Since being hired by Loyalsock
several years ago, Miss Jennifer Beck has become a welcome addition to the faculty
at Loyalsock. Among our faculty, she is
arguably the most traveled member of our team.
Just recently, Miss Beck traveled virtually all summer to several Asian countries. Below is a sample of her travels as we "spotlight" her this month.
I have been traveling my whole
life. I love to travel. I love adventures. I love not knowing what may happen
next. When I was a little kid, I knew I wanted to travel and take what I
learned back to a classroom full of kids. I knew I wanted to teach world history,
because I simply love the world that much.
This summer I embarked on a trip
that was unlike any other I had ever dared myself to partake in. The first part
was incredible, but also a piece of cake. In April, I found out that after much
deliberation I was accepted to the Japan Society Educator’s Tour for the summer
of 2012. This trip entailed six cities, two home stays and several school
visits throughout Japan. It was meant to be three weeks long. Upon reading the
requirements for the trip, I realized that I could extend my trip and fly home
at any time if I so desired. I thought about this option for less than a
minute. Of course I was going to extend my trip… but where would I go? Japan is
a modern, first world nation. Modern conveniences exist and getting around is
extremely easy, even though a language barrier exists. I wanted a challenge
thereafter. After discussing the matter at length with my friend Lauren and my
boyfriend, both of which planned to meet me in Asia after Japan, we decided on
Myanmar. I knew very little about Myanmar, but I got myself a visa, booked some
tickets, and didn’t think much about it.
On July 1, I flew to Japan with
the Japan Society Educator’s Tour. I traveled with a group of teachers from all
over the country. We started in Kyoto, visited many shrines, and then ventured
off to Obu. In Obu we stayed with Japanese families. Of course, the family I
was assigned was a bit untraditional… ok, they were very untraditional. I found
myself struggling with my extremely limited to nonexistent Japanese language
abilities and sleeping on a tatami mat. I learned how to shower in a Japanese
style bathroom and cook gyoza from scratch.
While in Obu, we visited schools and I noticed
that lecture was the primary source of information dissemination. I certainly
did not expect to see such teaching styles in Japan, but the lack of technology
and the abundance of lecture seemed to be ever-present. I found this to be
different when we traveled to Arida City in Wakayama Prefecture. The schools seemed more alive and lecture was
not a constant way of teaching. In this small town, the group participated in
another home stay and it was wildly different from the first. The families were
all farmers and I found myself feeling surprisingly at home and relaxed in
comparison to the first. The families were all quite genuine folks and took
each of us farming a few times. The people I stayed with owned an orange grove
and it had been in their family for over one hundred and fifty years. The
entire extended family lived on the same street and seemed to participate in
activities together constantly. I learned to roll sushi with the grandmother,
met their great grandmother, and dressed up in a Yukata with the young children
in order to attend the local shrine festival.
Although it was slightly uncomfortable to live in someone’s home for a
short period of time without any language skills, it was probably the highlight
of my trip to Japan. I learned quite a bit about culture and customs, how to
eat properly, when to serve others and a variety of other things.
The group traveled to Hiroshima
thereafter. In Hiroshima, we had the pleasure of meeting one of the most
amazing people I have met in my entire life. His name was Mr. Ito and he
survived the atomic bombing of Hiroshima, even though his brother did not. He
was a child worker during those times and was lucky to not have suffered the
grave fate that so many others did. He described watching his brother get sick
from radiation, and explain how he recovered from such a great loss. In 2001,
Mr. Ito lost his son, who lived in New York City, in the 9/11 terrorist
attacks. He felt he had a relationship with America because of both tragedies,
even though the bombs dropped in Japan were dropped by Americans. By the end of
our session with Mr. Ito, the entire group cried and felt we had a close
relationship with him.
After Hiroshima, we went on for
our last few days in Tokyo and Fukushima. While in Fukushima, I spent time with
young English teachers and farmers, who had been economically affected by the
triple disaster. I saw abandoned city halls and frustrated folks who just
wanted their old way of life back. We visited a day care center that had the
most heroic teachers I had ever met. After all, they rescued more than 150 kids
under the age of 5 from a tsunami. There really is no training for that. Tokyo
was a welcome difference from the tragedies we had discussed and visited over
the prior days.
After spending time in Tokyo, I
had planned to do something wildly different. Japan is a super modern society,
but I was hungry for something a little more difficult and perhaps a little
less convenient. I stopped over in Thailand for a week, met my boyfriend Zach
and my friend Lauren, and we set off to travel around Myanmar for eight days.
Myanmar (Burma) was closed to regular tourism and freedoms in general until
2011. Tourist infrastructure is virtually nonexistent and hot water and
air-conditioning are a luxury. Only 25% of the country has access to electricity. We hired a guide and trekked to four major
sites. We visited pagodas, cities, went to a festival and ate incredible local
food. While in Myanmar, Zach and Lauren were often stopped by locals because
many had never seen a person white lighter skin before. They became like
celebrities everywhere we went. People wanted to take their photo and show it
to their relatives back in the village where they came from.
While in Myanmar, I realized that
certain norms that are apparent in America are virtually non-existent in Myanmar.
In America, we buckle our seat belts, make sure we wash our hands, and ensure
that a working age exists for children. In Myanmar, however, none of these
norms or laws exists. People ride on top of
the buses to get from place to place. Washing hands takes clean water, and this
is difficult to find in some areas. In almost every restaurant or guest house I
stayed at, little children served us and cleaned our rooms. A host of other
things were wildly foreign to me, as well. People polished their pagodas, but
lived in straw huts. Farm machinery could not be found, but water buffalo were
everywhere. Men wore longyiis, not pants and touching someone on the head
proved to be the largest insult one could give. On top of it all, many would
label the Burmese people as living in poverty, but in fact, many were
incredibly nice, friendly and some of the richest people I had ever met in
terms of happiness. People welcomed us, smiled, and barely ever bothered us for
money. It was like an untouched place in the world. At times, I felt as though
I was traveling on another planet. No one had knowledge of McDonalds, Coca-Cola
or other brand name items. Imports and exports did not exist. While we were
there we dressed like the Burmese and ate like the Burmese… and it was amazing.
Although our experience in
Myanmar was amazing, I was ready to leave when the time came. I missed my version
of normal and had been traveling in Asia for approximately five weeks by our
departure date from Yangon International Airport. Zach and I said goodbye to
Lauren as she decided to stay for another week in Yangon, and we headed to
Kuala Lumpur. KL was like another world. There were fast food restaurants,
reliable taxi drivers and clean running water. Although interesting, it was not
the least bit challenging. Other than the ancient Hindu Temple at the Batu
Caves, we really did a lot of indulging and very little sightseeing in the
major metropolis of Kuala Lumpur.
For our last stop, we flew to
Siem Reap, Cambodia… probably one of my favorite places on Earth. Originally we
decided on Siem Reap because Angkor Wat is located there. As a history teacher,
this is a major sight on my bucket list. It turns out; however, that some of
the other temples were far more interesting than the major sight itself. When
we first arrived, we took the major form of transportation to our guest house:
a tuk tuk. For two dollars, one can get anywhere in Siem Reap by tuk tuk. We
arrived at our guest house which I expected to be less than exciting. After
all, Cambodia is a third world country and I did not expect the standards to be
up to that of nice resorts in the United States. To my surprise, all of the
guest houses seemed incredibly modern, except for the lizards that creep around
in the rooms.
On our first night in Siem Reap
we rented ATVs and rode out to the rice paddy fields with a young Cambodian
man. He told us that before tourism was popular, many people were rice farmers.
He explained that this occupation earned very little money and the people of
Cambodia were now able to earn so much more because of tourism. While I
certainly saw many people asking for money and tips from foreigners, it is
seemingly obvious that visitors have vastly improved the lives of those who
once had to deal with one of the worst regimes in history: the Khmer Rouge.
Asia was amazing. In the end of
it all, Zach left a day before me and I found myself wandering the streets of
Bangkok trying to figure out where the past six weeks went. It was an amazing
journey. I traveled through history, culture, and absolutely amazing people. I
spent time in the first world and the third world. I found myself surprised,
scared, excited and in awe on a regular basis. Overall, it was an experience
that I am currently bringing back to the classroom. I feel better prepared to
discuss East and Southeast Asian history and I often tell stories of people I
met and things I did. I love to teach and talk about the world… because I
simply love the world that much.
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