My last week in the land of smiles

It is Monday morning here and I am at my house in Thap Sakae packing and getting ready to come home.  I am feeling so many mixed emotions.  I am very sad to leave my friends and new family here but I am also excited to see my family, friends and all of my teens back in the states too. 

This last week I made the most of everyday to enjoy Thailand before I leave.  Here some of the highlights.  On Wednesday I went back to the border school to say goodbye to the students and teachers.  It was a fun day.  The students were doing a science project where they took a 2 liter soda bottle and made them into rockets that were shot into the air using compressed air from a bicycle tire pump.  We had lunch and talked to the teachers about next year and what still needs to be done to help the school.  Next year the Power of One program might paint some of the classrooms and we are going to start raising some funds to get the school a decent printer.  The teachers thanked me again for volunteering and asked me to promise to return.  I told them that I would do my best to come back some day.

 On Thursday I had one of the best days in Thailand.  About 20 of us, mostly teachers and also Juelle and Dono from Power of One and another friend of ours, Talitha, who was down visiting from the Elephant Nature Park, chartered a boat out to a beautiful island called Koh Talu in the Bay of Thailand.  We snorkeled in the most amazing turquoise water I have ever seen.  The Island has huge areas of beautiful coral about 10 feet below the surface with thousands of colorful fish.  This was my first time ever snorkeling and it was wonderful.  Juelle and Dono have snorkeled all over the world and they said that this was now one of their favorites.  It was surreal for me because I have only seen this kind of sea life in aquariums but now I was swimming around in it.  You will see in one of the photos that we were feeding the fish and hundreds of them with the most brilliant colors swarmed around us.  It was a great day, one that I will never forget.

 Yesterday 4 of the high school boys and I took the train North about 2 hours to the city of Hua Hin.  We walked around and saw the beach there.  It was nice and the train was a great way to experience Thailand.  It was also a great day.

 Tonight is my last night here so I am having dinner with some students and teachers on the beach in Thap Sakae.  It will be rough saying goodbye.  And how do I thank everyone for everything?  They have treated me so well!  They fed me, provided me a home, kept me safe everyday, and provided for my every need.  How do you thank someone for all of this?  My heart is overflowing with gratitude.

 I hope that I made a difference here and that the students have gained some confidence in their English and that it helps them in the future.  I hope that I have helped to pave the way for other volunteers to come to Thap Sakae to volunteer.  The schools in this area desperately need English speaking foreigners to speak with the students so that they can build confidence in the English that they have already learned from text books.  They need to hear how it is used in everyday type situations.  They don’t need professional teachers with a teaching degree they just need friendly people to talk with and to assist them in the pronunciation and the rhythm.  This Provence cannot afford to pay a salary to a teacher and many volunteer teachers would rather teach in a bigger city where they have shopping malls, movie theaters, and night life.  Thap Sakae has none of these things but it has warm friendly people, amazing beaches, and great food.  I wouldn’t trade my experience here for anything.  I love the peace and quiet and the quaintness.  Being away from a touristy area and the big city gave me the gift of time without distractions; time for personal reflection, time to be in the moment, time to soak in every experience fully, and time spent near the sea, which I cherished.

 I have made so many wonderful friends and I now have family here.   Kru Lek, (or Ba Lek as I call her which means Aunt Lek), and I have bonded like family.  She has been there for me at every turn, through the good times and the not so good.  She was there for me when I got word of my Grandmother’s passing.  She helped me to be a good teacher and was always translating and explaining the “Thai way” for me.  Her heart is as big as the ocean and I wish every good thing for her.  If there are Angels here on earth, she is truly one.  The work that she is doing on this planet is that of a Saint and the lives that she touches are forever blessed and lifted.  I will miss her terribly but I know that we are destined to see each other again.

 This trip has not only been about volunteering and spending time in a beautiful country, but it has also created a huge shift in my life.  During my travels I have been given insight into my life and it’s purpose.  I have been given the gift of awareness both spiritually and personally.  I am forever grateful and I am poised and ready to take all of this great energy and insight into the next chapter of my life.

 This will be my final entry.  Thank you for reading this blog.

 Peace and Blessings to you,

--Christian

 

Teaching Mission Completed

I have finished all of my teaching assignments and I am now relaxing with lots of free time.  I will spend the next week sight seeing and getting ready to come home on the 18th.  Just a week and a half away!

As some of you may know, my beautiful Grandmother, Helen Jones, made her transition on Tuesday.  She was 91 and died peacefully at her home with family by her side.  She was in my eyes a true Saint and one of the most influential people in my life.  She was the best Grandmother that a Grandson could ask for and I will miss her terribly.  I know that her Spirit is here with me now in Thailand and forever more.  Her funeral was held on Friday afternoon in Denver, which was about 6 am on Saturday here in Thailand.  I contemplated coming right home but after talking to my family and Kru Lek, I decided to finish my commitment to the students here as I am sure that this is what my Grandmother would have wanted too.  Saturday morning I got up early with Kru Lek and Thor and Am and we made an offering to one of the local Monks and in return he did a Buddhist chant and prayer for my Grandmother and my family.  You will see a picture of the four of us waiting for the Monk.  Thank you to everyone for your kind words, prayers and healing energy.

I taught at Ban Hin Turn last week and it was great.  Thursday was a scout camp day where the school set up several stations to teach scouting skills like tying knots and a small ropes course.  I was manning one station where we sang songs and it was a very fun day but not without some excitement.  There is one dog at the school that has never really been very fond of me.  And despite my best efforts to gain his trust and friendship with food and sweet talking, he decided that he would give me a farewell scare on my last day.   As the day was coming to a close I was walking from the playground area back to the office to get the rest of my things and just like in an old western movie where the bad guy and the sheriff meet in the center of town with a serious as a heart attack stare I spotted this dog about 50 yards away growling and staring me down.  There was no one around and he was standing right in my path to the office.  I continued to walk slowly towards him speaking in a friendly voice and after I had only taken about three steps he burst into a full sprint right at me barking and growling.  I don't know if I did the correct thing, (what do you do in this instance anyway???), but in a traditional fight or flight response, (with emphasis on the flight part), I did a 180 and ran the fastest I think I had run since maybe high school.  I ran back into the playground where several students were finishing up the ropes course and I got behind about 15 third and fourth graders.  As soon as the dog saw me get behind the students he stopped his pursuit and went back to his day as if nothing had happened.  The adrenaline was intense!  I told the students that "that dog just tried to eat me!"  The funniest part of this story is that one of the students, Phil, a 6th grade girl that is the epitome of cute, said as calmly as could be said....  "Christian...  walk, don't run."  I am not sure if she was scolding me because I was running on the school grounds and that is frowned upon or because if I didn't run the dog wouldn't chase me.  In any case, the students and I had a good laugh about the entire incident.  The rest of the day one of the teachers escorted me around and ran the dog off every time he would bark and come in my general direction.

I taught the final Saturday at the Buddhist Temple yesterday.  We played Pictionary and sang songs to practice English.  It was a blast.  The Monk that sponsored the 3 Saturday classes came by to say thank you and give me a certificate of appreciation.  You will see above a photo of he, myself, and all the students.

Today I am back chillin at the beach and will stay 2 nights here.  This next week will include some sight seeing including taking a boat out to some beautiful coral reefs for snorkeling and I might take a train to Hua Hin, the next biggest city near here, with some of the high school students.  I think the train will be a great way to see more of Thailand.  Can't wait to write all about it and post some photos next week.

Namaste