ASSIGNMENT 1: INTRODUCTION

[Katie Jordan]

Sawadee everyone! My name is Katie but you can call me Kat. I’m a Pre-K teacher from America that loves to travel and teach, so deciding to come to Thailand this summer was a no brainer. In terms of expected challenges, the only thing I can think of is the initial culture shock and jet lag as this is the first country that I’ve been to where English isn’t the primary language. I expect to overcome this challenge by embracing the differences from my home country and viewing it as a welcome change instead of an annoyance or stressor. Finally, I hope to return from my trip with lots of fond memories of all the new places, experiences, and people that I came across during my month in Thailand!

[Lillian Hewitt]

Hello, my name is Lillian Hewitt. I go by Lilli, but don’t have a preference between the two. I am from Seattle, Washington. I am an adventurer at heart from snowboarding our beautiful mountains, surfing in our frigid coasts, hiking all the beautiful green spaces, and exploring new hammocking spots. When I’m not adventuring I am an elementary school teacher. I teach 5th grade and love what I do!

I decided to come to Thailand because I want to expand m y cultural awareness and strengthen my Multilingual Language Learner Support. I got a English Language Learner endorsement in addition to my teaching certification and quickly found that this is my passion within my passion for teaching. I want the experience of working with students whose home language is different than English. As a teacher I work with a diverse language population, so knowing another language is a perk but doesn’t solve all my language support needs. So, I chose Thailand because I wanted to experience supporting language acquisition as well as dive into the rich culture. Above all I needed a chance to expand, to explore something new. I am extremely grateful to be close to where I grew up and teach in the same school district I grew up in. But I also know I need to know what else is out there and to show myself I am capable of more.

I think that a challenge I expect to face along the way is traveling alone. This is my first experience living abroad as well as traveling alone. I think this challenge will be important to face and learn how to overcome. This opportunity is unique in that I may be arriving alone but I will have multiple communities to immerse myself in. I will have a team of educators at my school as well as all the people in the TEFL program. I am hoping to push myself and show myself how capable I am of doing hard things and meeting amazing people along the way.

Overall, I am feeling optimistic about this incredibly culturally rich experience. I hope to take away a more culturally relevant teaching lenses as well as understand more about ways to support my language learners in my future classroom. I am also excited for the self-growth that will come from this journey.

[Tamala Morris]

Hello! My name is Tamala Morris. I am from Kalamazoo, Michigan in the United States. I have taught mathematics, vocational education and part-time ESOL to a variety of populations; adults, K-12, ESOL, All-Boys, special education, and adjudicated youth.

I am deciding to visit Thailand to immerse myself in the Thai culture and see some beautiful elephants.

Challenges I expect to face along the way would be conversational language barrier, however I expect to overcome by previewing videos online and learning from those around me in Thailand.

I hope to get out of my experience an appreciation of Thailand’s culture; hopefully learning that the United States and Thailand have commonalities.

[Emma Nurse]

Hello All,

My name is Emma, and I am from South Africa. I am a qualified teacher with a bachelor’s degree in teaching and an Honours Degree in Professional Development and Educator Training. My qualifications are both from the University of Pretoria.
I have a passion for teaching and love helping young learners through their journey of education from primary school till high school and further. Thailand has been on my list of countries to visit in Southeast Asia, as I have been to India and enjoyed it. I had decided to link my passion for Education to my love of travel and learning about new cultures, people and countries.
The challenges I feel I could possibly face when moving to Thailand would be the weather and the language barrier. As the weather is quite different from where I live in South Africa, I will be struggling with the heat and humidity. I have bought sunscreen, UV arm protector and body powder to assist with the humidity. I have will be bringing my large water bottle and electrolytes to keep hydrated. The language barrier will be difficult in the beginning, as it is quite different from my own. I have been using an application to learn the basic words needed to survive in the first few weeks.
I hope to learn how to work with learners from a new country and become a better teacher. I believe we are lifelong learners and gaining new knowledge will add to my existing knowledge. I hope to learn about their culture and expand my love of knowledge. I really enjoy learning about different curriculums and how they are taught to learners. They are a countries future and I enjoy being part of their journey.
I cannot wait to arrive in Thailand and start my journey of learning and gaining knowledge.
Good luck to all and I hope you have a fantastic journey!
Emma

[Neil Ghezzar]

Hi Everybody, my name is Neil Ghezzar and I’m super excited to start my new journey teaching English in Thailand! I have nearly 30 years experience in Finance and I’ve ultimately decided it’s time for a career change, for a new career that will hopefully provide more benefit to society and one in which I will feel more fulfilled.
I am from New York City and Thailand will be the 6th different city I’ve lived in (with the previous being Hungary, Italy, UK, Belgium and Greece).
I’ve decided on moving to Thailand because I loved my last trip there when I competed in the Bangkok half marathon. I loved the food, people and beaches. The biggest challenge I anticipate is getting used to the heat! From what I’m told, it’s just a matter of time getting used to it.
I hope that my first experience teaching English in Thailand will provide me with an extreme sense of fulfillment and that both me and my students will have fun along the way as they become proficient in English.

• This reply was modified 11 months, 3 weeks ago by Neil Ghezzar.

[Neil Ghezzar]

Hi Lilli, it’s great that you are attempting to overcome your fear of travelling alone! That takes quite a lot of courage. Luckily, Thailand is one of the safest and friendliest places on earth. I believe you will quickly acclimate yourself to the culture and make plenty of friends. Good luck!

[Harvey Millar]

Hi Kat! Gosh, I am so excited for you! I am also and elementary educator from the United States teaching in Thailand this summer!

[Adam Wallenhaf]

Hello my name is Adam, and I’m 30 years old, born and raised in Stockholm, Sweden. I hold a double bachelor’s degree in Sociology and Education, and I’ve spent several years working in administrative roles, primarily within the educational sector. My academic background has fueled a strong interest in people, systems, and the ways in which social environments shape behavior, learning, and wellbeing.
I’ve chosen to travel to Thailand because I feel ready for a new chapter—one that offers both personal growth and cultural exploration. Having visited Southeast Asia before, I’ve always felt drawn to the warmth, hospitality, and rhythm of life in Thailand. This time, however, I’m not just visiting; I’m coming with the intention of staying longer, immersing myself in the culture, and perhaps finding new professional opportunities or inspiration for future studies. Naturally, adapting to a new country comes with its challenges, but i hope to get valuable experience.

[Brittany]

Hi, my name is Brittany. I am 32 years old from California, USA (near Sacramento area specifically). I have lived in Germany, Texas and Florida and have traveled various different states in the US and now very excited to be making my way to Asia. I have a BA in Multimedia Video Production, so I am a photographer, videographer and producer by trade having worked on film sets, radio, t.v. and on my own projects. But during my academic/professional career, I felt drawn to a better and more fulfilling purpose. I had an amazing volunteer opportunity some years back to teach ESL classes to adults and that really solidified my pivot to becoming an educator. This lead me into the non-profit field for a bit and since then I’ve been able to set myself up for success on this path to expand my teaching abroad. The journey here has not been easy with many detours and even evolved in terms of the exact location I wanted to teach. I figured I’d end up in China or South Korea but as I did my research I realized that Thailand sounded much more my speed. My city is quite diverse which has exposed to me a lot of Southeast Asian culture and cuisine, so it felt like a natural fit. My hope from this experience is to gain more skills in the classroom, be immersed in a new culture and be able to get my foot in the door of starting my new career as an educator and lifelong learner in general. And of course make plenty of fun memories along the way.

I look forward to crossing paths with all of you 🙂

[Brittany]

Hey Adam! That’s awesome. I am coming with the intention of staying long term so excited to see how this adventure evolves.

[Ryan Tydesley]

Hello!
My name is Ryan, I’m 20 years old and from England. I’ve just completed my second year studying Psychology at Edge Hill University. I have a passion for exploring new cultures and experiences—last year, I travelled around Costa Rica, which really opened my eyes to the value of cultural exchange and personal growth through travel.
This year, I’m excited to explore Thailand and gain a deeper understanding of Thai culture. I’ve chosen to join this programme because I’m considering a future career in teaching English, and I believe this experience will help me decide whether that path is right for me. It’s a unique opportunity to combine my interest in education with my desire to experience life in a completely different cultural setting. I’m really looking forward to meeting people from around the world and learning from their perspectives. I know there may be challenges, such as adapting to cultural differences or navigating language barriers, but I see these as part of the learning process. I’m confident I’ll be able to adjust and grow through these experiences.

[Lana Warning]

My name is Lana Warning, and I am 27 years old. I currently live in Atlanta, GA. I have my Early Childhood and Elementary Education undergrad, and I completed my TEFL certificate last year. I currently have 4 years of teaching experience in an Elementary classroom. I have decided to travel and teach in Thailand because I have always dreamed of teaching abroad. One of the significant challenges I will face along the way is having a language barrier. I do not know Thai, so I know it will be hard to communicate. Another challenge is transitioning my teacher brain from an English Elementary teacher to fit the needs of my new students. I hope that I will be able to experience Thai culture and learn from the students who are trying to learn English. Everyone learns differently, and I hope to make a difference in their lives like my previous ESL classes.

[Frances Macleod]

My name is Frankie and I’m from a small village in the Highlands of Scotland, but I currently live near Edinburgh. I studied English Language and Linguistics at the University of Glasgow, and since graduating I have worked as a research assistant at the University, and a Data Linguist at Amazon Alexa.
When I was 19, I spent 18 months in Australia – an experience I absolutely loved, and which left me itching to travel again. Earlier this year, I spent a month in Thailand and fell in love with the culture, the lifestyle, and the wonderful, kind people. I was determined to find a way to come back more long term, and with my background in English Language, teaching seemed like a great route. Having never had any official teaching experience, I expect to find it quite daunting and perhaps difficult to adjust to in the beginning. However, I’m sure that with a bit of time, my confidence will grow and I’ll be able to deliver productive lessons and develop great relationships with my students. As a vegan, I also expect to occasionally encounter difficulty when eating in group settings, since Thai people like to eat together and share dishes. I have found Thailand to be a pretty vegan-friendly country, so I’m not too worried, although I’m aware that the options may be more limited in more rural, less tourist-heavy areas. I’ve looked up various Thai phrases to help me when ordering.
Throughout this experience, I hope to grow in confidence and independence, but also to really immerse myself in Thai culture and form strong relationships with those around me. I would love for my class to be one that my students look forward to and get a lot out of.

[Ryan Waldrop]

Hello,

My name is Ryan, and I’m from the United States. I’m originally from Mississippi where I grew up.

I am moving to Thailand to learn about the culture. Also, I want so see the beaches and learn about the history. I also want to try the food.

I expect it will be challenging to navigate throughout the country at first. Hopefully, I will learn the travel options quickly. Also, it might be hard to meet people where I’m assigned. I hope to go out and meet them either at school or in meet-up groups.

I hope to learn more about how other cultures live as well as meet some people along the way.

Thanks,
Ryan

[Kiah Percy]

Hi, my name is Kiah, and I am from the United States; however, I have spent most of my life abroad, predominantly on the continent of Africa. I have decided to teach in Thailand because when I was young, I came to Thailand on a two-week work trip with my mom and had a great time. I have also had the opportunity to visit Thailand more recently and again left with fond memories, which shaped my decision to continue traveling to Thailand and, if lucky, live in the country. Additionally, I thought Thailand would be a great starting point for teaching due to its welcoming environment as well as the advantages of traveling to other Southeast Asian countries. As a recent college graduate with little teaching experience, I anticipate facing challenges such as building confidence in the classroom, ensuring all necessary materials are covered, and navigating the language barrier in Thailand. With that being said, confidence in the classroom, forming bonds, and teaching are built over time, and a little challenge does not scare me. Overall, I hope that my experience allows me to form close connections with students and fellow teachers, that I have helped improve students’ English ability, and, lastly, that I leave with some knowledge of the Thai language.

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