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| The English teacher seen in her natural habitat. |
For anyone considering teaching in rural Thailand, the benefits include long drives on your motorbike through the lush, green countryside, beautiful temples featuring unique architectural designs, a tropical climate, wonderful students, friendly Thai teachers, and more.
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| Just scooting around! |
At first, I was a bit reticent about driving the motorbike. When I tried to take my first turn (with a passenger on the back, no less!) I couldn’t control the weight of the bike and we toppled over. Of course, we were driving very slowly, so my boyfriend, the passenger, simply hopped off. Nobody got hurt, but I did feel like a colossal doofus! It took me several solo attempts and many trips as a passenger before I felt comfortable enough to drive with someone else on the bike. However, now I drive the motorbike to work almost every day, and to the city every weekend. I’ve even driven to nearby Mukdahan twice on the bike, a trip of over three hours, careening through extremely chaotic traffic on narrow and quite often treacherous roads. I love it. I always drive safely and exercise extreme caution when nearing other vehicles, but I also get a thrill driving down the long stretches of empty road one often encounters. Perhaps the greatest dangers are the frequent potholes, some of which look more like craters or gorges!
The local temples you’ll see as you explore Thailand, whether by motorbike, bus, car, or on foot, will amaze you! I could post a thousand photos of the fascinating architectural details I’ve seen firsthand here in Thailand. However, I’ll simply post a few of my personal favourites to give you a taste of the grandeur and intricacy of the traditional Thai aesthetic. If a photo is worth a thousand words, seeing it for oneself is worth a million photos. All of the following photos were taken by me, personally, using a Samsung Galaxy S6. If an amateur such as myself can capture images like these using a cellphone, just image what you can see, photograph and remember for a lifetime. Your Instagram will never be the same, to say the least!
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| The Grand Palace, Bangkok, Thailand |
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In the first image, you can see the three distinct spires at The Temple of the Emerald Buddha or Wat Phra Kaew (วัดพระแก้ว), one of the buildings that constitute the temple complex. In the second set of pictures, taken from my IG account, you can see many more photos taken all around Thailand, from an elephant sanctuary in Chiang Mai to a waterpark in Sakon Nakhon to the beaches of Phuket to the temples of Bangkok.
As if the gorgeous sites, adventures with elephants, and relaxing on sunny beaches weren’t enough, the most rewarding part of teaching EFL in Thailand, is the students. The appreciation and affection that my students have shown me is really heartwarming. Seeing the progress they’ve made over the past three semesters has been one of the proudest achievements of my life. I say that not to sound arrogant or self-satisfied, but because it’s the truth. Students who didn’t have the confidence to speak in front of the class are now able to shout out vocabulary words and repeat dialogues without hesitation.
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| With some of my wonderful Mathayom 4 students! |
Of course, a large part of this is due to the fact that they are growing up, gaining more experience in high school and being encouraged and educated by their wonderful Thai teachers. However, I can say with some certainty that at least a small part of their academic achievement in English has been bolstered and strengthened by my classes, my encouragement and my engagement with them as individuals.
Below you can see a sample of some of the comments I've received here on this blog (you can also scroll through previous posts and see even more comments!). I could not believe all the love they sent my way (please ignore the spelling and grammar mistakes; they are only kids!). To be fair, the Principle also told me she loved me on my second time meeting her and once, a random woman at a restaurant told her baby to say, “Hello! I love you!” to me and my boyfriend! Thai people are very generous with the word “love”! They are also very friendly, helpful and kind. I have never yet met a Thai person I didn’t like. And that’s saying something because I can be very grumpy sometimes. ;)
A sample of student comments:
“I love teacher Laura.😍😚💖💕”
“I love teacher Laura because the teacher is a funny.”
“I love teacher Laura because the teacher is cheeful and kind.💕💕”
“I love laura teacher so much, teacher is very kind person”
“I thanks you teacher Laure you good teacher”
“I love Laura teacher because Laura teacher funny💜💜💜💜”
“I like the teacher a lot.”
“I love teacher Laura because the teacher is cheerful cute and kind.”
“Teacher Laura is a nice person. Easy to teach”
“I love teacher Laura, teacher is funny, hilarious, makes students happy.”
“I love Laura teacher because Laura teacher funny and beautiful”
Below, you can see some drawings my students made of me. These really made my year! I am so proud of my students and so happy that they have welcomed me as their teacher! If you decide to teach abroad, you may have the same experience! Being a role model wasn't something I ever though I'd be good at, but my time here as a teacher has helped me grow as a person, become more confident and improve my ability not only to teach, but to be a teacher, a role model, someone my students can trust and depend on. The skill to teach a subject, including knowledge, preparation, lesson planning, techniques and methodologies is only half of the equation; the other half is allowing yourself to connect with your students in way that encourages them to do their best learning.
When a student shows you something like this, it really makes all the paperwork, lesson planning, prep time, cleaning and organizing the classroom, chasing down late assignments and dealing with difficult classes, worthwhile. Although I won’t miss the giant spiders, cockroaches, floods, searing heat waves, the inevitable boredoms of rural life, the flat tires on the motorbike, the school dress code that requires me to wear a skirt every day, or giving the morning talk (which I personally dislike, although I’m sure there are teachers who enjoy it), I will miss a lot of things and I know I’ll miss my students most of all!
More amazing student artwork!
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