Autoethnographic Experience with the Digital Asia

Coming into this subject I had no idea what to expect. I have heard of others that had done this subject yet I was still conflicted about what to expect. Just by reading the title of the subject I understood what I was in for. I have been doing BCM classes for the past three years. The titles of the subject are always straight to the point and most of the time, easy to grasp.

 

I have an older sister, Mia, whom did this subject not too long ago. She instructed me the basics of this subject and if I was ever confused to talk to Chris or look at her blog posts. Yet time has passed and I have somewhat grasped my own knowledge of this subject.

 

When it comes to the concept of digital Asia, I really had a lack of education and knowledge. This isn’t something that teach in school, as its not part of our culture, nor does it talk what the peoples of our land suffered through. Digital Asia is almost something that isn’t even mention nor acknowledge as it is something they want to sweep under the rug. Why would any teacher want to teach children about the world of gaming, art, literature or even music when its something our community isn’t submerged in.

 

When it comes to my own experiences with Digital Asia, it has very minor. In high school I had a friend, let’s call her Nin. She was an only born child and she was from Thailand. Her parents own a local Thai shop (some of the best Thai in our area) but unfortunately she was probably one of the only few children in our school who weren’t white. It was almost like her beliefs and interests were pushed to the side by not only the children, but with the teachers as well.

 

We use to exchange food and knowledge of games and music to kill some time in the schoolyards, yet if another student heard they would just laugh and the teachers would inform us about how much we would waste time. It got to the point that we nearly got detention as she was trying to teach me certain Thai words. Understanding this new language fascinated me. There were so many different ways to say word, depending who you are speaking to or what gender you are. This is how my experience of digital Asia began.

 

Fast track a year into the future, and the time investing of learning another culture was still not permitted yet I was still learning so much. We were watching videos of gaming comps and certain Thai funk bands, it was almost like learning about a whole new world, and I just wanted to know more and more.

 

School ended three years ago, and unfortunately I haven’t heard from Nin in over 2 years. We have both gone off to different university’s and study different topics. One thing I admired from Nin is that she never let the people around her affect her decisions. She still watched gaming competitions and loved listening to her different Thai funk bands. She is currently off at the University of Sydney doing game design, hoping to have a career of designing her own game that might be played in those competitions.

 

I’ve almost lost my way when it comes to all the Thai knowledge I had back in school. I think the only thing I still do is eat too much Thai food. This subject reminds me Nin. It reminds me of all the movies, music and food she had introduced me to. It is sad to think that I nearly forgot all this; if it weren’t for digital Asia it would most likely be all in the past.

 

The service and platform that can be used in this subject is outstanding. In the first few weeks we were live tweeting certain films. Due to the live tweeting it caused a train reactions with a few of my friends. Nin actually contacted me since seeing my live tweets, in shock of me watching certain things, which I refused to watch with her. It was actually seeing one of her messages that caused me to write this blog.

 

This leads me to my major work. I want to explore T.V shows about dating. I have had quite a bit of knowledge with Thai, so I want to branch out. I’ve decided to watch Chinese dating, with the parents. I have seen little clips and it really interests me. I plan to live tweet this experience as my friend Nin wants to experience the show with me, even though we both live so far away from each other.