Adisorn Petroleum Training Camp at Songkhla Zoo, Thailand

Who would have guessed one of the most awesome moments in my life would start at the zoo in Songkhla?  Let us get to know a bit about the place, shall we? Songkhla is located in the southern part of Thailand.   Known in the past as Singora, it's a quiet town but it has its own charms.

 Songkhla Zoo was established for the preservation of Thai wildlife and to return them to the wild. To get to the zoo is easy and can be done by taking 'Songtaew' , a public car that is converted to cater for the local  transportation.  The zoo covers a hilly area with an asphalt ring road and IS big.  You will need strong leg muscles to roam about.  This place is not meant for the faint-hearted! 

My students are a bunch of guys who started off with almost no English ability. By the time we went to the camp their English has improved somehow. As a teacher, I am so proud of them! What I like the most about these guys is that they love to have fun while learning the new skills but they can be as serious as cancer when the time comes!   To me I feel like they are a bunch of kids in grown up bodies.  Don't get me wrong. What I'm saying is that they love to have fun while they are studying and this makes the class lively and interesting !  But hey, all work and no play makes Jack a dull boy, right?

The Itinerary

Adisorn Petroleum Training

Language & Team Building Camp

20 – 21 June 2013

Venue: Songkhla Zoo, Songkhla, Thailand

20 June 2013

08.00 – 08.10 a.m.      Meet at Adisorn Songkhla Co., Ltd.
08.10 – 08.20 a.m.      Speech by the Managing Director of Adisorn Group, Ms. Dangtoi
                                        Thaitun
08.20 – 08.40 a.m.      Check in
09.00 – 09.15 a.m.      Base 1 : Chinese Whispers
09.15 – 09.30 a.m.      Base 2 : Could you pass me the ball?
09.30 – 11. 45 a.m.      Base 3 : Who is who in the zoo?
11.45 – 12.00 p.m.       Sharing the experience
12.00 – 13.30 p.m.       Lunch
13.30 – 14.00 p.m.       Base 5 : Survival
14.00 – 14.15 p.m.       Base 6 : Can you draw the picture?
14.15 – 15.00 p.m.       Base 7 : What are you trying to say?
15.00 – 18.00 p.m.      Free time
18.00 – 19.00 p.m.      Dinner
19.00 – 21.00 p.m.      Nocturnal Wildlife spotting
22.00 p.m.                     Bed Time

21 June 2013

07.00 – 08.00 a.m.    Check out
08.00 – 09.00 a.m.    Breakfast
09.00 – 12.00 p.m.    Base 8 : Treasure Hunt
12.00 – 13.00 p.m.    Lunch
13.00 – 15.00 p.m.    Base 9 : All Aboard
15.00 – 15.30 p.m.    Closing Ceremony & Group Photograph taken
16.00 p.m.                    Farewell

***Itinerary may be changed without prior notice***



Before the Adventure

Here we go.  These are the guys that would be running around in the zoo for the next two days.  Handsome, ain't they? 


At the zoo

Our adventure started off with Chinese Whispers. I started off the game by giving each team a sentence of tongue twister 'She sells seashells on the seashore' and 'I scream, you scream, we all scream for ice scream!'

Wait a minute! Now you may think tongue twisters are difficult like hell for beginners, aren't they?  

And YOU'RE RIGHT.  It was a complete failure!  As a good teacher would do, I let them try just a normal sentence that they have already studied in the classroom and BOOM! It worked well like magic !

Now you may think as I did that it was time for the real thing, right?  

The answer is YES!  It was so interesting to see them trying to convey the message using the language that  would have been like alien 's!