Living Your Best Life

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!