Farewell to Thailand

I'm sitting in the Bangkok airport as I type this. Soon I will be in the air and on my way back to the US. The last couple weeks have been a whirlwind of getting things together and organized along with saying goodbye to friends and students. I was really fortunate and saw many of my old students - some unexpectedly! I saw two of my former students and their son as I was crossing into Myanmar to extend my time in Thailand. It was very random, but so wonderful to see them before I left. I was also able to talk to some on the phone, and email.

It has been a little rough to realize that Thailand will no longer be my home - but I am looking forward to what the future has in store.

Here are some pictures from the last hurrah this past week. I got a surprise party with Pad Thai, ice cream, cookies, a present, a card signed by all, and great decorations. I am so thankful to the awesome teachers and students who put it together and made me feel so good!

Beautiful decorations

Delicious food

Singing

I will miss hearing the beautiful voices of the students every week. And I'll miss amazing Thai food. So many things I will miss, but I sincerely hope I will be back!

Shout Out to My Wheels!

For the last four years I had the pleasure to ride a wonderful motorbike. Now that my time here in Thailand has come to an end, I thought I would post a picture. I really loved this bike. I had many good experiences (and some not so good) and loved the freedom it gave me.

My Wheels

Not only was it fun, it was also cheap. I could fill up for about $4. An oil change cost about $3 and other little issues were just as inexpensive. I'm sure I will miss this aspect once I am back in the States and have a car.

Fishing!!!

One thing I love most about being here in Thailand is that I feel like I get to try a variety of new things. At least things that are new to me. I also feel like things happen spontaneously and that life is rarely dull. Another thing I like about my life here, is that I am around quite a few people every day - students primarily - and I find them interesting. I feel like I can learn a lot from them. It follows, then, that I like going out and doing things with students, which I got to do yesterday.

I have been here for five years and never gone fishing. I would hear about students going fishing after the fact, but I never got to go. Well, yesterday a small group of us went fishing up one of the small rivers near the farm. We mostly used a net, but one of the girls was an expert at using her hands to catch the fish. She would just reach her hand under the rocks and - snatch!

My contribution was throwing out the net a few times, dashing to hold down the net, and taking pictures.

The river we fished in.

Bancha dragging the net in.

Pulling the fish out of the net.

The initial catch.

Finding fish under the rocks.

Figuring out what was producing some big bubbles (a crab).

Learning how to throw the net.
(First time not so good - second time okay!)

We had maybe 25 small fish by the end. The students put them in soup that night for dinner. After this experience, I can finally see how fishing is a sport. We were all on the same team, against the fish I guess. And whenever someone got one we would cheer! Not a bad way to spend a Sunday afternoon!