By Graham K. Rogers

On the second day of the Faculty trip to Khaoyai, I woke early enough to check the news and finish my Friday Cassandra review before showering and heading down to breakfast. The day was to be busy and a number of activities had been carefully planned.

In Thailand, breakfast is pretty much just like any other meal so for westerners not in a tourist-oriented environment, this can be hit and miss. I picked my way past some of the dishes on offer, but grabbed a bowl of Khao Thom -- rice soup -- which I always enjoy. I later found some cornkflakes half-hidden by a fruit juice dispenser. Way over the other side of the room was a toast making machine with butter and some strawberry jam alongside. Coffee? A definite miss here. Powdered stuff does not cut it for me: fruit juice or water better.

When the main proceedings began, the staff member acting as M.C. introduced the Dean with the former Dean's name. I guess he didn't get the memo last year. There was of course much amusement and it was passed off as the sort of thing that happens with nerves. There was an outline of a plan, but this was really a pep talk for the Thai staff and I was quickly lost with the level of vocabulary used.

The main presenter of the day was someone from the Faculty of Public Health. He has been there for some 31 years he told us later, and his obervations of Thais and Thai workers were invaluable in the various exercises during the day. His areas of presentation were teamwork and self-evaluation. Before he began there was a slide of him in "manager" pose projected onto a large screen. My first thought was "Would I buy a used car from him?" but initial impressions can be wrong.

His approach kept the staff amused and attentive. He seemed to be doing the job well with anecdote, voices, actions, stories, jokes and bringing out the humour in situations. It was clear that on many occasions the staff were able to see theselves or familiar situations in his delivery. I have found that my students respond to this sort of approach far better than the big stick (still needed sometimes), but he learned his audience quickly and they responded. He might have done well as a standup comic in another life.

He inserted a video -- a screen capture of a picture being drawn using sand -- but he would keep commenting rather than allowing the clip itself to do the talking. In teaching it is sometimes useful to comment on certain points (seen, or to come) in a video, but I find it better to freeze the clip, then restart when done.

The particular video he used was by Kseniya Simonova and she had created this specifically for Thailand. It is available on YouTube.

Like the best presenters or speakers, if there was a script, he knew it perfectly. More likely -- and more effective -- he had points to make, ideas to use, stories to tell, and he weaved these into his presentation, illustrating his subject.

To make the point about never giving up, he used a video of a performance by a young man with no legs or arms, who could play some instruments with his feet, but whose real strength was motivational speaking. He emphasised the point about perseverance, by deliberately falling over and then talking about real problems. By the time he did get back up -- clearly not an easy task -- the point was made. I found an extended version of this video on YouTube as well:

Now that may bring the tears on.

A third, short video clip showed a child, in tears, on stage with a group of dancers: all about the same age. Although crying for an unspecified reason, he carried on with the performance. Our speaker rightly built on the lessons from these clips, adding his own illustrative stories to emphasise the points.

After a workshop that involved matching types, and a lot of hugging, there was a coffee break.

We continued with a hand-holding, hug session in which individuals explained accomplishments to others in a small group (randomly selected) and then getting feedback. Mercifully the presenter told one of my colleagues to stick with me. I did manage the explanation in Thai, but had to use English for the feedback. Towards the end of this, the first teary eyes began to appear.

After lunch, the first session began late (as did the morning session on the last day). Chairs were placed in rows to begin with and we started with a form of self-analysis exercise using questions that had ABCD answers (or the Thai equivalent). Scores were plotted on a graph to give areas of strengths:

1. Amiable,
2. Expressive
3. Analytical
4. Driving Style

Although there were some who fell between 1 and 2, and 1 and 3, I was the only one between 3 and 4. At least one person voiced the idea that I had not uderstood, perhaps indicating the accuracy of his self-assessment that had put him in group 2.

The sections were explained thoroughly, and to great amusement, as each group was dissected. Then we were paired -- holding hands, staring into eyes -- with each partner, saying what we liked about each other. We then went to the next person on the left, then the next, and the next. . . . At the end of the session there were already several of the ladies in tears.

The participants were then asked to stand and had to find others in the room to hug and say nice things. By the end of this, several of the men were also in tears as well. Going into the next day, hugging became more normal, and the tears kept coming.

The closing chat on the second day was an urging that we work together and do good for the whole with some interesting points and some working in of humour as well.

The sessions ended early and some activities outside had been organised like a visit to the games (archery, shooting, and some fairground style events) which I decided to miss.

Before this, however, there was a tree-planting event, although it was not actually putting trees back into the forest. This was organised so that the guests could plant trees in the resort area for the resort.

That sounds rather good as a commercial venture: guests pay for the trees and do the work, but feel good about being green; while the hotel has income, increases its tree numbers and clearly is greener from the activity.

Of course, there is also the idea of teamwork that was integral to the idea here with those taking part helping and encouraging others. While some of the Faculty members planted several, I managed a measly one: aching knees and the desire to take photos (as well as dirty fingernails) all influenced this apparently minimal effort: see, the self-analysis session was working.

Most of the staff then went off to play games, but I headed back to my room as I wanted to download the photographs already taken and then put some on Facebook. I also intended to write up my notes.

Murphy's Law came into effect here as not long after I started, there was a power cut lasting almost an hour. I started editing some of the photographs as the battery in the MacBook Pro was charged, but Aperture is painfully slow these days (do I get more RAM, a new Mac or the iPhone 5?). My eyelids began to be heavy.

The minor details are also important

And then the P A R T Y, with (heaven forfend) a "Cowboys and Cowgirls" theme. As luck would have it -- total coincidence of course -- the hotel had a Cowboy shop where I was able to buy a hat for 100 baht (about $3) and rent a leather waistcoat (20 baht) to wear over a t-shirt that Apple sent me when the Online store opened for Thailand and completed the outfit with a pair of jeans. I passed on buying the sheriff's badge.

The location for the party was not the drab dining room, but outside, under the stars, with a mercifully cool evening and no mosquitoes. After good food, lots to drink and some entertainment, I made my excuses and slipped away.

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