(Late posting)
After battling over whether or not to turn down a UN internship offer, I finally made up my mind to risk and take action for my words.
Six months ago, I was so excited and looking forward to be a part of one of the largest organization working for world development. I wrote a passionate and very convincing application letter to the UN Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (UNESCAP) based in Bangkok, which later was “unfortunately” proven convincing as I got the acceptance a month after.
This internship was all on my own as UN does not pay interns a single cent. It was an absolute volunteerism. I managed to save a little for this internship and decided to “charge it all to experience” after all, it would be “plus” in my resume J.
The UN experience was not the only thing I am after in fact. It was the Bangkok experience that gave me a push for this endeavor. After taking up economics classes in my Masters, which brought me to Japan, I became aware of the economic standing of the Philippines relative to other countries. I was never allured by the beauty of Thailand and know nothing about this place as tourist destination in fact. Then I got updated by how it’s economy was fast rising while ours was pretty slow. I started to get interested with how this country, much more intrigued why it is flocked with tourists.
June 28, early Saturday morning, I was kind of tensed and lost in the thoughts of going to another country, totally new to me, alone. I have given a thousand thoughts about this and it gives me a strange feeling of “Will I survive Thailand alone?” It was in fact my first time to be traveling alone. I don’t know anyone in Thailand who would come and fetch me at the airport. But I thought I must grow up. I conquered every fear with a sleek pretension of bravery. I needed to fool myself I am brave to get to where I am. I kept with me also a simple prayer for guidance and protection, there’s nothing more reassuring than knowing there is Someone bigger than me who would take care of me along the way.
Indeed, step by step, help came. At the Narita airport, an angel came to help. A friend helped me with all my heavy luggages and translations form Japanese to English when I had trouble with my passport and visa. That was not a good start actually as it detained me in the check-in counter. I was almost late for my flight. I had to run and line up at the long stretch of queue at the immigration. Thankfully, I managed to enter the boarding gate at the last minute before it closes.
Upon arriving at the airport, I was dumbstruck with the huge airport and how to communicate with the people since I could not speak a single Thai word. Thank God I was given a detailed instruction and notes in Thai by a kind friend of how to get my apartment from the airport.
As I come out of the airport a familiar scent and ambience greeted me. Oh, it was so much like Manila. The humid temperature, billboards, ads contesting I size, buildings, cars of all sorts plus pollution, marks of a growing capital in a developing country. Along the road were billboards of “Amazing Thailand” and it kept me thinking until now, what makes Thailand amazing? That I still have to find out in my two-month stay in this country.
