Cross Cultural Training

I just completed 3 days of cross-cultural training at the Openmind volunteer house in Nong Khai, so now I am a certified volunteer (and hopefully ready to teach)! Although it was a very busy and intense 3 days, the training was very helpful and useful, and I feel like I learned a lot. We spent many hours going over basic Thai vocabulary and useful phrases, so now I have at least some ability to speak and communicate. We also visited several of the main cultural sites in Nong Khai. We took a tour of the Sala Kaew Ku Sculpture Park, a very strange but interesting collection of huge sculptures depicting Buddhist and Hindu images. We also went shopping at the Indo-China market, where you can buy just about anything. I even used some of my newly-acquired Thai to barter with the shopkeepers there, and it worked! My favorite activity was our cooking lesson. We were taught how to prepare several traditional Thai dishes, including fried rice, "som tum" (papaya salad), and chicken curry, and then enjoyed a welcome dinner and ceremony with all of the volunteers, Thai instructors and staff. The most interesting part of that evening was the dance performance by a group of Ladyboys - male transvestites promiscuously dressed as women. Apparently, it is a very well-respected type of dance in Thailand, especially as a greeting to visitors. It was very entertaining.

I have really enjoyed getting to know the other volunteers and Thai staff here. The volunteers are from all over the world- a couple from the U.S., and some from Scotland, Sweden, England, France, and Singapore. The Thai people have also been very interesting to talk with. Most of the language trainers have been Thai university students studying English, and they are extremely kind and helpful. My impression so far is that the Thai's are probably the most considerate culture I have ever been around. They are always smiling!

I leave Nong Khai today to fly down to the south of Thailand, where my placement will be in the town of Krabi. I have heard that northeast Thailand is very different from the south, so I am interested to see how Krabi will compare to Nong Khai. I begin teaching on Monday!