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A wonderful story by Ethan Luo, China
” I remember that one day it was drizzling outside and I couldn’t help
myself: I wrote down “raining” in Chinese on the blackboard. A few days later I
discovered they had copied the Chinese “raining” in their notebooks when I
checked their homework. I can’t let you know how adorable it was.”
My name is Ethan, from Nanchang, China. Here is my Learn 2 Give volunteer
story.
l was a senior in university who had plenty of free time and l was wondering:
“Why don’t I make a gap year of my own?” The most highly recommended place for
adventure is Thailand, therefore l searched online for a volunteer program in
Thailand. l decided on Learn 2 Give for my volunteer journey after a few
enquiries and l contacted Erng. I supplied my application form and followed the
steps one by one. Finally l got in.
I was told arrive at Ubon first and to stay with the students at
UbonUniversity for a couple of days before heading to the school. l was so
excited to meet them! Nook hosted me and l also had a chance to get to know his
friends at the university; they were very kind to me: they took me to the night
market, to their classes and taught me some Thai. We had dinners together: they
brought me to the local restaurants and l tried lots of truly Thai food, so
spicy! l used to think l could handle spicy food, my hometown is kind of famous
in China because of we are keen on hot food, but it turned out Thai spicy food
is totally different to Chinese. Anyway l got used to it in the end.
On Saturday, Mr. Tanom, my host teacher, picked me up from Ubon Ratchathani
University and brought me to Khunhan where the school is. Khunhan is a small
town in Sisaket not far from Ubon, about two and half hours by car. Mr. Tanom is
such an amazing person, like his family; they were super nice to me. They
accepted me at once and treated me as one of their family members. Of course it
was a fantastic feeling and they helped me in a lot of ways; on weekends we
would hang out together and go to the center of Sisaket like a family trip by
car. Although l have no religion, for god’s sake, the moment couldn’t be better.
Sometimes we listened to music; they would follow the songs and l discovered
Thai songs have lovely rhythm and Thai people are crazy about singing together!
Sometimes they asked me questions but eventually we all just laughed together,
because of our different cultural backgrounds l guess.
The first day l came to the school, all the faculties and students threw me a
huge welcome party on the playground. The primary school was called Banchaniao
and it included kindergarten to sixth grade; overall it’s a small school. The
Thai students, they were so polite, they would bow to you every time met you, no
matter when and where; they were very active and hospitable. Normally l went to
school at 8am: the students have Morning Gathering every day. l have no idea
what they were doing; it looked like praying. l was so jealous of their
uniforms. As you might know we haven’t school uniforms in the public schools of
China. Even if we had one, it would be too hideous to wear I think, but they
have different uniforms for different dates, and the clothes are so cute, very
suitable on them. We had lunch at around 12pm and l ate with the teachers.
Frankly l didn’t like the food that some teachers brought from home because the
dishes were sort of weird to me. I have to admit that we have strange food in
China as well. However Thai food still impressed me very much, such as crickets
and bee pupae.
After 3pm the time belongs to sports and l often played badminton with the
kids. You will discover how good they are at sports, not only badminton but also
ping-pong, volleyball and others. In class, well, they’re not as good though. In
the beginning, they were excited because a new teacher had come, but after a few
days, the excitement was gone. l had to change teaching methods constantly. For
example: learning an English song for kids and singing together, or teaching
Chinese in the same way. You would always be touched by their spontaneous
responses. I remember that one day it was drizzling outside and I couldn’t help
myself: I wrote down “raining” in Chinese on the blackboard. A few days later I
discovered they had copied the Chinese “raining” in their notebooks when I
checked their homework. I can’t let you know how adorable it was. I laughed out
loud, and they also laughed with me, as usual! Towards the end of my
volunteering most of our time was spent playing games for it was the only way I
could continue to attract their attention! We would practice by shouting numbers
in English, Thai, and Chinese, just to made sure they understood what the
numbers were. Then l would randomly call a number, just enough fun to function
like a game: like one, two, three, freeze! That was the most precious moment l
ever had and the most friendly scene l have ever seen.
The Tanom family is my best gift from the experience, l am so happy and feel
such good fortune and luck when l picture the moments with them. l never, ever
had that comfortable sentimental feeling with anyone else, except for my
parents: we went to the national park, fed the big fish and the fish splashed
us, wandered around the zoo, watched the wonderful parade on the Loi Krathong
festival. They invited me to every party, not just real parties that you might
think but also delightful and amusing events, like a small concert at the
square, family dinner in a hotel, karaoke between teachers. l doubt you can
imagine how exotic those times were. l admire Mr. Tanom and the way he is living
his life. He could surprise you every once in a while. One day I found out he is
a great singer even got a prize for that: I saw the poster for winners on the
board of the bus stop; another day I could see he was the host of camping.
Moreover he is farming at least fifty acres of rubber trees whilst teaching at
school. Mrs. Tanom couldn’t speak English at all, but even so, l could feel her
caring and welcoming all the time. She realized that l didn’t eat too much, so
she casually brought me some fruit and instant noodles in case l was hungry; she
also installed a water heater because l was wary of the cold water. Tons of
moving little details like these.
I don’t want this to sound phoney, but if you are looking for a meaningful,
unforgettable experience, you won’t regret choosing Learn 2 Give. Don’t be
afraid of the steps of the application: it’s really not hard as you will
discover, just one step at a time, and like we always say: you won’t know what’s
going to happen if you don’t try! l know the environment of the school wasn’t
modernized and that there wasn’t much entertainment around but l have to say,
nevertheless, it wasn’t difficult for the basic life. There was a supermarket,
hospital, pharmacy, restaurant, hotel, almost every stuff you might need. In my
opinion, these weren’t problems since you will be met by brisk coordinators,
young welcoming students from Ubon Ratchathani University, a very hospitable
host family, friendly teachers, lovely students and the warmest of Thai people.
At last the only thing you will want to do is to give your best shot educating
your students, because what you give is barely nothing compared with what you
get. The best return gift to them is to make the best of your job, to give from
your whole heart and after all of this, naturally, you will have in return a
heart filled with gratitude and self-worth. Well, l don’t know what are you
waiting for!
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