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A Typical Day in the Life of a Volunteer
 by Turner Wright
6:30 Wake up in the Thai Mueang volunteer house, which is situated about 1 km from the town and 4 km from the primary school. The house is spacious, clean, and quiet.
6:30 – 7:30 Morning run in view of the rubber trees and passersby who enjoy shouting “HELLO!”
7:30 – 8:00 Breakfast with Anders, or at the house; food storage isn’t exactly popular in Thailand, so I usually get by with oatmeal, toast, and cold OJ from the 7-11 (just “Seven” here)
8:15 – 8:40 Ride bike to school, or catch a ride if it’s raining.
8:40 – 9:00 Sneak into the school grounds so as to not disturb the students’ opening ceremony and the national anthem; daily “sawasdee khrap” and wai to the other teachers.
9:00 – 10:00 5th grade (Phratom 5) class, 20 students; try to ignore the fact that one student really enjoys yelling an obscene English expression he must have picked up on the internet.
10:00 – 11:00 Break, lesson preparation, internet.
11:00 – 12:00 3rd grade (Phratom 3) class, 22 students.
12:00 – 12:45 Lunch with teachers and principal, discussing my adjustment to life in Thailand and possibly settling any English questions they might have. Lunch consists of rice with choices of pork and pineapple, herbal leaves, vegetables, and any other dishes that the cafeteria might prepare that day.
Thai food is typically very spicy or very sweet, and always eaten with rice.
12:45 – 13:00 Depending on the day, there may be no afternoon classes. Ride into town, grab a snack from the Seven or a local store.
13:00 – 14:30 Internet café, relaying my experiences to friends and family and researching Thai customs, language, visa procedures; I will also be looking for employment after the volunteer program ends, so searching local sites for information on decent English schools or other expat opportunities.
14:30 – 16:30 Cycle to Thai Muang beach and relax in the sun after a short swim. The beach is isolated, the waters pure blue, and the sand crabs faster than you might think.
17:00 – 18:30 Thai language lesson with Toin, a local expat from Holland who has been in Thailand for 16 years, most of that time as a monk just northeast of Thai Muang. Learn the different intonations of Thai words and try not to get discouraged that few will ever understand you. Apparently one should avoid using the English word “yet” in civilized conversation. Typically followed with a discussion of cultural differences around the globe.
19:00 – 20:30 Dinner with Anders, discussing the day’s classes and any problems at the school or adjusting to the culture. Make travel plans for the weekend and go over transportation options.
20:30 – 21:00 Pick up a small dessert and head back to volunteer house.
21:00 – 23:00 Lesson preparation for the next day, reading books on Thailand, writing in my journal, maybe watch a DVD if I’m bored enough.
~23:30 Sleep, taking care to search my bed for oversized spiders and the volunteer house for black scorpions. (although that’s really just me being paranoid)
   
 

A Typical week in my teaching with Thai Mueang volunteers
By David McFall
Monday School starts at 8.00am so I generally got up at 7.00am. The school is only a five minute journey from the volunteer house. Every morning starts with an assembly. At the assembly the Teachers go through various speeches. The whole school pays homage to the Buddha and the King of Thailand. I also liked how they had two different English words displayed everyday up on boards and each student was told what it means. It could be anything from ‘’shoe’’ to ‘’cake’’ to ‘’lobster’’. After the assembly I had an hour before my first class started. I generally went over my lesson plans and the work that I drawn up for the children, making some last minute amendments.
Once 9.30am struck, I made way through the school grounds to the 3rd of three double storey buildings. Each building had two years in it, the younger year on the Ground floor. The Ground floors consisted of Phrathom 1, 3 and 5. For the 2nd Floor you have Phrathom 2, 4 and 6. On this occasion it was Phrathom 6/1. They are the oldest children in the school at the age of 12/13. Each lesson lasts of one hour so before you know it is time to move onto the next class.
The next class on my Monday schedule was Phrathom 4/1. I generally kept the same lesson plan for Phrathom 4 to 6 but just simplifying it in certain areas for each year.
Lunch every day was in the canteen with the teachers. You always get your own bowl of rice and three or four different dishes to try. The dishes vary from fish, pork, chicken and vegetables. Some are mild but they’re mostly quite spicy. During lunch you exchange pleasantries with some teachers but it very basic as they don’t have a great understanding of English. In some cases it is easier with the children than it is with teachers. Your lunch break goes in fairly quick but I was always eager to back to the teaching.
This brings me Phrathom 2/2. This was in the First building on the First floor. With this class I used the lesson plan for Phrathom 1 to 3. Again I was simplifying the lesson in some areas depending on the year. The children in these years love to draw pictures and colour in. So I thought by using this as reward for good English work. They always worked like little Trojans when run through our lesson.
The last lesson on Monday took me back up to the 3rd building, but this time on the Ground Floor. Phrathom 5/1 was the same lesson plan as Phrathom 4 and 6. All the children very eager to learn which makes teaching that bit easier.
School for me on Monday finished 2.30pm. But after my four hours of teaching it was always good to pop along to the beach or to the volunteer house to relax for the fore coming day.
   
Tuesday Was a very similar day to what I had done on the Monday but with a few variations. I started directly after the assembly at 8.30. I had Phrathom 6/2 and then 6/3. The lesson before lunch was with 4/2. To my benefit when it came to the lesson plans. I decided to keep it basic. Rather than having a different lesson for each class it starts to complicate things. With this being my first time teaching I didn’t want to confuse myself which would then confuse the kids.
After Phrathom 4/2 it was off to lunch with the teachers again. On some days if the conversation was running a bit thin. I could always go use the computer room which had internet access or simply take a walk around the school interacting with pupils.
As it came to 12.30pm I would get my bag and teaching utensils to go to Phrathom 5/2. This class again was similar to classes from earlier in the day. But slightly easier cause I had gotten into a rhythm from the previous classes and knew what to expect.
My last class for the day was Phrathom 1/2. They are the youngest pupils I taught a Wat Mueang Pracharam Primary School. The children were ranging from about age of 6 to 7 years old. They always brought a smile when I walked in as when they said ‘’Good Afternoon’’ several times. It was like a little song but was very amusing. They always loved to get your recognition of the work they had done. So after every word they would run up to me showing me their work. I would nod and give them thumbs up and they would run away with a huge smile. This class was a brilliant way to end my day.
   
Wednesday Wednesday was a late start. I started at 10.30am and the first class was with Phrathom 1/1. Like the end of my Tuesday. This was a good way to start my day. The teacher of Phrathom 1/1 always looked after me. At the end of the class she always had something for me. If it was a Hotdogs from the 7 Eleven, fruit from a street vendor or a bottle of water it was always appreciated.
It was then off to lunch with the rest of the teachers. I played a game with myself on the way to lunch. I would try and think what they would have. I always got rice and but never got the others as the choice of Thai Food varies considerably. Some are really delicious and you end up eating nearly all of it and then others you need to force down. This was part and parcel of being a Thai teacher.
My last class of the day was Phrathom 3/1. The class itself was laugh. The kids always loved to take their books up to the front of the class and sit and write on the floor. I didn’t mind it as long as the work that we were doing was up to scratch.
   
Thursday Every Thursday I had a lieu day from Wat Mueang Pracharam. So Anders decided that I would go with him to Thungpho Secondary School in Khok Kloi. It is about a twenty minute journey by bike. We would arrive to teach his Year 5 class. The pupils were about sixteen / seventeen years old. The lessons that had drawn up revolved around them making a group presentation at the end of the four weeks about a specific part of South Africa. As South Africa has such a diverse culture and lifestyle it was easy to get the pupils hooked on the activities we had made. The work was obviously vastly different to what I was doing at Wat Mueang so it was a welcomed change to the week and very enjoyable.
   
Friday My Friday lessons were virtually the same that I had done on the Wednesday. It was a later start at 10.30am. I had the same classes as I did on the Wednesday. As it was Friday, the children and I were looking forward to the weekend. I found it appropriate that when we played a game or activity I had a little prize for the winner. It was generally a packet of sweets that they would share amongst their classmates. Most volunteers finish early on Friday as you may want to go weekend trips to Phuket or Krabi. So I finished at 13.30pm every Friday which left me with loads of time to finish up at school and be on my way.