TWO WEEKS LEFT!

Anxiety just rushed through me, because I realized I only have TWO weeks left in Chiang Rai! This is absolutely crazy. Crazy and scary. And overwhelming. I hate leaving a place, and I hate saying goodbye. I especially hate saying goodbye to a change. It's extremely difficult to pack up your belongings (both physically and metaphorically), close the door behind you, and move on to a new chapter of your life. It's lt acknowledge that “time is up”, that you have to move on. It's even worse when you have to say goodbye to people and places you know you may never see again. I remember back in Denmark when I had to say goodbye to the children and staff at the Danish preschool I volunteered at; it was strange knowing I would never, ever, see those people again. And now that time has come again. There is so much symbolism in goodbyes: change, growth, moving forward, happiness, sadness, experience. As a result, my departure from Thailand is a mixed baggage of emotions. I am anxious to say goodbye to a place I have called home for the last year. I am extremely sad to say goodbye to some of my students. I wish I could stay just to continue to watch them grow as intellectuals and as individuals. I don't know when or if I will ever see them again. I desperately want to take them all home with me to New York, because I know they would fall in love with the city. It hurts knowing that I will be so far away from them. Thank goodness for Facebook and email! Yet I am somewhat at ease since I have post-Thailand plans in place. Knowing that I will be going to Turkey to be an au pair and English teacher makes leaving Thailand a lot easier. I'm not going into the unknown, I'm just moving on to do something else. And while I thought I would not be ready to leave Thailand after a year, I am. I'm so ready. I'm so ready to be at home for 7 weeks during the holiday season when everyone is happy, you can feel it all around you. There's a glow on everyone's faces and a warmth in the air. It truly is a magical time of year. I am ready to be with friends and family, although I know it will be an extremely difficult transition. However, I am glad I am leaving Thailand on a high note, when I am still in love with this country, and do not feel like I've been here too long. I know that I will always want to come back, and it's comforting to know that I have people here who will want me to come back.

So here's to the next two weeks of laughs and cries; of reflection, of being thankful, and hopefully leaving on a happy ending. It sure will be a bumpy ride!

It's About Time!

Today was our the English Department's goodbye party for Jessie and I. Although there are two weeks left in the semester (three weeks until I leave, almost four Jessie), P'Soy leaves on Monday for her America! Our goodbye party was held at the Rimkok hotel on the river, where we enjoyed a delicious lunch buffet. I was stuffed! All was wonderful until Jessie and I had to give our “thank you” speeches at the end of the meal; needless to say we both bawled our eyes out.

Yet what happened after lunch is the reason for this blog post: I FINALLY got to hang out with my teacher OUTSIDE OF SCHOOL HOURS! P'kop called me to see if I was free to go to her house and of course I said yes. She took me to her house where I met her husband, hung out in her “business” (she rents out small houses) and sat on the floor while we ate apples and guava. We then got our hair washed (in Thailand when you get your hair down they shampoo and condition it TWICE and give you a 20 minute head massage!) I also stayed and had dinner with her family. It was just a lovely afternoon, and it was so nice to catch up with P'kop and engage in girl talk. We never really have time in the office to have long talks, so it was really special to just sit on the floor of her house, snack on fruit, and chit chat.

Playing Catch Up

Okay, so I haven't updated my blog in about six weeks. Clearly, I suck at this. Honestly, I think it's because so many little things happen in my life at once that it seems both trivial and overwhelming to write about it all. In July, I traveled to Ubon Ratchatani for the Candle Festival as well as to visit our Far East Friends Gina and Ari. The Candle Festival was awesome. In honor of the rainy season and marking the beginning of Buddhist Lent, Thai people carve huge, elaborate candles from wax, turn them into floats, and parade them through the center of town before they are made as offerings at a temple. Such wonderful artwork and dedication! I'm glad I had the opportunity to witness such a unique holiday.

August brought lots of random days off from school (so much so that the first week of September was the first time I was seeing some of my classes in a MONTH). We had a long weekend for the Queens birthday so a bunch of Fulbrighters got together in Chiang Mai to celebrate the fabulous birthdays of Jamie Giles and Mallory Reed. In Chiang Mai I FINALLY got the chance to ride and spend the whole day with ELEPHANTS, and it was oh so glorious, a dream come true! I think elephants might be the best animals out there. The best was learning how to ride on a baby elephant and then getting massaged by him! Although climbing up on top of the adult elephant was terrifying and I actually thought I would fall to my death at first!

It is now September, which is my LAST MONTH OF TEACHING! More about my feelings on this later, I just wanted to get a quick blog with some pictures up to get up to speed.

Chinese temple in Chiang Rai

I'm constantly blown away by the natural beauty of Chiang Rai

ELEPHANTS!

nothin like an elephant kiss to get the day started!