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Thailand: Cultural Kaleidoscope™
In a colorful blur of saffron robes, green mountains and golden temples, make a difference in the lives of local youth and ethnic minorities.
Highlights
- Teach English at a primary school and bond with local students
- Experience Thailand’s vibrant and colorful food, arts and music
- Zipline through lush, rural hillsides
- Experience authentic Thai massage
- Visit with Buddhist monks and learn about their lives
- Spend a day interacting with elephants at a Thai elephant home
Overview
Journey to enchanting Thailand, a kingdom rich in culture, arts and tradition. In spite of rapid economic progress in recent years, Chiang Mai, where you’ll be based, manages to preserve the atmosphere of an ancient village and is still known for its beautiful temples and rugged natural landscape. Make unforgettable connections with Thailand’s rural youth through community service at a primary school and cultural exchange at a local high school. You’re sure to be transformed by the nation’s culture of warmth and reverence, experiencing off-the-beaten-path interaction with the hospitable local residents, temple visits, authentic cuisine, bustling markets, an elephant home visit and outdoor adventure through the lush, green mountains surrounding Chiang Mai.
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Community Service
You’ll work at a school providing English instruction for local youth through classroom time, tutoring, arts, crafts and sports. Over the course of your community service, develop meaningful relationships with your students—you’ll serve not only as their teacher, but also a role model, mentor and friend. On the 21-day Flagship Program, you’ll also volunteer on various physical projects that support Thailand’s ethnic minority, the Northern hill tribes. Accelerate refurbishment efforts to shelters and infrastructure for these displaced families who have historically been oppressed.
Hands-On Learning
Experience the wide diversity of Thai culture: Explore elegant wats—Buddhist temples—and speak with monks about their lifestyle and spiritual worldview. Gather fresh ingredients at a market for a Thai cooking class, learn the traditional arts of dance and Muay Thai boxing, get an authentic Thai massage and get up close and personal with majestic elephants. You’ll spend an unforgettable day at a learning about the conservation of the animals, as well as their significance in Thai culture.
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Adventure
Northern Thailand’s rugged geography is a playground for outdoor pursuits, including an extensive zipline through the cool, leafy hillsides outside of Chiang Mai and the opportunity for a waterfall hike. You’ll also visit a Thai elephant home, where you’ll feed the elephants, walk them through natural settings and help the mahouts—elephant keepers—bathe the happy animals. Visit the famous Chiang Mai night bazaar and, on our 21-day Flagship Program, go on a bicycling and kayaking adventure through beautiful mountains of Northern Thailand.
Lodging
GLA operates two Home Bases, both of which are small resorts on the outskirts of Chiang Mai. Accommodations are basic, but clean and safe. Students sleep in gender-segregated rooms with roommates, and have access to shared bathrooms with cold-water showers.
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Dates & Tuition
Thailand: Cultural Kaleidoscope™ 21-Day Program Flagship
| 2018 Dates |
|---|
| Jun 19 - Jul 9, 2018 |
| Jul 13 - Aug 2, 2018 |
Thailand: Cultural Kaleidoscope™ 14-Day Program
| 2017 Dates |
|---|
| Jul 26 - Aug 8, 2017 |
| 2018 Dates |
|---|
| Jun 18 - Jul 1, 2018 |
| Jul 5 - Jul 18, 2018 |
| Jul 21 - Aug 3, 2018 |
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Gillian
GLA gives students an opportunity to immerse themselves in the culture. Part of the staff usually lives in the country year round and knows their way around. For example: In Thailand we got to eat Mother's Day lunch cooked by our driver's family, and had the opportunity to help their neighbors plant rice. No other program is like GLA. They constantly keep you busy and active and give you an unforgettable experience. Volunteering is such a rewarding experience.
Our 21-day Flagship programs provide the ideal amount of time to satisfy every dimension of the GLA Experience.