Today is the four year anniversary of the tsunami (12/26/2004). I'll just ask you to think of the many people who did not make it and especially those that survived and lost so many loved ones. Some of our children are orphans from the tsunami. One of my kindy kids was 4 months old and somehow survived. His mother died.
The Thais I've met here are incredibly generous and giving. A friend from England was here during the tsunami with his daughter and survived because they just happened to be at their hotel when it hit. Afterwards, men began moving many of the surviving women and children (westerners) to higher ground above Khao Lak. Thai women brought up rice and food ... even though many of them had just lost their own loved ones. These people are incredible. This is why my friend moved to Thailand.
I find that if I make even the smallest effort here, the kindness returned is much greater than what I gave. (Which makes me want to give even more!) The Thais at this school are amazing and very loving. Yesterday, even though they don't have a lot of money, a couple of my friends gave me gifts which brought me to tears. Another friend gave me a Christmas/New Year's card. She is a mother of one of our students and she also works here as a cleaning person. I really respect her. She speaks almost no English and still she went out of her way to buy me a card which was an incredible gift, especially knowing that they have so little.
I feel very grateful to be able to give something here but I think I'm getting the greatest gift in friendship and love.
I wish kindness and love for the victims of the tsunami and gratitude for the amazing spirit of the Thais.
Thursday, December 25, 2008
Wednesday, December 24, 2008
Four months ago today...
I left the USA on August 24th. It's hard to believe it's been four months. It took me a long time to make the decision to go abroad and once I did it took quite a bit longer to buy that plane ticket and leave my step-daughter and find a home for my dog and cat and quit my job and rent out my condo and leave my friends and boyfriend... Even though I really wanted this, the day I left I felt so much panic, so much of "what am I doing," "did I really know what I was getting myself into?" and "I'm NOT going because I can't get on that plane." I felt so many things that didn't make sense. I felt physically sick, angry, sad, scared... happy wasn't one of them that day! I know - you're probably thinking if it were you, you would have been ecstatic! It's difficult to leave though and to change everything in your life. You leave everything familiar, everything you love and all "your people."
The first three weeks were very challenging. I was excited to be here but missed home incredibly. The weather was so hot and rainy that I had to take a nap almost every day. The food was so different I had entertaining body moments and then include the change in bathroom styles and it was really entertaining! Few of those at the school spoke English and if they did they were very shy at first to communicate so I didn't know who else spoke English besides the British English teacher. Mobility is zero unless you walk or ask for a ride. I couldn't ride a motorbike and everything is at least 2-3 km away. By the time October rolled around I was finally feeling comfortable in my shoes here and adjusting... just in time for the children to take a one month break and go "home."
Then I was off to Nepal which was amazing and beautiful and hard too. I enjoyed much of it with the exception of a few miserable moments of being sick and hiking and hurting and being tired of walking. But overall I really enjoyed the culture and trekking. I had one major moment in Pokhara of "I don't want to be gone a year, this was (again) a stupid idea... I want to go home...." So, I rowed myself across the lake one morning very early, watched some monkeys on the shore and had a good cry. Something about sitting in a canoe in water and having it out is very good. Then I hiked the 2 miles uphill to a huge gompa and rowed back the 1-2 miles back across the lake. Seemed to cure my homesick blues and they haven't hit that hard again since.
Coming back from Nepal I felt like I was coming home to my place at Yaowawit. I am so much more comfortable here and enjoying my friends. The staff are wonderful. It is challenging, don't get me wrong. I'm working my tail off with Ina preparing lessons in our time off (evenings and afternoons and even some of those sunny beach weekends in Khao Lak I can be found in my bedroom writing things and making games). I'm trying to find creative ways to engage the kids and you have to stay ahead of that game. I'm also trying to be around more in the "off" time when the kids are playing so that we can speak English and enjoy each other outside of a formal class time. I get to know the older kids this way because I haven't had the opportunity to interact with them as much. By the end of the day I'm exhausted. And then add in the things I'm doing for myself with the online course and grad app and blogging (yes this is the fun part!) and writing e-mails. Thank you so much for your mail and e-mails by the way - I really enjoy keeping in touch with you.
Now, December 24th, I'm very glad I got on that plane. I can't believe it's been four months. I'm pretty confident the rest of the year will be great as well but I'm nervous about where I'll go next. I'm researching things a bit to figure that all out but it will turn out fine.
So... tonight on a night that I would normally be at my friend's house enjoying a delicious Christmas Eve dinner and opening gifts with Larry and Gail and Janna and Kyle and Victor and friends (and maybe even Lauren!), and making a ruckus fit to be heard all the way back to my place cuz they're SO fun, I'm here in Thailand thinking of you! I'm happy that many of you are doing well, thinking of those that aren't, and grateful that you are my friends and that you are sharing this with me.
I did not send gifts or cards this year because of logistics and cost so please understand if Santa Joy did not visit you this year. I am thinking of you though and hope you have the best of Christmas and that the snow in Seattle and Portland doesn't hinder too many plans. Enjoy your family, sneak a kiss under the mistle toe for me and eat lots of ham and pie. (Cuz I'm still eating rice ... sigh!).
I love you! Merry Christmas!
The first three weeks were very challenging. I was excited to be here but missed home incredibly. The weather was so hot and rainy that I had to take a nap almost every day. The food was so different I had entertaining body moments and then include the change in bathroom styles and it was really entertaining! Few of those at the school spoke English and if they did they were very shy at first to communicate so I didn't know who else spoke English besides the British English teacher. Mobility is zero unless you walk or ask for a ride. I couldn't ride a motorbike and everything is at least 2-3 km away. By the time October rolled around I was finally feeling comfortable in my shoes here and adjusting... just in time for the children to take a one month break and go "home."
Then I was off to Nepal which was amazing and beautiful and hard too. I enjoyed much of it with the exception of a few miserable moments of being sick and hiking and hurting and being tired of walking. But overall I really enjoyed the culture and trekking. I had one major moment in Pokhara of "I don't want to be gone a year, this was (again) a stupid idea... I want to go home...." So, I rowed myself across the lake one morning very early, watched some monkeys on the shore and had a good cry. Something about sitting in a canoe in water and having it out is very good. Then I hiked the 2 miles uphill to a huge gompa and rowed back the 1-2 miles back across the lake. Seemed to cure my homesick blues and they haven't hit that hard again since.
Coming back from Nepal I felt like I was coming home to my place at Yaowawit. I am so much more comfortable here and enjoying my friends. The staff are wonderful. It is challenging, don't get me wrong. I'm working my tail off with Ina preparing lessons in our time off (evenings and afternoons and even some of those sunny beach weekends in Khao Lak I can be found in my bedroom writing things and making games). I'm trying to find creative ways to engage the kids and you have to stay ahead of that game. I'm also trying to be around more in the "off" time when the kids are playing so that we can speak English and enjoy each other outside of a formal class time. I get to know the older kids this way because I haven't had the opportunity to interact with them as much. By the end of the day I'm exhausted. And then add in the things I'm doing for myself with the online course and grad app and blogging (yes this is the fun part!) and writing e-mails. Thank you so much for your mail and e-mails by the way - I really enjoy keeping in touch with you.
Now, December 24th, I'm very glad I got on that plane. I can't believe it's been four months. I'm pretty confident the rest of the year will be great as well but I'm nervous about where I'll go next. I'm researching things a bit to figure that all out but it will turn out fine.
So... tonight on a night that I would normally be at my friend's house enjoying a delicious Christmas Eve dinner and opening gifts with Larry and Gail and Janna and Kyle and Victor and friends (and maybe even Lauren!), and making a ruckus fit to be heard all the way back to my place cuz they're SO fun, I'm here in Thailand thinking of you! I'm happy that many of you are doing well, thinking of those that aren't, and grateful that you are my friends and that you are sharing this with me.
I did not send gifts or cards this year because of logistics and cost so please understand if Santa Joy did not visit you this year. I am thinking of you though and hope you have the best of Christmas and that the snow in Seattle and Portland doesn't hinder too many plans. Enjoy your family, sneak a kiss under the mistle toe for me and eat lots of ham and pie. (Cuz I'm still eating rice ... sigh!).
I love you! Merry Christmas!
Tuesday, December 23, 2008
Christmas Eve & Christmas Day
I wish you the best of both. I'm thinking of home and all of the people I love. Larry and Gail, wish I could be there this Christmas Eve. Next year.... Sigh... Sad... But not sad... I am happy to spend the holiday with these awesome kiddos but I also miss spending it with all of you. I miss the hectic-ness and the fun spirit of Christmas and Christmas traditions and gatherings and enjoying my friends.
Lauren, I miss spending time with you doing Christmas things! Cutting down the Christmas tree, reading "Twas the night before Christmas..." and singing and decorating and driving around to Christmas lights... and pictures of YOU sitting on Santa's lap! I love you bug!
Loves.
Lauren, I miss spending time with you doing Christmas things! Cutting down the Christmas tree, reading "Twas the night before Christmas..." and singing and decorating and driving around to Christmas lights... and pictures of YOU sitting on Santa's lap! I love you bug!
Loves.
Thursday, December 18, 2008
More pics from the islands...
Sooay mak mak! Very beautiful...
Yes Sherri... I finally found a turtle!
This is Richie an Australian we met on the boat.
I only got one pic to upload earlier. This one's from the rock climb on Duck Island.
Yes Sherri... I finally found a turtle!
This is Richie an Australian we met on the boat.
I only got one pic to upload earlier. This one's from the rock climb on Duck Island.
December 14 - Similan Islands
It's taken me about 2 hours to post the pics for these two blogs so I've split the blog posts up... I'll post a third/fourth one with more later... (I also need to finish a chapter for an online course I'm taking and work on my app for grad school... SIGH). It's nice to be able to get away to beaches like this on the weekend!
My friend Susan from the US is in Thailand right now. She was in India for five weeks and then spent time in north Thailand volunteering at an elephant sanctuary (I'll have to ask for the link so I can put in a plug... it sounded really good)! She came down to visit this weekend and unfortunately I can't take much time off to travel right now and I had to do my visa run on Saturday. UGH. BUT I did get to spend a couple days with her which was really nice. I also met her friend Chad from the elephant sanctuary.
Saturday night we had some drinks and dinner and then crashed. Sunday we were up *slightly* early... to meet up with our tour group to go to the Similan Islands (Chad & Susan had booked this by the time I got back from Ranong and it was a GREAT idea). This is something I had previously opted out of doing because I'm trying not to spend very much money. Chad got us a great deal and even the starting price wasn't bad! it's a lot of fun and SO beautiful so if you're going to Khao Lak, I highly recommend a trip to Similan Islands.
Waiting in the morning. Starting on the left: me (nah really?), Chad, Leer(?) & Britt (a couple from Finland that Chad met the night before) and Susan
I opted for a seat at the front of the boat in the wind. I'm not good with being inside a boat (this one or the one to Ranong!) and I love the wind and sun. These are two of our tour guides.
Susan and Chad inside.
The day was spent going to various islands and snorkeling in about 5-7 meters of gorgeous blue water. You can see coral and Chad pointed out a school of cuddle fish (I wouldn't otherwise have noticed or known what they were!). The boat stops in 5-7 meters of water and you jump off the boat to snorkel.
Susan and I
Lunch was spent on one of the main islands. We had about an hour to eat, swim, walk the beach...
In the afternoon we snorkeled more and then stopped for an hour on Duck Island, named such because a giant rock at the entrance to the bay looks like a duck head. We also did a hike - barefoot - up huge boulders. The view was stunning.
The ride back was great. I enjoyed my favorite seat in the house. Up high in the front in the wind. It's a pretty wild ride when the waves are bigger. LOVE it! Probably my favorite part of the whole day!
We got back about 4-5pm and met up with Ina and a guy from the guest house - Chris is a hoot! Dinner was at Everyday Restaurant (ask for Ning - she's awesome and very sweet) by Sri Guest house.
Susan was staying at Yaowawit Hotel Sunday night so the three of us caught a taxi back from Khao Lak (a 1-1.5 hour drive one way). I wouldn't pay 1000 baht so we walked on until Chad found one that would do 800 baht for the 3 of us. Yay! I know, I know... it's $6 but here... it's 200 baht! :-)
I'll post more pictures later... gotta run eat dinner
My friend Susan from the US is in Thailand right now. She was in India for five weeks and then spent time in north Thailand volunteering at an elephant sanctuary (I'll have to ask for the link so I can put in a plug... it sounded really good)! She came down to visit this weekend and unfortunately I can't take much time off to travel right now and I had to do my visa run on Saturday. UGH. BUT I did get to spend a couple days with her which was really nice. I also met her friend Chad from the elephant sanctuary.
Saturday night we had some drinks and dinner and then crashed. Sunday we were up *slightly* early... to meet up with our tour group to go to the Similan Islands (Chad & Susan had booked this by the time I got back from Ranong and it was a GREAT idea). This is something I had previously opted out of doing because I'm trying not to spend very much money. Chad got us a great deal and even the starting price wasn't bad! it's a lot of fun and SO beautiful so if you're going to Khao Lak, I highly recommend a trip to Similan Islands.
Waiting in the morning. Starting on the left: me (nah really?), Chad, Leer(?) & Britt (a couple from Finland that Chad met the night before) and Susan
I opted for a seat at the front of the boat in the wind. I'm not good with being inside a boat (this one or the one to Ranong!) and I love the wind and sun. These are two of our tour guides.
Susan and Chad inside.
The day was spent going to various islands and snorkeling in about 5-7 meters of gorgeous blue water. You can see coral and Chad pointed out a school of cuddle fish (I wouldn't otherwise have noticed or known what they were!). The boat stops in 5-7 meters of water and you jump off the boat to snorkel.
Susan and I
Lunch was spent on one of the main islands. We had about an hour to eat, swim, walk the beach...
In the afternoon we snorkeled more and then stopped for an hour on Duck Island, named such because a giant rock at the entrance to the bay looks like a duck head. We also did a hike - barefoot - up huge boulders. The view was stunning.
The ride back was great. I enjoyed my favorite seat in the house. Up high in the front in the wind. It's a pretty wild ride when the waves are bigger. LOVE it! Probably my favorite part of the whole day!
We got back about 4-5pm and met up with Ina and a guy from the guest house - Chris is a hoot! Dinner was at Everyday Restaurant (ask for Ning - she's awesome and very sweet) by Sri Guest house.
Susan was staying at Yaowawit Hotel Sunday night so the three of us caught a taxi back from Khao Lak (a 1-1.5 hour drive one way). I wouldn't pay 1000 baht so we walked on until Chad found one that would do 800 baht for the 3 of us. Yay! I know, I know... it's $6 but here... it's 200 baht! :-)
I'll post more pictures later... gotta run eat dinner
Border run pics Dec 12
The start of a great weekend! This is Ina the volunteer from Norway. We are riding in the back of a truck on the way to Khao Lak.
Fiona and Steve and I went to a beautiful beach - very quiet and too far for the tourists to walk to - and enjoyed a swim and a beer Friday night. Mmm... I love swimming and Fiona and Steve are quite fun.
Saturday was the day for going to Myanmar to get a 15 day extension for my time in Thailand (I only got a 30 day allowance coming in from Nepal because I decided the Thai embassy was too much of a hassle to get to in Kathmandu... NOT a wise choice... now I have to go and do it anyways in Malaysia!)
Thailand recently changed the law to only allow 15 days instead of 30 days on re-entry when you cross a land border into Thailand. I went with Steve and a couple others from Khao Lak in a full minivan (the others came up from Phuket). This is a long days trip... starts about 8:00 am, you drive for 3 hours with one stop for breakfast. Once in Ranong you get in line to have your passport stamped for exiting Thailand (30+ min) then you get on a big boat via jumping across a number of long boats (I think this was the best part of the trip)! and take a 45 minute boat ride across (one stop to make sure noone is being smuggled across). Once in Myanmar you have a 30-60 minute wait to have your passport stamped for Myanmar. Then you get back on the boat and ride back to Ranong, Thailand to wait another 30-60 minutes to have your passport stamped again. Then a quick lunch in Ranong ... keep in mind you're near a very polluted river that smells a bit... and then a 3 hour drive back to Khao Lok. AND a movie...Annaconda 3. WOW. The cake topper however was when the driver turned on Britney Spears with "Oops I did it again..." AAARRARRARRGRGGGGGGHHHHH!
The trip isn't that bad it's just really boring and to only get 15 days is a bummer. I now have to look at flying/busing to Malaysia to get a 60 day visa. Oh darn, I have to go to another country! :-)
This picture is from the boat as we left Ranong, Thailand on the way to Myanmar.
This is near where we landed in Myanmar.
Fiona and Steve and I went to a beautiful beach - very quiet and too far for the tourists to walk to - and enjoyed a swim and a beer Friday night. Mmm... I love swimming and Fiona and Steve are quite fun.
Saturday was the day for going to Myanmar to get a 15 day extension for my time in Thailand (I only got a 30 day allowance coming in from Nepal because I decided the Thai embassy was too much of a hassle to get to in Kathmandu... NOT a wise choice... now I have to go and do it anyways in Malaysia!)
Thailand recently changed the law to only allow 15 days instead of 30 days on re-entry when you cross a land border into Thailand. I went with Steve and a couple others from Khao Lak in a full minivan (the others came up from Phuket). This is a long days trip... starts about 8:00 am, you drive for 3 hours with one stop for breakfast. Once in Ranong you get in line to have your passport stamped for exiting Thailand (30+ min) then you get on a big boat via jumping across a number of long boats (I think this was the best part of the trip)! and take a 45 minute boat ride across (one stop to make sure noone is being smuggled across). Once in Myanmar you have a 30-60 minute wait to have your passport stamped for Myanmar. Then you get back on the boat and ride back to Ranong, Thailand to wait another 30-60 minutes to have your passport stamped again. Then a quick lunch in Ranong ... keep in mind you're near a very polluted river that smells a bit... and then a 3 hour drive back to Khao Lok. AND a movie...Annaconda 3. WOW. The cake topper however was when the driver turned on Britney Spears with "Oops I did it again..." AAARRARRARRGRGGGGGGHHHHH!
The trip isn't that bad it's just really boring and to only get 15 days is a bummer. I now have to look at flying/busing to Malaysia to get a 60 day visa. Oh darn, I have to go to another country! :-)
This picture is from the boat as we left Ranong, Thailand on the way to Myanmar.
This is near where we landed in Myanmar.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)