Lamphun Class Ends

On September 20th, LIFE team participated in its final class in Lamphun with great sadness but with much happiness that we had made such wonderful new friends and had helped them to gain confidence about using English.  Since July, this class has met 3 times a week to practice English skills and conversational techniques which will help the students be better prepared for their career opportunities both now and in the future.  We will miss them tremendously and hope that we again have opportunity to share adventures together in the months to come.  But this night it was all about celebration and remembering not only all the hard work accomplished, but the good times we shared.  Thanks to all our students for their friendship, but most of all for their joyful enthusiasm which made our task so much easier and brighter.  And thank you for all our wonderful gifts; they will be treasured always.

This week the LIFE Team worked with a group of massage therapists in Mae Rim, a well-known resort town with tiger camps, elephant parks and scores of resorts offering a variety of therapeutic services.  This was a great group to work with from both a teaching viewpoint and a hands-on practical approach.  I think in the end both teachers and students alike were the beneficiaries.

LIFE Celebrates One of its Own

LIFE had a farewell celebration for one of its volunteers who is returning to her home in Myanmar.  We wish Ajarn May all the best and hope she will not be a stranger in the months to come.

For the past several months, LIFE and its team of teachers has been working with Chiangmai Vocational College in several of its programs and endeavors.  First, LIFE worked with CVC students to prepare for a speech competition and offered them new skills and techniques that would build self confidence and assure them of a good presentation.  We are proud to say CVC students did very well in the competition, many moving on to next levels.

Next we worked with hospitality students from the college at Phucome Hotel to appreciate and develop new skills toward "service excellent."  The students were eager to learn new techniques that would help them in their future positions and compete equally within the ASEAN professional community.  We salute their efforts to not only meet the challenges, but to surpass their own expectations.

Finally, this week LIFE is working at the Furama Hotel with CVC faculty and management which is sponsoring a 2  week long seminar for teachers in the tourism industry to improve their techniques and language skills. Upon completion, these teachers will return to their campuses all over Thailand to promote training methods which will offer their students better opportunities in a highly competitive field and perhaps learn a few new ideas themselves.  What a delightful group to work with.

On the 3rd day of class, the group went on a sightseeing tour of Chiang Mai to not only experience the wide variety of tourist spots and places of interest, but also to appreciate first-hand tourism as a business to better prepare their students for future opportunities in this industry.

In the afternoon, our tour guide led us to Tao Garden Health Spa and Resort, a short ride outside Chiang Mai.  Here we were welcomed as old friends and honored guests and treated to lunch with a variety of organic foods grown on their property and home cooked in their kitchens without sugar, msg and chemicals.  What a treat for our group to understand that healthy food can not only be good for you, but taste delicious as well.  We then had a wonderful lecture and instruction on healthy living and hollistic methods used for treatment at Tao Garden, but in everyday life as well.

The last few days were filled with new activities and experiences, but in the end, we have to say goodbye.  Not always so easy.  It has been great and we'll miss everyone!