Going Away Party number 1

These last few months I've been feeling more and more ready to finish up my time here in Thailand and move on the the next chapter of my life. It has been a challenging experience during which I have grown in ways I could never have imagined. Every possible emotion has surfaced at one point or another in intense ways that don't come about as often at home.

My focus these last months has been on what is next. I knew that with change comes some amount of mourning for what has passed, but I didn't expect to have extreme emotions in this area as I began my journey out of Thailand. It is time to move on and I feel so ready for what's next.

However, after my emergency journey home to be with my father, I have returned filled with only positive and joyful emotions about this place. Those things that were rubbing me raw before I left don't seem to matter any more. There is no time to start new projects. Whatever impact I had the potential to make has been made or not made by this point. I am focused now only on enjoying those meaningful relationships in my life here.

This past weekend, I traveled with the group of English teachers that I have worked the most with here. We took a river barge down the Chao Praya River, one of the main rivers of Thailand. It was a wonderful, educational and fun weekend. However, this story must be saved for a later time. Now I want to tell about what has happened today.

I had been informed on Saturday that this morning the students would "say goodbye" to me at the school where I live. I thought that I would make a brief appearance at their morning meeting and be done with it. Clearly, I had a momentary lapse in memory about how well Thais do ceremony, pomp and circumstance!

What I did have was an entire school assemble dedicated entirely to expressing appreciation and love for me and my time here. It was So touching!


AJ Wasana, the teacher I teach with at this school, was the MC. She talked a little bit about my time here and then invited students up to present me with flowers and gifts. Each homeroom class had something to give me! The students walked on their knees, as is a traditional show of respect. The came up to me and presented me with

gifts

flowers

traditional Thai leis for made of fragrant jasmine

and even a picture of the Thai King and Queen for my wall in America!

Even a member of the community that surrounds the school attended to present me with a gift from the community

the traditional flower ring hand-made from beads

A couple of the students gave speeches on behalf of the entire student body and then I shared a few of my thoughts and feelings with them as well. I hadn't prepared a speech, but managed well enough in Thai so that they understood my message and emotions. The last speech was given by Po-oh (the principal). He is very sweet and sincere (quite an exception as Thai principals go!)

I politely receive Po-oh's speech

a group picture with the teachers after all the students presented their gifts to me

After most of the students left, one class stayed to each offer me individual gifts. This is the class that I feel closest to. I taught them last year and they are AJ Wasana's home room class. Their gifts were really special and included several hand made neck scarves - which will come in handy in Connecticut!

Watcharaporn is one of my favorite student. Her gift was one of the scarves!

A couple of students were really emotional and really tugged at my heart strings. This kind of sincerity is hard to come by here and therefor so incredibly meaningful!

What an amazing morning! Now my house smells of jasmine from all the flowers. And I think I'll have to ship home one more box than expected! :)