Assignment 1: Introduction

Hello!

My name is Holly. I was born in Melbourne, Australia, and also currently live there. I’m 25, and have studied nursing and in the progress of doing a qualification in social science. I have decided to travel and move to Thailand for craving something different, a change of lifestyle pace and environment, embracing a new culture and fundamentally just getting out of my comfort zone. I’ve travelled a couple times solo, and I enjoy the thrill of the unknown. Alongside all of that, the opportunity to teach English overseas seemed so out of reach, but being approved and able to do this, was close to impossible to refuse. Challenges I anticipate facing along the way of this journey is the language barrier, but also learning to adapt to caring and teaching a whole different age group who will have different requirements and different needs than what I’m used to catering for. I’ve spent five years, and counting, caring for our elders as an aged care worker, with majority being between the ages of 80 to 100 years old. I expect to overcome this barrier with fundamental social skills, life experience, this current course, or even just asking questions and observing from others. Things I hope to get out of this experience, is travelling around Asia, alongside broadening my horizons, learning something new and learning a new culture and lifestyle. Everything I hope to achieve is mentioned above to an extent, but I want to go in with an open mind and experience more than what I am anticipating. Perhaps I could proceed to teach English in Thailand, or maybe my curiosity could exceed enough to teach English in a different country. We’ll see where this amazing opportunity will take me.

Hello everyone. I am Kirk from Canada. I grew up of a farm in Saskatchewan which is a province located in the middle of Canada. I learnt to operate all types of agricultural machinery early in my life. After high school, I drove forklifts big and small in the lumber, manufacturing and beverage industries. At twenty five I earned my Class 1A drivers licence to drive the big rigs (semi tractor trailers). I drove tanker and flatbed semitrailers in the Saskatchewan and Alberta oil fields.

After becoming bored with driving machines at 27 years old I returned to school. I completed a Bachelors of Science degree (Accounting Major) from Minot State University. After graduation I worked for a Certified Public Accounting (CPA) firm doing bookkeeping and filing tax returns for small and large clients. I returned to school to earn a Masters of Business Administration (MBA) at North Dakota State University(NDSU). While completing my MBA I became a research and teaching assistant at NDSU and passed the Certified Public Accountants exam and the Certified Fraud Examiners Exam. After graduation I was offered and accepted a full-time teaching position at NDSU. I taught the following courses: Acct 421.3 Audit 1, ACCT 422.3 Audit 2, Acct 201 Principles of Accounting 1, Acct 202.3 Principles of Accounting 2 and Acct 102.3 Accounting for Non-Business Majors. I missed my family so I returned to Canada.

I became a Revenue Agent for the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) which is Canada’s equivalent of the American Internal Revenue Service(IRS). I quickly rose through the ranks as an auditor working on larger and larger audits. Then I transferred to the Appeals Department and became a Appeals Officer. An Appeals Officer has a role similar to a judge. A Taxpayer can appeal the resulting assessments by the CRA audit. The appeals department acts as an independent body of the CRA and has the legal capacity to either affirm, modify or vacate the audit assessments. The Appeals department was intended to reduce court costs and the Taxpayer’s appeal and was free of cost to the Taxpayer. However the Taxpayer retained the right to file a court claim after an unsuccessful appeal. I then transferred to the Workload Department of the CRA as Screener. A Screener decides who gets audited. I can not say much about these screening methods but I used my deep knowledge of accounting, auditing and the Canadian Income Tax to select audit targets.

When my mother was diagnosed with cancer, I resigned form the CRA to become her caregiver. My mother died in September of 2023 after a long and hard fought battle with this terrible disease. My mother was a teacher and I decided that I wanted to return to teaching and see the world spending enough time in each place to learn the culture.

I picked Thailand because of its central location in South East Asia will allow me to visit other countries in the area during school breaks. Although the United States is a similar culture to Canada I still experienced culture shock in the United States and reverse culture shock when I returned to Canada. I expect my culture shock to be much much greater in Thailand compared to the culture shock I experienced in the USA. The most difficult challenge is going to be the language barrier, but today we have Google Translate that may help. I plan on taking Thai lessons as well as practicing Thai with merchants and anyone else I can. I hope to learn a lot about Thailand and its people as well as traveling to the neighbouring countries to learn about them as well.

Hello !
I’m Haingotiana.
I was born in Madagascar, raised in France, and achieved my studies in the UK, where I’ve been living since the end of my academic career. In recent years, I’ve embarked on solo travels to various destinations including New Zealand, Bali, and most recently Vietnam, and Thailand. Exploring new countries, meeting diverse people, gaining new knowledge, and immersing myself in different cultures has always been a passion of mine, nurtured by growing up in a multicultural environment.
Having the chance to link that passion of travelling and exploring with teaching abroad in Thailand by joining Gotoco Program is a new challenge that I’m so excited to undertake.
The main challenge I foresee in traveling to Thailand is adapting to its unique cultural and social environment. Additionally, stepping into the role of a teacher for the first time, especially in a foreign country, presents its own set of hurdles.
However, I am confident that approaching these challenges with an open mind and a willingness to learn from others will help me overcome them. By fostering an environment of collaboration and mutual learning, I believe I can adapt, grow, and succeed in both cultural immersion and teaching in Thailand.
My goal is personal growth and cultural enrichment. I aim to deepen my understanding of Thai culture, broaden my global perspective, and enhance my interpersonal skills through teaching and interaction. I also look forward to forming meaningful connections and friendships with fellow educators and locals, fostering networks that transcend borders. Ultimately, I hope to emerge as a more confident, empathetic, and culturally aware individual.

Hi all,

I am Marley and I am taking part in a teaching fellowship in Thailand. I come from a little coastal town in north-east England, so this will be a completely new experience for me.

At university I studied environmental science and in my final year I decided to wanted to explore the world somewhat, and try out a teenage dream of teaching English abroad. My university had a partnership with Gotoco which is how I discovered them, but I ended up applying for one of their long-term programmes rather than take part in a university funded short-term programme, as this seemed more worthwhile.

I have a fascination with languages – their history, their form, their ability to connect people – and for that reason I want to help others learn a language, whilst also exposing myself to a new language.

The biggest challenge for me will be jumping from university and part-time work to teacher training and full-time work. To overcome this, planning out my time as much as possible and taking advantage of any free time during the school day will mean I do not become swamped with work.

From participating in the teaching fellowship, I hope to find a love for teaching and continue doing so once the fellowship ends – whether that be in Thailand or in a new country.

Hello, My name is Melissa 30, and I am from Ireland. I have been working at sea the past 10 years and needed a change in career. I really enjoyed my time working away and met loads of amazing friends from all over, and we cabin shared most of the time, so it was great hearing stories and finding out about different peoples experiences in life. So and I am really excited to meet everyone over there, and enjoy learning and fully integrating into the Thai culture and teaching English. I understand it will be challenging at times but there will be a solution and I am delighted to see and learn new things while I am living there. I have been dreaming about the food, really excited to try allot of new things! and see the beautiful sights around Thailand. I would like to take a new direction in my career path from this, and hope to work remotely with the gained qualification I will receive, or I might even stay in Thailand If I get a job. I know there is going to be so much incredible memories to be had for us all. I look forward to them. Good luck, Safe travels and see you all soon.

Hello everyone. My name is Jess, and I’m from the sunny coast of Bournemouth, UK. I have been travelling full time for the last five years, working in Buffalo, New York, at a TV station as a reporter, Whistler, Canada, for a ski season, a summer camp in Ontario, Canada, and most recently, working for the big man himself, at Santa’s Lapland in Finland! I love travelling. I love slow travel the most, so I can feel like a local in a place. I love sharing the history of my hometown with locals, and I enjoy discovering what makes people tick. I studied journalism at the university in Manchester, so I guess I’m still very curious (some may say nosey, lol) about the differences and similarities of life in my hometown compared to a place on the other side of the world.

Why are you deciding to travel/move to Thailand?
Thailand and SE Asia have been on my bucket list for a long time, and I wanted to go when I graduated from uni, but sadly, that was at the height of COVID-19 and borders were still closed. I knew I’d get there at some point. I have worked in events and brand promotions for eight years, and when working for Amazon Student for a uni fresher tour in 2022, I saw GoToCo with a stand. I honestly thought it was a real company when I saw it online – travel for free to Thailand. That sounds too good to be true, right? But seeing them at the fresher fair restored my faith that it was a legitimate company, and I kept it in my mind when I was in Canada. I applied in July 2023 for the Thailand fellowship. I believe everything happens at the right time, and I know I was supposed to come to Thailand now. I moved to Thailand at the end of February and have loved it since then. I am very excited for my fellowship to begin!

What challenges do you expect to face along the way, and how do you expect to overcome them?
Having travelled mainly to Westernised countries, I think the thing that I was nervous about what how different it would be. I am pleasantly surprised that it is much more developed than I expected. You adapt quickly to the more straightforward way of life here.

What do you hope to get out of your experience?
More cultural exchange, learning Thai and embracing the Buddhist way of life. I have explored Buddhism as a religion over the last few years, and I really connect with the spiritualism of the religion. It will be exciting to learn more from the people of Thailand.

Hi Hal!
Your introduction is truly inspiring and motivating!
It’s remarkable to see how fearlessly you’ve navigated through different places, making a positive impact and gaining invaluable experiences along the way.
Your mindset and approach to life serve as a powerful reminder of the possibilities that await when we embrace new opportunities with courage and determination.