I Miss Thailand!

My Last Post

Well, this is it! Now that my Thailand adventure has officially come to a close, my blog will, too. I'm glad I could share and catalog my experiences over the past six months. I especially enjoyed comments along the way from friends and family. Thanks for reading!

Home, Sweet Home

After over 24 hours of traveling, I have finally arrived in Houston. Though I'm already missing Thai food, my Thai friends (especially the Methongs), and the laid-back pace of Thailand, I'm glad to have the comforts of home. My bed is awesome. Unfortunately, I have spent the majority of these last 48 hours in bed since it's so darn luxurious and jet lag has screwed up my sleep schedule. I managed to make a trip to Rice for some catching up since a lot of alums are in town for Beer Bike. Tomorrow I have a practice walk for the Avon Walk for Breast Cancer. The Walk is my latest project. I'm just over halfway to my goal of raising $2000. I think this last stretch of fundraising will be the hardest, but I'll give it my best shot before the event on April 12-13. You can check my progress (and donate) at:

www.tinyurl.com/3bjkc6

I've shortened the website for convenience, though it leads to the same place as the other website from a previous blog. Also, I've brought back 50 scarves from Thailand that I plan to use as a fundraiser. Though I'm not sure where to go or whom to ask, I'm hoping to receive a $10 donation for each scarf. Any ideas? We'll see how that works out... I'm modeling one of the scarves in the picture above while pointing to my home for the last six months- Nakhon Chaisi, Nakhon Pathom (just west of Bangkok). Well, that's the update for now. Stay tuned- I think my next blog post will be my last!

Bangkok Wrap-Up

All ten ETAs reunited in Bangkok for wrap-up sessions on Friday and Monday. It was a blast seeing everyone again and swapping stories. Our discussions helped put the experience into perspective. We all agreed that it will be interesting to see how many of our new-found Thai ways stick once we're fully immersed in western culture once again. On Friday evening, we went to a nice dinner at the Royal Turf Club. Though we had a lovely view overlooking the racetrack and golf course, it started to rain shortly after we arrived. We tucked our table into a corner under some eaves and managed to have a nice meal, complete with baked duck tongue. Fellow ETA Katie and I even rocked out and impressed some newly-elected Thai officials with our karaoke skills. Over the weekend, I squeezed in two final massages before packing my bags and heading to the airport.

Right back where we started from...

All ten Fulbright ETAs have returned to Bangkok for our wrap-up session, and each of us shares the same feeling of disbelief that we've come to this point. I said goodbye to the students, teachers, and staff at Pattarayan and moved my mounds of stuff to the Suksit Nives International Dorm at Chulalongkorn University. Before I left the school, I hurriedly finished an English brochure of the town, an 'assignment' from Ajahn Penny. I've decided to post a jpeg of the brochure on this blog so that you can read/see a little about the town. Though I ran out of time before I could perfect the brochure, I was glad to leave behind something substantive for the school. I also left behind some books, resources, and cultural items for the school library and English Department. My students also received a couple tokens from the US: potato pins from Idaho, pennies, and little personalized notes. It was quite a task assembling these gifts since I have so many students, but the smiles on their faces made it totally worth it. My students surprised me with little presents, notes, and Anime-style drawings of me. I was touched... I'm really am going to miss them!

Estimated Time of Arrival in HOUSTON- 5:21pm, Wednesday, March 12

It's Countdown Time

Updates... last Monday I had a surprise photo session with the two Chinese teachers and three students. The students (three of my best in M3) weren't messing around when it came to taking the pictures. We went to a photo studio and had backdrops and everything. I felt bad I wasn't dressed in my best, but it certainly was fun.
Tuesday was Zhou Bo's birthday. He's the Chinese teacher who, like me, won't be coming back to Pattarayan next year (the other three foreign teachers are planning on teaching for another year). We had a great time eating on the Tajeen River as the sunset... a last supper of sorts with the teachers, bringing sadness tinged with anticipation.
On Sunday a handful of teachers had a field trip around the area. First stop- Damnoen Saduk, the famous floating market in Ratchaburi. Though this was my third trip to the tourist-packed place, it was my first time perusing the vendors' trinkets by boat. Since I was traveling with eight Asian teachers, they insisted I wear this ridiculous hat to protect my white face from the sun. After the floating market, we went to a market by the sea in Samutsongkram, the Ampawa market on a canal, and a seafood restaurant in Samutsakorn. In the evening, I had a Thanksgiving-size feast with the Methongs- Pirapong, Waree, and Peach.
Monday was graduation day for the students in M3 and M6 (9th and 12th grade). We had an assembly in the hall. A Thai celebration wouldn't be complete without lots of food and karaoke. I thought it was amazing that the school endorsed placing flaming (huge flames!) pots of tom yam kung in front of the students. In the evening, I went to a Maroon 5 concert in Bangkok with Peach and her brother Joe. I bought the tickets a long time ago as a 'thank you' for all the family has done for me. The concert was really fun and a great way to get excited about going back to the US. Highlights: "Sunday Morning" and "Won't Go Home Without You"

The Best of the Tests

SOME HIGHLIGHTS FROM GRADING TEST PAPERS
Q: Describe the picture (above).
- a boy a god
- man is toll love women fat
- He tell. She smell.
- He is smart. She is beautiful.
- She is shot.
- It he and she love so good.
Q: Name these shapes (circle, triangle, heart).
- clicer; sercler; code; squese
- tigerangle; tiger; caper; spatbar (huh?)
- hate; love; hatbeet; hats; health; head (coincidentally, this answer isn't too far from the translation of "jai," the Thai word for 'heart' and 'mind')
Q: Where do you live?
- I live don't.
- I live animal. (and similarly) I'm live rabbit.
- Pattharayan Wittaya (the name of the school)
Q: Fill in the chart. (Drinks- favorite / like / dislike).
- hamdarker (dislike)
- bark (dislike)
- tree (favorite)
- mike; walter (like- maybe milk and water?)
- bake cat (dislike- do you think this means they tried it?)
- grape juice (favorite & like & dislike... same for all 3)
Q: How old are you?
- I am three teeth.
Q: What month is it?
- Yes.
- Febtember
- I'm 50.
Q: What do you know about Christmas?
- I know Christmas like fish and bear.
- I eat Christmas and cantacan (candycane?)
- I'm single in Christmas.
- I do chocolat
- crak
- I don't know. I am Tiwakorn.