For each semester, the students arrive throughout the day on Friday.  To make it easier on our Thai host families, we have the families pick the students up the next day on Saturday.

Ajaan Wilasinee teaching the "wai" greeting to the students (with Pi Ben and Pi Pu helping)

We spend about an hour with the students talking about dress, behavior in the host family, and answering questions.  We stress the idea of “cultural competence” — knowing the culture makes you safer, and helps you to learn more and better enjoy your time in Thailand.

Students learning the Thai way of greeting...

After the orientation, the students are picked up by their families and we don’t see them until Monday — when the full orientation week starts with intensive Thai and other topics (health/safety/program policies, etc.)!

A weekend with a Thai host family does a lot to increase motivation for learning the language!