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“I made friends to last a lifetime”
Namtaan Woods
Ever thought of teaching abroad? I never did, but when I got the opportunity to teach in Thailand I knew this was not one to pass by.
This was not just teaching; this was a chance to teach under privileged school children, a chance to teach them English the way I was taught and a chance to meet new people and experience a completely new culture.
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With teaching came the opportunity to explore new places, improve upon my language skills and to see a different side to life that we take for granted. Life as I found out was much more that just a 9 to 5 job. The experiences, the friends you make and the people you love are the rewards. Teaching the students who came to school each day, each with diverse backgrounds of their own and seeing that their friends and family were everything to them made me realise that the simplified lifestyle can be just as sweet. It is easy to forget the busy lifestyles we have but being around such joyful and enthusiastic students who have so little materially yet so much spirit helped me to realise the true values in life and what it really is that makes us happy.
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The children were always keen to learn and there was always a smile on their face when they saw you that you could not turn such an opportunity away.
Everyone treated me with such courtesy and it was a joy to be in their presence, to see them learning with such enthusiasm. The teaching staff were ever supportive and always on hand if you needed.
I made friends to last a life time and their smiles will stay with me forever. I never thought I would learn so much or that I could give so much in return. This was definitely an extraordinary and life changing experience.
“It was a joy to be in their presence”
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Jennifer Griffiths: Liverpool UK
When I first heard about volunteering with vacations to teach I thought no it's not for me as all my previous trips abroad where with friends or family and this would mean going alone, but at 59 years old and working in a cake shop in Liverpool and whose husband had passed away three years earlier I thought what the hell so booked a five week trip.
As the trip got closer I started to think have I done the right thing as I had never taught before let alone traveled to a far distant land even my friends thought I was mad, but I managed to get on the plane and so arrived in Bangkok early on a Monday morning. I was nervous but all the connections were easy just has vacations to teach had said and so I finally arrived at Udon Thani airport at 1-30 pm and was met by Dawan.
As we traveled to Nong Khai she pointed out places of interest and reassured me about what would happen during my stay, after arrival at my accommodation which was spotlessly clean I had time to rest before she and Jon collected me and we went on a river cruise with dinner on the Mekong river it was fabulous I could not believe I was doing this when the day before I was in Liverpool.
The first two days were spent with Jon at Khon Kaen University campus in Nong Khai where I got advice and the confidence to teach English in the local school in a little village just outside of Nong Khai. At first my nerves we totally gone but when I saw all those little smiling faces of the children my nerves just melted away and I felt so good, every day just past so fast I wanted each day to last longer I was having a great time with the children and did not want it to end.
Vacations to teach were ever so supporting and every weekend they took me out to places I had never thought existed like a snake village and temple's on top of plateaus and I even went motorcycling which I had never done before in my life, I could not believe it but here was me on the back of a bike riding through some of the most beautiful scenery I had ever seen and wow was it good. I want to say thank you vacations to teach for all the things you did for me and after losing my husband three years earlier I thought I could not go on but you have given me a whole new outlook on life and I will be back just as soon as I can. Thanks again to Jon, Noy, Dow and all the gang of fellow volunteer's see you all soon.
Volunteer Vacations - Volunteer Teaching Abroad
Holidays in Thailand.
A part of Vacations To Teach - Volunteer community project.
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