Assignment 1: Introduction

Hello, my name is Eve Percival. I am 22 years old and from Cumbria in England. I have just completed my 4-year BA Hons Events Management degree at Manchester Metropolitan University. This included a placement year working in the industry as an Event Manager. This has provided me with work experience and understanding of the hospitality industry.

I have always enjoyed travelling, previously visiting Europe, Taiwan, Singapore and Australia. Having been a student throughout the Covid pandemic, I have now chosen to take this opportunity to visit another country. By undertaking my TESOL qualification, I hope to develop teaching skills and an understanding of how to accommodate the learner. In turn I aim to have an impact on the children I work with and my future. I am excited to experience and learn more about the culture and people of Thailand.

In preparation for my arrival, I am actively researching to develop my understanding of the Thai culture. I anticipate that this and the language barrier will be the two greatest challenges to overcome during my stay. In order to prepare I have begun learning some key phrases, which I hope will demonstrate my respect for the people and my commitment to being successful.

In addition to developing my understanding of the Thai culture and language, I hope to make new friends, participate in new experiences and enjoy Thai cuisine. I envisage that these skills along with the knowledge and experiences will further enhance my degree qualification and future career paths.

Hello,
My name is Ryan and I am from Connecticut originally but have bounced around over the years. I graduated with my degree in Anthropology where I triple concentrated in Cultural, Biological, and Linguistic Anthropology. I started trying to get into teaching while I was still in college where I worked as both a tutor and as a student professor for the entire Anthropology department. I was teaching class sizes that ranged from 10- over 100 and it was very stressful but also prepared me really well. When I graduated I moved to Roswell, New Mexico where I started, and ran and took part in the education/ after school program for the Boys and Girls Club of Roswell. I was working with kids ages 5-14. I then moved to Michigan where I worked at an accommodation school for kids with learning/behavioral issues ages 15-21, so the school was a last resort for most of them.
Despite getting into teaching which is something I’ve always wanted to do, I still also really wanted to learn about and involve myself with different cultures which unfortunately, I haven’t been able to do. I want to go to Thailand because the culture seems really rich and inviting. The people seem great and I’m excited to learn about the history and experience the Thai culture first-hand. I think the biggest thing for me that I’ll have to overcome is the language barrier. I’ve never been the greatest when it comes to picking up new languages so I think I might struggle with that for a while. I think building a good support network and having a little patience will help me in the long run. I also believe the best way to learn something new is to dive right into it so Rosetta stone, here I come! I’m an adventure seeker and I love to push myself so I think moving to and teaching in Thailand will be a great experience for me. I’m excited to be meeting and working with Thai students and I’m hopeful that they’ll also be able to teach me a few things as well.

Hello everyone, my name is Riley Breen and I am from the United States. I just graduated college from the university of Tennessee this past may with a bachelors degree in education. I love watching college football, working out, going on hikes and spending time with friends and family. I have grown up my whole life traveling and knew that when I graduated I wanted to find a way to see parts of the world that I have not yet got the opportunity to explore yet and that is how I ended up here! I am deciding to travel more because I want to learn about the Thai culture, help children and travel Asia while I’m there. Im very grateful for this opportunity and can’t wait to experience this and see what Thailand has in store for me. One of the biggest challenges I am going to face is the language barrier, I do not know much Thai and I think that will be the hardest challenge for me but with exposure to it and working with students who speak it I look forward to learning the language and better communicating with the community. This will defiantly be the most challenging thing I have done before but I am looking forward to learning, adapting and growing as a person. I hope that I get to experience different culture, help children, travel and experience the beauties of Thailand as well as meet people that I will become friends with and stay connected for the rest of my life.

Hi, my name is Heidi McIntosh. I am 25 and from Kent, England. I studied Psychology at the University of Portsmouth. After graduating, I started working as a teaching assistant and immediately fell in love with it. After a year, I was promoted to a teacher and I have been teaching ever since. I have always loved working with children and a career in education allows me to use my degree to improve the educational experience for everyone.

Part of what drew me to Psychology was my interest in people. I have always wanted to travel the world and learn from people with different experiences, backgrounds and cultures to my own. Unfortunately, when I graduated in July 2020, the world was in lockdown, but as things slowly started to open up again, I hoped I could finally achieve my dream. I was worried that the cost of travelling would be too high, leaving me with no money when I returned to the UK. Then, I remembered hearing about people who travelled abroad to teach and everything clicked into place; teaching abroad would allow me to use my love of teaching to fulfil my lifelong dream of travelling!

Deciding where to go was harder. As someone who had never left Europe, I was eager to go anywhere and everywhere and there were no compelling practical reasons to pick any particular destination. Eventually, I went with my gut and decided to move to Thailand.
The biggest challenge I expect to face as part of this experience is being away from my family and friends. I am very close with my family and I have never lived more than a 2-hour drive away from them. Despite this, I am fortunate that modern technology will allow me to stay in contact with my family and friends from England. In addition, Xploreasia has an amazing network of teachers living in Thailand who I can connect with, helping me to make new friends and feel less alone.

Another challenge I expect to face is adapting to a new culture. To help with this I have begun learning the Thai language using apps on my phone. Additionally, this course will enable me to learn more about Thai culture and be invaluable in helping me to adjust to life in Thailand.

I hope this experience will allow me to create a fun and welcoming learning environment for Thai students to learn English. In taking this leap of faith, I hope to build my confidence and learn valuable life skills. I am looking forward to meeting a range of amazing new people and I hope to build friendships with people I would not otherwise have met. I believe that this will be an invaluable experience that will enrich my life and allow me to grow as a person overall.

Hello everyone,
My name is Jake and I grew up in Sarasota, Florida. I just graduated from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, this past May and I studied political science and sustainability. I decided to travel to Thailand because I have a passion for traveling and I have always had a desire to be a teacher and I felt that this was the perfect opportunity to combine those experiences. I want to immerse myself in the rich Thai culture and experience something very different from my life in Florida. A major challenge I expect to face is integrating with the local community, but I hope to overcome this by being open to new experiences, trying new foods, and meeting new people. I hope to make a lasting impression on the people I meet and work with, just as I know they will leave an impression on them. I don’t want to leave feeling like a tourist, but as a real member of the community.

Can’t wait to meet everyone!
Jake

Hi, my name is Molly. I am 20 and I am from Yorkshire, England. I have recently finished my undergrad in history and also a year in teacher training. I loved teaching but also wanted to get out and explore! I have always wanted to immerse myself in a different culture and atmosphere and experience life outside of westernised Europe. Therefore, this programme was the perfect as it combined for teaching my passion and future career path with the excitement of travelling and having new experience.
I think the main barrier will be communication due to the language difference, I have been trying to learn the basic phrases and this will hopefully improve once I am over there. I am ready to adapt as I go and learn from experiences those around me . I cannot wait to meet like- minded people on the course and to delve into a different community, I hope to make friends for life who i can share incredible stories with.

Hi,
My name is Chamise, I am 31 and I studied Sociology at CUNY Hunter College in New York City. I grew up in Long Island New York, but I have a heavy influence of the Caribbean in my ethnic background and culture. Both my parents were born and raised in Jamaica which led to my childhood consisting of two homes. One here in America, and one in Jamaica where we spent summer long vacations. After graduating college, I started working in public service programs that allowed me to start nurturing my passion for teaching. I worked in various writing camps, resource centers for individuals with intellectual disabilities, and libraries. I am deciding to move to Thailand because in my last year of college, I realized my interest in cultural anthropology and linguistics. I wanted real world experience in these subjects and felt that travel and cultural immersion would fulfill my curiosity and desire to learn about people. I took a three-week cultural anthropology course in Belize, and I loved the idea of traveling and living in countries that I want to learn about. Thailand is so full of cultures and the diversity in the economy and society compared to America, and I am full of intrigue. With these cultural differences, I do expect to experience the challenge of cultural shock and language barrier. But I am eager to speak Thai, and with my love for linguistics it’s a challenge I know I can overcome by my excitement to learn. I hope to become the best version of myself by taking this journey because there is so much of myself that I need to discover, so much of myself that I am afraid to show, and I don’t want to be just a shell. I want to feel as if finally, I am living freely and enjoying my life without living in any pressure to be something I am not.