Exploring Bali & Thailand
Updated: Nov 5, 2021
For as long as Jean can recall, he had an admiration and passion for how people experience hospitality, he loves cooking, singing, drawing, and being the host of events. During an interview, Jean shares his abroad experience and some useful tips for your future trip to Bali, Indonesia, or Thailand, Asia!
Why Minor Grand Tour?
As an NHL Stenden student studying International Hospitality Management, you have the opportunity to participate in this program. The school prepares all documentation such as visas and offers you a place to stay. When the opportunity came in his second year he said,
"If I do not do it now, when will I do it?"
Without any doubt, Jean took a leap of faith and decided to embark on a journey with the Minor Grand Tour Program. Because of his minor, event management, he got the opportunity to visit two places during his semester abroad: Bali and Thailand.
He explains that, in Bali, it was more theoretical; learning how to make a marketing plan for an event to risk analysis. He describes his Thailand experience with one word – amazing. The project in Thailand was a competition among international and local students for a prize to work with a marketing company in Thailand. His team decided to present their idea in a video showcasing the client's experience during the event and immediately won!
Did you have any expectations?
"No, if you have no expectations you cannot be disappointed. I did not even Google Bali or Thailand. I wanted everything to be a surprise."
Culture Shock
When arriving at Bali and Thailand, he noticed that both have their cultures, but are quite similar. In comparison to the Netherlands or Aruba, the locals find strangers to be very exquisite. As a tall island boy, he experienced locals asking him for photos, his name, and even inviting him to dinner at their houses,"They are very humble people who admire strangers."
There is also a big difference in what they eat for breakfast in comparison to us. As he was going into the dining room of the hotel he noticed that they have noodles and fried rice as breakfast instead of cornflakes or pancakes. During his journey of exploring he ate a bag of chips in Thailand that were soaking worms and to his surprise he thought it was delicious!
Jean Tips
- Be open to explore and discover the city; it gives you a new perspective on life!
- You need to have a budget between 1500 to 2000 euros at the beginning for the ticket, visa payments, and vaccines such as yellow fever;
- With a maximum of 350 euros per month you can live a comfortable life in a five-star hotel if you want to. Meals are very cheap, they are between 0.85 to 1 euro;
- Do not be afraid to be part of this experience, because for every project you get a certificate which looks good on your CV!
"There is something special to being surrounded by nature.
Worth to go there and experience it"
This opportunity gave him the chance to connect with himself. Due to short classes, he recommends you to do a 15 day trip in Thailand and to visit the following places in Bali:
- Sky gardening where students enter for free and get free drinks from 9 pm to 11 pm;
- Ku De Ta is a beach club where the entrance is free and there is a pool near the beach where you can experience the sunset!
- Sinjara, the northern side of Bali where you can interact with local people, is surrounded by nature, waterfalls, temples and so much more.
In short, Thailand and Bali are beautiful places surrounded by lovely people and nature. It is a place where most students go to connect with themselves. After remembering this experience you tell yourself, "If you did so much in a short period, imagine what more you can do!"
Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in this blog post are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official views of Phryme.