BlogGang.com : : kerrie : I need to talk...

I need to talk...

but.... now I have the chance to, I'm not quite sure what to say... It doesn't happen very often, but at the minute I'm a bit lost for words...

Kru Ying, the person who set up this forum, teaches English at a school in Korat. I worked there, as a volunteer teacher for a month last summer. And, just in case you've read the other stories in this blog, and are wondering, NO!, its not the one where teaching ability was defined by how skinny you are and whether you have any lose strands of hair hanging down from you pony tail in the morning or not.

If anyone back home knows anyone who is interested in being a volunteer teacher (who doesn't want to fork out 200-300 pounds to some volunteer agency, and doesn't mind being somewhere quiet for month or so) here's one place you might want to consider.

Her school has a website... too, but I'm not too keen on posting the link as I look horrible on most of the photos.

Chokchai's not the picture postcard rural Thailand that people back home imagine. You're not going to be surrounded by green paddy fields or see quaint little canals lined by houses on wooden stilts, and old ladies paddling boats full of fruit to the local floating market. These kinds of places are located around Bangkok.

Chokchai's a small market town en-route to Buriram. The main things that you'll see from the window, when you catch the bus from Korat will be food processing factories and tapioca fields. There's not a canal in sight. But, it's still a great place to be, It's quiet and peaceful. There are a couple of lakes to walk around, a weekly nightmarket a kilometer or so away from the school and, every so often, a travelling movie or fair comes to town.

On paper there's not much to do, but as you stay in the town you get used to the peace and quiet. The teachers from school invite you out to dinner, or to play badminton with the students. A month there passes very quickly.

People don't speak much English but they're very, very friendly. It's fun to walk around the market in the evening inflicting your bad thai on them. The staff at the school are great. The students are even better. They're lively, enthusiastic and, unlike most of the children that I teach nowadays, really appreciate the chance to meet and practise speaking English with a foreigner.

If you prefer travelling around the countryside to being near the beach, Korat's a great place to be. It's only a couple of hours away from Khao Yai, one of Thailand's biggest and most beautiful national parks. It's also close to Pee Mai, and Buriram, famed for their Khmer style temple ruins. 10km or so away from the school is a place called Dan Kwian, a small village famed for its handmade pottery.

If this appeals to you, let me know and, if they're still running the program, I'll try and put you in touch with Kru Ying, or someone from the school's English department.

Now... what on earth am I going to talk about...

Create Date : 08 กันยายน 2550

Last Update : 8 กันยายน 2550 18:03:32 น.

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