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With about two (honestly, closer to three) full weeks back in the US it seemed like it was finally time to wrap up and say goodbye to the blog.
I finished teaching at the end of March and spent April backpacking with various friends through Thailand. The good-byes in Khon Kaen, or really the good-bye to Khon Kaen, were hard. There were countless moments throughout my last few weeks where I was realizing that all aspects of my daily life had gone from being my firsts to my lasts. I was able to reflect on the fact that I had reached such a level of comfort in a space that I never thought I would reach. The end of the actual act of teaching was honestly a blur. A COVID outbreak at my school forced the remaining days of school online and canceled our end of the year party which made it a difficult goodbye to my students. Some of my classes I was able to say goodbye to before the online switch was made but in general my final goodbye to my students (and really to being a teacher) felt very anticlimactic. My school, however, was able to provide me with a bit more of a goodbye before my final day of teaching. After a kindergarten graduation I was required to attend, my school threw me a small celebration. My co-teacher, director and school owner all gave me speeches and presents which allowed me to have some sort of closure but obviously not the type of closure I had hoped to have.
Hours after my anti-climatic last official day of teaching I packed up my bags, returned my bike (a rough goodbye) and headed off on my month of travels. I went from Khon Kaen to Chiang Mai to numerous beaches/islands and even managed a short (really, really chaotic) trip to Vietnam. While I could regale you with stories of the various travels, the special new connections made, the older connections further solidified, the unfortunate mishaps faced, I’m not. That would take up far too much space and I am pretty sure nobody cares enough other than me to hear every single detail of every story (though I did throw my top vacation pictures at the top). It was not the most important part of it for me. Obviously the month of travels was everything I could have wanted and I take away with it a lifetime of memories but the month also proved to me how much I had grown being here. All throughout what I was doing I felt comfortable and confident. I knew what I was doing. Mishaps were not as big of a deal and figuring out how to get around got easier. It just kept hitting me that I was able to do things I did not think I would have been able to when I arrived. When I got to Thailand I was definitely not in the right space to fully embrace where I was and I can confidently say that I ended my time in the complete opposite way. I was able to realize so many things about myself and be able to take stay backs and just enjoy life more.
And now that I am back in Maine and have been here for a few weeks I am really missing Thailand. Adjusting back to life at home has not been the easiest (hence the mild delay on this post). Just as they did when I arrived in Thailand, priorities/expectations have had to shift and “real life” isn’t the same as it was when I left it. Reverse culture is unfortunately very real. I am enjoying being back at home and having time to relax but that does not mean I do not wish I was still in Thailand but I knew I kinda had to leave (still kinda sad).
I have enjoyed sharing my successes, failures, growth and woes on this platform and I’ll miss sharing slightly sporadic updates on this platform so thanks for sticking around :)
And as for what’s next? A new big move to Colorado to start law school!
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