Not tourists only

It's Monday and that means back to work for Tim Snyder and me.  As with most days for academic administrators this means meetings.  Today we met with Brother Bancha, President of Assumption University and with the Academic Vice President and her deputy as well as with the Dean of the Graduate School of Business and the Director of the Office of International Programs.  All are committed to continuing and strengthening the Loyola Bangkok program.  The officials of Assumption are very happy to have Loyola students on campus and they are grateful for the American perspective that they bring to Assumption.  Mr. Glenn, the Director of International Programs, provided Dr. Snyder and me with a list of the 391 Loyola students who have participated in the program since its inception nearly twenty years ago.  He noted that he himself has taught nearly 250 of those Loyola students (perhaps it is time for a Bangkok reunion!).  All of the officers of Assumption asked us to encourage more college graduates to come to Bangkok to teach in the University and in the other schools sponsored by the Brothers.  Father Nash has information about these intriguing opportunities.

Okay.  This was as much as I had written when I had to travel across the river for dinner with the officials at the Shangri-La Hotel (photos were taken of Dr. Snyder and me with the traditional Thai dancers....I will try to get them for your viewing pleasure).  When I returned from the dinner, I finished my post--filled with witty and insightful comments.   I was happy, it was 11 PM, the blog was finished, and I was exhausted.  You know what happened next.  I hit the send button only to find that I had lost my connection.  I couldn't get back on line and I thought that I had lost my entire post.  I was so annoyed and frustrated that I had to read my book for a half-hour before I could think of trying to sleep. 

I know that Dr. Snyder mentioned the graph on the right in his blog.  Brother Bancha, the president of Assumption, shared it with us when we met with him yesterday morning.  I know that it is difficult to read in this format (although I am very proud that I managed to photograph the copy Brother gave me with my new camera, transfer it to the hard drive of my computer, and post it on my blog--Rich Sigler is a great teacher!!).  What the graph shows is the populations (from left to right) of Asia, Europe, and the USA in 2005.  Each horizontal bar represents an age group.  The lowest bar is the 0-14 age group.  It tells us that the story in this century will be all about Asia.  The young person who knows something about Asian cultures, societies, and languages will have a distinct advantage in the years ahead.

In addition to studying at Assumption in Thailand, there is also a teaching program for college graduates.  All of the officials we met at Assumption asked Dr. Snyder and me to encourage more young persons to come and join this program.  The teaching is at both AU and at St Gabriel's, a K-12 school operated by the Brothers; mostly English language but there are opportunities to teach other subjects.  The teachers can live at Assumption in the same (VERY nice) residence hall that houses the Loyola contingent.  This is not a program sponsored by Loyola College but Father Nash is a good source of information about it.  Father will be back on campus in January.

Speaking of Father Nash, he is arriving to pick us up in ten minutes and I am not ready.  We are off to the new campus this morning.  This is the campus where most of the undergraduate courses are offered.  I think that I can safely let you in on a secret as Dr. Snyder is probably on his way to meet Father Nash.  Our hosts at the Suvarnibum campus are going to give us King shirts as a present (see my  Sunday blog).  Tim REALLY wants one so I am sure that I will have to calm him down after the presentation.  I predict a new fashion trend at Loyola College and beyond.....

God bless!  Father Linnane

Comments

[Ryan]

Father and Tim,

I can't express adequately how strongly I feel that an experience like teaching English in Bangkok should be a priority of every graduate. It certainly was a clarifying year of my life, and I am sure it will serve as touchstone for my daily experiences for a long time to come. I am very pleased that Loyola will continue to send students (and teachers) to Thailand!

Ryan Hindinger '06

[Mary-Joy Rivelois]

Brian and Tim,

I feel as though I'm in Bangkok with you.

Thank you so much for taking the time after really full days to write and share your daily experiences with us.

Peace, and again, thank you.

Mary-Joy Rivelois
Guest Services
Columbia Graduate Center

[Richard Sigler]

Hi Father,

Very interesting graph. And it is quite legible in the larger view (available by clicking on the smaller image in your post). The population differences are dramatic! I also notice that the US and European populations stay fairly consistent throughout the age ranges while the Asian numbers drop significantly when moving up the age brackets. Is that attributed to a growing number of births in recent years, to mortality rate, or to emigration? If it is the latter, then the graph could actually be under-representing the powerful cultural impact suggested by the Asian population numbers. Though no longer counted as part of the population in Asia, as immigrants these people bring their culture to other parts of the world. Thanks Father!

Best, Rich Sigler

[John Dougherty]

Enjoy the King shirts. We'll break them out on Mondays if you will!

And that graph really is impressive. It's both startling and humbling to see the US as that skinny little bar, while the Asian population is this enormous statistical ziggurat. Interesting perspective.

- John