Shannon Lakanen would rather call herself a travel junkie than a tourist. As the English professor moved throughout most of east Asia over the summer, she avoided conventional places.
“I wanted to stay clear of the most popular tourist zones, attractions and experiences to immerse myself more fully in the societies and cultures I found myself in,” she said in an email.
As part of her research for travel essays she expects to accomplish during her sabbatical in the spring, Lakanen traveled through Japan, Thailand and China. Navigating through back alleys and train systems, she intended to discover more about how identity and interactions with others are formed without knowing a country’s language.
In China, Lakanen visited Confucius’s hometown, a sacred Taoist mountain and spent some time in Beijing exploring markets, restaurants and artists’ studios. Also, she completed a temple stay to dive into silence, meditation, Buddhist philosophy and mindfulness practice.
Then, from mid-June to mid-July, she taught an English class focusing on short stories and film adaptations of those stories at Duksung Women’s University in Seoul, South Korea. Lakanen was well-received by the students.
“Part of their enthusiasm came from my being a foreign teacher from the U.S., but they were also excited about the topic of the course,” she said.
Once the summer term ended she had the opportunity to venture to other countries.
Lakanen said one of her favorite places was Elephant Nature Park in northern Thailand, a rescue organization where volunteers provide care and medical treatment for Asian elephants, and some dogs, that have been abused or injured.
“As a short-term volunteer, I fed, bathed and walked with elephants, and I learned more than I’d anticipated about their tragic predicaments in Thailand,” she said.
Lakanen said she hopes to develop a service-based travel component in 2014 where Otterbein students will be able to volunteer at the rescue, as well as other organizations in Thailand.
Although Lakanen spent the most time teaching and exploring, she experienced some complications.
“I left a hotel in Ayutthaya in the middle of the night after an argument with the staff and found myself walking the streets in search of another,” she explained. “I got to know the rail workers in Phitsanulok pretty well when my ‘midnight train’ to Chiang Mai didn’t arrive until almost 2 a.m. I encountered several monsoons, which are not as scary as they sound; just torrential downpours that last for an hour or so, which meant huddling with strangers in cafes, temple, etc.”
However, she said hopes to spend more time in China and Thailand to build on her experiences. She might even travel to the southwestern United States if she racks up enough frequent flyer miles.
For more photos of Lakanen’s trip, click here.
