Transition

So I know I am back, but I wanted to write at least one post about the transition back to America and, of course, the trip over. So while I am snuggled under four blankets in this under 40 degree weather, let me do that.

The trip over was.......long and for the most part uneventful. I left Thailand at midnight, which was a surprisingly busy time at the airport. And the day I left I went to an art museum which was super fun. But back to the airport. I waited in a number of lines and it took me the longest time at customs because they didn't want to let me out. The customs man couldn't find my last visa stamp, because the last visa guy put it in the very back  and every time I tried to show him, he growled at me to get behind the desk (which I could barely see over). But finally after telling him three times that no, I'm not coming back, did he finally let me through.

On the plane to Korea someone tried to bring durian and the flight attendant was sooo not pleased and took it from her (durian smells really bad in case you didn't know.) Then I got to Korea and found myself listening to the loudest possible music on my tablet in order to stay awake for my two hour layover. I managed to stay awake but it was rough. Observing a large group of UGA students who were loudly discussing their one week trip in Korea helped. No I didn't talk to them, they just spouted their business loudly and obnoxiously.

So then I got on my 14.5 hour flight back to America. It actually was not that bad. Yeah there was a good bit of turbulence and I only slept three hours, but I watched the second Hobbit movie, Frozen and almost a whole season of Suits. The plane meals I had were really good and the passengers I were sitting beside didn't talk to me much.

When I got to America it took me an hour to walk all the way from my gate to the customs area and get through there. I know the customs lady wanted to talk to me, but I really wanted to get my bags and get out of that airport. So when she finally asked, "Wow, one year away. Did you visit America at all during that time?" I replied with, "No, which is why I want to hurry out of here." She finally let me go after that. My luggage then arrived safe and sound and I was outta there!

My first meal was Mexican, second meal was boneless wings, third was sushi and fourth was potato soup and broccoli cheese casserole. There also might have been an awesome green velvet cupcake in there in celebration of St. Patty's day. I have not been able to finish a meal yet. Like not even remotely finish because the portions are so big. And everything is so big and sooooo loud!! I nearly plugged my ears at the Mexican restaurant it was so loud. Oh and I am also readjusting to the fact that I am super short once again. *sigh*

So I have been and am continuing to visit friends and family. I get to tell stories, answer questions, disperse Thailand gifts and pretty much stay in a continual hug. Remember, hugs are not a thing in Thailand, so I have a year of them to make up for. And my unbiological sister took me shopping for my coming home gift. This included drinking chai in a bookstore, which made me a wonderful person to be around. Book smell and the most delicious drink on the planet all in one? Yes please.

I also visited my old University and met up with some of my professors. I think I have finally come up with an appropriate response to the question, "How was Thailand?" And yes, I am going to make you ask me before I answer.

I still find that my University campus is beautiful even despite the dreary weather. It was nice to visit the old buildings and I didn't feel a sense of loss, just completion. It seems so long ago, really. More like visiting an old, happy memory. And my professors gave me fantastic advice and tips. My Chemistry professors want to assist me in finding a job and my old Great Books professor and I talked for over an hour about processing Thailand and about teaching in American private schools (because he used to do that before he became a University professor).

Right now I have sent out many applications and have one interview scheduled and a number of emails requesting more information. And I still have a decent sized list of applications to complete. I have applied to some pretty amazing private schools around the country and have learned a lot already about the different types of private schools that exist. At least right now I am pretty confident about my job search, especially since I started looking for a job exactly two weeks ago. The interview I have scheduled has me pretty excited because they were interested in me a year ago and got back to me within 24 hours of when I contacted them. So here's to hoping.

I still have more family and friends to meet with and my goal for this morning is to find clothes in my old boxes. It is a tad bit chilly here and my Thailand clothes are not exactly helpful. I know I have once again written you a book, but well, at least that hasn't changed so you shouldn't be surprised. I'm not sure if I will write any more posts on this blog or not. We'll see after I've been in America more than 48 hours. Alright, bye all.

At the close

This will most likely be my last post from Thailand. In 12 hours I am leaving the town I have called home for my past year in Thailand. It is a very odd feeling. It just doesn't seem real, to be honest. But it is happening. I took my last look around town today. I ate at my favorite soup shop, which has soup that still makes me feel better no matter what. I got fresh pineapple and cantaloupe from the fruit stand and ate it with a stick. I drank lots of tea and ate at a restaurant I kept passing on my way to do other things, remembering that I wanted to eat there but always forgot about the place when it came time to eat food. 

Tomorrow morning, my school is taking me to Chiang Mai. The school driver will drive me in the school truck all the way there. Because Thai schools are awesome like that. I will be leaving early in the morning and then go to an optical illusion art museum, shopping and possibly a massage. I have to do some fun things before I go sit on my bum for 24 hrs while I travel back to America.

Today I said most of my final goodbyes and my apartment is packed up. I walked home late and said my last goodbyes to this town and the University that I live in. And yet, all of this still feels like it is not real. Like someone is going to jump out and yell "Gotcha!" just to find out it is a joke.

My plan is to do most of my processing and write a letter to next year's teachers posted in Uttaradit while on the plane. I figure it gives me something to do so every time I have caught myself thinking those thoughts I have pushed them away, going "Not now! Later!" So yeah. I really don't think I'll be online after I leave tomorrow early morning until I get to America. Don't worry, I gots street smarts. Sort of. Not really, but kind of. Okay, okay, enough to get by. I'll make there, no worries. Though I have this deep feeling I'm going to be quite grumpy when I arrive, but here's to hoping I'm wrong.

Okay, well now I am going to sleep and then head to the airport. The same airport that brought me here. I am ending at the close and that, my friends, feels very good indeed.

T Minus 5

So yes, only a week more before I say farewell to Thailand. To say it doesn't feel real is.......well, true. Going home just doesn't seem like it is actually happening. I have become used to life here in Thailand, as crazy as it is. But I am still packing, so no worries, I am headed back to the other side of the world.

So let me tell you what I have been doing the past week and what I plan on doing my last week in Thailand. I have mostly been lying in my bed trying not to melt. Sadly, I'm not joking. The heat index for the past three days at MIDNIGHT has been over 100 F. I take like 4 showers a day. Or okay, two real showers and two where I just stand there under cool water going "ahhhhhhhhh."

But besides melting, I have been saying farewell to my Thai friends. I had the end of the year meeting with all of my fellow TTC teachers. It was really sad to say goodbye to my favorite city and the one I was in for my first week in Thailand. But it was a nice goodbye and we even had a Thailand pool party! I knoooooow. The water was soooo cool and we didn't have a whole bunch of people oogling the twenty farang hanging out in scandalous bathing suits. I will never see a lot of my fellow teachers again, but we shared a bonding experience that I don't think that will ever completely go away.

Today, I had my last Thai massage and it was lovely. One thing Thailand has taught me is how my body can move. Those ladies do things to my body I couldn't even imagine and all I can do is think, "Huh! My body can do that apparently!" though sometimes it also goes "Awesome! I can do this. Okay, well I can do that for like 5 seconds, now let me go." It almost felt like this woman was trying to make my back sprout wings with how she was going at it, but now the kinks in my back (thanks to my bed) are out. I also bought two of the massage shirts because they are awesome. They are comfortable and good-looking and I plan on using them as "if I have to wear clothes inside on a hot day, well this keeps me wearing clothes at least" type of shirts.

I also went around the the town and even looked into a cute Thai baby clothes shop (so yes, everyone in my town is going to think I'm pregnant with the guy I was shopping with's baby in about 12 hours). I am also going out with the girls for a big dinner tonight. It should be hilarious, because we are a scandalous and mischievous bunch, at least by Thailand's standards. Maybe I'll end up in another conversation about cooking farang food with the owner of one of our favorite dinner places.

Some of my students have seen me around town and come bounding up to me already telling me how they miss me and I have prepared my older students for interviews into English programs at the upper schools. The ones who did the interviews did well, in case you wanted to know (yeah, I know the farang at their new schools so I get to hear how they did).

Besides doing a lot of reading, cleaning and packing (along with job applications), I am prepping stuff for next year's group (I found out that there will be at least 3 Americans placed in my town next year). So I am leaving things that don't fit in my suitcase and leaving them with advice on certain things, though don't worry, I'm going to leave them with plenty to figure out on their own.

Alright, well I think that is all for now. And T minus 5 days. 5 DAYS!!!

Forward Direction: Intent to Travel

So I made this a separate post, since the content is separate from saying farewell to my kids. I have decided not to stay in Thailand. There are many reasons and I am confident in my decision to leave. I have nothing against Thailand, but it is my time to go back to America.

This means I will not be working for the International School anymore. And I know how I was so excited to be living in Lampang, which still remains my favorite city in Thailand, but if you notice all the wonderful things I can do in Thailand, I can also do in America, and to a greater capacity.

I know you may be wondering what brought this whole change about, and honestly it was a great many things, but now I feel finished. I feel like I have done great work here and gotten even more out of Thailand than I expected. Let me tell you, I have received more than I would have imagined in my wildest imaginations. I am simply not creative enough to have mentally created all that is Thailand.

As for when I will be arriving back, I will let you know very soon but it will be in a few weeks. So, my time in Thailand is ticking down. I'm working now on wrapping things up and making sure everything is settled. I am glad that while I am doing this, I have very few, if any, regrets about my time here.

Okay, that is all the news I wanted to give you in this post. No worries, you'll hear from me at least one more time, if not more before I leave. :)

Saying Goodbye

How many times can you say goodbye without tears edging out of your eyes? This week I said goodbye 900 times to darling faces. In each class, we sang goodbye songs, they signed my goodbye book and took class pictures. The songs helped a little and at the same time made things worse. Graduation Song by Vitamin C just makes me want to grab, hug and hold on to everyone around me. I Will Remember You was also chosen because it was simple, slow and easy to learn but oh it pulls those tears out of your eyes like a magnet is drawn to a fridge. Finally, Hello/Goodbye by the Beatles was sung by all my classes, even the babies because it was so easy. I had to pick something to pick everyone up after all the warm and fuzzies or I would have classrooms full of crying children every single period for five days. And they would also have a weeping teacher. 

The lessons I taught this week were "scooch" and "weep." I am serious. Weep was another word for cry and scooch was from getting them all in a frame for pictures (which was still impossible in many cases). I started breaking up my classes into boys and girls and even then it was difficult. 

The looks on their faces when my co-teachers told them that this was the last time they would see me---THAT look is what killed me. My Prat. 1/1 babies were the worse. It was a look that only a small child could give and it was just so sad. If you look in some of my pictures you will actually some of them had been/were still crying. I mean, what do you do with that? 

Some of my kids asked for hugs shyly and some of them threw themselves at me like I was their favorite candy. Every time I am on the stairwell I hear muffled, sad "good-bye Teacher" from sad little children. Then there are the kids that want my signature and Facebook. I even got stickered today by my favorite class. I think it is wonderful that my final class that I taught in Thailand was my favorite class. They were the rowdiest and naughtiest, but they were bright, strong, sweet, eager and mischievous. 

I can come next week to clean out my desk, so I do not have to pack up and get out of here when 5 p.m. hits, which is nice. I am just a little emotional. I adore my kids and saying goodbye to them is heart-wrenching.

Today at lunch, my teachers also threw me a lunch party, which was really sweet of them. It was a nice way to say goodbye, even if I will see them next week when I come by to clean up my desk and make sure everything is good.

Now, I travel to Lampang for my final company meeting and then I am technically finished with this past year. It is crazy to believe really. And this is the first time all of the TTC teachers will be together again since this past summer. Our numbers are significantly reduced though.But it will be nice to see those people who were here with me, even if they weren't in the same city and we rarely got to see each other. Let's end this thing right!

Fie! Fan! Fei!

Well, things in Thailand always keep on you on your feet. So this is the story of an hour of my life yesterday afternoon.

I arrive to mass chaos in my Prathom 4/1 class in period 7. This is how it is every day. All of Prat. 4 just has a lot of energy and they are finally at a mental level to enact their mischievous plans. So I get them riled down and sitting in their chairs. All sixty of them.

So we begin our lesson today on pizza toppings. It is the last real teaching week of school, since next week is more like review and saying goodbye. I teach them the English names for toppings (and no, papaya does not go on pizza) and teach them how to order specific types of pizza. They are working on their worksheets, when I start to smell smoke.

I turn to my co-teacher to see her walking out to the hall. The kids are starting to get up and go over to the outdoor hallway that faces the inner courtyard of our school (the school is shaped in a 'U'). Everyone is prattling on in Thai and the smell of smoke is getting stronger. You see, I know that smell very well. The smell of a building on fire is very different from a cooking fire or a side-of-the-road-burning-trash-and-yard-waste fires.

My co-teacher talked to the housekeeper in the hallway and began walking back and forth in the hallway talking in Thai. I followed her repeatedly asking what was happening. I needed to know the school procedure for a fire and where exactly the fire was, since I couldn't tell which classroom it was in. My school has four stories and many classrooms on each floor, so the fire could have started in any of them. It took me five minutes of repeatedly asking my question before she finally told me what was going on.

Here I just want to tell everyone that you should always tell the farang when something bad is happening, especially if they are a teacher in charge of sixty students. And even more especially when they have been in a fire before. Just saying.

So I finally, I find out that one of the rooms on the other side of the "U" and a floor down from where we were, had a fan catch fire. Of course, I am not sure if only one fan or multiple fans, or even the extent of the damage or if it was contained to just the one room or not, since they don't tell me things and it took me five minutes to get the "6/1 fan and fire." I look over the banister in the hallway and see that half of the school is in a mass cluster in the inner courtyard in what could be called a fire-escape-plan-Thai-style.

My co-teacher then just walks away and goes over to the teacher next door and stays there to talk to her, leaving me with sixty kids who have clustered over to try and see what was happening. So I use a voice that I very rarely use to get my kids back into the classrooms and their chairs. You know, the voice that says "I will be obeyed because it is my will and there is no other option." Not angry, not nice, just is a fact. It takes a few repetitions but the kids listen. I could tell they were a little shocked at my tone since they haven't heard anything like it probably from anyone ever. I didn't even tell them to be quiet and they just were.

But I got everyone to their respective desks to see who was and wasn't there. This was one of the only times in my lives where I wished more of my students skipped school. Every single student was present except for one. That was a lot of kids. And me, someone who speaks little Thai, and them, who speak little English. Honestly, I think my tone got them to obey more than my actual words. Stupid kids wanting to go watch.

So I take them through the fire procedure and I kept them in tight rein. There WILL NOT be mass chaos from my kids. I keep my kids safe, even from their own idiocy about wanting to get closer to the fire. And when it is time to hand my kids off to their next period teacher (though, I am not even sure if that is what she was. I just gave them over to a Thai teacher) and I did so gladly. The fire is out (more on that later) and I go back to the English office. The other teachers are in there trying on clothes, curling their hair and laughing. I almost lost it, but I went over to my desk, put in my headphones and put the volume at full blast.

There was so much wrong with what happened yesterday. I know there was a fire in the building by smelling smoke. I could barely get information about what was going on, even though I was in charge of kids. They don't even know what a fire drill IS over here. I was ONE teacher in charge of SIXTY kids. There are no fire alarms. There is one fire extinguisher per floor and it is at the very end. The fire truck doesn't have a siren. They were trying to put out an electrical fire with WATER. There are 300 students per floor, with four floors and two stairwells, which is not good enough. And finally, one does not mai pen rai fire and go about getting pretty afterwards!

I know I am overreacting a bit. As far as I know it was a small fire (though again, I haven't been to that side of the school since and I don't know how many rooms were affected), and my kids all turned out fine and were in no immediate danger. But how would you like to be in charge of sixty lives when inside you are having flashbacks to the other fire Thailand gifted you with? I kept myself together until after I handed off my kids, but let's just say I went and got myself a pint of beer immediately after school was over and I was finally allowed to leave. I don't even know what happened to the kids and classes that were on that side of the school. For all I know, they let those kids play or go home. Who knows? So much over here just doesn't make sense to me.

Last of all, if you want to understand why an electrical fire doesn't surprise me one bit, I have included two pictures taken by one of my Thailand friends. There are 10 ceiling fans in most classrooms in my school and the wiring in Thailand commonly/always looks like the pictures below.

So yep, that was a peek into my afternoon yesterday. I actually am much better today. Maybe in a couple weeks I will be able to mai pen rai my second Thailand fire. Probably will, actually. I could go the rest of my life without being near another fire and I will be happy. As I say this, I have the thought that I will be able to handle my next fire even better than this time. Sooooo not a comforting thought. And no worries, I plan on avoiding any and all fires for a long, long, long, long time. And at least my new school has heard of a fire drill before.

V-day/B-day, Either Way CELEBRATE!

Hello again! Well, not sure of anything especially noteworthy to tell you. Everyone's daily lives do have those shining, cute moments that if not recorded are soon forgotten, so I guess I can write some of those.

It is nearing Valentine's Day, which also happens to be Buddha day. Okay, so really it is a really long Thai name day, but if the calendar on my desk can call it Buddha Day, so can I. It is, simply put, a day to celebrate being a Buddhist. Or at least, that is all the knowledge of the day that has been passed on to me from my Thai teachers and friends. So a day to celebrate love and a day to celebrate Buddha. Temples, chocolates, flowers, exploding confetti balloons and no romantic couples getting mushy because PDA does not exist here.

Both last week and this week I have been teaching about Valentine's Day. I now know all the words to the Skidamarink song and the bingo-styled song H-E-A-R-T. Like I even find myself humming or singing it on the stairs or randomly walking back from buying water from 7-11. I have apparently lost all shame about singing in public since I keep catching myself doing in when my mind is wandering.

So anyways, this week my kids are making valentines and I told them to bring materials from home to decorate the cards with. What do my kids bring? Stickers, glue (like a tub of TOA, no like Elmer's or a simple glue stick), glitter, string, ribbon, pipe cleaners and fake flowers. Because why WOULDN'T you use all of those items to decorate half a sheet of paper with? And some of them really did use all of those materials on one card.

While my students are having fun thoroughly trashing the room with their 'decorating' I am walking around assisting with grammar, playing valentine songs, cutting this, opening that, cutting two desks apart that have been tied together, removing a small metallic possession from one of my students trying to light his friend's shirt on fire, mopping up giant puddles of glue from wooden desks, getting chased by students covered in glitter (and I do mean literally chased in multiple classes), all while being peppered with stickers. Tiny tots would come behind me or yell 'Teacher!' and when I would turn, would smack me on the head with a sticker. Seriously, it was like getting poked repeatedly. And of course, there were also the sneaky ones that would try to get away with putting them on my back or bum. Two kids tried to lift my shirt up and put one on my bellybutton. One succeeded. A girl today placed a lovely pink heart sticker strategically on one outstanding part of my chest, making it look like....well, I had to immediately remove said sticker. I am something to be decorated, apparently. Oh and have I mentioned that these stickers say the strangest things? Like one of them said 'I'm virgin.' Sometimes you really should understand things written in another language before using them to decorate a valentine card for your mother.

Tomorrow, I am doing a Valentine's surprise for my teachers since there is no school on V-day proper. Then this weekend, I am hanging with friends and watching a Marvel marathon. There is a right way to celebrate and I find this way appropriate. Last Valentine's Day, I spent time with friends and watched Beautiful Creatures. The one before that was spent sweating on a Biochem exam. I am not going back to a biochem exam and I have already re-watched Beautiful Creatures this week (which, side note, makes me realize how thoroughly I underappreciated southern accents), so Marvel marathon, French food and lots of things on sticks, sounds like a good V-day to me. (Things on sticks: well....anything comes on a stick here, but I am planning on pork, a big cheese dog, a veggie kabob and melon and pineapple). Fish on a stick is good too.

Besides V-day there is not much else. I play the game every morning of 'how few mosquitoes can you be trapped in the elevator with' and I routinely get molested by strangers. Today was an elderly lady who followed me part of the way home and caressed my calf. And if it is not being physically touched, it is having your picture taken while you are eating an ice cream cone or drinking out of a bottle (and not from a straw, which any female should be doing). Or getting my nose photographed because people want to have plastic surgery with my nose. And for the record, I do not respond to 'YOU!' I go by many things here but that shall never be one of them.

So yep. Crazy is the new normal, laughing is a blessing, children are all innocence and heart, and love is in the air, along with smells I have learned to identify and tolerate, spiders hanging off of trees, and having a whole bunch of strangers touch you every day. Add in a few surprises and BAM! there is life in Thailand. Happy V-day everyone! Hug someone and be glad hugging is allowed and be glad they speak your language so you can tell them anything and everything. Nite y'all.