My experience in Thailand through CIEE has been nothing short of extraordinary. I have had a unique placement experience...I was placed in a remote mountainous village up north in Thailand, about three hours from the city of Chiang Mai, and the village is actually majority Chinese rather than Thai, although most students and adults in the community speak Thai as well. The three other foreign English teachers, all from the U.S. and Canada, share two comfortable houses on school grounds (two to a house), so we have no commute! Village life is quiet and simple, allowing me the time I never had before to pursue all of my creative hobbies--yoga, writing/blogging, painting, reading, etc. The village is absolutely picturesque. I've never taken so many panoramic photos in my life. We eat lunch and dinner in the village every night (we've become regulars at a few spots!) and are just a short motorbike ride away from the nearest 711 or Tesco Lotus Express. We go to Chiang Mai, or other northern cities, basically every weekend. It's the perfect balance of work-hard, play-hard. We have a couple long weekends during the semester where we've been able to take longer trips...we're planning a long weekend in Pai in July, and another long weekend to Krabi in August. I personally feel this is the absolute best way to travel...you get paid so well, so I have not had to touch my savings since coming here ONCE! You have a home base to return to every Sunday, making your traveling experience unique and even more memorable than if you were just straight backpacking. The friends I met through OEG's orientation are lifelong friendships and we all meet up as much as we can in different parts of Thailand! This is the perfect experience for all purposes - if you're looking to start fresh, start over, take some type of sobatical from your home country - the laid back, but still structured and accounable vibe here is perfect for resetting. If you are looking to transition from one career to education, like I am, I have been getting many many messages on LinkedIn from charter school recruiters since gaining experience here, and it is such an immersive, hit-the-ground-running introduction to a teaching career!

Whether you are an experienced teacher and/or traveler or a complete newbie to both, you will need to ask yourself three essential questions to determine the answer to the burning question from above^
Are you willing to get comfortable with being uncomfortable?
Do you have confidence in your ability to communicate with others?
Do you possess the skills necessary to inspire, educate, and connect with Thai students ranging from ages 12-18?

If you answered yes to any of these questions, Teaching in Thailand will be as interesting, beautiful, and rewarding of an experience as all of the former/ current teachers you've already talked to say it has been for them.
Honestly, the most important aspect(s) of teaching abroad is your personal ability to: handle adversity, make decisions, make adjustments, and at times improvise as well as go with the flow. As long as you are willing to "get comfortable with being uncomfortable" the rest will all fall into place.

For example, if you are having mixed feelings about your ability to communicate with an entire community of Thai speaking people ie. (School administrators, students, faculty, housing director, local food vendors, etc.) you just need to remember that basic communication is always an option, this includes communication through body language and hand singles/gestures. In my experiences, Thai people are very patient and very understanding, so maintaining a positive attitude coupled with a simple smile goes a long way towards communicating a message.

As far as "the rest falling into place", CIEE does a thorough job with facilitating documents and paperwork needed for pre-departure while OEG does an excellent job running a five day long orientation upon your arrival to Bangkok. I could not be happier with how the orientation process went. The orientation group I was apart of was fortunate to have a somewhat small number of teachers (21) which allowed for more 1 on 1 attention than normal from orientation leaders (Kristen, Derik, and Fluke) as well as a unique opportunity for our group to get to know each other on a more personal level. Whether you are a professional teacher or have no experience at all, orientation covered everything and anything a newcomer to Thailand would want to know. Topics covered included: Introduction to Thai Language, Thai Culture / Culture in the classroom, Classroom Management, Lesson Planning, Thai Food/ Money, Thai education system, Health, Safety, & Security in Thailand.

The biggest adjustment I have had to make so far, as expected, is the newness of everything. Everyday so far I have experienced something I have never seen or heard or understood before, which is both scary and exciting/intriguing all at the same time. At times it can be overwhelming, but I am lucky enough to have a great support system of family, friends, and girlfriend back home as well as a group of new found friends from orientation and school, right here, spread across Thailand.

For more insight follow my personal blog @ rythai.wordpress.com

I had such an amazing experience teaching in Thailand. The chance to travel, get to know a whole new part of the world, and a new culture, while also getting to know my crazy, awesome students was really life changing. And CIEE made it so much easier by doing a lot of the hard parts for me: job placement, housing, visa. Having them to handle the intimidating parts, and knowing someone was there if I had any problems, removed a lot of the stress for me and let me focus on falling in love with Thailand and controlling a wild class of 12 year olds!

This experience has already become everything I could have dreamed of and more. I did a lot of research before coming to Thailand and was looking forward to it, but it has already surpassed all expectation for experience and adventure. I am a certified ESE, Elementary, ESOL teacher in the United States and graduated with my undergrad this past year. I have always dreamt of having the opportunity to live and teach abroad and this program was the answer to all I could have wanted. The program provides the best support from even before the day you arrive, and the staff treats you like one big family. The location of my placement has been perfect as well, since I am in the mountain area of the northeast region and an avid lover of the outdoors. Every day here I am reminded of another reason why I am glad I made this decision and traveled over 9,000 miles to do something I thought I could originally only dream of. Thankful for this experience and the continued adventures to come! Thank you. :-)

I moved to Thailand to learn more about perspectives and cultures in order to increase social consciousness and global awareness. Although that was my original goal upon moving from the United States, my experience became so much more. From understanding new cultures, to constantly exploring new destinations that create laughter and adventure; living in Thailand has been an experience of a lifetime. I never understood my personal happiness could sustain itself as much as it has. In America, I pursued, and directed, non-profits for the better part of a decade. Although I loved helping people, I consistently felt like I was fighting against a system that was built to fail. I was constantly drained, and I never wanted to go beyond my comfort zone since life felt so incredibly tiresome on a daily basis. However, since I moved to Thailand to teach English to Primary students, I learned that life is more than fulfilling - it can be exemplary. Instead of constantly being the captain of a sinking ship, I have been able to help each student on a daily basis in different ways. Sure, teaching English to students who do not naturally understand your language can be hard, and like most experiences in life there are good days and bad days. But it also invigorating, and every day is a new day with new offerings if you are just willing to accept them. Plus, being able to travel to islands, beaches, jungles, elephant sanctuaries, ancient ruins, waterfalls, and so many more places is a huge incentive. As long as you are willing to embrace the culture and learn new ways of living, you cannot say "No" to an opportunity like this.

It is an amazing experience with the ability to come and travel around Asia. I am still teaching and love every minute of it. I would do this again if I could and would recommend this trip to anyone.

This trip has changed how I look at the world and has taught me how to travel a lot better/cheaper. I would recommend this experience because being able to see how other countries live you are able to better your life.

When I got the travel bug, I wanted to just pick up and go. But I had zero idea where to start, and was overwhelmed by all the options...it's a big world out there, after all! I didn't know the first thing about visas, or even where I wanted to travel. I knew I wanted to see tons of new places, but I also didn't want to just bop around aimlessly. I wanted some type of home-base...and I wanted to be able to say, "I LIVED in _____," not just, "I've been there."

CIEE held my hand through my entire journey of deciding where to go--they answered all of my bizarre hypothetical concerns with such tranquility and professionalism, that it made me feel like I could go anywhere and be happy. But they also helped me clarify what I wanted for myself.

Once I made the decision to teach for one semester in Thailand, CIEE guided me throughout the visa process...the resources they provided me were incredibly detailed without being overwhelming, and I've NEVER experienced such incredible customer service...they were always a phone call or quick email away, and always had an answer for me. They kept me sane throughout the whole process.

When I touched down in Thailand, orientation was the perfect way to meet the new people who later would become my close friends and travel buddies, explore Bangkok, and ready myself for the unpredictability of the classroom.

I was placed in a VERY small village three hours north of Chiang Mai. It has been the most incredible experience. I live with three other teachers--two Americans and one Canadian--on the school campus. We are the only foreigners in the village, so the entire population knows who we are and are quick to offer warm smiles and say, "Hello, Teacher!" whenever we're out and about.

We've been blown away by the hospitality and generosity our director, co-teachers, and fellow villagers have shown us. The first weekend we arrived, our director personally drove us (on a Saturday!) to the nearest supermarkets and superstores so we could get things for our house. Our co-teachers are fountains of knowledge about life in Thailand....they often offer to personally drive us to the bus station when we want to travel on the weekends, and are always giving us fresh fruit from their gardens!

Teaching abroad, I've discovered, is the PERFECT way to live in a country and travel. During the week, we kick back and relax in the village. I've been cranking through books, laughing the night away with the other English teachers, and watching so many sunsets over the mountains from our school soccer fields. And then on the weekends, we meet up with the other teachers we met at orientation throughout Thailand. It's great, because we're all getting to see each other's placements, and subsequently seeing all this wonderful country has to offer. It's the perfect hybrid of having a home-base, but also living the backpacker lifestyle.

I think the most heart-warming connection we've made is with a woman in our village, Mei. We eat at her restaurant every day...sometimes for lunch AND dinner (yep, her home cooking is that good). As we've gotten to know her (shoutout to Google Translate!), she's become like a mother to us. One night after eating dinner there (as usual), she took us along with her on her monthly grocery shopping trip. She bought us soft drinks, donuts - literally took us on an outing! She pointed out all the spices and sauces she uses to make her dishes, and now, when we come for dinner, she shows us how to make the dishes we order.

It's this type of unprovoked, over-the-top, unnecessary kindness we've received from Thai people that continually blows me away. I am so grateful to have landed here. My eyes have been opened to the fact that working a corporate 9-5 job is not the only option. I've discovered so many avenues for future travel, compensation, and education, and I intend to explore them all.

Most of all, this experience has made me want to pay it forward...to show anyone who walks into my life the same unprovoked, over-the-top kindness that the people in our village have shown us. I think our purpose on earth as human beings is to make our fellow man feel at home, and I've met so many people here who seem to know instinctively how to do just that.

I'm so grateful for this experience, and grateful to CIEE for leading me here!

The beauty of CIEE is that when you are trying to make preparations to go to a new land where you can't read or speak the language they really try their hardest to make you feel comfortable. While everything may not go as perfectly as you think they should. CIEE does its best to come close. They give you foreign language classes, they bring in cultural guides and as part of the contract with CIEE you are GUARANTEED living arrangements. It is a good deal in all.