Hello friends!
Welcome to my first serie post about living in Thailand. In these series I'll tell you my stories and show what my daily life looks like in this beautiful country.
Teaching in Thailand
Overcoming fear
One of my biggest fears was speaking in front of a group. It didn't even matter how big the group was. Just the fact that I could only hear my own voice and see all the eyes looking at me, made me instantly go into a flight response.
Despite this, I stepped on my motorbike and went to many different schools in the neighbourhood to search for a job as an English teacher. I didn't even have a degree nor was I a native speaker in the English language, which made me even more nervous, as I had read online this is both required.
Funny enough, the teachers interviewing me were more interested in my abilities to entertain the children, like singing, dancing and playing an instrument. I was really surprised by this, as I was expecting many more questions about my educational background. I showed them how I would perform the song 'head, shoulders, knees and toes' and before I was done, I got the job. I have to say, it was the most funny but bizarre interview I have ever done!
I had to teach the very same day and oh boy was I scared. I was so nervous I had to cry. I couldn't run away this time and had to overcome this fear that annoyed me so much for many years.
When it was time to teach, I wiped away my tears, restrained my negative thoughts and emotions and walked to the school. I brought my paper with songs and games with me into the classroom and there they were, all the curious little eyes looking straight at me. As I started to introduce myself to them, I noticed they didn't understand a thing of what I was saying and were almost as nervous as I was.
Finally I began to understand why the Thai teachers wanted me to sing, dance and play music, having fun is just the most important! I layed down my paper, started to sing and do a silly dance with it. The children started to join me and danced like crazy(Thai children are amazing dancers). I loved to see how much they enjoyed it and received many hugs afterwards.
Learning the Thai way
I am a teacher for almost a year now. Being a teacher made me learn a lot about the school system and how it contributes to the Thai culture. The children get to learn so much more than I have learned in school when I was younger. They learn how to cook, to clean, to dance, to sing and to make music.
They learn about the beautiful and difficult things in life, how to be a good person and to respect one another through stories, speeches and the teachings of their religion Buddhism. On top of that, most of the school activities are outside of the classroom with enough space to be energetic and develop themselves, as a child should.
Meet the kids
As you can see they love to pose for the camera, especially the girls.
Silly faces and peace signs are just unavoidable
Some of my students are a bit crazy!
They love to play games like hide and seek,
Memory
and flashcard races
I feel so lucky to be a part of this. Teaching has helped me so much with my personal growth and gave me the opportunity to see this amazing side of Thailand. The children are so much fun and show their gratefulness to me every single day!
Thank you so much for reading!
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