Teaching English abroad has been the greatest way of immersing myself in local culture and practices. I`ve lived in a Thai style apartment with a cold shower, bucket flush toilet and had a mat-style picnic blanket as a bed. I haven`t had a movie cinema or McDonalds to go to. Instead, I have had the time to learn a new language, fish, talk to strangers in broken thai/english and enjoy the small joys of living in a Thai farming community. This lifestyle has been more fullfilling than any other I have experienced.It`s taken me three months of living and working in Bang Luang to reach the point where I can say I got into my groove. It`s a s...
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When one thinks of teaching English in Thailand the thought of working in small town seldom crosses your mind. When I arrived in Bangkok, three months ago, I had the idea that I would be working somewhere down south on an Island, sipping Mojito`s on the beach after a long day of work.

When I finished my TESOL course I was offered a placement in the small district of Bang Len, in the Nakhon Pathom Province of ...
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A first date, a final exam, a tense game of rugby, that phone call you don`t want to answer…they all give you butterflies in your stomach. The moment I stood in front of a Thai class for the first time brought on the same churning feeling.
It`s a feeling that can only be cured by the smile and laughter of a Thai learner as you start your first ever lesson as a teacher.

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Warm weather, beach soccer, tubing, rim-flow pools, night markets with delicious food, the freedom and safety of walking the back streets of Hua Hin without a worry in the world, the intrigue of learning a new language and discovering the Thai culture, reminders of home in the form of the occasional braai and weekend rugby games - Thailand has given an awesome mix of new and the occasional hint of the familiar. 
The one-month TESOL course that I have been taking part i...
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