I swear I'm a student too...

MAIDS group at the World Bank Regional Office in Bangkok

With all these posts about all the adventures, parties, sightseeing and fun - you may think that I am not actually in school or working hard.  While I understand that it may appear that way on this blog, let me assure you I have never been worked so hard.

Attending Dr. Surin's lecture (being interviewed in the background) at the FCCT

In the past week however, I had some unique and amazing opportunities.  The first was to see Dr. Surin, ASEAN Secretary General (who I mentioned in a previous post when I attended the Post-ASEAN Summit Conference) speak at the Foreign Correspondents Club here in Bangkok.  He highlighted his recent trip to Myanmar and denoted plans to accelerated development within the country.  Having recently traveled there myself, I was interested in his mentioning of furthering cease fires, in combination of building infrastructure with the introduction of financial banking (there are NO ATMs in Myanmar, let alone trustworthy banks!), highways, and internet communication systems.

In the elevator on our way up to the World Bank!

And second, my class took another field trip - this time to the World Bank regional headquarters here in Bangkok.  We received a warm welcome and were even encouraged to apply for employment opportunities upon graduation.

I often have to pinch myself to ensure that all of this is real.  Getting to meet Dr. Surin and hear a lecture at the World Bank is something that I never had the opportunity to do in the United States, but seems to be one of the many I have been given here.  Who knows who we will be able to meet by the end of this year... :)