The Past 30 Days

I can hardly believe I have been out of the States for a month! Sometimes it feels as though I left only yesterday and other times it feels like I have been gone for an eternity!

Looking back on the past 30 days I have already learned so much about traveling, teaching and myself. I can only imagine what else is in store as my journey continues.

In just a few short hours I will be "graduating" from the LanguageCorps TEFL program. The course was a total of 144 hours with the addition of 20 hours of Thai cultural and language training, as well as 20 hours of observed teaching. Overall, the program was okay. I'll admit it was nothing like I anticipated and found myself frustrated many times, but it is what it is and I'm almost done - yay!

I'm proud to admit I've come a long way from my first week of classes. In the beginning I was scared to stand in front of my peers to read aloud a dialogue - that seems so simple now! These past two weeks I have been making lesson plans and creating silly games/crafts/songs to teach to my cute little kindergartners. The first day of teaching went anything but smooth; however by the end of the week I had it down. I looked forward to going to Renu Kindergarten everyday as the children's faces lit up when I walked into the room - it was a great feeling! I grew to love the kids there and I am going to miss them dearly.

With the ending of the program comes a lot of new changes and challenges. I no longer have a group to rely on and be part of nor do I have a set schedule - it's all up to me now. Quite frankly I hate change - I don't do well with it and it freaks me out. This is one thing I am really working hard to conquer - I am slowly making process, but find that every time I get comfortable somewhere it's time to pack up and move on. I will learn to adapt to this lifestyle at some point right?

Now that I have completed the training and hold a TEFL certificate, I have been told I will have no problem finding a job (apparently the guaranteed job placement I thought came with my Bridge TEFL program does not exist - awesome). I have spent hours looking on websites, calling around and searching classifieds trying to find a teaching job. There seem to be a lot in Bangkok, but really I'd like to settle in the Chiang Mai area, so I am not giving up just yet.

Tomorrow morning myself and a few others are headed to Bangkok for the weekend to do a little exploring. From there I, as well as my friend Leah, will be catching a night train Sunday evening to Chiang Mai in hopes of finding a place to live and work. Come Monday afternoon/Tuesday morning I will be going on a mad hunt to find a school that will hire me. Technically this is one of the best times for hiring, so I hope its a cinch...we'll see.

I have no idea what the next few days/weeks will be like, but I am hoping for the best. Stay tuned to find out if (or should I say where) I end up landing a job!

PS Here are a few pictures of the school I have been working at - to see more check out my facebook account.