Today we’re talking to TJ and Ken Norris, a Peace Corps couple in Thailand. TJ is working as a Youth Development volunteer in Thailand, and Ken is an Education volunteer. What TJ and Ken share gives us a better understanding of the work volunteers do. We learn about the challenges, rewards, and personal growth that happens from volunteering in a new place, especially for couples. They talk about living in a different country, working with local people, and dealing with surprise situations. Join us as we learn about TJ and Ken’s journey and see how volunteering with Peace Corps can change lives.
Table of Contents
- Volunteer Experience and Motivation
- Living Arrangements and Cultural Integration
- Surprises and Challenges
- Practical Tips and Language Learning
- Serving as Partners
- Social Identity during Service
- TJ and Ken in Peace Corps Thailand
- Impact of Media and Final Thoughts
Volunteer Experience and Motivation
1. Can you tell us more about serving as a couple in Thailand?
Being in different sectors, our days are sometimes similar, but mostly not. Ken is a full-time teacher. 5 days a week, he is in the classroom, teaching vocabulary, phonics, and sentence structure. In the course of a week, he has kindergarten to middle school students. Some grades he has once a week, others 2 times a week. His co-teachers help translate and assist, but that changes over the 2-year assignment and the goal is that the co-teachers are learning the Peace Corps method of teaching so when Ken has left, some elements of the teaching style will continue.
TJ works with youth in the schools and the community. Two days a week, she is in the classroom teaching life skills to grades 3-6. A self-described “cool aunt”, she uses Activity Based Learning, to play games and activities that teach leadership, critical thinking, self-confidence, team building as well as English speaking skills. One day a week, Ken & TJ teach together. These classes are a blend of English-speaking skills made more informal with games.
The other 2 days a week, TJ spends at the Subdistrict Administrative Office (SAO), a very local Thai government community support and services office. She participates in events like planning holiday celebrations, visiting the elderly in the community, and “teaching” English to preschoolers. She is also facilitating youth-oriented projects such as swim lessons, and encouraging healthy and English camps.
2. What motivated you to join the Peace Corps and choose Thailand?
We are both 1st generation college graduates. That started us both on paths of growth, exploration, and adventure. – but with volunteering always being a key component. As we are ending our professional lives, we are blessed to have the time, health, and most of all the desire to “give back” to our world.
Peace Corps programs focused on schoolchildren, both formally in school and informally in the community, attracted us. During our working years, we traveled to more than a dozen countries — and the “new adventure” aspect of the Peace Corps drew us. But when we are done we will know Thailand in a way unique in our travels.
Living Arrangements and Cultural Integration
3. Tell us more about your home situation:
Peace Corps does an incredible job in finding host families and matching the families with the needs and personalities of the volunteers. We had terrific host families, both for our 3 months of training as well as the first 3 months at site.
We live in the South of Thailand, province Trang, inland from Krabi. Our site is in a very rural area – 8 villages make up our subdistrict with a total of 3,000 residents. There is only 1 other non-Thai resident. After the 3 months with a host family, we were able to find a small house to rent near schools and SAO. We bike or walk everywhere in our village and rely on friends or a bus to take us to towns with other services (like a movie theater!)
4. Any memorable experiences or interactions you’ve had?
There are too many to list, but TJ says it’s the small interactions. Being called “teacher” by people in the community, whether we’ve ever met or not. Showing a group of kids how to throw a frisbee — something they had never seen before. Looking out of the window in the morning not knowing if there would be the neighbor’s cows, pigs, or chickens in the front yard.
TJ also talks about the “National Geographic moments.” Being in grade school and reading the monthly copy of National Geographic, she remembers pictures of the mountains of southeast Asia, of the beaches and longboats, of the cows in the palm tree forests with birds picking bugs from their backs. These are scenes we see often, sometimes as close as our backyard.
While Ken served in the U.S. Navy and even spent a few days in Thailand in the 1970s, he talked about how little he knew about Buddhism. Our immersion in Thai Buddhism has made a particularly deep groove in his brain, he jokes.
Surprises and Challenges
5. What has surprised you most about the challenges in Thailand?
The weather surprised us the most in Thailand. We are in the South, away from the mountains and cooler temperatures of the North. April, the hottest month, sees temperatures near 110 degrees. October is comparatively mild with temperatures around 90. Being close to both the Gulf of Thailand and the Andaman Sea, storms pop up quickly (like while we are biking home from the market. We always keep our ponchos with us.) and can last 10 minutes or 3 days.
While the food has been a learning experience, you only need to eat red Thai curry once to know you should tread lightly. But the locally grown veggies and fruits, marketed at an open-air market, washed and/or cooked, are a revelation. But, you know, some food is just a bridge too far for us.
6. What challenges did you face while working on projects?
The communication gap between us and our community/students/co-workers is challenging and will be until the day we leave. Also, Ken had no teaching experience except for a very brief introduction to substitution teaching in America. He is learning to be a teacher while he is teaching.
7. Could you share some of the secondary projects you have been involved in?
Ken is working on a project to teach emergency personnel basic English for interacting with tourists. We are a pass-through community between 2 tourist areas. Giving the police and medical personnel the English skills to help tourists navigate has been well received by the SAO leadership.
Practical Tips and Language Learning
9. How has the Peace Corps training helped you during your service?
The bottom line is that the Peace Corps wants you to succeed. The training and help you need are available; you need to be bold and make the most of it. Training begins as soon as you accept your invitation to serve. The Learning Space online portal has valuable information and beginning language lessons.
At pre-service training, you are immersed in language, culture, and technical training, both in the classroom and in the community. At site, you have the option to continue with language tutors. Throughout your service, there are in-person training events as well as optional project design management and Teach English as a Foreign Language (TEFL) certification opportunities.
10. Anything that you packed or didn’t pack that you’d like to tell future Thailand volunteers?
We packed way too many clothes. With the change in diet and the daily bicycling, we and a lot of other volunteers ended up losing weight — so the clothes we brought didn’t fit well after a few months. And in a country like Thailand, quick-dry clothes are valuable. Also, like any job, you go to work and need/want to dress like your co-workers — Ken’s starched white dress Oxfords are almost worthless here.
What we should have packed more of were games, books, and crafting supplies. Things to entertain us in our downtime, but also things to use in the classroom. Simple items like a football, a frisbee, card games, and dominoes make for fun evenings with the host family or in classrooms.
Ken also packed a small telescope — and what a hit it was on school science day. TJ brought bubbles to entertain little kids, and French press (she loves her coffee!) We also brought photos of friends and family. We hung them on the wall where we eat; it’s one of the ways we stay connected to America.
11. How has learning the language been?
Frankly, language learning was a struggle for us, but a self-imposed struggle. From the beginning, we were placed in small classes with volunteers at the same level. The aa-jaans, PC language instructors, are talented, patient, and caring. We were able to get additional help when needed.
Everyone picks up language at a different pace and that is fine with Peace Corps. They want to see progress at your own speed. We actually became more comfortable speaking by being once we arrived at site, being surrounded by different speakers.
Serving as Partners
12. As a couple in Thailand, how has your experience differed from that of individual volunteers?
The Peace Corps has been very supportive of us as a couple and us as older volunteers. We are like all other volunteers but in certain aspects, Peace Corps staff take special notice and to some degree make allowances for our uniqueness. Peace Corps medical staff here in Thailand are particularly aware of our strengths and vulnerabilities. Also, our ability to “pool” two Peace Corps-provided housing and living allowances has given us some advantages.
13. Has being a couple in Thailand affected your integration?
We think the integration went very quickly by being a couple. With 3 schools and the government office (SAO), we were able to meet many more people. Someone always recognizes one or the other of us. We also enjoy helping at each other’s events, so the two of us are seen in a lot more places than if there was one of us.
In the community, from our co-workers and neighbors, we may gain even more allowances — our landlord, a young, recently married man in his 30s, says he takes care of us as he does his parents. At community events, we are seen as a matched set and people comment if one is not present.
14. What advice would you give to other couples considering Peace Corps service?
Both parties need to be fully in on the decision. There is a couple’s interview during the application process, in addition to the individual interviews, and one of the things we are sure the Peace Corps looks for is the “dynamics of the couple” — is one leading and one only half-hearted?
Living with a host family can be difficult. Most host families are set up to take one volunteer, so 2 people sharing the same space can be cramped. Be honest with the Peace Corps about your needs. Some couples need more personal space than others, so speak up.
Social Identity during Service
16. In what ways do you think your being an older volunteer has shaped your approach to community engagement and service?
We both have volunteered throughout our lives. This is just on a much grander scale. We bring maturity and experience to service, whereas volunteers at the start of their careers bring fresh ideas and energy. Both skill sets are appreciated, neither is better than the other.
17. What challenges have you faced as older volunteers, and how did you overcome them?
We have to be particularly aware of our health. The weight loss, the lack of good workout facilities — we were YMCA people at home — and the presence of different health challenges in a tropical climate. Again, we and our Peace Corps medical staff, are very aware of maintaining good health.
18. What advice would you give to other older volunteers considering joining the Peace Corps?
Research, research, research the country and the Peace Corps work before you sign up. Do the work the Peace Corps recommends after you are offered and as you await assignment. And, in the country, do not have high expectations, do not have low expectations … try very hard to have no expectations.
TJ and Ken in Peace Corps Thailand
And be sure to check out TJ and Ken’s YouTube channel for more videos during their service as an older couple in Thailand HERE!
Impact of Media and Final Thoughts
19. How do you think your YouTube channel contributes to your overall mission as a Peace Corps volunteer?
We have a YouTube channel with monthly-ish short videos of our experiences, but finding time can be challenging when working, and your Peace Corps work is a full-time job. Social media is the main way to keep in touch with your family and community at home.
20. Any last comments or observations you’d like to pass on to future Thailand volunteers?
The old Peace Corps marketing adage that it is “the hardest job you’ll ever love” is in many ways very true. We sometimes find it hard but often absolutely love it now, and we have no doubt our memories will be filled with much more love than hardship.
What are you waiting for? Opportunities like this don’t come often. If you have a passion for service and an adventurous spirit like TJ and Ken’s, apply to the Peace Corps today. Expand your horizons, push your limits, and create positive impact as a volunteer. You never know how serving as a Peace Corps volunteer could change your life.
The content of this post does not necessarily reflect the views of the U.S. Government, the Peace Corps, or Thailand Government.
