I’m at a point in my time here where it’s time to start thinking about the end of the semester, and I’m beginning to finalize my plans for returning home in October.

This is likely my last quiet weekend in Phanom before I leave Thailand (I have a lot of exciting travel plans between now and the time I land in the States), and I want to make the most of it.  Amidst all of my excitement about going back home, I am trying to capture as many memories in Thailand as possible and catalog all of the things that I will miss.

My Lovely Scooter

While it’s true that a bicycle would have accelerated my weight loss even more, I am very grateful for my scooter.  It’s actually the first vehicle in my possession that I haven’t named, and I think I’ll have to change that soon (suggestions welcome).  It’s satisfying that something that intimidated me so much at first has become such an asset to my life here.  While I have no desire to get one once I return home (New England is not a hospitable climate for open-air transportation), I will miss my purple scooter very much once I’m gone.

Prices

It will be a shock to return to western prices, that much I know for sure.  Here I can get an amazing dinner for less than a dollar, I can travel to Bangkok for three dollars, and a week’s worth of gas for my scooter costs about the same.  I may not be getting paid very much, but it’s more than enough to live on here.  Plus, comparing the prices here to the prices at home is like a little mood boost every day!

The Food; Oh, the Food!

Everything may be cheaper here, but that by no means makes the food any less delicious.  While anybody who has spoken to me in the past two months knows, I desperately miss cheese and other western foods, but I shouldn’t complain.  Even the school lunch is great here!

I’ll miss my favorite fried rice stall, tom yum noodles, coconut ice cream, sweet roti with bananas, the fried chicken on a stick in the amazing sauce at school, the street-side crepe stalls, stir-fried kale with pork belly, papaya salad, barbecued pork, tom kha gai bubbling atop a nest of coals, the amazing fruit, the 75 cent bags (yes, bags) of Thai iced tea, home-cooked meals from my Thai  friends and so much more.  I’m getting hungry just thinking about it!

My Students

If possible, I think I’ll miss my kids even more than the food.  Thai teenagers may complain about their homework as much as their American counterparts, but there’s none of the angst.  Their happiness and positivity is contagious and they make me smile every day.  It doesn’t hurt that some of them call me beautiful all the time!

Just a quick plug:  you too can have your life improved by a Thai kid.  There are Thai students who would love the opportunity to visit the US and you can make those dreams a reality by becoming a host family.  There are some students from Thailand who will be unable to go this semester unless host families can be found right away.

I’ll leave you with some pictures from my trip to Ko Samet a few weeks ago:

Look, I made a friend!