Southamptonites making an impact in Thailand

Emma Fryday with her students at Lertlah School in Bangkok, Thailand, a private English immersion school.

Megan Dunn, Saugeen Shores Hub

“Travelling is the only thing you buy that makes you richer” - Unknown

Four small town Southamptonites have travelled around the world and are making an impact enriching the lives of Thai children. Emma Fryday, Fay Eagles, Nikita Zsigmond and Jordan Collison are currently teaching at Lertlah School in Bangkok, Thailand, a private English immersion school consisting of three campuses.

World traveller Emma Fryday graduated from Niagara College with a diploma in Early Childhood Education (ECE) in 2014, after which she worked two jobs, participating in the after school childcare program at G.C. Huston and also working as a server at the Walker House restaurant in Southampton. She said she was getting ready for a shift at the restaurant when she received an e-mail from a former professor who had been approached by a recruiter looking for ECE graduates to teach in Bangkok.

“For anyone who knows me, my life has been one spontaneous rollercoaster and with that I immediately said yes. I accepted the position and was in Bangkok within two weeks,” said Fryday an email to The Hub.

When Fryday first arrived she found it very difficult to communicate and said she spent the long flight over reading her mini Thai dictionary trying to pick up some basic skills. “The Thai language is very tonal; the tone of your voice can make or break a conversation. Many times I would order food but my tone would be off and I would end up receiving chicken foot soup or something just as questionable,” said Fryday.

After living almost two years in Thailand, Friday said she has learned quite a bit of Thai just by putting herself in situations where she was surrounded by locals who spoke no English. “You really have no other choice but to learn it. I’m now very comfortable ordering food, getting myself around the city and carrying on simple conversations.”

Fryday teaches Kindergarten which consists of three different levels at Lertlah, K1, K2 and K3. First level students are at the preschool age, whereas third level students are the same age as students enrolled in Kindergarten in Ontario. Fryday said that some students have prior English knowledge with the majority speaking little to no English at all.

“Over the course of my first year here at Lertlah, I learned many different teaching techniques from fellow teachers but the majority of my teaching came from trial and error,” said Fryday. “Things that worked in Kindergarten classrooms back home didn’t always work here or would have to be adjusted to an ESL (English as a Second Language) learner’s standards. This made teaching difficult at times. I am now in my second school year of teaching and have the hang of it.”

Fryday believes that she is meant to be in Thailand educating the country’s future generation and that travelling has made her a better person.

“I have learned that experiences are far more valuable than clothes, shoes or handbags. As much as I would love the latest designer bag, I would much rather have these experiences and made all of these memories,” said Fryday.

She said travelling and living abroad has made her financially independent and appreciates her freedom as a Canadian.

Fay Eagles also teaches in Thailand and has been in Bangkok for a little over a year. Eagles now teaches the second grade after having spent her first year teaching grade 1.

In an email to The Hub, Eagles said she was having a hard time finding work in Grey Bruce and felt that her Bachelor of Education degree was going to waste. “One day I saw Emma had posted on Facebook that her school in Bangkok was hiring and all that was needed was a degree. I thought about it for the day and sent her a message later that evening; and four weeks later I was in Bangkok.”

Eagles said that she wishes she had taken advantage of the opportunity sooner. “I wish I had done this years ago. If you have the means to make something like this happen for yourself, do it,” she said. “Bangkok is an amazing city with something for everyone. I lived here almost a year and have barely scratched the surface of what this place has to offer.”

Eagles said she is living a very comfortable lifestyle and never thought she would be able to say things like, "I'm going down to Singapore for the weekend,” or “the next couple weeks I'll be in Vietnam.”

Eagles adds, “that is not to say we necessarily make a lot, it's more that South East Asia is a very affordable place to live, work and travel.”

She said that even though the travel has been “an amazing experience”, what she loves most is spending time with her students. Eagles can attest that teaching in Thailand is not the easiest job but said it’s worth it when she sees how genuinely happy her students are to see her every day.

Eagles teaches at a campus with Jordan Collison who teaches Physical Education (PE) to students in grades 1 to 3. In an email to The Hub, Collison said that he and his girlfriend just graduated from the University of Windsor where he received a degree in Kinesiology. Both he and his girlfriend thought that it would be a great opportunity to get away.

Like the others, Collison said the challenging part about being in Thailand is the language barrier and conveying instructions in English in a way that the children will be able to understand. “Being so new to Thailand we have only picked up on a few important words and directions. The job itself so far is not very stressful so I have a lot of opportunities to just enjoy being in Thailand,” said Collison.

“The students have one 50 minute period a week which is designated to physical education so it seems important to convey to the students that physical activity is something that should be incorporated into their daily life and that they should be living a healthy and active lifestyle,” said the PE teacher.

Collison expects to return to Canada in May so he can pursue a Masters Degree.

For Fay Eagles not everything is easy about living in Thailand. “While Bangkok is a city I was surprised to fall in love with, there are still a few things that are challenging about living here. The air quality is horrendous, traffic in Bangkok is the worst in the world second to Mexico City, so getting around is almost always an ordeal,” said Eagles.

She said that she lives far from the downtown core and the skytrain and subway do not extend to her area. “Sometimes it can take over an hour to get downtown by taxi (about 14 kilometres) so while there is much to do here, getting there is always hard on the wallet and your patience.”

Eagles, who has signed another contract with the school, will not be coming back to Canada until the summer of 2017. “After that I'm not sure but I enjoy teaching ESL so after enjoying the Canadian summer I may be off again to another country,” said Eagles.

Emma Fryday has also signed another contract that will keep her at the Lertlah school until October 2017. She said that after that she will likely teach English in another country. She said there is an attraction to teaching ESL. “Getting to see the impact of your work almost immediately as your students improve. This impact will be especially apparent when teaching younger children since they tend to pick up foreign languages more quickly than older students or adults.”

Fryday said there is much to be gained from travelling the world, thus making you richer, but recognizes that travel does, of course, cost money. For anyone wanting to go abroad, Fryday recommends looking at the associated costs as an investment. “It teaches you more about life than any 9 to 5 job ever would. It’s an investment that can’t be taken from you, an investment you can share with anybody.”

Fryday said the memories that are made can be shared with family and friends and noted that self confidence builds as you take on your first adventure on your own. “It restores your faith in humanity - the first time you’re lost and a local gives you directions and sends you on your way with a full tummy and a bottle of water. It challenges you and pushes you to your limits, allowing you to dive into a whole new perspective in life,” said Fryday.

“It changes you.”

Emma Fryday teaches at Lertlah, an English immersion in Bangkok, Thailand.