My Halfway Mark: 5 Things I've Learned Teaching In Thailand

If you are reading this at the beginning of your journey, full of anticipation, nerves, and questions about whether you are ready, let me tell you something clearly: you are. This experience will stretch you, humble you, challenge you, and shape you in ways you cannot yet imagine. The classroom will teach you just as much as you teach it. Thailand will become more than a place on a map. It will become part of who you are.

I have now reached the halfway point of this magnificent journey teaching in Thailand, and I want to share the top five lessons I have learned.

1. Be adaptable.

   There is a quote from the incredible Bruce Lee that I try to live by: “Be like water.” In a 1971 interview, he said, “Empty your mind. Be formless, shapeless, like water.” Water flows. It adapts to whatever container it is placed in. These six months living in Thailand have taught me a very important lesson: always be ready for any fork in the road, any schedule change, or any unexpected event. As a foreign teacher in Thailand, it is important to quickly learn that it is not uncommon for classes to be canceled during your period or for your supervisor to ask for tasks or reports you were never previously told about. Be adaptable. If your class gets moved to an earlier time and you do not have a lesson planned, be prepared. Learn how to improvise. Have lessons prepared in advance in case moments like this occur. Flexibility is not optional here. It is essential.

2. Say yes more often.

   The more you say yes to an invitation from a coworker, a friend, or a community organization, the more you expand your horizons. Your coworkers are going to a soccer game. Say yes. Your friends are visiting the countryside. Say yes. Someone invites you to a school event outside your comfort zone. Say yes. This is one of the key components of assimilating into another culture: putting yourself in the shoes of the people you are living among. Growth rarely happens in isolation. It happens when you step into rooms you did not plan to enter.

3. Basic Thai goes a long way.

   The first Thai words I learned, embarrassingly, were at the CIEE orientation: “สวัสดี” and “ขอบคุณ” (hello and thank you). Take the time to learn Thai. Learn the names of your students and staff. Even small efforts in language show humility and respect. When you greet someone in their own language, you are not just speaking words. You are building bridges.

4. Respect your class, and they will respect you.

   Through my experience, I have learned that Thai children are among the most respectful students I have ever met. Respect for teachers is culturally ingrained. As a teacher, you must live up to that respect. Learn about your students. Let them leave class with something new every day. They look up to you, whether you realize it or not. Be kind. Inspire them. Reciprocate the respect they so naturally give you. The authority you carry in the classroom is not something to take advantage of. It is something to honor.

5. Make connections and take advantage of your situation.

   Give talks. Join clubs. Volunteer. Create community wherever you stand. You are not where you are to take from your community. You are there to give and to create something positive within it. The impact you make outside the classroom can be just as powerful as what you do inside it.

My final word of advice is this: give it your all. Make every moment count. Give your community more than you take. If you do that, this experience will not just change your résumé. It will change you

Years from now, you will not remember every lesson plan, every worksheet, or every long school day. You will remember the laughter in your classroom. You will remember the students who tested your patience and the ones who melted your heart. You will remember the moments you said yes, the times you adapted, the risks you took, and the growth that followed. So walk into this experience with courage and when you look back at your own halfway point, you will be proud of the teacher and the person you chose to become.


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