After my 2 weeks in Vietnam I flew once again to Thailand, arriving in Bangkok on a Saturday morning. For some time I had been considering taking a TEFL/TESOL course to become certified in what I’ve been doing for a living… And if I’m going to spend a month studying, where better to do so than sunny Thailand?! Thus I found myself with 9 others in a small fishing village a few hours southeast of Bangkok called Ban Phe. Upon arriving I was actually able to unpack my backpack for the first time in months – what a nice feeling! It was wonderful having my own room for 4 weeks!
There were 10 of us officially on the course, and one other who participated in class the first couple weeks; she has already taken a TEFL International course and so was simply training to become a trainer herself. After the first couple weeks she became one of our observers for teaching practice, along with the director, Dave, and the director-in-training, Pete. We had a good mix of nationalities: 3 Americans (+2 if you count the trainers), 2 Canadians (though one didn’t make it the whole month), a South African, an Australian, a Swiss, a Frenchman, a Mexican, and an Indian. Counting the trainers, there were 10 guys and 3 girls. Most of us were in our 20s and we got along well, hanging out in the evenings, studying and practicing together, and watching the World Cup. I was quite thankful for the World Cup as it gave us something to do every night – and it was fun watching with so many countries represented! I myself rooted for South Korea along with the USA, of course.
Other than class, preparing for teaching practices, and watching the World Cup, we mostly just hung out and, well, drank – mostly Sang som (Thai rum). I also went out to Ko Samet – an absolutely beautiful island – several times. The first was through the course; 3 of us enjoyed a relaxing day, despite the rain that drizzled most of the time we were out at the island. The next weekend I headed out again, with 2 guys from the course, to enjoy the Full Moon party (a Thailand tradition!). That proved to be a craaaazy night which included a fire show, buckets of alcohol, World Cup games (I watched both Korea and the US lose – sigh), and a pillow fight. We slept into the early afternoon the next day before heading back to the mainland. The third, and final, time I went was actually the weekend after the course ended. I went out on my own, treating myself to a pedicure and delicious Thai food on the beach; unfortunately, it was drizzling again so my final attempt to get some more sun before leaving SE Asia failed miserably. Oh well.
Other highlights: karaoke (where we discovered one of the guys can NOT sing!), amazing food, lots of joking around, sitting by the beach at night enjoying drinks and laughs, laying out on the beach (when it was actually sunny!), and a hugely fun drinking game (a version of King’s Club) on the last night of our course.
On Friday morning we received our certificates and then we had to say our goodbyes as everyone went their separate ways – a few to Pattaya, a few to Bangkok, one to Chiang Rai, and a few stayed in Ban Phe. I myself stayed in Ban Phe for the weekend – crashed most of the first day (I was still recovering from the drinking game shenanigans on Thursday night….), Ko Samet part of Saturday, and a massage both Saturday night and Sunday morning. I headed off to Bangkok on Saturday afternoon and flew out that night – back to Korea. My SE Asia adventure was finished, but thankfully my vacation was not! I spent the next couple weeks in Korea, hanging out and catching up with my friends (and visiting my former students) before returning to the States. Now I’m job hunting and hanging out around North America. I’ll post about these couple months “home” sometime soon! ^^
In the meantime, check out photos from my TEFL International course in Thailand!
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