like with a backpack and stuff, but studying there is something that is not too well known. So there were a lot of both sides. There were both sides. But I at the end, all my friends support me and a lot of friends came to visit me because I just told them amazing stories. So they all came and yeah, in the in the end.
Greg 00:20:42 Right. Nice. Yeah. And what was when when classes started. What was your impression of the the teachers of the facilities of the campus? What what was your takeaway?
Yannik 00:20:55 Yeah, the campus was huge. there were some bus lines in the campus. So I wasn't used to that. my first impression was that it was completely different. So, like the the university system in Bangkok or in Thailand, I just can tell you from my perspective of Tula, but I think it's quite similar between the Thai universities.
Yannik 00:21:16 And the German system is so different. Like we had to do a lot of presentations, we had midterm exams, we had a class where we have to to to dress as like ghosts or something like that to do a presentation. So it was way more interacting. And there were, there were it was kind of strange. There was so much respect for the teacher. But at the same time, when other groups did a presentation, people left and come in. So it was. There were a lot of respect. And on the downside, something that you wouldn't do in Germany. There were all these small assignments and midterm exams that I don't have in Germany. Like I have one exam at the end of the semester. And if you don't, if you show up or if you don't show up, no one cares in Germany. But there you have to be there. You have to to dress in the uniform with the tie, with the buckle. And so there were a lot of differences, but I really liked it because in the groups we had to form groups, not just the internationals among themselves, but also groups of tie people and stuff like that.
Yannik 00:22:15 So you get to know the tie people. When you prepare a presentation, you go out to dinner and maybe go out after that. So you learn from the tie, people, local facts and stuff like that. So I really liked it, but it was very different.
Greg 00:22:31 Yeah. And you were doing international business. That was the exact opposite. Yeah.
Yannik 00:22:36 International business. I had like five different, different subjects. For example, in marketing. I had won international business and management studies, and I also had one like rhetorical course where we just had every, every, every week we had to do a five minute presentation without something, and we had to improve our body language and stuff like that. So also a course that would never that we would never had in a German university. So.
Greg 00:23:03 Oh, that's interesting. It's so funny, you know, because I like I, when I was a teacher and I used the word teacher in quotation marks because I was, you know, not not officially qualified or anything, but the I taught at a girls high school and the very first thing I always taught in my class was I, I went around and I asked everyone to line up and shake my hand, and almost every single student gave me, like we call it, the limp, the limp fish handshake where they don't really squeeze.
Greg 00:23:30 And I was like, no, no, no. When you meet a foreigner, especially when you meet a foreigner, you got to squeeze. You got to give confident pumps and look them in the eye. You know, that body language is very important, especially when you're dealing with international business clients.
Yannik 00:23:42 Yeah. Yeah. So it was an amazing course, but like, it would never happen in the German university I studied. So it was so different, everything. But it was like the completely opposite. And I really liked the complete opposite. So I was a little bit afraid to go back to Germany again, but but yeah, there were a lot of differences, but it was very, very nice. And it was very, very cold in the classrooms like the AC was, was covering and it was crazy, like I was freezing and there were the jacket on. And then.
Greg 00:24:11 Yeah, it's so funny. It's like a movie theater and. And what about the, your professors, what was your takeaways on, on them.
Yannik 00:24:20 In an academic way? I think there were no major differences. I think they just have a different style of teaching, like, because there were small classes, actually, we were like 60 to 100 people, and in Germany were 450 at my university at least. So it was very small and interactive. There are a lot of questions that were great when you talk in class and raise your hands and stuff like that, so it was a completely different style. but like the English was great. They were Thai professors, but I studied in English because I couldn't speak a word of Thai when I arrived.
Greg 00:24:54 sure. Yeah.
Yannik 00:24:54 Yeah, yeah. So it was completely fine.
Greg 00:24:59 Interesting, interesting. Let me talk about the uniform a little bit. How does that work out? What? Where do you. Are there uniform stores and what what are the rules? And did you find that, sort of constricting or maybe insulting is not the right word, but infantilizing, like, what are you doing? Why do I wear a uniform? I'm an adult now.
Yannik 00:25:21 Yeah, I quite like the uniform. Just because of the fact that you don't have to worry what to wear in the morning or something like that. You just put on your uniform. Do your question. where I find the uniform, there were like two suggested stores for school uniforms that we could go to. I think one was on campus and one was in MBK, I think, or in a big mall, I think it was MBK and so. So you just arrived there and tell them from which university you are, and then they have like a list to to verify that you are a student and then you get really.
Greg 00:25:54 Oh yeah.
Yannik 00:25:55 You get a tie, you get a belt with a buckle, a white shirt and black trousers, black long trousers. And they were horrible because it was so hot. And when you are on a scooter to university and you have those long black, thick pants on, it was very hard the first month, but I actually quite like it. And actually there were some some funny stories where I walked around the city and people just came up to me and talked to me, hey, you're a true student.
Yannik 00:26:20 Because, like, they could identify me from the belt and from the university, from the uniform. And they just chatted with me for five minutes and then they left. So I think it was quite nice to to wear the uniforms.
Greg 00:26:33 It's interesting because a lot of people don't know, but they there are identifying marks on the uniforms, and your belt has the Chula logo on the buckle. Right? Exactly.
Yannik 00:26:42 And the tie? Also the belt and the tie.
Greg 00:26:44 Okay, okay, okay. It's interesting. I the you know, my first impression with school uniforms is always like, oh, that's stupid. What a what a juvenile thing to do. But actually we discussed it one time and he said, well, you know, there's a lot of people who think it's actually a good thing because especially when you're dealing with a country like Thailand, which has a lot of class differences and sort of like this class system built in. And like you said, you don't have to think about what your uniform is.
Greg 00:27:08 So if someone comes from a rich family and they come to school with like brand new Gucci clothes, you know, and you come from some poor family that can't afford that, or some normal family that can't afford that, you know, that might sort of create friction sometimes. But if everyone's got to wear the same thing all the time, that eliminates that completely. So it's sort of it's sort of a social leveler, which I think is an interesting idea.
Yannik 00:27:33 Yeah, exactly. And like for, for my case. I just had it for five months, so I didn't thought about the long term effects of wearing a uniform because I just were there for five months. But yeah, I think you mentioned some important points. Yeah.
Greg 00:27:47 Yeah, yeah. did you have any moments, during your time here where you were like, man, I don't know if this is going to work out or I made a mistake or, like, this isn't really what I was expecting. Any any, like, difficult patches you had to get through.
Yannik 00:28:05 I think some of the times, some organizational stuff was very different to to get the new visa. I had to go to the university and request a document, and then there was just no one there. And like all the organizational stuff, was very hard compared to Germany. But I think maybe that's an exception because in Germany everything is on point and very strict. And then you go there and then at that time you got rules exactly like that. So, so that was completely different, right? And also people being on time or not on time, but I really enjoyed that. And like, the only really bad moment that happened to me was when I got food poisoning three times. Oh, but that's that's just just a small, small incident. But like in general, I have nothing to complain about from a whole six months. And even after that, I visited Thailand again and I never had some complications. just real love. I think.
Greg 00:29:00 That's great. It was. It's so great to hear that it was such a positive experience.
Greg 00:29:04 Yeah. And so when you graduated, you you had what what did you come out with?
Yannik 00:29:09 With a Bachelor of science in business administration.
Greg 00:29:13 Bachelor of science in business administration. Okay. What was your next step and how did your experience in Thailand help that next step?
Yannik 00:29:21 Yeah. because of my experience in Thailand, I thought I just wanted to to travel more to to get back to Thailand and to experience myself more to, to to see different cultures and stuff like that. So after my bachelor, my initial plan was to continue with my masters immediately, but I didn't did that. I did a gap year. It's a common thing in Germany where you have one year between your bachelors and your masters. I did two internships and the rest of the time I just traveled and I went to Thailand again for three months, three and a half months. I trained with Thai at, Puckett.
Greg 00:29:59 Oh, wow.
Yannik 00:29:59 And, I had just an amazing time, and I think I wouldn't have done that if I didn't.
Yannik 00:30:07 Went on the exchange semester.
Greg 00:30:09 Right, right. So kind of inspired you.
Yannik 00:30:10 Yeah, it's inspired me to to do more for myself in the moment and not for my career in the future.
Greg 00:30:18 Right. Yeah, yeah. Would you would you recommend this experience for someone who had more of a focus on academia versus what you did, which is more of a focus on life experience? I think I would.
Yannik 00:30:32 Because people that are have focused a lot on academics and careers and stuff like that. After the Bachelor's, they would do a master's, and after the master they would get a job where they have to work 70 hours plus and stuff like that. So I would actually recommend it to them even more to have like a small break between the hard job goes on and stuff like that to just chill a little bit, enjoy yourself, enjoy a beautiful country, enjoy beautiful cultures. So I think in my perspective, I would recommend that to the people with a high focus on career even more. But of course, you can argue that exchange semester at Bocconi or some some Oxford University or something like that would benefit them more in in the career style, but maybe in the personal style and to prevent, I don't know, a burnout in early ages or something like that.
Yannik 00:31:19 I would recommend them to, to to go to talent.
Greg 00:31:21 Yeah, yeah, that's definitely a lifestyle decision. But but I think that I mean an educational CV with, you know, Thailand, a university in Thailand, in the middle of these sort of first world country or universities with very high prestige levels might look a little bit out of place. Maybe. But yeah, but no.
Yannik 00:31:46 But I think there are mixed opinions about that because some some people actually say that that benefits because you can see from that person who went to Thailand that he's open, that he can like, fit themselves into new cultures even in an international work environment. And it's important that you come along with different cultures to to know how to speak English, for example, and stuff like that. So an exchange semester in a country that is so far away actually shows positive traits that some recruiters or some jobs even want. So I think there's there's this mix of the benefits and the negative effects. but there are actually benefits to go to Thailand that even some high level jobs want to see.
Greg 00:32:30 That's that's really interesting. And I'm glad that a lot of companies are trying to think that way now. Like it's not all about academics. It's not all about your marks. Like there's a lot of other soft skills that may even be more important. Exactly. You get out there in the world. So hopefully, hopefully the the old fuddy duddy in charge will start to realize that. Yeah. And maybe, maybe, you know, give experiences like yours a bit more weight than the old school people who think like, it's got to be all about the grades. It's all about the the names of the institutions you go to, blah, blah, blah. I hope so, Greg.
Yannik 00:33:01 I hope so.
Greg 00:33:02 So you're you're in Copenhagen now. You're doing your master's degree.
Yannik 00:33:05 Exactly.
Greg 00:33:06 Yeah, yeah, yeah. And how many more years of that do you have?
Yannik 00:33:10 one and a half. I just started it, last semester. So in August. So I have one and a half years left.
Yannik 00:33:15 It's a two year master's program. And after that, a little bit of traveling and then directly into the job.
Greg 00:33:22 Well, I don't know. I think you should get your doctorate. What do you think? Nah, I.
Yannik 00:33:25 Don't think so. It's enough academic stuff for me.
Greg 00:33:30 So as we're wrapping up here, I do have one more question, and it's something I'm curious about. What was the cost of this whole thing? And I don't want to get into super specifics, but really roughly your tuition and your monthly living expenses. Do you have any idea for that?
Yannik 00:33:46 Yeah. Like, I think the first big expense was the flight there. I think it was 900 years. but I really booked it very early. then, as I mentioned, I paid like 3 to 400 with electricity and water to live, like, to for my accommodation in the student apartment.
Greg 00:34:07 That's euros for 3 to €400.
Yannik 00:34:09 Exactly. Euros? Yeah. Okay. I think I paid roughly about five years a day for transportation for.
Yannik 00:34:18 For grab bikes or for taxi or for the for the metro or something like that.
Greg 00:34:24 I paid.
Yannik 00:34:24 Yeah, I paid no tuition fees or something at all. So it was completely free to me meet to study there. Wait.
Greg 00:34:31 Really? I have no way. Well, how come? Why?
Yannik 00:34:34 Because it's a partner university for my university. And if you are a partner, my university offers to send them to students for free and the other way around. So I didn't have to pay any, any tuition fees or something like that. Just like the books are like the school uniform and stuff like that.
Greg 00:34:54 Oh, wow. I had no idea. So it was basically free and you only had to pay living expenses? Exactly. Damn, that's a pretty good deal. And it works both ways too. So if you're a student in in Thailand, you can go to Germany. Yeah. And pay.
Yannik 00:35:09 Nothing.
Greg 00:35:10 Wow. Did you. Did you go to school with anyone like that?
Yannik 00:35:13 no, I just meant I met one who went to Austria.
Greg 00:35:17 Oh, wow. Okay. To Austria. Damn, that seems like a really good deal. Yeah, I think that's for my.
Yannik 00:35:23 Yeah, but I think it's a it's a common thing in Germany if you have partner universities. And in my case, I have to say that, my exchange semester was not voluntarily, so I had to do it. So maybe that's also a factor that come into account. But all my friends also from different universities, they never had to pay tuition fees when they went on exchange. Not as a free mover, but like I had a partner university. If you want to choose another university that is not a part of university, then it's called free mover and then you have to pay the tuition fees.
Greg 00:35:53 I see, I see. Okay. Okay. Well, that sounds like a pretty good deal. I'm taking notes for, for my son. And about in about 15 years is, about ten years, I guess, when he's, hopefully, hopefully furthering his education somewhere.
Greg 00:36:06 Maybe he'll come see Uncle Yannick in Germany.
Yannik 00:36:08 In Germany? Yeah.
Greg 00:36:12 Well, Yannick, thanks. Thanks a lot, man. That was really interesting. I had no idea about any of that. And I'm far too old to be thinking about that these days. But it's really, really cool to hear what your experience was like and that it was such a positive thing for you to come, come to Thailand and get some life experience.
Yannik 00:36:27 Yeah, it was a pleasure. Thanks for the invitation, Greg.
Greg 00:36:29 Yeah, well, when are you going to be in Bangkok? Next.
Yannik 00:36:31 And next, I think, after my master's degree.
Greg 00:36:35 After master's degree? All right, well, send us a message. We'll get a beer and, a German beer, a German beer. we will we will continue this conversation. No, Chong, we'll stick to some some, some imported versions of that. yeah. So thanks a lot. Man. That was really interesting.
Yannik 00:36:55 Thank you. Thank you. See you.
Ed 00:37:01 Later. Yeah. So this is, a little bit more my world than your world, but I like, hearing it from the students perspective. So I interact with I interact with exchange students at my university, and occasionally I hear feedback from them. But that's not really my job. Like, they're just students in my class, and I just teach, you know, so I, I rarely sit down and talk to talk to them like you did and hear the whole story from their perspective. You know they're there. They are a special type of visitor because they're not tourists. They're not expats. It's this whole exchange student thing. It is a special type of travel.
Greg 00:37:46 That's a really interesting way to look at it. There's sort of like these like third culture kids almost. Right? Like they're in the middle of it. All right. They're not they're not working. They're reliant on university. They're still they're probably fairly young and on their own in a strange place for the first time. It's a it's a it must be an interesting experience.
Greg 00:38:01 Like they're not tourists so they still have responsibilities, right?
Ed 00:38:05 Yeah. Well, they're semi tourists. I always try to be nice to my exchange students, and I give them a little more flexibility on exams and things like that than I do my, my regular students, because I know that the exchange students want to travel, but I don't let them get out of things like I really, I really I occasionally have these exchange students who will just say like, oh, I'm an exchange student. Like, do I have to take this exam? And I'm like, yeah.
Greg 00:38:29 yes you do.
Ed 00:38:31 Yeah. Like they, you know, they they they really want to treat the whole experience as if they are tourists and, you know. So I have to tell them, you are enrolled in the university. You have to do all the work. You know, I'll, you know, I'll I'll bend a few deadlines and stuff, you know, so you can, you know, see Thailand while you're here.
Ed 00:38:49 Like, I want them to have a good experience. but the other, the other, you know, he he said some interesting things about, like, the academic experience. What? You know, he was at a different university and a different type of program. But what I found out in general with, exchange students in my program is that, in the very beginning, they try very hard and get good grades. And then once they then they decide, oh, this is really easy. And then and then they start partying or traveling. And then a lot of times my exchange students, by the end of the semester, they're getting mediocre grades. Oh.
Greg 00:39:26 Really interesting. Okay.
Ed 00:39:27 So they they start out like they, you know, they crushed the first exam and they're like, oh, this is Thailand. This is easy, you know. You know and then and then they start partying and traveling. And then by the end of the semester they're, you know, they're getting C's. So I always warn I always warn my exchange students about that.
Greg 00:39:45 Interesting. Well, he touched on something also that I, as a parent, struggle with. And that is like, you know, he said that he sort of deprioritized the academic angle of his education in order to prioritize the cultural experience and the travel experience, which I think is great, I think is fantastic. And there's a lot of proponents of the fact that, like, you don't even need to go to university, just travel. You'll learn everything you need to know. so he sort of chose a middle ground there, but it's something that I, I struggle with as a parent because, you know, I can't afford to send my son to the most expensive universities and schools in Thailand. Not even close. It's outrageous. So I'm sending him to a less prestigious institution that I can afford. But at the same time, I'm hoping that even though the focus for me as a parent is somewhat less on his academic experience, that me, you know, as his father can can sort of supplement that with some interesting discussions and some home learning and some plus some outside school.
Greg 00:40:49 Travel agencies.
Ed 00:40:50 You travel with him? Yeah.
Greg 00:40:52 You travel as well. So. So that's what Yannick seemed to to be to be on about two. So I think we saw eye to eye there.
Ed 00:40:57 One of my biggest regrets as an undergrad is not doing an exchange year. I was looking I was looking into going to England for a year and then, I don't know, whatever. I ended up blowing it off or it didn't work out. And I think it's a great idea, man. I think exchange programs are genius.
Greg 00:41:13 Yeah, when I was in university, so I had the opportunity to travel for a job for like six months to, to like the next province. And I was like, oh, that's pretty far away. Not sure I could do that. So I didn't do it. And now I look back. Like, what a bonehead. But you know. But, no, thanks for coming on. Good suggestion. And, really nice to chat with you. He's a very nice young man.
Greg 00:41:35 Seems to have his head screwed on straight. He's gonna. He's gonna do great things. And hopefully he'll come back to Thailand and he can take us around to some of his favorite German beer houses here. We could do for sure. Yeah. Thanks, Yannick. That was great. Thank you. All right, let's do something. We call. Would you rather wear one of us picks? Two contrasting situations tied to Thailand to debate and choose which one we prefer now. And I've got kind of a current events themed. Would you rather. Oh, okay. And, it's not, it's you got to shoehorn the, the idea into this little discussion here, because it's not apples and apples, it's a little bit apples to oranges. But I'm looking at what's happening in, in Los Angeles right now with the crazy fires going on in the, the natural disasters of that. It's insane. That magnitude is crazy. But, would you rather live in a place That is under threat by recurring natural disasters like that.
Greg 00:42:28 Or would you rather live in a place like Bangkok, which is under threat of recurring natural disasters like floods?
Ed 00:42:35 And oh, so this is so this is definitely a lesser of two evils.
Greg 00:42:40 Pretty much. So would you rather deal with the potential of fire, or would you rather deal with the potential of floods?
Ed 00:42:45 Do those fires look so great? You know, the thing about flooding in Bangkok is it's kind of a regular thing and it can get extreme. But man, those fires are scary. And I think the fires historically were relatively rare. So everyone knows California has a wildfires. But and but I feel that 20, 30 years ago there would be, oh one big wildfire every three years, you know, and then it's every two every and then every year there's wildfires, you know. So so now and again, I don't know what the cause is. I don't know if it's climate change or who knows what the heck's going on. You know, maybe the government is screwed up managing it.
Ed 00:43:28 Who knows? The cost doesn't matter, but it but those, it's been it's been blowing my mind. So I would I would have to choose flooding. don't those fires seem more life threatening than floods?
Greg 00:43:44 Yeah, they do. They do.
Ed 00:43:47 But, I mean, floods can do. The floods can destroy your home for sure. Back in the. What was it, the 2011 floods? My buddy had insane pictures of his. His house underwater, you know, his house and rungs. It was just completely underwater. Yeah. Yeah. So he's. He's in a boat. He's in a boat at the second floor of his house. Yeah. You know. So. And floods also are kind of gross and germy and, you know. Right.
Greg 00:44:14 But it seems to me the the potential of fighting back a fire like there's no flood fighters.
Ed 00:44:21 That's true. You know, like.
Greg 00:44:22 There's just really nothing you can do except put up sandbags and hope for the best.
Ed 00:44:26 Right, right, right.
Greg 00:44:28 So, I don't know, I think the fires are probably scarier. Yeah, but I think the floods are maybe more insidious and more persistent. More harder to stop.
Ed 00:44:39 Yeah, it's a good question. I think I would, I would choose I would choose the floods. Just just because. Just because they seem less, like, life threatening. it's funny, I this brings up a story, that I was talking to my students about, tornadoes in the US. It was it was it was some tornado story that came up on the news, and my students were asked me about it, and they their mind was kind of blown that, like, Kansas has to deal with this. And I'm like, no. Yeah they do. It's like, it's not it's not just a movie, you know? Right, right. It's a thing like if you if you live in the middle of the US, you will see a tornado. You will? Yeah. Yeah.
Greg 00:45:19 It reminds me of one of my favorite stories from from ancient Rome.
Greg 00:45:24 There was this incredibly rich guy named Crassus, and he was one of the richest people in ancient Rome. And the way he became rich was when, you know, Rome didn't have a fire brigade. So if they did, it was sort of like the neighbors got together and gathered buckets.
Ed 00:45:37 And tried to.
Greg 00:45:37 Put it out. So if a if a building was on fire, Crassus, who had a bunch of slaves because a lot of the Roman economies were into slavery, he would show up with, you know, like 100 of his slaves and be like, oh, that's a terrible shame that your building is on fire. I'll tell you what, I'll buy it. And he and he offered some ridiculous low price. And if if the person said, no, no, that's too low, then he's like, oh, well, that's a shame. And he would just stand there and watch it burn. And as it as the fire got bigger and bigger and bigger, the price got lower and lower and lower.
Greg 00:46:05 And so eventually he ended up owning like an insane amount of property because he would do this terrible story. But smart businessman.
Ed 00:46:12 The the evils of capitalism in ancient Rome. Yeah.
Greg 00:46:16 Not related to Bangkok at all, but there you go. Anyway.
Ed 00:46:19 Alrighty. A final thanks to our patrons who support the show. Patrons get a ton of cool perks and the warm, fuzzy feeling knowing that they're helping and are never ending. Quest for cool content. Find out more by clicking support on our website and connect with us online. We're Bangkok podcasts on social media, Bangkok podcasts on the web or simply Bangkok Podcast at gmail.com. We love hearing from our listeners and always reply to our messages.
Greg 00:46:46 That's right. You can also listen to each episode on YouTube. Send us a voicemail through our website that will feature on the show. Hit me up on blue Sky at BCC. Greg, thank you for listening, everyone. Take it easy out there. We'll see you back here next week.
Ed 00:00:12 So if you've ever wondered what it's like to work your way through the Thai education system as a foreigner, you'll dig this episode of the Bangkok Podcast.
Greg 00:00:36 Sawat dee krap and welcome to the Bangkok Podcast. My name is Greg Jorgensen, a Canadian who came to Thailand in 2001 on a dare to see if I could learn the ways of the Muay Thai warrior. And spoiler alert, not even close.
Ed 00:00:48 And I'm Ed Knuth, an American who came to Thailand on a one year teaching contract 24 years ago, fell in love with seeing my friends leave Thailand, quote unquote, forever, only to return later. So I chose never to leave in the first place.
Greg 00:01:03 Yeah, man, I've known a few people and I tell them when they come back, I'm like, we already gave you a going away party. You don't get another one if you leave again.
Ed 00:01:09 That's right. Well, I, we will not mention him, but we do have a mutual friend who had 2 or 3 going away parties.
Greg 00:01:16 Now that's cheating. You only get one.
Ed 00:01:17 That's right, that's right. Now, the truth is, I do have somebody who left and have not come back. But, you know, they will. Eventually. They will.
Greg 00:01:24 Yeah. Bangkok has him. No.
Ed 00:01:26 That's right. We want to give a big thanks to all of our patrons who support the show. Patrons get every episode a day early. Behind the scenes photos of our interviews. Heads up to send questions to upcoming guests and access to our discord server to chat with me, Greg, and other listeners around the world. But best of all, patrons also get an unscripted, uncensored bonus episode every week where we riff on current events and Bangkok topics. On this week's bonus show, we chatted about my difficulty in explaining complex figures like Bob Dylan to young Thai students in my American music class. Greg's experience with a shoe painter at Chuck market, who turned his ratty old vans into incredible works of art and, you guessed it. More talk on I this time, how it's being used to generate fake video of the fires in Los Angeles and snowstorms in Bangkok, to learn how to become a patron and get all this good stuff, plus full access to over 700 bonus and regular back episodes.
Ed 00:02:23 Click this power button at the top of our website.
Greg 00:02:26 Yeah, that's right. And as always, if you have a comment to show ID or just want to say hi. Head to Bangkok podcast.com and click the little microphone button on the bottom right to leave us a voicemail, and we'll play it on the show for sure. All right, well, in this episode, we chat to a young fella by the name of Yannick Hila. Now, from time to time, we asked listeners to send us any show ideas they have, and Yannick did just that. He wrote to us saying how he'd like a show that discusses the process and experiences of a foreign student studying in a Thai university, just like he did. Now, first, that I was a little bit wishy washy, but the more I thought about it, the more I realized that I know absolutely nothing about this side of life here, and that it would be a really interesting discussion. And you probably know more about it than I do, but I don't know anything about it.
Greg 00:03:11 So that's what I was thinking, right? So I figured I would cut out the middleman, and I just asked Yannick if he'd like to do it, and he said, I guess, sure. So Yannick, who is from Germany, spent a semester studying at Chulalongkorn University and by all means had an excellent experience. But I still had a lot of questions. What did he study? How were the professors? What was the culture shock like? And most importantly, what advantages would you get from moving from a European university to a Thai university? Lots to discuss here. So here is my very interesting discussion with our pal Yannick Hila. All right. I am happy to be talking to a young fellow by the name of Yannick Hila, and I hope my, pathetic attempt at a German. It didn't come through too strongly there. Yannick, welcome to the Bangkok Podcast.
Yannik 00:04:04 Hi, Greg. No, your time was great. thank you for having me. I'm happy to. To talk to you.
Greg 00:04:10 No. That's great. Now, now, I discussed this a little bit in our intro that, we did a few minutes ago, but, you know, you, you reached out to us, and, you're a listener of the show from from Germany. but right now, you're not in Germany. You're in. You're in Copenhagen, right?
Yannik 00:04:27 Yeah, exactly. I was born in Germany, in a city called Mannheim. It's next to Frankfurt. and at the moment I'm doing my master's degree in Copenhagen. So actually, I'm located in Copenhagen right now.
Greg 00:04:39 Oh, wow. Great. Both places I would love to get to, but have yet to explore. But anyway, you reached out to us. And you. And you, you you, suggested an idea for a show, which I was actually quite intrigued by. And I thought it would be really interesting because personally, I have zero insight into this, and I know it's something that we've never covered on the show before, but you came to Thailand as an exchange student to go to university here, and I thought that was really interesting.
Greg 00:05:08 Like I said, I know nothing about it, so I want to hear what that was like because, I'm always surprised when I walk around a university campus here. I don't know why I'm surprised, but I'm always surprised when I see a lot of international students and I'm like, do people really come to Thailand for university? And I guess they do. So walk us through your thought process. I mean, you're sitting in Europe and you're thinking of like, what's my next step? And you settle on Thailand. How did that come about and why did it come about?
Yannik 00:05:39 Yeah, it all started 2019. I did my high school diploma in Germany in 2020, and after that I wanted to travel. I wanted to go to Thailand, but I had no opportunity because of Covid and because of that. It started after that. Yeah. So, during my bachelors, I my interest in Thailand grew and grew and grew, and I talked to a lot of people who have visited Thailand and said it was just an amazing country, an amazing experience.
Yannik 00:06:05 So I thought, why don't I do, exchange semester to Thailand? to Bangkok. So that's that's what I did in 2022. Then. So my fourth semester of university.
Greg 00:06:18 Okay. And you'd never been to Thailand before? Is that right?
Yannik 00:06:21 Exactly. I've never been to Thailand. It was a huge step for me. but I wanted to experience exactly that. I wanted to go as far away as possible from Germany. I didn't want to go to Europe because of some German or European influences. I wanted to see a completely different part of the world. so it was my first time, but it was not my last time in Thailand when I did the exchange semester. Wow.
Greg 00:06:43 So, you know, that's really great because, you know, thinking back to my early time here and, talking to a lot of people over the past 20 years, like moving to a new country with a with a totally different culture and a totally different language. It is very daunting and it can be downright scary.
Greg 00:07:00 And a lot of people just be like, well, I'll go to visit, but I won't move there. Like, moving there is crazy. But you know, it takes balls to do to do that, especially to a place you've never been before. So what? Like what about Thailand? Why didn't you go to to Japan or Vietnam or, you know, some other country or South America, you know, some other country with a different culture to to Europe?
Yannik 00:07:23 Yeah. I was always kind of amazed by Asia, by the food, by by the culture. And as you just mentioned, it's it's scary to, to be 4 or 5 months in a different country. So because I chose Thailand before I chose Thailand, I was very deep into research and reading books and listening to podcasts. That's how I came across your podcast also, and I did a lot of information seeking, maybe that's my personal trait that can be good, can be bad, but in that case, it helped me a lot to prepare to, to prepare myself to to go to Bangkok.
Yannik 00:08:00 And yeah, I just I just watched a lot of movies. I watched a lot of YouTube videos. And I was amazed by by all, everything I saw, even the downsides, that I saw in the videos. I was like, I want to experience that. So I chose Thailand.
Greg 00:08:16 That's amazing. And it doesn't surprise me. You did a lot of research. I mean, let's just lean right into the German stereotypes of, like, there are rules we must research. Yeah.
Yannik 00:08:27 But maybe, I, I embody the, the the them. Very good. So like, it's kind of my try to, to do a lot of research and if I like something, I read into it and I can't wait till I experience it.
Greg 00:08:41 Oh that's great. But you know, now let's let's be honest here, like ad is a professor at a Thai university and he teaches for, for an international style Dial course, and I don't know the nuances of this, but from what I understand, Thai universities are not considered among the world's best.
Greg 00:09:04 So when you were thinking of furthering your education, did that enter into it? Like, you know, Thailand's universities, are pretty good. And you went to Chula Chulalongkorn, is that right? Yeah, exactly. Yeah. So Chula is widely considered one of, if not the quote unquote best university in Thailand. Your results may mileage may vary depending on who you are and what you do. But when you compare them against other universities, for instance, in Germany, they probably don't stack up that well. Am I right with that?
Yannik 00:09:36 Yeah, you're completely right with that. And I was aware of that. But my line of thinking was that I'm doing a bachelor's degree and a very known German university. I want to do a good master's degree, but I want to live. But like, I want to have the professional side, but I also want to experience something. I want to live. I want to to enjoy a little bit of my life before I start working and stuff like that.
Yannik 00:10:01 so for me, it was fine to to downgrade the education a little bit to experience something amazing. I heard from a lot of friends that went to very good universities. As I changed that, they were studying all the time and didn't even experience the country and I loved, I thought, I like, I could imagine that I will love Thailand, so I wanted to experience Thailand. I want to see the culture, the people and stuff. So for me, that was worth more than getting a little better education. I mean, you could also do internships after that. So for me that was no problem. to choose Thailand as a destination.
Greg 00:10:38 That's really interesting. You know, you use the word downgrade. and I think that's a good word, although it might have a more negative connotation than I think we want to use here, because let me use let me use my my my, my son as an example. Now he goes to an international school, but it is a quote unquote affordable international school.
Greg 00:10:59 So it's not ISB or Patna or Harrow or one of these schools that costs a million baht a year. And so my thought with that was like, well, he's not going to one of the best schools, but he's going to a school that's good enough. And as long as he's happy and enjoying himself, that's what I'm most interested in. And most art I think is most important. But on the flip side of that, because he's not getting this, you know, highest standard in the world, highest possible level of education, hopefully that I can supplement that as a parent. So he can sort of downgrade his educational, you know, career. But at the same time, I can maybe provide some, some help to fill in the blanks. And I think maybe that's what you were thinking, too, like maybe the focus on the top, top, top education is not so important right now. What I want to do is supplement that with cultural understanding and travel understanding, which, you know, some people may say is even more important than hitting the books for 25 hours a day.
Greg 00:12:03 Like you said, some of your friends did.
Yannik 00:12:05 Exactly. Yeah, that's exactly what I meant. Maybe I downgraded my education from a German perspective, but for me, perspective, for a life perspective, I upgraded the part of my life to like, just just enjoy a little bit and just just to live and to to get some experiences and to find new friends and stuff. I think it can also harm yourself if you're just focused on career all the time. So. Right. That's exactly what what I meant. Yeah.
Greg 00:12:35 That's a very mature outlook for such a young a young fella like yourself. You usually only learn that when you're old and bitter like me through cold, hard experience. So. So what was the research like when you were looking into where to go in Thailand? How did you settle on Chula and what was your criteria for selecting that?
Yannik 00:12:57 Yeah, so we at the university I studied, we had a list of different universities that we could choose to go to exchange. And as I mentioned before, I wanted to go to Thailand and there were a few universities that we could choose from in Thailand, which was, I think, Temasek, Mahidol and Tchula.
Yannik 00:13:15 And I chose Tchula because it was well known, as you mentioned. I looked at a lot of pictures and also the locations, and I thought it was very central in Bangkok. and I also had a friend that went there, and he said to me that it was an amazing experience. So that helped a lot to so I put Tula in my first place and luckily I got accepted. And yeah, that's that was my kind of research. I did less educational research for the universities, but like more about the country and the culture and a lot of videos and stuff like that.
Greg 00:13:49 That's cool. So. So how long? How long were you? Were you a student there? And when?
Yannik 00:13:54 Yeah, it was 20, 22 from August to December. So four months. But I travel I think it was one month before I arrived to to. Travel a little bit and like to, to find myself around and just I didn't want to. To come there and on the next day I have to start my university life.
Yannik 00:14:13 So just to get to know some people and to get to know, how to get around, maybe download grab or something like that. It's like it's the first steps. The first steps. I wanted to be there a little bit early. So I arrived, one month early. Then it was August till December, and then I left, I think two days before Christmas Eve.
Greg 00:14:32 Oh, wow. Okay, okay. And so what was it like, man? Like, when you showed up? what was that first month, like, getting prepped? And the next question is, what was your first day? Week? Month of of school. Like, what were your thoughts?
Yannik 00:14:48 So. Honest. In my honest opinion, the first day was horrible because everything went wrong. I arrived, it was so hot I had too much clothes on. I went to the hotel and they said my room wasn't booked and so I had to go to another hotel and there I fall asleep. And then I woke up because of like the time gap between Germany and Thailand.
Yannik 00:15:10 And I woke up and I walked the wrong areas and it was a little bit smelly, but it was just the first day. And when I woke up the next day, I just just walked the streets again and I just fell in love with everything. Like it amazed me a lot. and in the first month it was it was before university started. It was it was amazing because I, I would describe it like I didn't think a lot. I just did stuff like I didn't think I didn't plan my day like I do in Germany. I just did my stuff. it was also overwhelming because in Tula you have a school uniform, for example, that we don't have in Germany. So I needed to get my school uniforms. I needed to go to the university to get some documents ready. So I did all that organizational stuff and I traveled a little bit, and during that month, I just completely fell in love to Thailand. I moved into my dormitory. It was like a big apartment complex in Soi Naveen, where I think it was approximately 100 to 200 international students from Tula who lived there with a pool, with a gym.
Yannik 00:16:22 And it was amazing. That was my first month, so the first day was horrible. But then it just went went up and I just fell in love more and more.
Greg 00:16:30 Oh that's great, that's great. My first, my first couple of, of months in Thailand were not very enjoyable either, especially when I first moved to Chiang Mai. And that was fine because I was basically on vacation. But when I moved to to Bangkok to get a job, my first few months were really not very enjoyable. It enjoyable. I was very lonely. I was broke, you know, I was lost. So I know what you want. I know what you went through. What was your living situation like in the dormitory? Did you share with someone or.
Yannik 00:16:56 They were different possibilities. I could share a room with two, 3 or 4 people. So in total, there would be four free or two. Or you could get your own room. And I had my own room and it was it was very big.
Yannik 00:17:09 I think it was 60m² and I think I paid €350. I don't know the calculation out of my head and but but.
Greg 00:17:20 let me let me do that right now. €350 in bot. Help me out here. Good. That's 12,400 baht a month.
Yannik 00:17:27 Exactly. Right. That and I think the the most expensive thing there was the AC, because I am used to to sleep with AC all night so that that was the only expensive thing there. But we had a pool. We had a gym. every day there was like a shuttle service to university, so every morning, but I didn't. I never used that. I just booked a bolt or grabbed like a motorcycle, and I just rolled a rider to through the traffic to the university. It was.
Greg 00:17:55 The most right.
Yannik 00:17:56 For me. and it was it was also very, surprising. the first day compared to the last day, like the first day clinging onto the motorcycle guy. No phone in your hand with a helmet on. Very scared.
Yannik 00:18:09 And on the last day, like, chilling. chilling on the bike and not being afraid anymore.
Greg 00:18:14 And, yeah, you're sitting sidesaddle like a girl and checking your phone and carrying a carrying a box under the other arm.
Yannik 00:18:20 Like some makeup and something like that.
Greg 00:18:24 That was funny. What was the, what were the other students like? I remember thinking back to my university days. you know, your fellow classmates who are strangers on day one eventually sort of end up becoming your friends and your little social group. And where were your fellow students from? And how did those relationships form.
Yannik 00:18:46 I was very lucky because actually one person from my home university also went to Tchula and had the same program as me. You could also choose different programs. So I was very lucky that I knew one person. But if I think again, we had people from Mexico, Colombia, the US, a lot of Italians, there were a lot of Germans, surprisingly, I think we were like 15 German people. And there were people from Japan, too, from China.
Yannik 00:19:17 So it was very mixed every continent. Some of South Africa. It was very mixed. And that's exactly what I wanted. I wanted to see, like to to feel. I love international, so that's why I'm doing my master's also in Copenhagen right now. And that's the first time I experienced different cultures coming together, understand each other. So yeah, from all the different countries of the world.
Greg 00:19:41 That must be very encouraging And like, exciting, you know, like you're like, yes, this is what I wanted. This is exactly what I want.
Yannik 00:19:48 Exactly.
Greg 00:19:48 Yeah. Yeah. going back a little bit when you when you announced that you were going to Thailand for school, did anyone at home go? What? Why?
Yannik 00:19:57 A lot of people. A lot of people. But because they just told me, just go. Go to Italy or something. And after your bachelor degree, just travel there. But for me, I also wanted to see the university system in Bangkok. I wanted to see, other students that study there.
Yannik 00:20:13 So. So for me, it was a different picture, but there were a lot of people who quite didn't understand. But there was on the flip side also, a lot of people who said, oh, that's so amazing. Like, we just heard about people that travel there, like with a backpack and stuff, but studying there is something that is not too well known. So there were a lot of both sides. There were both sides. But I at the end, all my friends support me and a lot of friends came to visit me because I just told them amazing stories. So they all came and yeah, in the in the end.
Greg 00:20:42 Right. Nice. Yeah. And what was when when classes started. What was your impression of the the teachers of the facilities of the campus? What what was your takeaway?
Yannik 00:20:55 Yeah, the campus was huge. there were some bus lines in the campus. So I wasn't used to that. my first impression was that it was completely different. So, like the the university system in Bangkok or in Thailand, I just can tell you from my perspective of Tula, but I think it's quite similar between the Thai universities.
Yannik 00:21:16 And the German system is so different. Like we had to do a lot of presentations, we had midterm exams, we had a class where we have to to to dress as like ghosts or something like that to do a presentation. So it was way more interacting. And there were, there were it was kind of strange. There was so much respect for the teacher. But at the same time, when other groups did a presentation, people left and come in. So it was. There were a lot of respect. And on the downside, something that you wouldn't do in Germany. There were all these small assignments and midterm exams that I don't have in Germany. Like I have one exam at the end of the semester. And if you don't, if you show up or if you don't show up, no one cares in Germany. But there you have to be there. You have to to dress in the uniform with the tie, with the buckle. And so there were a lot of differences, but I really liked it because in the groups we had to form groups, not just the internationals among themselves, but also groups of tie people and stuff like that.
Yannik 00:22:15 So you get to know the tie people. When you prepare a presentation, you go out to dinner and maybe go out after that. So you learn from the tie, people, local facts and stuff like that. So I really liked it, but it was very different.
Greg 00:22:31 Yeah. And you were doing international business. That was the exact opposite. Yeah.
Yannik 00:22:36 International business. I had like five different, different subjects. For example, in marketing. I had won international business and management studies, and I also had one like rhetorical course where we just had every, every, every week we had to do a five minute presentation without something, and we had to improve our body language and stuff like that. So also a course that would never that we would never had in a German university. So.
Greg 00:23:03 Oh, that's interesting. It's so funny, you know, because I like I, when I was a teacher and I used the word teacher in quotation marks because I was, you know, not not officially qualified or anything, but the I taught at a girls high school and the very first thing I always taught in my class was I, I went around and I asked everyone to line up and shake my hand, and almost every single student gave me, like we call it, the limp, the limp fish handshake where they don't really squeeze.
Greg 00:23:30 And I was like, no, no, no. When you meet a foreigner, especially when you meet a foreigner, you got to squeeze. You got to give confident pumps and look them in the eye. You know, that body language is very important, especially when you're dealing with international business clients.
Yannik 00:23:42 Yeah. Yeah. So it was an amazing course, but like, it would never happen in the German university I studied. So it was so different, everything. But it was like the completely opposite. And I really liked the complete opposite. So I was a little bit afraid to go back to Germany again, but but yeah, there were a lot of differences, but it was very, very nice. And it was very, very cold in the classrooms like the AC was, was covering and it was crazy, like I was freezing and there were the jacket on. And then.
Greg 00:24:11 Yeah, it's so funny. It's like a movie theater and. And what about the, your professors, what was your takeaways on, on them.
Yannik 00:24:20 In an academic way? I think there were no major differences. I think they just have a different style of teaching, like, because there were small classes, actually, we were like 60 to 100 people, and in Germany were 450 at my university at least. So it was very small and interactive. There are a lot of questions that were great when you talk in class and raise your hands and stuff like that, so it was a completely different style. but like the English was great. They were Thai professors, but I studied in English because I couldn't speak a word of Thai when I arrived.
Greg 00:24:54 sure. Yeah.
Yannik 00:24:54 Yeah, yeah. So it was completely fine.
Greg 00:24:59 Interesting, interesting. Let me talk about the uniform a little bit. How does that work out? What? Where do you. Are there uniform stores and what what are the rules? And did you find that, sort of constricting or maybe insulting is not the right word, but infantilizing, like, what are you doing? Why do I wear a uniform? I'm an adult now.
Yannik 00:25:21 Yeah, I quite like the uniform. Just because of the fact that you don't have to worry what to wear in the morning or something like that. You just put on your uniform. Do your question. where I find the uniform, there were like two suggested stores for school uniforms that we could go to. I think one was on campus and one was in MBK, I think, or in a big mall, I think it was MBK and so. So you just arrived there and tell them from which university you are, and then they have like a list to to verify that you are a student and then you get really.
Greg 00:25:54 Oh yeah.
Yannik 00:25:55 You get a tie, you get a belt with a buckle, a white shirt and black trousers, black long trousers. And they were horrible because it was so hot. And when you are on a scooter to university and you have those long black, thick pants on, it was very hard the first month, but I actually quite like it. And actually there were some some funny stories where I walked around the city and people just came up to me and talked to me, hey, you're a true student.
Yannik 00:26:20 Because, like, they could identify me from the belt and from the university, from the uniform. And they just chatted with me for five minutes and then they left. So I think it was quite nice to to wear the uniforms.
Greg 00:26:33 It's interesting because a lot of people don't know, but they there are identifying marks on the uniforms, and your belt has the Chula logo on the buckle. Right? Exactly.
Yannik 00:26:42 And the tie? Also the belt and the tie.
Greg 00:26:44 Okay, okay, okay. It's interesting. I the you know, my first impression with school uniforms is always like, oh, that's stupid. What a what a juvenile thing to do. But actually we discussed it one time and he said, well, you know, there's a lot of people who think it's actually a good thing because especially when you're dealing with a country like Thailand, which has a lot of class differences and sort of like this class system built in. And like you said, you don't have to think about what your uniform is.
Greg 00:27:08 So if someone comes from a rich family and they come to school with like brand new Gucci clothes, you know, and you come from some poor family that can't afford that, or some normal family that can't afford that, you know, that might sort of create friction sometimes. But if everyone's got to wear the same thing all the time, that eliminates that completely. So it's sort of it's sort of a social leveler, which I think is an interesting idea.
Yannik 00:27:33 Yeah, exactly. And like for, for my case. I just had it for five months, so I didn't thought about the long term effects of wearing a uniform because I just were there for five months. But yeah, I think you mentioned some important points. Yeah.
Greg 00:27:47 Yeah, yeah. did you have any moments, during your time here where you were like, man, I don't know if this is going to work out or I made a mistake or, like, this isn't really what I was expecting. Any any, like, difficult patches you had to get through.
Yannik 00:28:05 I think some of the times, some organizational stuff was very different to to get the new visa. I had to go to the university and request a document, and then there was just no one there. And like all the organizational stuff, was very hard compared to Germany. But I think maybe that's an exception because in Germany everything is on point and very strict. And then you go there and then at that time you got rules exactly like that. So, so that was completely different, right? And also people being on time or not on time, but I really enjoyed that. And like, the only really bad moment that happened to me was when I got food poisoning three times. Oh, but that's that's just just a small, small incident. But like in general, I have nothing to complain about from a whole six months. And even after that, I visited Thailand again and I never had some complications. just real love. I think.
Greg 00:29:00 That's great. It was. It's so great to hear that it was such a positive experience.
Greg 00:29:04 Yeah. And so when you graduated, you you had what what did you come out with?
Yannik 00:29:09 With a Bachelor of science in business administration.
Greg 00:29:13 Bachelor of science in business administration. Okay. What was your next step and how did your experience in Thailand help that next step?
Yannik 00:29:21 Yeah. because of my experience in Thailand, I thought I just wanted to to travel more to to get back to Thailand and to experience myself more to, to to see different cultures and stuff like that. So after my bachelor, my initial plan was to continue with my masters immediately, but I didn't did that. I did a gap year. It's a common thing in Germany where you have one year between your bachelors and your masters. I did two internships and the rest of the time I just traveled and I went to Thailand again for three months, three and a half months. I trained with Thai at, Puckett.
Greg 00:29:59 Oh, wow.
Yannik 00:29:59 And, I had just an amazing time, and I think I wouldn't have done that if I didn't.
Yannik 00:30:07 Went on the exchange semester.
Greg 00:30:09 Right, right. So kind of inspired you.
Yannik 00:30:10 Yeah, it's inspired me to to do more for myself in the moment and not for my career in the future.
Greg 00:30:18 Right. Yeah, yeah. Would you would you recommend this experience for someone who had more of a focus on academia versus what you did, which is more of a focus on life experience? I think I would.
Yannik 00:30:32 Because people that are have focused a lot on academics and careers and stuff like that. After the Bachelor's, they would do a master's, and after the master they would get a job where they have to work 70 hours plus and stuff like that. So I would actually recommend it to them even more to have like a small break between the hard job goes on and stuff like that to just chill a little bit, enjoy yourself, enjoy a beautiful country, enjoy beautiful cultures. So I think in my perspective, I would recommend that to the people with a high focus on career even more. But of course, you can argue that exchange semester at Bocconi or some some Oxford University or something like that would benefit them more in in the career style, but maybe in the personal style and to prevent, I don't know, a burnout in early ages or something like that.
Yannik 00:31:19 I would recommend them to, to to go to talent.
Greg 00:31:21 Yeah, yeah, that's definitely a lifestyle decision. But but I think that I mean an educational CV with, you know, Thailand, a university in Thailand, in the middle of these sort of first world country or universities with very high prestige levels might look a little bit out of place. Maybe. But yeah, but no.
Yannik 00:31:46 But I think there are mixed opinions about that because some some people actually say that that benefits because you can see from that person who went to Thailand that he's open, that he can like, fit themselves into new cultures even in an international work environment. And it's important that you come along with different cultures to to know how to speak English, for example, and stuff like that. So an exchange semester in a country that is so far away actually shows positive traits that some recruiters or some jobs even want. So I think there's there's this mix of the benefits and the negative effects. but there are actually benefits to go to Thailand that even some high level jobs want to see.
Greg 00:32:30 That's that's really interesting. And I'm glad that a lot of companies are trying to think that way now. Like it's not all about academics. It's not all about your marks. Like there's a lot of other soft skills that may even be more important. Exactly. You get out there in the world. So hopefully, hopefully the the old fuddy duddy in charge will start to realize that. Yeah. And maybe, maybe, you know, give experiences like yours a bit more weight than the old school people who think like, it's got to be all about the grades. It's all about the the names of the institutions you go to, blah, blah, blah. I hope so, Greg.
Yannik 00:33:01 I hope so.
Greg 00:33:02 So you're you're in Copenhagen now. You're doing your master's degree.
Yannik 00:33:05 Exactly.
Greg 00:33:06 Yeah, yeah, yeah. And how many more years of that do you have?
Yannik 00:33:10 one and a half. I just started it, last semester. So in August. So I have one and a half years left.
Yannik 00:33:15 It's a two year master's program. And after that, a little bit of traveling and then directly into the job.
Greg 00:33:22 Well, I don't know. I think you should get your doctorate. What do you think? Nah, I.
Yannik 00:33:25 Don't think so. It's enough academic stuff for me.
Greg 00:33:30 So as we're wrapping up here, I do have one more question, and it's something I'm curious about. What was the cost of this whole thing? And I don't want to get into super specifics, but really roughly your tuition and your monthly living expenses. Do you have any idea for that?
Yannik 00:33:46 Yeah. Like, I think the first big expense was the flight there. I think it was 900 years. but I really booked it very early. then, as I mentioned, I paid like 3 to 400 with electricity and water to live, like, to for my accommodation in the student apartment.
Greg 00:34:07 That's euros for 3 to €400.
Yannik 00:34:09 Exactly. Euros? Yeah. Okay. I think I paid roughly about five years a day for transportation for.
Yannik 00:34:18 For grab bikes or for taxi or for the for the metro or something like that.
Greg 00:34:24 I paid.
Yannik 00:34:24 Yeah, I paid no tuition fees or something at all. So it was completely free to me meet to study there. Wait.
Greg 00:34:31 Really? I have no way. Well, how come? Why?
Yannik 00:34:34 Because it's a partner university for my university. And if you are a partner, my university offers to send them to students for free and the other way around. So I didn't have to pay any, any tuition fees or something like that. Just like the books are like the school uniform and stuff like that.
Greg 00:34:54 Oh, wow. I had no idea. So it was basically free and you only had to pay living expenses? Exactly. Damn, that's a pretty good deal. And it works both ways too. So if you're a student in in Thailand, you can go to Germany. Yeah. And pay.
Yannik 00:35:09 Nothing.
Greg 00:35:10 Wow. Did you. Did you go to school with anyone like that?
Yannik 00:35:13 no, I just meant I met one who went to Austria.
Greg 00:35:17 Oh, wow. Okay. To Austria. Damn, that seems like a really good deal. Yeah, I think that's for my.
Yannik 00:35:23 Yeah, but I think it's a it's a common thing in Germany if you have partner universities. And in my case, I have to say that, my exchange semester was not voluntarily, so I had to do it. So maybe that's also a factor that come into account. But all my friends also from different universities, they never had to pay tuition fees when they went on exchange. Not as a free mover, but like I had a partner university. If you want to choose another university that is not a part of university, then it's called free mover and then you have to pay the tuition fees.
Greg 00:35:53 I see, I see. Okay. Okay. Well, that sounds like a pretty good deal. I'm taking notes for, for my son. And about in about 15 years is, about ten years, I guess, when he's, hopefully, hopefully furthering his education somewhere.
Greg 00:36:06 Maybe he'll come see Uncle Yannick in Germany.
Yannik 00:36:08 In Germany? Yeah.
Greg 00:36:12 Well, Yannick, thanks. Thanks a lot, man. That was really interesting. I had no idea about any of that. And I'm far too old to be thinking about that these days. But it's really, really cool to hear what your experience was like and that it was such a positive thing for you to come, come to Thailand and get some life experience.
Yannik 00:36:27 Yeah, it was a pleasure. Thanks for the invitation, Greg.
Greg 00:36:29 Yeah, well, when are you going to be in Bangkok? Next.
Yannik 00:36:31 And next, I think, after my master's degree.
Greg 00:36:35 After master's degree? All right, well, send us a message. We'll get a beer and, a German beer, a German beer. we will we will continue this conversation. No, Chong, we'll stick to some some, some imported versions of that. yeah. So thanks a lot. Man. That was really interesting.
Yannik 00:36:55 Thank you. Thank you. See you.
Ed 00:37:01 Later. Yeah. So this is, a little bit more my world than your world, but I like, hearing it from the students perspective. So I interact with I interact with exchange students at my university, and occasionally I hear feedback from them. But that's not really my job. Like, they're just students in my class, and I just teach, you know, so I, I rarely sit down and talk to talk to them like you did and hear the whole story from their perspective. You know they're there. They are a special type of visitor because they're not tourists. They're not expats. It's this whole exchange student thing. It is a special type of travel.
Greg 00:37:46 That's a really interesting way to look at it. There's sort of like these like third culture kids almost. Right? Like they're in the middle of it. All right. They're not they're not working. They're reliant on university. They're still they're probably fairly young and on their own in a strange place for the first time. It's a it's a it must be an interesting experience.
Greg 00:38:01 Like they're not tourists so they still have responsibilities, right?
Ed 00:38:05 Yeah. Well, they're semi tourists. I always try to be nice to my exchange students, and I give them a little more flexibility on exams and things like that than I do my, my regular students, because I know that the exchange students want to travel, but I don't let them get out of things like I really, I really I occasionally have these exchange students who will just say like, oh, I'm an exchange student. Like, do I have to take this exam? And I'm like, yeah.
Greg 00:38:29 yes you do.
Ed 00:38:31 Yeah. Like they, you know, they they they really want to treat the whole experience as if they are tourists and, you know. So I have to tell them, you are enrolled in the university. You have to do all the work. You know, I'll, you know, I'll I'll bend a few deadlines and stuff, you know, so you can, you know, see Thailand while you're here.
Ed 00:38:49 Like, I want them to have a good experience. but the other, the other, you know, he he said some interesting things about, like, the academic experience. What? You know, he was at a different university and a different type of program. But what I found out in general with, exchange students in my program is that, in the very beginning, they try very hard and get good grades. And then once they then they decide, oh, this is really easy. And then and then they start partying or traveling. And then a lot of times my exchange students, by the end of the semester, they're getting mediocre grades. Oh.
Greg 00:39:26 Really interesting. Okay.
Ed 00:39:27 So they they start out like they, you know, they crushed the first exam and they're like, oh, this is Thailand. This is easy, you know. You know and then and then they start partying and traveling. And then by the end of the semester they're, you know, they're getting C's. So I always warn I always warn my exchange students about that.
Greg 00:39:45 Interesting. Well, he touched on something also that I, as a parent, struggle with. And that is like, you know, he said that he sort of deprioritized the academic angle of his education in order to prioritize the cultural experience and the travel experience, which I think is great, I think is fantastic. And there's a lot of proponents of the fact that, like, you don't even need to go to university, just travel. You'll learn everything you need to know. so he sort of chose a middle ground there, but it's something that I, I struggle with as a parent because, you know, I can't afford to send my son to the most expensive universities and schools in Thailand. Not even close. It's outrageous. So I'm sending him to a less prestigious institution that I can afford. But at the same time, I'm hoping that even though the focus for me as a parent is somewhat less on his academic experience, that me, you know, as his father can can sort of supplement that with some interesting discussions and some home learning and some plus some outside school.
Greg 00:40:49 Travel agencies.
Ed 00:40:50 You travel with him? Yeah.
Greg 00:40:52 You travel as well. So. So that's what Yannick seemed to to be to be on about two. So I think we saw eye to eye there.
Ed 00:40:57 One of my biggest regrets as an undergrad is not doing an exchange year. I was looking I was looking into going to England for a year and then, I don't know, whatever. I ended up blowing it off or it didn't work out. And I think it's a great idea, man. I think exchange programs are genius.
Greg 00:41:13 Yeah, when I was in university, so I had the opportunity to travel for a job for like six months to, to like the next province. And I was like, oh, that's pretty far away. Not sure I could do that. So I didn't do it. And now I look back. Like, what a bonehead. But you know. But, no, thanks for coming on. Good suggestion. And, really nice to chat with you. He's a very nice young man.
Greg 00:41:35 Seems to have his head screwed on straight. He's gonna. He's gonna do great things. And hopefully he'll come back to Thailand and he can take us around to some of his favorite German beer houses here. We could do for sure. Yeah. Thanks, Yannick. That was great. Thank you. All right, let's do something. We call. Would you rather wear one of us picks? Two contrasting situations tied to Thailand to debate and choose which one we prefer now. And I've got kind of a current events themed. Would you rather. Oh, okay. And, it's not, it's you got to shoehorn the, the idea into this little discussion here, because it's not apples and apples, it's a little bit apples to oranges. But I'm looking at what's happening in, in Los Angeles right now with the crazy fires going on in the, the natural disasters of that. It's insane. That magnitude is crazy. But, would you rather live in a place That is under threat by recurring natural disasters like that.
Greg 00:42:28 Or would you rather live in a place like Bangkok, which is under threat of recurring natural disasters like floods?
Ed 00:42:35 And oh, so this is so this is definitely a lesser of two evils.
Greg 00:42:40 Pretty much. So would you rather deal with the potential of fire, or would you rather deal with the potential of floods?
Ed 00:42:45 Do those fires look so great? You know, the thing about flooding in Bangkok is it's kind of a regular thing and it can get extreme. But man, those fires are scary. And I think the fires historically were relatively rare. So everyone knows California has a wildfires. But and but I feel that 20, 30 years ago there would be, oh one big wildfire every three years, you know, and then it's every two every and then every year there's wildfires, you know. So so now and again, I don't know what the cause is. I don't know if it's climate change or who knows what the heck's going on. You know, maybe the government is screwed up managing it.
Ed 00:43:28 Who knows? The cost doesn't matter, but it but those, it's been it's been blowing my mind. So I would I would have to choose flooding. don't those fires seem more life threatening than floods?
Greg 00:43:44 Yeah, they do. They do.
Ed 00:43:47 But, I mean, floods can do. The floods can destroy your home for sure. Back in the. What was it, the 2011 floods? My buddy had insane pictures of his. His house underwater, you know, his house and rungs. It was just completely underwater. Yeah. Yeah. So he's. He's in a boat. He's in a boat at the second floor of his house. Yeah. You know. So. And floods also are kind of gross and germy and, you know. Right.
Greg 00:44:14 But it seems to me the the potential of fighting back a fire like there's no flood fighters.
Ed 00:44:21 That's true. You know, like.
Greg 00:44:22 There's just really nothing you can do except put up sandbags and hope for the best.
Ed 00:44:26 Right, right, right.
Greg 00:44:28 So, I don't know, I think the fires are probably scarier. Yeah, but I think the floods are maybe more insidious and more persistent. More harder to stop.
Ed 00:44:39 Yeah, it's a good question. I think I would, I would choose I would choose the floods. Just just because. Just because they seem less, like, life threatening. it's funny, I this brings up a story, that I was talking to my students about, tornadoes in the US. It was it was it was some tornado story that came up on the news, and my students were asked me about it, and they their mind was kind of blown that, like, Kansas has to deal with this. And I'm like, no. Yeah they do. It's like, it's not it's not just a movie, you know? Right, right. It's a thing like if you if you live in the middle of the US, you will see a tornado. You will? Yeah. Yeah.
Greg 00:45:19 It reminds me of one of my favorite stories from from ancient Rome.
Greg 00:45:24 There was this incredibly rich guy named Crassus, and he was one of the richest people in ancient Rome. And the way he became rich was when, you know, Rome didn't have a fire brigade. So if they did, it was sort of like the neighbors got together and gathered buckets.
Ed 00:45:37 And tried to.
Greg 00:45:37 Put it out. So if a if a building was on fire, Crassus, who had a bunch of slaves because a lot of the Roman economies were into slavery, he would show up with, you know, like 100 of his slaves and be like, oh, that's a terrible shame that your building is on fire. I'll tell you what, I'll buy it. And he and he offered some ridiculous low price. And if if the person said, no, no, that's too low, then he's like, oh, well, that's a shame. And he would just stand there and watch it burn. And as it as the fire got bigger and bigger and bigger, the price got lower and lower and lower.
Greg 00:46:05 And so eventually he ended up owning like an insane amount of property because he would do this terrible story. But smart businessman.
Ed 00:46:12 The the evils of capitalism in ancient Rome. Yeah.
Greg 00:46:16 Not related to Bangkok at all, but there you go. Anyway.
Ed 00:46:19 Alrighty. A final thanks to our patrons who support the show. Patrons get a ton of cool perks and the warm, fuzzy feeling knowing that they're helping and are never ending. Quest for cool content. Find out more by clicking support on our website and connect with us online. We're Bangkok podcasts on social media, Bangkok podcasts on the web or simply Bangkok Podcast at gmail.com. We love hearing from our listeners and always reply to our messages.
Greg 00:46:46 That's right. You can also listen to each episode on YouTube. Send us a voicemail through our website that will feature on the show. Hit me up on blue Sky at BCC. Greg, thank you for listening, everyone. Take it easy out there. We'll see you back here next week.
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