Dear Friend,

Today feels a bit strange; is the first Monday in a month that I don’t have any obligations. The last four weeks have been go-go-go; the TEFL certification course in Chiang Mai has left little breathing room in my schedule. I earned the TEFL (Teaching English as a Foreign Language) certificate through SEE (Siam Educational Experience) TEFL, which is a 120-hour on-site program that challenged my classmates and I to pushing our comfort zones in Chiang Mai and some of its surrounding areas. Sharing the experience with 15 other classmates and several instructors from across the world made it much less scary and allowed for some great moral support. Program participants were from America, Australia, India, Kashmir, Italy, Hong Kong, Argentina, Ireland, Thailand, South Africa, and the UK. The mix of backgrounds and personalities gave some great flavor to the experience and we shared quite a few laughs together.

The most challenging (and most rewarding) part of the course was the Observed Teaching Practice component. We were required to prepare six different lessons for six classes that varied both in grade level and English proficiency. To give you an idea of what it was like, imagine being a substitute teacher in a class where the students do not know you or speak your language. And then imagine dripping sweat in a classroom without air conditioning in 90 degree heat and very high humidity. It was quite an experience! The first lesson I taught was about vocabulary relating to plants to a kindergarten class, which actually went much better than expected.

The preparation for that vocabulary lesson, however, was by far harder than the time I spent actually teaching the students. It might sound rather easy to make a decorative “mystery box” and conjure up some flower related props, but when you are in a foreign country with zero familiarity as to where anything is located, it becomes much more complicated very quickly. For example, I needed a fake flower in order to be able to teach my vocabulary words effectively, and a peer suggested going to Chiang Mai Plastics to pick one up. I thought, “OK, cool, that sounds simple enough.” As you can probably guess, it was not simple! The store was located in a very congested part of the city and I got lost about eight times trying to find my way in and out. “Chiang Mai Plastics” did exist, but the store sprawled in such a manner that it was hard to even tell what store I was actually in (there were four or five sub-stores within the larger store). I did eventually have success and moved on to searching for a box to decorate. That became an entirely different adventure, which ultimately led me to 7-11 to pilfer through their discarded boxes. All in all, the Chiang Mai scavenger hunt for kindergarten lesson supplies ended well. And I only lost about 45 minutes looking for where I had parked my scooter! (which wasn’t frustrating at all)

The preparation for the remaining classes was much easier because instead of games, I made practice worksheets and flashcards for the students to learn new target language. My assigned lessons included topics such as the present perfect verb tense, polite requests, long actions interrupted by short actions, and the passive voice. SEE TEFL gave us some good strategies to organize and present 50 minute lessons to each class, but I was still extremely nervous each time I walked into a new classroom and all eyes were on me, scurrying to get the whiteboard set up. It was a new experience to be up in front of a class of 20-30 students, relying mostly on body language and voice intonation to deliver an engaging lesson as a program observer took copious notes on what I was doing right and what made them cringe. Interestingly, none of the program observers ever commented as to how I might avoid sweating so profusely.

At the end of the day, I wouldn’t change one thing about my experience in Chiang Mai! I learned so much and even though some kids were completely uninterested in learning a lesson from a random foreign teacher, most of them were very sweet and respectful. The culture in Thailand is such that children are taught to respect teachers from a very early age; so much so that many will “wai” you as you pass by in the hallway or at the beginning of class. I don’t know that I would ever get used to others bowing to me, but the tradition did make me feel welcomed into their space.

In addition to connecting with students, I really enjoyed commiserating with my classmates as we ventured to new schools together. The distance to and from our teaching practices varied, but two were about an hour drive outside of Chiang Mai in Sanpatong. And when I say “an hour drive”, I mean an hour of riding in very organized seats in the back of a pick up truck. This open air mode of transportation is called a songthaew and is very common in Thailand. So, we had eight people in the back of each vehicle, dressed in formal teaching clothes, chatting about upcoming lessons or debriefing on the way back to town. The fumes are not pleasant when you get into the inevitable Chiang Mai traffic and the wind in your hair is not as glamorous as it might sound…I had some interesting hairstyles whenever we reached our destinations. Frizzy, curly hair doesn’t bode well in Thailand to begin with, so add on the element of a riding in a songthaew and I got quite an attractive mess on the top of my head. (or maybe the exact opposite)

Messy hair and sweaty clothing aside, the opportunity to learn how to be in control of a EFL classroom was one I am so grateful to have had here in Thailand. This country has an energy that I have never felt anywhere and the program at SEE TEFL encouraged us to experience the schools, students, and Thai culture in a very authentic way. SEE TEFL also held a “Cultural Awareness” day that included a discussion of some widely held beliefs by most Thai people, and the one I found most interesting is the very strong trust in karma. This common belief explains why theft happens so rarely here; many people don’t question that if you steal, you will be met with bad luck. Not necessarily right away or even in the foreseeable future, but karma will take care of the repercussions. I can attest to the low theft rate in Thailand; there were countless times that I left my iphone in the cup holder of my scooter unattended while shopping or eating. It was always there when I returned!

I must sign off to go find something to eat. Thank you for reading!

Love,
Marissa