Allow me to reintroduce myself, my name is:

Frank Hagan-Brown. I felt the need to explain why I am in Thailand and my reason for blogging. Many of you know me, but some of you don't, so here's a synopsis of the events that brought me to the Land of Smiles:

Sometime last fall, I was desperately searching for something to do after my graduation from university in May when a Google search for "internships and fellowships" landed me on the Princeton in Asia (PiA) website. It looked flashy enough, it sounded prestigious, and, most importantly, it offered a temporary escape from the bewildering self-reflection on the state of my "passions" and questions about what job I could foresee myself doing in the future. Never a big soap opera fan, nor a soothsayer, I let the images of rickshaws and woks, rice-patties and Yao Ming, wisp me away into an Asian wonderland in which I held all the cards and didn't have to worry about life collapsing in on me.

You see, I had been carrying this weight on my shoulders which I couldn't seem to brush off. It comprised of an amalgamation of concerns - personal and family expectations, the lack of job opportunities in the States for a kid of my nationality and visa status, the desire to do well in school and not let the dreaded job-search engulf my life, and the sudden uncertainty of life coupled with the fear of failure - that got to me; even Atlas would've had a hard time with that balancing act. But PiA offered a convenient escape from all that stress, and I was immediately enticed by its allure. The website told me that I could apply to be a fellow through this program, with the option of teaching, working for a non-governmental organization or a non-profit organization, working with a business, or working for a media outlet. I was ecstatic! This was exactly what I wanted to do out of college: see a part of the world that I'd always wanted to visit and get paid doing it. With only two weeks left before the December 1st deadline, I printed out the application and started filling it out.

A month after the deadline, I received an email stating that I had been selected for an interview with PiA at Princeton University. I did some research into some Asian countries that I would want to work in for a year, and had my mind set on Vietnam. I am interested in international development, and I discovered that Vietnam had engaged in economic liberalization and cool economic and social development initiatives that went far in providing the poor with the essential elements of life and health. I believed that Vietnam would be the stepping stone from which I could spring into a career focusing on international development and its related fields. That was the vision that I tried to portray to my interviewers in Princeton, and I thought that they would buy it and offer me a position with an NGO somewhere in Vietnam. But life doesn't always work the way you want it to - sometimes it works even better.

Instead of Somewhere, Vietnam and an NGO, I got Khon Kaen, Thailand and a teaching post. When I heard back from Princeton toward the end of March, I was just psyched and relieved that I had actually found something to do this year (PiA was the only thing I had actually applied for, and I was a month and a half away from graduating - eeeekkkk!!!). I was also very excited and satisfied with my position. As a teacher, I would be able to help my students develop English speaking skills that could propel them to success in the future, and I could learn so much about Thailand from kids my age. Teaching would be a lot more laid back than a position wearing a business suit in an office with CEOs and TPS reports and Happy Hour. Not that I'm knocking that lifestyle - shoot, It'll be me someday - but teaching would offer me a more relaxed working atmosphere, and would allow me to connect with the people of Khon Kaen in a very special way. Plus, with semester breaks, midterm breaks, and national holidays all to my benefit, I could do some incredible traveling through Southeast Asia!! I made my mind up on the spot.

So, on May 30, 2009 at 10:05, I set off from Dulles Airport (TEFL certified and with a few days of teacher training in hand) on an 8 month journey to Asia that I trust to be one of the most exciting, humbling, challenging, and rewarding experiences of my life. I arrived in Khon Kaen 30 odd hours later (after stopovers in London and Bangkok), and in the 3 weeks that I've been here, everyday has blown me away. Thai culture is fascinating and perplexing, the food is OFF THE HOOK, and the people are some of the friendliest in the world. I live in an apartment close to Khon Kaen University, where I teach, and life is good. In the next few months I will try to share my thoughts and feelings and photos, and try to keep you entertained with some sketchy and not-so-sketchy stories.

Come ride with me!