Paid Summer Teacher in Thailand

I’m so grateful for this opportunity. It was nerve-racking at first, but I’m so glad that I went for it. I met so many amazing people and my host family was amazing! I saw so many beautiful views and monuments during my time in Spain, as well as other countries I traveled to while out there. I highly recommend this to everybody who is willing to take the leap.

I could not be more grateful for my experience abroad. I have learned so much about myself and the world through this journey. My favorite part has been getting to know my host family and their culture. I feel so lucky to have met them and to know that I have developed a meaningful friendship that will last me a lifetime. I highly recommend a travel abroad experience to anyone who is considering it– mine has truly changed my life!

My goals for this program are honestly just to relax and make the most of this experience, to utilise it as a chance to grow as a person. I was able to do a weekend trip with my host family to Naples at the end of July :) It was really nice being a part of the family while traveling. My host father likes to play The Clash and AC/DC while cooking. That gets everyone in the house excited for dinner and family time. Very different from my own home. Being in Sardinia, I am spending a lot of time at the beach. The beaches are phenomenal, wild yet so serene. I feel very at peace here! I definitely recommend purchasing and bringing alone a guidebook to wherever you will be visiting. I know you can Google places, but sometimes the WiFi service isn’t good. Having a reliable guidebook has come in handy. I’ve enjoyed this program because I get to travel. I have been to Golfo Aranci, Porto Rotondo and Palau, which are just north of where I am staying in Olbia. I’ve also been to the Tomb of Giants and Castello di Pedres archaeological sites, and I am hoping to go to Asinara Island, home to the Sardinian albino donkeys! It’s a great program.

I decided to teach last summer with GeoVisions Foundation in Thailand because one of my goals was to experience a new culture and immerse myself into it. I feel I have really accomplished that during my time here in Thailand teaching. I’ve developed a routine and a way of living here. I’ve had such a great time exploring Thailand but even better, getting to know the people that live here. I have developed friends and a “family” here and I couldn’t be more thankful for them. I’ve been able to travel around a bit despite covid. I am sad I am not able to travel around more because of covid but I am making the most of everything. If I had to recommend something to put on the packing list, it would be dark socks. I’ll be you don’t hear that everyday. In Thailand, you have to take off your shoes in some places but it’s polite to wear socks. Dock socks are great for that.

This has been such an amazing opportunity that GeoVisions has provided me with. This allowed me to teach abroad without giving up my job at home. Thailand is filled with such caring and kind people. I felt support from the teachers at my school and the people in my town. GeoVisions slowly introduced us to Thailand in a way that made me feel safe and comfortable with this new country. I learned many things about the culture and teaching in Thailand during our week long orientation before being sent to my school. Geovisions is such a fantastic organization!

I can honestly say this has been the best summer of my life. Its sad to thin its coming to an end. I wish I had more time to stay in this genuinely beautiful and peaceful country. If I was not starting a new job back in New York City, I would extent my contract with out a doubt. While I came here to teach my students, they have taught me so much more in return. I have learned the value of patience which is not easy growing up in New York. GeoVisions was such a great company to start with and Xplore Asia was a great transition into a country I knew nothing about. GeoVisions had such great customer service and would answer to any and every (which was a lot) e-mail I sent. Since me and my girlfriend were doing the Summer Teach in Thailand together they assured us there would be no problem placing us together. Which there was not. However, they have ZERO knowledge of the placement as the second you land in Bangkok you are handed off to a company called XploreAsia. XploreAsia was a great company which really made the transition easy. This is a culture I knew nothing about and after a full action packed week orientation I felt as if I have been here for years! The hardest part about orientation was leaving the people we formed such tight relationships with in that short week. I don't have a negative thing to say about this experience as I kept my exactions low (one thing you have to do in this country). Go in with an open mind and know what you want to get out of the experience. I would love to do it again, if not here, somewhere else across the world! Thank you GeoVisions and XploreAsia!

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It has been approximately one week since I returned to Ontario, Canada from my temporary home in Natab, Songkhla, Thailand. I was volunteering there at a local school as an English teacher as well as tutoring my host family in English. The experience was one that I wouldn't trade for anything. Interacting with people of all ages from a culture so drastically different from my own and discovering ways other than verbal in order to communicate and teach English was very rewarding, particularly when I was able to see the comprehension in the faces of the people that I was teaching. As previous reviewers have mentioned, the one truly becomes a member of the family when taking part in the homestay program. I felt that I was very quickly integrated in the day-to-day lives of the family, which was very large - a mother and father, three kids, two grandparents and two cousins and their mother, all of whom were extraordinarily sweet and charming, and did everything that they could in order to ensure that I was comfortable. In return, I made it my priority to do everything I could to help out, although after the first time, they didn't always let me cook...I'm not entirely sure that they trusted my cooking. One of the largest things that I took from the homestay program, and the reason that I would recommend it to anyone else looking for a unique experience different from a teacher placement, was that I was able to observe and take part in Thai culture firsthand. As part of a Thai family, I was shown things that as a teacher exploring on my own, I don't think that I would ever have figured out. I experienced religion, cuisine, academia, family life, night life, and pretty much every facet of life and how it's done in Thai culture. The family and the small community from Natab (particularly the school) was sad to see me go, and the feeling was more than mutual. As part of a family, connections are developed that are much more than work relationships. I felt as though they are an extended part of my family now and I will most assuredly be keeping in touch with them as long as it's possible.

I spent nearly 9 weeks teaching English in a home stay in Khao Tao, which is a small fishing village located about 20 minutes from Hua Hin- 2.5 hours south of Bangkok. It was an opportunity to live with a family and to teach English, as well as to learn about another culture. It was a pretty brilliant time as well as slightly nerve racking- knowing that the family where depending on me to help them learn an new language/ I could ot have been made to feel more welcome by the Mum and of course the maid's so- both of whom i taught. They were ready everyday to learn and were using the things i taught them regularly. The benefit was i had wifi so i was able to download heaps of resources and flash cards into my iPad- which were invaluable. I also learned to cook some Thai food, and helped round the house as needed. We talked about Australia and my home town of Melbourne and i taught them our national anthem and about my culture. It was really sad leaving but i know that in some small way, the little boy i taught will have had his future changed because i was there...

I am writing this review while I am still in Thailand: I am currently on a home stay in Khao Tao, which is 15 mins from Central Hua Hin. I have been very much welcomed into the family home and made to feel comfortable. Mae-Thai for mother, cooks the most amazing food and she makes sure that I am fed-probably too much. I have been hovering as she cooks and writing down recipes as i know i will want to cook these foods when i go home! Mae and I spend a few hours in the morning doing English words and we muddle through conversations about the difference between Thai culture and Australian culture. There has definateky been lessons for both of us! In the evening, the family's maid drops off her 11year old grandson Ngeun for english lessons. Sometimes Mae and other family members sit in too. It's been wonderfully delightful teaching how to say hello, as well as beginning to learn words... There have some laughs and fun times and of course some frustration, but mostly it's been really good! It's such an amazing opportunity to think that in some small way I may be contributing to Ngeun's future and his options. For me, the experience has been so rich and joyous, and also I've loved getting to see the local area and discover the temples, beaches and rural life of Khao Tao. I've even hired a small scooter and am zipping to the shops and to the beach,sharing smiles with people as I ride past. And I cannot fathom the kindness of my host family...GeoVisions and Xplore Asia have been brilliant in helping me settle in and making sure everything is ok...I cannot stress what a amazing opportunity this is..."