I want to take a few steps back and go into a litlle bit more detail about this whole Programme.
Generally I heard of so many people teaching all over, in China, Taiwan, Thailand, Korea and Cambodia, as far as I knew you had to have a degree, hence, this idea did not appeal to me, as my degree is far from finished. I was thrilled when I went on the OVC(travel agency) website, www.ovc.co.za, and saw the oppurtunity to teach for non-degree holders.
As you know by now, I had one car payment left to pay, and selling my car was the only way I could go for this. May I say this . . . before I continue . . . If you make a decision to go, or you start pondering the idea, JUST DO IT, it is so easy to chicken out, just go for it.
With my car sold I could quite easily pay all the fees for this programme. All in all, the costs involved are Approx. ZAR 20 000.00, this pays for all your admin fees, Visa fees, Programme Fee, Placement Fee, Flight. Thereafter you need at least ZAR 15 000.00 spending money in order to survive the first two months, I will let you know if you can get away with
ZAR 10 000.00. Remember you will only be earning a salary at the end of your second month.
When you join the Programme, you go to Bangkok (BKK) first, in BKK (which I will be arriving in on the 7th June 2010) I will do training. The training we "teachers" do is something they call the TESOL course, which upon completion you get a certificate, which without this goodie, there is no chance of getting a teaching job. I think this will be exciting, I look forward to meeting other South Africans and who knows who else on this training.
Through OVC and Teach Travel Asia, there is this accomodation provided for us, which belongs to the Education Deparment over there, but this is available to us, at such good rates. My first months rent is costing me B5500.00 (ZAR 1300.00), as well as a B5500.00 deposit, which you get back when you move out. Also I need to pay B500.00 for a maid, which I think is really awesome, and something like a B100 for water and lights. I might be getting my facts wrong slight on the utility, but hey I am still learning, and this is why I am here to inform you as I go along.
The "B" so by the way is the currency symbol for Thailand's currency, which is the Baht, currently on average, it is ZAR 1 - B 4. Which is awesome. Also when you go through OVC, you get a discount voucher to exchange your money, I have not used that yet, but look forward to exchanging my money soon, and having some Thai money in hands :)
I had a very nice email from OVC, just two days ago, with my final briefing. It gave me a whole run down of do's and dont's in Thailand, and with a rough estimate of what the first nights stay in the hotel would cost, and what the taxi from the airport should charge, and all sorts of other nice little pieces of information.
As well as a run down on what the course actually involves, but I will brief you on those details once I am actually doing it.
What I have really appreciated so incredibly much, is my Travel Consultant, Jenni Patrick, which has been my little lifeline, really people, I am so full of question and concerns, and all I have been doing is emailing her, and she gets back to me with answers, and trust me, it is comforting when you are giving up your whole life and you feel so uncertain about the unknown. So I really do feel like I have been and still is in good hands.
WHAT I HAVE LEARNED UP UNTIL THIS POINT:
In the past two months, clearly excited and nothing but madness going on in my mind, I have been doing a lot of research, and what I am looking forward to the most are : the bargains, the food and the friendly Thai people.
I have been saying to friends and family, everywhere I read, google or chat to people that have been to Thailand, everyone just absolutely raves about how amazing the food is, and bonus ... it is so affordable, in a book of mine, they actually say that some of the street food is better than the food you would find in touristy and upmarket restaurants. Awesome for me :)
This book is by Fodor's, http://www.fodors.com/. Thailand - With side trips to Cambodia and Laos. It is a really informative and easy to read book, alot of tourist information, costs, travel hot spots, do's and dont's, safety information etc. I highly recommend this book.
I have not managed to get a phrase book yet, however I came across an awesome little site,
www.thai-language.com, which sadly I have just not had time to spend with yet. This site is awesome, check it out. One of my main priorities are to get to learn the language as much as possilbe.
Thai people are very fun loving people, the call fun "sanook", so it is also important to make your classrooms fun and enjoyable. I have read that when you bargain prices, you should do it in a fun and playful way. Thai people are very softspoken (well that is my understanding), I need to work on that, I am very loud, but they say you should always smile, be polite and frienldy, and ... speak . .. softly ... :) I'll get there.
Thailand has a King, so his face appears on the money, therefore you should not stand on money, it very insulting. Most of Thailand's population are religiously Buddhists, this should be respected at all times. When you pass a monk, you shoul bow your head and not look at them. Expecially ladies should make sure that they are covered up as well. If you are on a bus, and a monk gets on the bus, you should get up and let the monk sit instead, and do not sit near a monk.
As far as I know you cannot smoke in public, and you cannot smoke at school, you should not smell of smoke, it is not respectful. Hence the reason I look forward to kicking the habit. Although I have also read that the smokes over there are so much cheaper than in South Africa.
Thai people highly respect English teachers, and to my knowledge, you are very respected by the local Thai's and children. In Thailand, the kids are far better behaved, and I guess are really eager to learn, compared to SA and other parts of the world, that is very comforting, I like the fact that it is a really strict country and that there is a sense of discipline.
You cannot touch kids on their heads, or rub their hair, the Thai's consider the head of the body, therefore it is the most sacred, so that is very insulting and disrespectful. Need to get used to that one too.
At the other end . . of the body, are the feet, which they consider the lowest and dirtiest part of the body. You should not point with your feet, you should not walk over someone sitting down, and when sitting down or kneeling in a temple, make sure that your feet are pointing to the ground, never facing up (the soles of your feet).
I am talking away here, like I am a pro, this is just my info that I have found.
Also you cannot drink the water in Thailand, not anywhere, unless it is in a reputable restaurant, and they have properly filtered the water, even when you order a drink that requires ice, rather leave the ice, as this will only cause you a good case of Diarrhoea.
Which I am preparing myself for anyway, everyone that I have chatted to that have personally been there, got it, at some point, so just be prepared....
The most important thing that I learned recently, is that, getting all your shots for travelling are damn expensive, I am really not sure if I got more than I needed, but like a friend pointed out, I have so many shots now, so regardless where I travel, I am pretty much sorted. That still did not comfort the nauseating feeling I had, when I paid ZAR 1700.00. You could have chopped off my arm that day and sold it and made a quick good buck or two!!! Oh well, its done and I am covered for most things. If you are considering joining, just check with your travel consultant, exaclty which shots you should be getting. I failed to do so, I trusted the sister at the Travel Clinic.
The nightlife in Thailand, is apparently great, there is a wide variety of clubs, pubs and bars. So for all the party animals, that is an abundance over there.
Getting around in Bangkok and around and to the islands, seems to be really affordable. They have Tuk-Tuk's, buses, taxi's, scooter's etc. The trips are really affordable, depending on the distance you want to travel, but often people say it costs like B8 to catch a bus or tuk tuk. Very important, if you take a taxi, insist that the Taxi driver, switch the meter on, otherwise you will be paying more for your trip than necessary. Bangkok has a skytrain, I look so forward to jumping onto that, it also seems to be really affordable.
My course starts on the 15th of June 2010, as you know by now I am leaving the 6th of June, I have arranged to move into my accomodation a week in advance, which is really great. I am spending a week, familiarising myself with the people, cuisine, and places. When we start the course, there won't really be time to do much sightseeing, but all in all, I think it would just be nice to get to know my surrounding and ease into the place, before I start the course, this is obviously up to you as well!!!
What I look forward to right now, is warmer weather, the winter has crept in, like a thief in the night, winter and I are not exactly the best of friends.
Come on Thai sunshine and rain . . .
Till next time!!
:) Toetsie
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