A Great Month in Thailand

I’ve been staying in Peace Village for a month and I joined the English Creative Teaching Program that holds by VSA. One month has passed, I don’t know that is my teaching did well or did the students learn something during the lessons, but I’m sure that I got a great teaching and travelling experience in here.

Although I am not used to take a cold shower every day and live in a bungalow, I got a great time in Peace Village. I met volunteers that come from different countries, like Korea, Japan, France and Belgium, which makes Peace Village as international places for volunteers to exchange their culture. For example, we take turns to cook meal. Then some of the volunteers brought some food or ingredients from their countries, so we can taste different kinds of food here. Also, we can learn different languages, but not only Thai. Although we come from different background, we played card games, like UNO together and laugh in the same language.

Also, I really like interacting with the Thai students. Even sometimes I feel confused that what should I teach them, and there is no material for you to teach. But I treat this as a challenge. We prepare lesson by ourselves, for example, we design games, songs and worksheet. As there are not enough English teachers in South Thailand, sometimes there is no local teacher for helping you in the classroom, so we have to find a Thai volunteer for translating the worksheet in Thai before the lesson so as to ensure that the students understand what they are learning about. So, I am satisfied when they tried their best to talk with you in English, even it is just an easy sentence, like”Good morning, teacher Fion”. And they even gave their drawing to me!

Moreover, it is good that we can have a holiday in a week that allows us to travel around in Hat Yai. In the past month, I’ve been to a zoo, night market, beach, carnival with the others volunteers. Therefore, it’s not just about working in Thailand, but also have a chance for me to know more about South Thailand.

Finally, I would like to thanks the Thai Volunteers in VSA, they brought lots of fun for us and make our life in Thailand more easier.

FION, Hong Kong

June - July 2013