Welcome to Bangkok!

Welcome to my first post on my brand-new blog! Fingers crossed that I have worked out how to navigate the blog and post this. Technology really isn’t my forte, thankfully, words are my thing. I come from Lake Macquarie (in the City of Newcastle or as Novocastrians call it “Newy”), Australia, which is roughly 2 hours north of Sydney.

I have created this blog so my family and friends can virtually experience my adventures in Bangkok. I am working in Bangkok for 7 months, from January to July this year. I have never been to Thailand before. Naturally, I have accepted a position in a country for more than half a year, to which I have not visited. Let the adventure begin! So far, I have learnt how to count and say “pizza is delicious” – priorities! I am living in a one bedroom apartment in a large expat community. I wish I could teleport my mum into Thailand so she can cook for me!

You’re probably thinking, “why on earth is she doing this?!”. Great question! I have been lucky enough to have been selected as one of 8 students world-wide as Youth Advocate for the United Nations. When I received the acceptance email on Wednesday 11 October 2017 at 3:47pm (Australian time) I went into complete shock, happy tears followed. All I wanted to do was to travel back in time and thank my 16 year old self for applying to be on the Lake Macquarie Youth Advisory Council. Fast-forward 8 years and I have been part of some amazing organisations, where I have learnt from some incredible people. My family is a huge part of who I am, their influence has shaped me as a person.

The role is an internship with Humanitarian Affairs Asia in partnership with the United Nations Development Programme and some top universities around the world. I have an intensive 3-day training at the UN Asia Headquarters in Thailand from Wednesday 3 January to Friday 5 January. Before orientation each Youth Advocate will be giving a motivational introduction and stating which UN Sustainable Development Goal we are passionate about. I have chosen SDG 5 “Achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls”. I fiercely believe in advocating on behalf of people who have been discriminated against, particularly by someone in a position of power, based on gender or health issues, especially mental health. This internship will assist me in becoming a fierce advocate for women and girls around the world.

If you would like to virtually experience my adventures, subscribe to my YouTube channel here. I’ll be posting vlogs of some things I’ll be doing (but first I need to work out how to do that!). Keep an eye out for my next post about training at the UN Asia Headquarters!

Here are some other social mediums you can follow me through:

LinkedIn: Andreena Kardamis

Twitter: @Akardamis

Instagram: AndyKardy

 

From yours in Bangkok,

Andreena

P.S Shout out to The University of Newcastle, Australia & Newcastle Law School for teaching me things and to Paul Dougherty Eye Care Plus for fixing my glasses after I managed to scratch them despite wearing them for only 5 days. Legends!