Flying in winter from London straight into Bangkok is something of a shock to your average Englishman. I was lying in a hotel room after a first day exploring, feeling tired and far, far hotter than I'm accustomed to. I admit to thinking that I might have made a mistake in deciding to spend half a year in the land of smiles and overly persistent tuk-tuk drivers.
Nevertheless, I decided that I would press on with my plans to travel northwards, and try my hand at teaching. I escaped from Bangkok a week earlier than expected, and took the night train to the far end of the Northeastern Line. Things were looking up – the train was nicely chilled and the pillows were fluffy. As we pulled up in Nong Khai, the only thing troubling me was the persistent worry that travel-to-teach didn't actually exist. Given the amount of ex-volunteers and staff members I'd spoken to, however, the idea that the website was an elaborate scam seemed unlikely, and mostly faded altogether when a smiling Rick (the Namsom co-ordinator) appeared at the platform with a large T2T signboard, ready to take us to our new home.
Arriving at the Green Dorm, I was pleased to find that the bedroom allocated to me was larger than everyone else's. This put me in a good mood for my first day in town. I'd forgotten to mention that I was a vegetarian. I was promptly taken out to eat by staff-members, Rick and Meow, to a place that seemed to serve almost exclusively, meat. As I was enjoying my breakfast of cheese and bread, and Rick my sausages and bacon, I was concerned that Nong Khai might not be too veggie-friendly. I'd have to eat animals or insects at the very least. This didn't prove true, but I've since developed a massive taste for a range of tofu-based Thai dishes and simultaneously gained a stone in weight. Thanks to T2T's cooking lessons, I've also been able to make all my favourites at home and impress my friends with my wok skills.
On the way back from breakfast, I got lost for two hours. I definitely advise new volunteers to take careful note of the landmarks around the dorm. After getting hold of a bicycle and a map, I went out and did some serious exploring. I was a little confused but ultimately pleased to find that Nong Khai has a large Tesco's – a familiar sight to those of us from the UK. There's also a fabulous market, the Mekong River to look at and a range of temples. In addition there's Nong Khai's "intense" nightlife, which you will quickly discover and possibly forget until someone tells you what happened in the morning.
Life in the Green Dorm is good fun and rarely boring. There's always teaching to be done and people to chat with during the day, movies to watch and places to go in the evening, and the T2T staff are friendly and supportive. Some things take a little getting used to. A Thai shower is not in any way showerlike. Insects are bigger than your hand. "Thai time" is another adjustment.
The most important aspect to my trip was the teaching. My friend, Henry, and I were first placed in Tesseban High School alongside German volunteer, Marius, who had already been teaching for a few weeks. After fixing the newly adopted German accents of the Thai children, we got straight in to teaching vocabulary and grammar. I found this a little difficult at first, having no teaching experience; and my first hour-long lesson plan lasted 10 minutes, providing me with the challenge of having to do some fast improvisation. After a week or so, however, I was finding teaching much easier and I was gaining confidence. After a couple of months I found myself on a stage with a microphone in front of 100 kids leading a rendition of the "penguin song". It just goes to show that whilst experience is useful, it's certainly not a prerequisite for volunteering.
Games and songs aside (and there were many), I was soon beginning to perfect a few techniques for teaching spelling and other crucial subjects. I was seeing definite improvements in the literacy of the classes, which was very rewarding. At the same time, I noticed progress in my karaoke skills outside of school. Studying every day with T2T's language book, I was beginning to pick up Thai, making both teaching and ordering food that doesn't have fish sauce (a constant challenge), far easier.
I should mention at this point that the days of sitting in Bangkok wishing I were back in England seemed a distant memory. It wasn't long after arriving in Nong Khai that I was starting to dread the day when I'd have to go home. The staff, volunteers and smiley Thais were making my time so enjoyable that it was impossible to feel homesick – especially true of my time teaching in Phon Phisai, which was the best part of my volunteering experience. Thanks are mostly due to Phon Phisai, Co-ordinator Happy Jack and to the slightly crazy, fun-loving residents of his village, Ban Thin Dung, who go out of their way to make foreigners feel both welcome and a little bit famous.
My karaoke skills peaked in Phon Phisai with mine and Henry's interesting version of Bohemian Rhapsody – in a local bar, with many, many Ronan Keating singalongs with the village children in the English camps (Jack's choice of artist – I was a little ashamed at first, but the kids enjoyed it, so Ronan it was).
If ever I had any problems, it was due to my own lack of preparation and not at all with the children themselves, who have an incredible amount of respect for all teachers – be it their own regular Thai teachers or young Western volunteers. Being in a Thai school is a far cry from being in an English classroom – the children may not have had a privileged education but on the whole, they are well behaved, creative, energetic and extremely keen to learn. It makes the whole teaching experience far less daunting than you might imagine.
The scariest thing was encountering a group of monks whom I was supposed to be teaching. I discovered, though, that their grasp of English was better than mine! Actually I was rendered speechless by some of their probing questions into both the complexities of English grammar and the meaning of words that I had never heard of. On the whole, however, teaching was great fun, not too challenging, but extremely worthwhile.
As a high school leaver on a gap year, I had a decision to make. Should I travel around as a tourist or stay in one place and make myself useful. I made the right decision. Staying put for a long time provided me with the opportunity to really get to know Thai culture – something your average backpacker doesn't fully appreciate. Leaving Nong Khai and the friends I had made was not easy and the hardest part of my trip. I'm eager to return, hopefully, in the not too distant future. I don't have any regrets about choosing Travel-to-Teach. I urge anyone reading this and thinking about teaching abroad to go for it – not only does the company actually exist, you'll have a great time and be left with great memories.
