Thai-Australian Language and Cultural Exchange Camp 2016
It was a typical Monday afternoon and all of the English teachers had been called together for one of our monthly meetings. I expected nothing extraordinary to come from this gathering, so imagine my surprise when it was immediately announced that Mae La Noi Daroonsik would be hosting an English camp with a visiting group from Australia. My initial reaction was muted, as I assumed this camp would be happening many weeks, maybe even months, in the future and at that point I would no longer be in Mae La Noi. But then came my second surprise within just a few minutes: the camp would take place in three days. As you might imagine, the following days between that meeting and the beginning of the camp were extremely busy. Preparations had to be made and they had to be made fast. Any time that I was not teaching a class I was running around town buying supplies and planning an outline for two day’s worth of activities.
Along with other tasks, I was also given the responsibility of choosing a song and dance for a group of students to perform during the closing ceremonies. So that is how I ended up spending approximately 25 hours teaching the Whip/Nae Nae to a group of eleventh grade girls. Before I had left for Thailand, Doug, Global Playground’s Chairman, had challenged the Fellows to teach our students the Whip/Nae Nae dance. My first attempt at this challenge had failed - I had shown the song’s music video to a group of students within weeks of arriving at MoDo and the response was a mixture of confusion, amusement, and fear at the thought of having to perform such a thing for a public audience. It’s safe to say that nothing materialized from this initial attempt and the challenge disappeared from the forefront of my mind. Flash forward almost a year in the future and I had a group of eighteen girls who after watching the music video were immediately ecstatic, jumping to their feet and trying to mimic the unfamiliar dance moves. They were the perfect team to complete such a challenge.
So for three consecutive days we met at 1:00 PM and didn’t go home until the sun had firmly set. Granted all of this time was not spent solely practicing the Whip/Nae Nae. This group was also responsible for leading the camp in English songs and cheers and we spent many hours rehearsing these as well. A few times we even ventured into the world of dance workout videos and for some reason decided that it would be a good idea to spend our “breaks” sweating profusely while trying to follow along to cardio hip-hop routines. I was also introduced to dance groups from Vietnam and South Korea that had become famous among the youngsters in Mae La Noi. And as far as I can tell, based on skill level and number of views, these groups were only popular among the youngsters in Mae La Noi.
The camp itself will remain one of my fondest memories that I take with me from Mae La Noi. Only English major students attended the two days of activities, resulting in approximately 100 students being lead by MoDo’s English department and the group of volunteers from Australia. The days consisted of games, dances, singing, and a whole spectrum of activities. I helped out with the Geography & Art Station, where students created their own Aboriginal dot paintings and learned about famous landmarks from all over the world. Other stations included sports, where students tried their hand at Aussie Rules Football, and Drama & Dance, where volunteers taught the students popular Australian folktales. Every student seemed to be having fun, but I think I was having even more fun watching them thoroughly enjoy themselves and enjoy this two-day break from the routine of the classroom.
The camp ended with a series of closing ceremonies, the highlight of which I would have to say was my group of girls performing the Whip/Nae Nae for a shocked and entertained audience. Extravagant goodbyes were said between students and the volunteers who would be returning to Australia in just a few short days. Facebooks were exchanged. Selfies were taken. It seemed as if no one wanted the camp to end. And I’m not sure how much actual learning went on during those two days, but I do know that I had never seen my students so excited about the idea of learning English and I sincerely hope that this excitement stays with them - at least until next year’s camp.
Students show off their Aboriginal artwork
Taking a break from learning new dance moves
My Whip/Nae Nae girls