Greetings and Sawatdee

Friday, September 29, 2006

On My Way

So, today I'll be leaving Thailand. I'm sad about leaving but I am excited that I get to visit my parents in Africa. It sounds like they have a lot of cool adventures planned for us! I haven't been posting lately because I've had guests and I've been so busy getting ready to go (and the computer I've been using is slowly giving up the ghost). I have been keeping notes and journal entries of my past few weeks and when I get settled in Africa I'll try to see if I can get them all posted.

I fly on the night fight to Africa and will be there tomorrow morning at 7:35am.

Monday, September 25, 2006

Not Fantastic

Today was my final day at school and I have to admit that I am glad. Some of my classes were good but mostly it was just frustrating as usual. I did run into four of my grade 8b students on my way out, they're sweet girls. I have to return to school on Thursday to pick up somethings and so I promised each of these four girls that I will write them their own personal letter and deliver it on Thursday when I come to say goodbye. When I got home from school Luke and Tabz were out looking for lunch and I relaxed on my bed for a bit and didn't get much done. In the evening we tried to go to a street vendor for dinner but we didn't speak enough Thai and the vendor wasn't interested in trying to figure out what we were saying so we left feeling a bit frustrated and went to Thong's coffee shop and had his Mom's delicious food for dinner instead. We were going to go out to the night market but Tabitha had a headache and my day hadn't been fantastic so we just rested instead.

Sunday, September 24, 2006

Anxiety

I had some plans with Nicole for lunch today before I knew that Tabz and Luke were going to be in town. And so after Tabz and Luke told me they are now engaged (yay!), we met up with Nicole (and Erfan came too) to go out for Persian food for a late lunch/early dinner. The food was great and we had a nice visit. Luke and Tabz needed somethings and so we all went to MBK shopping mall which was absolutely crazy on a Sunday... actually I needed some things too and so I took the time at the mall to look for what I needed. I was successful in finding some stuff that my parents needed as well as buying myself a large store of extra stationary which was on my list. The mall left me feeling really anxious and irritable and when it was over I was seriously ready to go home and just chill out. In the evening I had a really good chat with Tabz and it helped me calm down some of my anxiety about leaving Thailand, but I still have the feeling that I don't really want to return to Canada.

Saturday, September 23, 2006

A Perfect Going Away Party

The day started off with some confusion about when we were meeting up so I went over to Pun's place early and found out that Oh R. was to pick me up around 3pm. It didn't stress me out all that much to be up and out of the house early, I went out for an early lunch and then I came back home and did some serious cleaning and some laundry. At three o'clock Erfan and I met up we Oh R. and we went to Patty's house for my party. When I got there Pun taught me to make a new spicy meat dip, mmmmm. We also got everything together to have som tam (which is my favorite salad) and then we cooked up a bunch of chicken, beef, pork and squid to go with the dip that we made. I ate the majority of the som tam and all of the food was so tasty that I was very full by the end. We sat around the table and chatted after dinner and then Oh T. arrived. She had been late because of family issues and so we pulled out all of the food we'd saved for her and chatted while she ate and Erfan had a second dinner. Once everyone was done grazing we went upstairs to sing some karaoke. It was an excellent time full of singing (of course), dancing, and a lot of silliness. I had such a great time. I had to leave before midnight because I was expecting guests and so the night ended around 11pm. After I got home I finished washing my soaking laundry and continued to have my own one person dance party until Tabitha and Luke arrived. I am very happy that Tabz is back in town and Luke is very nice too. They've come to town to see me off and so will be staying until I got to the airport on Friday.

Friday, September 22, 2006

The Children's Goodbye

Today was my going away party at the Baha'i children's classes. I half heartedly packed and cleaned my apartment during the day and then went to meet Oh at Magic years as usual. I helped with some shores around Magic Years for a bit and then I went with Oh T., Pun, and Oh R. to Carrefour to pick up some snacks for the kids. We were all hungry so we grabbed some dinner before going to the Baha'i center. We arrived at the center a bit late but it didn't matter as the children were all busy making me some very sweet and artistic going away cards. We played games, ate food and I made a horrible going away speech and then the evening was over. The kids are sweet but I am not a crowds person and really not a "going away speech" kind of person and so when the evening was over I was ready for it to be over. Nicole (a girl who is pioneering to Nonthaburi from Canada) came to the party and so afterwards I invited her to go out. The Ohs and Pun were tired but Nicole, Erfan, Jaya and I went out to ice cream. I had some tasty chocolate ice cream and then went home to relax.

Thursday, September 21, 2006

Back After a Long Absence

My internet has been down and things have been crazy, so now I'm ultra behind in the blogging (as many of you have noticed). I'm going to attempt to catch up. This catching up will not be tonight though because my stomach is a little sore and I'm tired so I'll do today's and maybe tomorrow I'll start to go back and begin to fill in the adventures of the past... month.

As many people know, there is a coup in Thailand right now,so I would first like to assure everyone that all is well with me and I'm perfectly safe. Thank you to everyone who has written me or messaged me to double check. Things are peaceful in my area because the citizens of Bangkok and Nonthaburi are happy that Thaksin is gone. I guess we'll see if they stay happy when a new acting PM is put into place, but that will happen after I leave, hopefully it's someone that the people will want to follow and who will do good things for the country.

Today was my last day of Leadership Club at the school and so I spent most of my day preparing activities for the class. Leadership club has been challenging for me because I've never taught leadership before and though I understand leadership concepts, understanding and teaching are two separate beasts and sometimes I found it hard to teach it in a fun way. My students are great though and are very sweet and this is a group that I'll definitely miss. Today's pictures are of some of the kids in my club since not all were present today, I think maybe because of the coup.

After school I had a little nap and then went out to the restaurant I nearly always eat at on my soi and then to get a coffee. Tonight I've been listening to some Thai music and trying to pack. Thai pop has really grown on me and I have been purchasing some music to take with me back to Canada. I'll be posting a music blog soon, but first I'll get caught up on the blogs of early September.

Tuesday, September 19, 2006

It's a Coup

I woke up this morning to an official declaration of the beginning of the coup. This meant that schools, banks and government buildings were all closed. I had a lunch meeting with Jaya and Erfan to give my feedback and discuss any suggestions that I may have for future years. After our meeting I went on a shopping trip to look for things Mattea had requested. I wasn't sure how safe it would be on the first day of the coup and so I took a taxi to Central Lat Phrao shopping mall. My taxi driver was very excited about the coup and very happy that the army was out in full force and so every time we passed any soldiers or tanks he would unroll the window, give the thumbs up and yell "Gang mac mac" which essentially means "Excellent" or "very very excellent". The shopping mall was very busy but my trip was most unsuccessful except for one pair of pants for Etana and some coffee for my parents. I took a taxi home as well and though this taxi driver also supported the coup he was less pleased at the presence of the military and every time we passed a tank would click his tongue disapprovingly. I got home just in time to be ten minutes late for Ruhi and so I grabbed my book and rushed to the Baha'i center. We finished the last unit of section two and then I went home for a quiet evening.