Volunteer Stories  |  Dorine

My original plan was to stay in Nong Khai for 3 months. It was a good thing coordinator Rick convinced me to spend some time in another city as well.

I ended up spending eight weeks in Nong Khai and four in Chiang Mai. I enjoyed every single day.

The first six weeks I taught English at Ban Prao School, to students between six and twelve year old. The Thai children are very different from the ones in Holland. They are so shy, well behaved (most of them) and enthusiastic (especially when it comes to farang (westerners)). Although it was sometimes hard to get our ideas through (we couldn’t speak Thai at all), it was worth the effort. Because I stayed at one school for a longer period of time, I could really see how the English of the students improved. It was great to notice that our hard work paid off.

During the summer camps we did in Chiang Mai, we had each class only one week. The teaching was different from what we did in Nong Khai. The summer camps were meant to be fun, so we did games and had a lot of fun with the children.

Off course my time with Travel to Teach involved a lot more than only teaching. I got to know a lot of great people from all around the world. It might have been, because of the ‘volunteer-spirit’, but everyone seemed to get along well. We spent almost every evening together, having dinner with everyone and there was always someone to talk to.

I experienced this family-feeling in Nong Khai and in Chiang Mai. The two cities were, except for the volunteers, completely different. Chiang Mai is a lot bigger, and we had to use tuk tuk’s to get around, instead of the bicycles we had in Nong Khai. There was also a lot more to do. More markets, more shopping malls, more temples, more places to eat and off course, more streets to get lost in (unfortunately). I knew how to get around in Nong Khai, within a few days, Chiang Mai took me a few weeks. Even though it took me more time to settle, I felt at home in Chiang Mai.

Because we spend only three hours a day teaching, there was a lot of time to do other things and to enjoy Thailand as much as we could. During my stay in Chiang Mai, I went elephant trekking and I went to Pai, a village north-west from Chiang Mai. I spend the weekend there together with three other volunteers.

It was nice seeing many different places and meeting a lot of new people. Because of the teaching, I was also able to meet a lot of Thai students and teachers. It was a good way to learn a lot more about the culture, than I would have if I was just traveling.

And I did learn a lot in Thailand. Not only about the culture, but also about myself. Before my trip, I couldn’t imagine living anywhere else, but in Amsterdam. And after three months with Travel to Teach, I didn’t want to go back home at all. I can perfectly imagine myself living in Chiang Mai.