What
are the Negatives of Teaching English in Thailand?
The biggest negative is that it is not "home"
You are away
from family and friends. You are away from the
comfortable and familiar. Actually for many, this is a
HUGE plus!
Finding the
negatives of living in any foreign society and culture
is easy. Many people seem to think that if it is not
like home, it must be bad.
Of course there
is culture shock. Of course things are different. Of
course people are speaking in a totally incomprehensible
language. But what would be the point of going to
Thailand if everything was just like home?
Some
People Complain!
If you go to
bulletin boards on the Internet you are likely to read
many negative things. Some people complain about the
housing. Some people complain about not being paid on
time. Some people complain about the culture. Some
people complain about the food. Some people complain
about health care. Some people complain about the
working conditions. Some people complain about the
hassles dealing with government officials (but don’t we
all, even in our home countries). Some people complain
about the dangers of driving! Some people complain!
Thailand is not
your home country, don’t expect it to be. The Thais
have their own way of doing things, whether visiting
foreigners like it or not. The way they do things may
not make sense to you, but many of the things other
countries do don’t make sense to Thai people either.
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"Twenty
years from now you will be more disappointed
by the things that you didn't do than by the
ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines.
Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the
trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream.
Discover." -- Mark Twain |
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