Travel to Teach: Thailand Volunteer Story

Celia with her students from Vieng Neua Primary School, Pai

Celia, 20, United States

I arrived in Pai on the 1st of December. Driving further and further into the mountains to live in a town that the Lonely Planet had described as only having a population of 3,000, I wondered how I was going to be there for 10 weeks in such an isolated area. I have now been in Pai for four months, with only a 2 week break.

For the first two months I lived in a village called Vieng Neua, a 25 minute walk from the center of town or a 2-3 minute motorbike ride. I arrived on the same day as Julia, from Germany, and a week into being in Pai, we started teaching at the Vieng Neua primary school only two blocks away from the volunteer dorm. Living in the village where the school was situated was great because I saw my students constantly. The teachers at the school took great care of us. I have never before been shown so much respect from children. After a few weeks of teaching I knew that I wouldn't want to leave Pai, having already become so attached the children, the teachers, the villagers, and the beautiful scenery.

Pai is made up of seven different villages and many, many foreigners. But, unlike other areas of Thailand (such as the islands), foreigners in Pai are given a very friendly welcome. My belief is that Pai is so easy to get stuck in that those who start out as tourists in Pai become residents and are able to adapt well into the culture.

Julia and I taught at the Vieng Neua Primary School for almost two months. At the end of our teaching we were given a huge farewell party from the school and the weekend that we left our students came to our house to visit us, give us presents, talk, and help us pack. We left Pai having made a second home for ourselves with friends from the community aerobics classes, the landlords or our dorm, the teachers at the school, the owners of different restaurants, and our neighbors in the village and our fabulous Thai coordinator Poo (who gave us excellent Thai lessons).

After two weeks of travelling around Thailand, Julia and I knew we had to go back and since the beginning of February we have been here in Pai. A week after our return Travel-to-Teach moved to a beautiful guest house much closer to town. We started teaching at another school only a few minutes walking distance away where we again fell in love with the kids.

In the middle of march all the public schools closed for summer holidays and we have been teaching smaller classes at our Guest House. Many of the kids we are teaching come from our former school. Pai is surrounded with beautiful, lush, green mountains.

There are many waterfalls to visit, elephant rides, and trekking experiences. The Thai food is amazing but because there are so many foreigners there is a huge selection of western food as well. Even though Pai is very beautiful and fun to explore, there are nice easy get away trips such as a one and a half hour motorbike ride to Soppong (huge bat caves), a three hour bus ride to Mae Hong Son where you can go trekking and go to visit the Karen Long Neck villages, and a four hour bus ride to Chiang Mai a big city where you can do anything and everything you want.

For a city girl like me, it has been a wonderful experience living in Pai where I can see people I know every day and have made bonds that I am sure will last a lifetime.

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