Volunteer Stories  |  Nick

I arrived at Chiang Mai airport dazed and jet lagged, an 18 year old boy alone in a foreign city. I wondered what I'd got my self into, signing up for a travel to teach programme for 4 weeks with no knowledge of the company or the area. Would I get on with the other volunteers? Would I be able to teach? Would there actually be someone waiting at the airport to pick me up?

All of these fears soon dissipated when I saw the smiling face of my travel to teach co ordinator, Jim.

When I arrived at the dorm I was overwhelmed by different names and faces of which I could remember none, yet straight away I found that I was welcomed into a friendly, enthusiastic community.

With no previous teaching experience I was dubious about my ability to teach children English however I found that my teaching crash course reassured me and that as the weeks went by and the children's English improved my teaching confidence grew.

During my stay not only have I taught in local schools building up a relationship with my regular pupils but I've also had other opportunities from teaching in a monk English camp to volunteering in a remote hill tribe with very limited electricity.

I am now in my seventh week after extending my programme by 3 weeks and see the dorm as a home away from home and the strange faces that greeted me as friends for life.