Three down

Morning,

And after a long last week, another semester has finally come to a close. I put the finishing touches on my grades this morning and sent them off and that officially means that my duties are completed and I'm not going to be held accountable for anything until October 24 when the second semester starts up. It's a wonderful feeling to have these next three weeks spread out ahead of me with absolutely no plans.

This semester was unique in several ways. As I've mentioned before, it was a repeat of what I did last year in the sense that I've taught it all before. I wasn't struggling with the material and organization like I did last year. This year, the challenges lay in honing my methods and trying to create a more efficient and effective way of teaching. I've also been able to develop the relationships with my students more and so that presented its own rewards and challenges and at the same time I had to develop new relationships with the incoming class. And on top of all of that, I had to play host for almost five months. It was a busy time. But it was a wonderful semester.

But the end of the semester, particularly the last few weeks of the semester, was particularly frustrating. Towards the end of the semester, I was getting the feeling that I was burned out. I was burned out on teaching. I was tired of doing the everyday chores and dealing with the everyday hassles of teaching. I was also burned out on traveling. I was tired of always being on the move and being hassled by people. I didn't want to travel, I simply wanted to be at home and be with my friends but everywhere I went, despite my considering it my home, I was perceived to be a visitor and was hassled. I can understand why. I'm white. I'm not from here. But after a year and a half, and the increased intensity of my travels over the past five months, I had gotten tired of it. It was a hard experience to get through. For the first time, I lost my patience and just wanted to wear a sign that said, "I know what I'm doing. I live here. Don't bother me." and be on my way. It made me long for the comforts of home and the relative simplicity of a day in the life. Those frustrations, which until then were tolerated, simply became too much. For a period of about two weeks, all of the little things which used to not bother me, suddenly were too much to handle. During many of the initial interactions I have with Thai, they often times attempt to speak English even through they don't really speak English at all. And in the process, they mumble this incoherent mess of words which I can't decipher. I usually follow that mess up with the simple statement that I do, in fact speak, Thai. We then have a conversation and sort out the necessary details and we go happily on our ways. Though sometimes, people refuse to speak to me in Thai. It happens more often that you would think. But recently I was at a local pub with some friends and we were wanting to order some beer and get come change for the pool table. We've been to this pub many times before and they know who we are and what we are doing there. We ordered some beer and asked for some change and nothing happened. The guy who took our order came back and we asked him about it, in Thai, mind you, and he simply stood there looking at us trying to figure out the English words. He attempted to explain in English and motion with his hands in an attempt to convey the point, which he couldn't. He simply refused to speak Thai. He had this deer in headlights look about him. I normally don't mind this and would attempt to encourage him in English, but for some reason it just rubbed me the wrong way that night. He would come and go several more times before he was able to communicate the problem (and in the end there wasn't a problem to begin with) and it took about 20 minutes for our beer and change to arrive. Generally, I brush that aside, have a laugh and go on with my life, but at that point in time I was longing for the simplicity of life back home and got frustrated. I found that for about two weeks, the little things finally got to me.

These lapses in patience have shown me that I've chosen wisely. I'm glad that I'm not on my way home right now, but I am glad that I have finally set a semi-solid date for my return home. Going back to the realization that this is my last semester, I'm now able to brush aside some of those lapses in patience and continue to enjoy this place and these people knowing that I will be home soon. It's got me in the unique of being able to really enjoy the present and look forward to the future simultaneously. And so those weeks were frustrating, but they helped me adjust and get my priorities back in line so that I can enjoy the next eight months.

In addition to having set a semi-solid date to head home, I've also bee exposed to home a lot this semester. Between my sisters visit, my families visit, an Joey's visit, I've had some connection to home in Thailand for most of the past five months. It's obvious to see why I've thought of home more often as of late.

Anyway, I guess that sums up the end of the semester. And now, on to the more exciting things!

It is semester break! I've now got three weeks ahead of me with nothing to do so, I do what everyone does and I leave the country! The plan, and it's a very rough plan is to go to Chiang Mai soon (as in a few hours) and spend a day there before catching a flight to Luang Prabang, Laos. From what I hear, Luang Prabang is a wonderful city, and is well known for their baguettes and Beer Lao so I reckon tomorrow nights dinner will be baguettes and Beer Lao. From there, I've no idea what I'll do or where I go. There are a few places I'd like to see in Laos and so I'll try to see them. I'd also like to stop at a few places in north eastern Thailand as well. So I think I'll be making a big loop and trying to hit all the highlights. I'll be sure to update the blog as I go along so stay tuned.

Take care,

Ryan