Three aspects of Tung

“Past” : Chinese descendant with no more Chinese traditions

       First of all, I would like to introduce myself and my family. My nickname is Tung. I’m 23 years old now. I live with my parents in a house on Ramkhamhaeng Road, which is in the east of Bangkok. Even though my name sounds like a Chinese name, but actually nobody in the family can speak Chinese now. That is because I am the fourth generation descendants of Chinese immigrants. My great-grandfather was a Chinese immigrant who married an overseas Chinese woman in Thailand. However, my great-grandparents died even before my mother was born, so this is why my family cannot speak Chinese.
       Furthermore, there are no Chinese traditions practiced in my family anymore. For instance, my family does not celebrate Chinese New Year, which is one of the most important Chinese festivals that most Chinese families will largely celebrate. The sad thing about this was when I was a child, I always asked my parents for Hongbao (or a gift of money given to children during the Chinese New Year), but my parents also always rejected because we did not celebrate Chinese New Year in our family. Another example was the last few years when I went to the graveyard for paying respect to my ancestors with my parents and my relatives. I asked them where my great-grandfather came from. All of my relatives and my parents said that they did not know, but maybe Chaozhou (or Teochew), which is a hometown of most overseas Chinese in Thailand. However, at that time, I have already studied Chinese for a few years, so I was able to read the grave. And I figured out that my great-grandfather came from Fujian (or Hokkien), not Chaozhou, which surprised everybody in the family. This is still a joke in our family, even today.

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“Present” : Happiness is in the class.

       I recently graduated from Chulalongkorn University with a major in History last year. And now, I am working as an 8th grade Social Studies teacher at Saint Gabriel’s College, near Samsen Road. After working for almost a year, I found both the pros and cons of my job. Starting with the pros, being a teacher is a work for others. I love being a teacher because I can help my students to learn and practice their skills in order to be an efficient citizen of the country and the world in the future. I love it when I see my students’ smiles and happiness in the class. I love the reaction when they have learned things that they never know. And not only students learned new things, but the teacher also did learn new things. Last semester, for example, I taught the geography of Asia. I learned many things that I never knew before. I have learned about desalination plants, which are the way they make freshwater in the Middle East. I have learned more about the vast but beautiful land of Siberia or even throat singing, which are practiced by people in Mongolia and some parts of Siberia. So, teaching helps me to know more and see the world wider.
       However, I also found some cons to my job. The first and biggest one is the educational system. I rather dislike the system that forces students to pass without respect to the quality. The subjects of English and Mathematics exemplify this problem of the educational system. Think of students who are not able to write even a basic sentence or students who are not very well at multiplying and dividing, how can they continue the higher level of paragraph writing or solving algebraic equations. This problem would lead to a long-term problem for the students. Another con is regarding the co-workers. In many Thai organizations, especially in schools, a seniority system in a workplace is highly concerned. The seniors usually have more privilege than the younger. Many times, bosses typically listen to the seniors and ignore the ideas of the younger. Despite these cons, I try to overlook them and do my best job as one of my most respected teachers (which is now my colleague and one of my bosses) said that the stage for a teacher is the class. I keep this word as my motto for working. So, when I had hard times with the system or the co-workers, I reminded myself that my happiness is in the class with my students.

 

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 “Future” : Chasing the dream

       Although I am now happy with my job, I plan to work just two or three more years. The reason is I would like to follow my dream, which is pursuing master and doctorate degrees in American History in the U.S. and then becoming college professors in a field of American History. Many of my friends keep asking me why I would like to study American History. The answer is straightforward because I love it. I began to learn American History when I was an exchange student in the United States because I had a great history teacher there, who made me passionate about the History of the country. My area of interest is the American West, which is the newly expanded territories of the country and the destination of not only White Americans but Asians also. My friends also ask me why I do not take a graduate degree in Thai or Asian History. In my opinion, in Thailand, there are many scholars in Thai and Asian History right now, whereas there are only a few scholars in American History in this country. So I would like to study in the area which not many Thais give attention and provide new knowledge to Thai academia.
      To pursue a graduate degree abroad, I have to prepare myself in many ways. First, I have to prepare for the university application. So, I plan that I will go to the U.S. next year to find a research topic and for some archival research. Not only in the field of interest, but English skills are also essential. I want to read and write academic text more effectively. So, I decide to push myself out of my comfort zone and take the EAP course at AUA in order to move towards my dream.