Study Abroad in Thailand

Thailand is not only one of the most beautiful places in the world; it is also rich in culture, history and tradition. There is so much room for personal enrichment learning about different lifestyles, seeing a diverse landscapes, and meeting new people. Thailand lives up to its nickname as the land of smiles. 

Thai temple

The people of Thailand are the most tolerant humans I have ever come across. Every year, thousands of people visit Thailand and trust me, by now they are tired of tourists who just come to party. However, they still smile pleasantly and patiently try to understand you, even if you do not speak Thai. 

While I was in the middle of my study abroad t, the country lost their longest reigning king. The entire country was engulfed in sorrow, and personally it was humbling experience to see the people’s love towards their state. Thai people do not have as much prosperity as us, but their gratitude towards their government was humbling to me. We criticize our government all the time, but there I learnt to appreciate what we have. 

White temple, Chaing Rai

Lastly, Thailand is such an international hub that I am grateful for the memories of all the people I got to meet and whose cultures I got to learn about. The best way to know your exchange was successful is when your German friends start using West Coast slang like “Hella”. As I gathered all these memories, I realized that these experiences were more valuable than any material possession.

Bangkok's skyline

old 13th century ruins from Cambodia

Seattle Art Museum

Hello,

I recently took an Art history class and ever since I have been longing to go to SAM and see their collections. I snatched that opportunity in the beginning of this month.
SAM has the first Thursday of every month free entrance. This is a great opportunity for students to go see the arts.

SAM is located in downtown Seattle and couple hours is enough to see their collection.

They are having another great exhibition on Rembrandt and Goya. Rembrandt is most famous of his painting The Anatomy lesson of Dr. Tulp and Goya for his Thrid of May 1808.


I highly recommend checking the museum out it is such a beautiful experience.

~

Summer readings

Hi,

I am the person who pushes all the readings to summer time. First, I do not have text books to learn and second I can read about the subjects that interest me through out the school year. Some of the books that I plan on reading this summer are

I know it is just three but I am also studying for my GRE this summer.  Yes I am thinking about graduate school. 

If you have a read a great book, please recommend. 

Classes and Projects

This year I took some interesting classes and completed group projects. I dreaded group projects but this year I had awesome team members with whom I enjoyed working. For the first time I felt the collective effort was higher than single persons, I felt the synergy! 

Besides that, the classes I took were

Econ 382: It is an econometrics class where my team did a research project on public Golf courses of Seattle and their winter fees. 

I learnt a great deal in this class and ended up liking the software Eviews we used for data analysis. 

Econ 472: International Macro-economics

It was an interesting class where I learnt a great deal about international trade and foreign exchange. Our professor also made us read The Wall Street Journal article, which helped me apply my theoretical economics knowledge towards the events happening in the world. 

The final presentation of this class was about crisis in various countries. I choose the Argentina 2014 crisis. We had to collect data and analyze their crisis using the Mundell–Fleming model.  (I also learnt that if a country has extremely high nominal interest rate, something might be fishy!)

I also found a saying: "Economicst: They do it with models." Funny yet true! 

~

Ciao 

What have I been up to?

Greetings!

So, I was gone for a long. 2015 was such a roller coster for me. I had some of the best time and the worst. Made new friends and travelled.
I recently completed my junior year and now on my summer break. I do not have a particular plan for summer yet however I am going on a study abroad to Bangkok for a semester. (yes, I am nervous)

I am going to be blogging while am studying abroad as well.

I will miss my dear Seattle!

Space Needle

Trip to San Franscisco

Hello,

I am back, it took me a while.

I recently went on a trip to San Francisco with a friend. It was one of the best trip I have had, there was so much to see. SF is one of a kind, it is historical yet modern. Here are some of the pic form the beautiful place.

McWay Falls (Big Sur, CA)

Embarcadero

The places we went were:

1. Union square park

2. Fisherman's Wharf

3. Maritime National Historic park

4. Sixteen Avenue Staircase (this one is beautiful for sunsets)

5. Chinatown

6. Lombard Street

7. Palace of Fine Arts

8. Marina Bay

9. Alamo Square

10. Coit Tower

11. Carmel beach

12. Big Sur

13. And of course Golden Gate Bridge 

It was one memorable trip! 

Hiking to Mt Pilchuck

Hello,

I had been gone for a long time now, however I am back. I went on a hiking trip last week and here are some of the pictures.


Mount Pilchuck is 1628m high and the best time to visit it is during spring or summer.

Selfie

A group Selfie

Our Way to the top

Breathtaking (Literally) 

Our Amazing hiking Group

This was one of the most difficult hiking trip I have been on. It was cold, difficult to walk and lots of snow. I also had a mental breakdown on the way top, but with the support of my friends I could make it. At the top it was extremely foggy at the top and we did not have a nice view.  (After the trip I knew I had a sherpa inside of me somewhere :P ) 

This trip made me realize that it is the journey that we enjoy not the final destination. One of the most amazing memories I have made after coming back from Nepal. 

Stay Warm! 

Seattle

Hello

This fall I really enjoyed the rare sunny days of Seattle. Past two days has been amazing, yesterday I went to downtown with some of my friends. I will put some pictures of Seattle below.

Rain, and rain for two weeks! 

(From Left: Era, Me and Indira) 

Downtown 

(Photo by: Era) 

Seattle Ferris Wheel 

(From Left: Indira, Era and myself) 

After two weeks of study and work, it was so great to have a day off and respect to the veterans. 

The review of the " The Winner Stands alone" is coming up soon. 

:)

Economist in the words of Keynes

Hello,

In my first book of economics, there was a paragraph by John Maynard Keynes describing about what a good economist be like.

The study of economics does not seem to require any specialized gifts of an unusually high order. Is it not, intellectually regarded, a very easy subject compared with the higher branches of philosophy or pure science? An easy subject at which few excel! The paradox finds its explanation, perhaps, in that the master-economist must possess a rare combination of gifts. He must be mathematician, historian, statesman, philosopher—in some degree. He must understand symbols and speak in words. He must contemplate the particular in terms of the general and touch abstract and concrete in the same flight of thought. He must study the present in the light of the past for the purposes of the future. No part of man’s nature of his institutions must lie entirely outside his regard. He must be purposeful and disinterested in a simultaneous mood; as aloof and incorruptible as an artist, yet sometimes as near to earth as a politician.  (J. M. Keynes. 1924. "Alfred Marshall,  1842-1924" in The Economic Journal)

I find the above paragraph very inspiriting and read it often. I hope you find it useful too, it list some rare set of skills to work on. 

Adios! :D

Documentary for Weekend

Hello;

Today I am done with my mid terms. That is so much relief when you are taking three hard classes. This weekend, I wanted to treat myself with some movies.

I found, "Inside job". I am amazed by this movie. I would recommend this movie to everyone.

I watched it online, (LINK) and learned a lot about 2008 crisis.  It is like looking at both sides of coin.

I was so relaxed, after my test. I hoped into my bed and watched the movie. The fact that it has been pouring down the whole day helped a lot. 

:) 

Book Review

Hello,

I read the book "Game Theory in International Economics" by John McMillian. That book is not for me yet.

I read the introduction paragraph but I am still not aquatinted with the math part. I am still taking calculus and I was not able to comprehend most of it. So from next time, I will not chose a book by its cover.

I am so busy with mid terms (not complaining). However, I am now reading "The winner stands alone" by Paulo Coelho. I know it is not related to economics but I felt like I needed a break. I will also post a review about the book after I am done reading that.

(Photo credit: google image) 

What is your favorite book? The best book I have read so far is "A thousand splendid suns"

:) 

50th Post

Hello,

This is my 50th post and I realized I am an irregular writer.

Today I was thinking to write about time management, cause I have been struggling with it. Sometimes seems like I slip things out. Today I missed my french class as I woke up 5 minutes earlier than class.  (I will stop here, I did not create this blog for venting)

Now I have started to read "Game Theory in International Economics" by John McMillian. This book seemed a little advance for me, as there is lots of equations and maths. But at least I can read the first two chapters, "Strategy and trade" and "Basic Concepts of game theory".

I have not finished Thomas Piketty's book but thats' a whole different story. However, this years Nobel prize in economics was given to Jean Triole for his  "analysis of market power and regulation."  I will write more about him in my future posts.


Again, working very hard to manage time.

Photo credit: Kalibizzen.com 

:) 

Income tax

Hello,

I can't believe I have not posted anything on October. I was all caught up with school. Now,  I am back with some real economics talk.

Income tax, is the money collected by the government from an individual or a company on their income or profits. The government takes certain percent of the income earned and uses it for its work.

Different countries have different income tax rates. Belgium being the country with highest rate of income tax and USA being the least.

While US states have different rule. Washington State does not have an income tax while it has sales tax. I have to pay tax to the government for each item I but and not for my the amount of income I earn, while the states like New York, California have income tax.  (Lucky, my pay cheque does not get reduced :P )

What does the government do with those income tax?

The answer depends on the country but US uses 25.19% on health care, 24.79% on National defense. That was according to my income tax, but you can check your own by going through this Website. I played with it for a while inserting different amount.

(Photo Credit; World Monopoly)

Article on the national daily

Hello,

When I was back in Nepal I wrote an article with an aim to publish it. And yesterday, it got published, I am so so so delighted about it.

Here is the (LINK), I hope you will enjoy it.

The post is about rich countries helping the poor ones.

Back to School

Hello,

Yesterday was my first day back to school and I am already scared about my classes. I have Math, English and French this quarter. I know, no economics. (Gosh, I miss going to my economics class). But I have pretty interesting classes, lets hope I learn a lot this quarter.

Besides that, i am going though the economist every week. And I wanted to know more about the effects of negative interest rates in banks of Europe. I found an interesting article in the BBC news that explains its effect too. Take a look at it, (LINK). The article talks about unemployment effect, and fear of deflation.

Ready to take on school, with my darling (aka laptop) 3 composition note book and a good luck pencil case (with a cat face) from my sister, Trisha.  PS. my book have not yet arrived. Yes, i am one of those students! :P

:)

Cash or Cards?

Hello,

After coming from Nepal and spending 4 days in Seattle I realized that I have no cash in my purse. Not even a dollar.
This made me think, whether we really needed cash and started doing some research on that. I found a really interesting video from the Economist. (LINK)

The video is only about 2 minutes and has lots of information, it is worth taking a look.


Having digital money, like visa cards and credits cards make the tracing of money easy. Government can earn move revenues. People will have less hassle going to bank and finding ATMs. More over, criminal activities can be avoided.

Photo, from google image.

I cannot imagine my self going cash less in Nepal but here in Seattle and developed countries I think it is possible. 

What do you think about going cash less?

:) 

Coming Back to Seattle

Hello,

I am back in Seattle for school. This time it was harder leaving home than the first time. (Tears would not stop rolling down). However, I was super sick leaving Nepal, and had a terrible 14 hrs 20 mins flight.

Besides those complains, I got a new laptop today. Blogging through it now. :)

It has been raining hard since yesterday, I haven't seen the sun and the cold weather is already kicking in.

Besides that I have been reading Piketty's book and it is taking me a long time to complete it. However, I will surely write about it when I am done.

This year, I am excited for school... a sophomore... :)

more study posts will be coming but for now let me enjoy the free days I have.

Cost of living.

Hi,

These days I have been busy shopping for my trip back to the US of A. Since, the stuff I buy here are way cheaper than there, I think its better I stock my suitcases with some heavy jackets.

What do you think is the cause of lower cost in developing countries? Why are some places so expensive than the others?

Usually its due to the higher tax and production cost in developed countries that makes everything so expensive there. Buying a cup of tea in Nepal costs 20 cents and around 4 dollars in America.

Japan, Singapore are the places with high cost of living, and cities like Delhi and Mumbai have very low cost. Kathmandu, Nepal's capital has comparatively higher cost of living. It can be due to the geographical location, it is a valley and most things needs to be imported from outside.

The cost of living also compliments the earning in most countries. Places with higher cost of living have more income than compared to the other.

Learning to say NO!

Hello,

How hard is it for you to say No to people? For me its extremely hard, and I can rarely say no.

And when ever I have tried saying no, it has always come across as rude and improper.  :(

But to my rescue, I found a book that is majorly helpful. It comes with lots of real life example which you can actually use. Saying "No" to some situation is as important as saying "Yes".

The book is, William Ury's "The Power of a positive NO". This book was in my home for few years but I had not yet started readying until a week before, If you face difficulty saying no in proper situation then is book is for you.

Being a college student I had to learn to say No to parties, but that wisdom came only after spoiling my few tests.

The book cover

Me, reading the book. 

Some of you may have blessed with the skills, but for the rest of us practicing is the best way out. 

:)  

Negative Interest Rates

Hello:

Recently, I had heard about negative interest rate in the Europe, however today I found an news about it. Banks are taking money to let us keep our money with them. So strange!

Here is the piece news published in the BBC (Link).

Negative interest will force people to invest their money, and not let them stack up. The liquidity of money increases, so does the money in market.

I will be watching this matter more closely, so  I am definitely posting more articles soon.