A few last words from Thailand….

Here I am in the Bangkok airport. Flying home. Wow. In some ways it seems like I was just arriving in this foreign land and now it all seems so much more familiar. It’s a weird feeling. I think I’m ready to go home. I’ve had some amazing moments here and some challenging times, but I’ve learned a lot. I’ve learned to appreciate some things that I don’t think I fully appreciated until they didn’t exist anymore. I’ve composed a short list of things that I am really going to appreciate when I get home:

T he fact that my father works a 9-5 job that allows him the weekends off. My host father worked from like 8am-10pm almost every day and did not get the weekends off. His time off varied each week. My host brothers did not often get to hang out with their father because they did not have the same days off school as he had off work. I’m so thankful that my dad has off of work on the weekends and is able to eat dinner with my family.

2. I appreciate my brother a lot. I’ve always loved him but I think I value him more now. He actually talks to me. My host brothers very very rarely talked to me or did anything with me. My real brother actually talks to me and we are able to do things together. Not the case in my host family.

3. I also appreciate my mom. She lets me talk and talk and talk and she actually talks back to me. It’s a conversation. My host mother didn’t talk very much to me. She did on occasion, but it was never more than a 10 minute conversation at max. I love the fact that I can talk to my mom.

4. I appreciate having friends. I’ve made some really good friends on this trip, but no one compares to my friends from home that have known me for a while. I really value having that good friend to just talk to when I need to or even have the ability to call on the phone.

5. I love cheese. Cheese is something that I didn’t have often in Thailand. I probably only had it like 4 or 5 times…at max. It’s something I definitely can’t wait to eat when I get home.

6. I really appreciate my Select Comfort Bed..all the beds in Thailand…and I mean all of them, feel like you are sleeping on a brick, they are that hard. I love that have a bed that has a little bit of softness to it. My back will love sleeping on that again.

7. I also appreciate the ability to just run to the store if I need something. Living with my host family I didn’t have that option or that freedom. If I needed something I had to figure out a way to get it during my lunch hour. Stuff wasn’t as easily accessible as it is to just get in the car and drive to Walgreens.

8. I also really appreciate that I can read. In Thailand most signs are written in Thai and some are also written in English. I got a little taste of what it would be like to be illiterate. It’s a challenge. Sometimes I take for granted that I can just look around and read all the signs. Here I couldn’t do that.

9. I am glad I am a native English speaker. English is such a dominate language. If I had come here speaking Spanish or French or any other language I would have had a very difficult time. People here learn English, not those other languages. When things are written in 2 languages, they are written in Thai and English, not the other languages.

That’s a little taste of some things that I’ve learned while I’ve been here. Everything wasn’t easy, but it’s another adventure that I survived. I know many of you were praying for me and I am so thankful for that. I know my parents are too. My mom and brother came to visit this past week and they got to experience parts of Thailand and places I’ve been living for the past 4 months. It was really cool to be able to share a small part of this with them.

I got to see Thailand through fresh eyes again. I got to see things as if I had just arrived instead of being here for 4 months already. Things that I had gotten used to and were no longer different to me. Here is a small list of things that I’ve grown accustomed to seeing for the past 4 months and forgot how “not normal” they really are:

1. To see loose wires hanging off of telephone poles

2. To ride in the back of a truck with no seat belts

3. Saying “Sa-wa-dii-kha” whenever I greet someone…it’s become like second nature to me

4. Eating with a spoon and a fork…no knife

5. Having egg with almost every meal

6. Being hot and sweaty almost constantly

7. Seeing Asians all over

8. Putting the hotel key in a slot right inside to door to control the electricity

9. Hearing and now starting to speak broken English

10. Seeing signs to McDonalds delivery service

11. Driving on the other side of the car and road

12. Only drinking bottled water

13. Paying only 60 cents for a taxi ride across town

These are things that had been a regular part of my life for the past 4 months.

It’s crazy to think that in just 3 hours I’ll be boarding a plane and leaving Thailand. As I write this I’m in the Bangkok airport waiting to depart for Taipei and then from Taipei to Anchorage and then finally the last stop will be New York. My next update will be from my house in New Jersey!