Hello, my name is Christina Carroll. Thailand was not, by any means, my first choice when I first decided I wanted to travel and teach English abroad. I actually had my sights set on Spain. But when I figured out it would have been nearly impossible for me to travel there and still be able to pay-off my student loans, I decided I had to search elsewhere.
I had seen Thailand on every travel website I had visited, each one advertised like the rest: showing pictures of elephants, pristine beaches, and that great big Buddha smiling back at you. Every time my eyes met those of that great big Buddha, something in my heart was saying “yes.” I kept asking myself, "really Christina?… Thailand?" I couldn’t explain it to myself! “What was holding me back?” Well, I think you can figure out my answer to that question…
When I told my family and friends, the reactions were all the same. “Why would you want to go there?” or “Do you know there is sex trafficking in Thailand? and ”Don’t you want to go somewhere else, like Europe?” The list went on and on. I don’t know how many times I heard the same questions over-and-over again. Could I really blame them though? I had questioned myself too. Every family worries! Eventually the questions stopped, and as the time neared for my departure, they actually began to get really excited for me.
So now here I am. I have been teaching English abroad in Thailand for almost two months already! This seems crazy to me because it feels like so much longer since I left home.
Teaching English abroad in Thailand has been a journey so far, to say the least. It’s a completely different world over here! Everything you know, or you think you know, you can just throw straight out the window! There are no rules, and no need for expectations.
Thailand is by far, the most unorganized place I have ever been, and nothing seems to makes sense! Believe me: this took me some time to get used to. Every day here in Thailand has been quite the experience. Each new day is unlike any of the ones that previously came before it: a new beginning, a clean slate, and a lesson learned. I have learned to take the good with the bad, the happy and the sad, and at the end of everyday just let it all go, stop thinking, and just be.
What I can tell you, in all certainty about this country is this: the people here couldn’t be nicer, the views are one in a million, and if you truly embrace and take each day as it may, while teaching English abroad in Thailand, you will find yourself in an experience of a lifetime!
