Home and Back Again
I just returned to Thailand after a week in the US for my brother's wedding. The ceremony was beautiful, the party was fun, the happy couple are now honeymooning in Mexico. In other news, my first meal upon returning to the US was a cheese burger. It wasn't the last of the week. There weren't enough...I still miss cheese burgers. I also realized exactly how much I miss beef in general. Maybe my next job should be in Argentina...they have lots of beef, right?
In public, it felt strange to be surrounded by a language I understand. I spent an afternoon at a Korean nail salon where no one spoke English and it made me feel surprisingly relaxed. Being home with my family was completely overwhelming, because it wasn't just my family-- it was my whole extended family and friends in for the wedding. Thankfully, I brought along a friend of my own (Julie!), which made the onslaught easier to take. I am grateful to have gotten to share in the wedding though, and for the chance to visit home and see my family.
Now that I'm back in the Land of Smiles, I'm increasingly annoyed by things like crappy electricity, my presumptuous employers, and the appearance of a life-size picture of me wallpapered to a newly erected ASEAN pavilion. HOWEVER, I am freshly reminded of how quickly the rice grows (I moved here at planting time and it's almost shoulder height in places now), how many and myriad the frogs in a single thicket are, and how wonderful the smell of the fields are after the rain...despite the cloud of mosquitoes they breed. There's not too much time left to enjoy the little things here. I have about 3 more weeks of Thailand then it's on to somewhere new!
In public, it felt strange to be surrounded by a language I understand. I spent an afternoon at a Korean nail salon where no one spoke English and it made me feel surprisingly relaxed. Being home with my family was completely overwhelming, because it wasn't just my family-- it was my whole extended family and friends in for the wedding. Thankfully, I brought along a friend of my own (Julie!), which made the onslaught easier to take. I am grateful to have gotten to share in the wedding though, and for the chance to visit home and see my family.
Now that I'm back in the Land of Smiles, I'm increasingly annoyed by things like crappy electricity, my presumptuous employers, and the appearance of a life-size picture of me wallpapered to a newly erected ASEAN pavilion. HOWEVER, I am freshly reminded of how quickly the rice grows (I moved here at planting time and it's almost shoulder height in places now), how many and myriad the frogs in a single thicket are, and how wonderful the smell of the fields are after the rain...despite the cloud of mosquitoes they breed. There's not too much time left to enjoy the little things here. I have about 3 more weeks of Thailand then it's on to somewhere new!
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