I have a calendar on my wall (which I made out of printer paper) on which I have a countdown. The countdown started May 21st, when I arrived in Thailand, and it ends March 19th, which is the last day I am willing to stay in Thailand. Many people have asked me why I have these 10 pages taped to my wall, with various reasons for asking. My friends at home ask because to them 300, 200, 100 days sounds like a lifetime, and they can't fathom why I would want to look at that every day. My fellow TTC teachers ask because they can't fathom why I would want to think about leaving.
I can see both sides. There are some days when the little red number in the corner of each day is this soul crushing monster that might as well have little horns and a tail. Then there are other days where it doesn't seem like there will be enough days within these 10 months for me to experience everything I want to see and do. But there has never been a day in which I don't appreciate being able to look at that little number. On the soul crushing days I can look past the day's number and look to the next week, or the end of the month and see that that number isn't so bad. On the good days I can look back at all the days that have past and remember everything I've already done, and then look forward to think about all the things I plan to do. And no matter what kind of day it is, I can look at March see that little, red number 1, and the day next to it (which I have very liberally decorated with oranges and yellows if the huge, red HOME didn't catch enough attention) and remember that this is all temporary. I will not be in Thailand forever. I do not have to be a teacher for the rest of my life. There will be an end to this. I only have a limited amount of time here, so I need to soak in every experience I can and try to find something to enjoy even on the bad days. Not everyone gets the opportunity to have an experience like this, and appreciation for even the little things that make Thailand special is key. I have been here 100 days. They have been full of new experiences (too many to count), laughter, and tears (a lot of these too). Let's see what I can do with my next 200.
0 Comments
It has been a busy past few weeks in Thailand. Since my last post I've been to a temple that is shaped like an elephant, hiked up a mountain, ran a 5K, and been almost deported to Laos. In between those events I have been teaching (when I'm actually in Chaiyaphum) and watching a lot of Netflix. Life here isn't always excitement and drama, but that's really all that is worth writing about, right? The first exciting event was the Elephant Temple. It has a proper Thai name, but I can't remember it, let alone spell it. So it's the Elephant Temple. One of the other TTC teachers here had already been, and he had said it was absolutely mind blowing. So when Kiwi (my Thai co-teacher) said she would take me and a couple of the other teachers I jumped at the opportunity. We left school early that day (never a disappointing thing) and went to the "temple". I put the quotations around it because it is not truly a temple, but more a museum of art dedicated to Buddhism. This is the front of the temple. You enter underneath the trunk. Almost all of the outside was mosaic. One thing that was particularly interesting to me was the mash up of mythologies and religions that were part of this "temple". For example, this is Cerberus, who according to Greek mythology guarded the gates of Hades. There were also paintings that depicted Poseidon, as well as sculptures of the astrological signs. This was their representation of my astrology sign, Libra. The artists also added in some modern touches, like this biker dude, who for some reason has a small, swimmer child on the back. About a week or so after I went to the Elephant Temple, I got to go to one of Chaiyaphum's most famous destinations. There is a mountain in Chaiyaphum were a special kind of tulip called the Dok Krachiao, or Siam Tulip, blooms once a year. The mountain is covered in fields of them, and the hike up the mountain is well worth it. They have a festival to celebrate, called the Blooming Krachiao Flower Festival, and it is a popular tourist spot for Thais. It was nice to see that farong are not the only ones who can be amazed by the beauty in the Thailand. The flowers grow so high up in the mountain that we were surrounded by clouds. This past week was definitely one of the busiest I have experienced since coming to Thailand. Emily, Jessica, and I left Chaiyaphum Friday night to head to Lampang. We had signed up for the Mae Moh Marathon, which was Sunday morning, and we were supposed to be leaving Lampang Monday to renew our visas in Chiang Mai. The 5K was a success, and by success I mean I made it to the finish line without passing out and with a decent time (I am definitely not a runner). Can you tell in my face I had to get up at 4:30 A.M. for that? Lol When we got back to our hotel we learned that we were not actually going to Chiang Mai, but instead taking a quick little trip into Laos. Apparently the immigration laws had changed in the two months we had been here, and they would no longer renew our Immigrant B visas, meaning we were about to be in Thailand illegally. So one overnight van trip later we arrived in Laos. I wasn't too upset about this free trip to a new country, and a new stamp (and Laos visa!) on my passport though. We stayed in the capital of Laos, Vientiane so that we could go to the embassy and make a quick turn around back to Thailand. After we filed our requests for new Thai visas (this time Immigrant O visas), we had a good amount of time to spend doing whatever we wanted. My roommate and I decided we didn't want to waste this time in Laos, so we spent the day sight seeing. One of the views from the top of the structure in the first picture. Walking along the Mekong River. Laos tip: do not try to get into the Presidential Palace...the guards really don't like it. It has been an amazing past few weeks, and I came out the other side with some beautiful pictures, memories, and some pretty cool new additions to my passport!
|
AuthorGeorgia girl teaching English in Thailand Archives
January 2017
Categories |