When I decided to take the time off, I knew I wanted to travel but I also wanted to volunteer as well. Teaching English in Thailand was one of the most amazing experiences I’ve had to date. I admit though there both exciting and frustrating moments. Some of the kids had a huge desire and passion to learn English while others wouldn’t give you the time of day. Seeing how the school system was run and how differently it was from the US was helpless some times. I thought I would be stationed at one school but rather they divided us up and alternated schools each week so were never able to spend a ton of time with each class. Such good memories with these kids, I hope to one day return to see them.
One of the things I remembered most was watching the kids mud fish and make bricks out of left over mud. There was a lake nearby that they had to drain, once the lake was drained the kids dug through the mud and fished out the fishes! (And yes, we totally ate them after…) After all the fish were out, they took the mud and made small bricks. I call that resourceful.
PHOTOS BY JENNIFER CHONG
