Trip home

    So I am finally home... So far all I have done is unpacked and rested. But it has been great seeing my family again. I do miss Thailand a lot already, but it really hasn't had time to hit me hard yet. Getting home was a long trip, and it started out with a LOT of goodbyes and tears. If you have seen my facebook you already have probably seen most of the pictures. The airport was filled with students and Thai waiting to see me off before my departure.

One of my classes.

A different class.

They even circled around me a sang my school song. Was powerful.

My last host family before I left their house.

    So after lots of goodbyes I went on my way. I went to Bangkok, the capital of Thailand first. A few more friends met me there, and my host father came along with me.

Only two came, but they were great. 

     Then I flew to Korea on a 5 hour flight. I think I just watched movies the whole way, but I did find out that three other Americans were flying home with me.  After Korea I flew on the 12 hour flight to Chicago. I found out when I got on the plane that my seat was a middle seat... But it wasn't all that bad. I found out after we took off that the two people sitting on either side of me where from Thailand (not Korea), so I got to speak Thai the whole way. It made leaving Thailand behind just a little bit easier.

    At Chicago I had to go through customs, where I found out that if you claim meat on you entrance forms you will be stopped and they will confiscate it from you. That took almost an hour! But I finally got through and got to wait for another 3 hours at the gate. There I found out that I was lucky enough to have a bathroom and a McDonalds right next to me (lucky because I had no one to watch my bags for me, so I had to take them wherever I went). Then I flew on to St. Luis for my final stop. I am sad to say that I did not get any pictures of my reunion with my family, but it was great to see them.

This was my luggage arriving at the airport in St. Louis.

   So again, I have now been home for around a day and a half. It has been full of sleeping and unpacking. I have lots to look forward to though. I have a party (that I mentioned on my last post), my college, and spending time with my family to look forward too. I will miss Thailand a lot, and I already do.

   I hope all have enjoyed reading my blog. I think this might be my last post. It has been a great opportunity to spend time abroad, and I'm glad I could share it with everyone who read. I wish for the best and look to the future.

My Last Month (and Last Days)

    Well it's down to my last month here in Thailand. I hope all have enjoyed the blog. In the last month, I have started school again, gone to Bangkok for some last minute sit-seeing, said goodbye to many friends as they return home, had a farewell party at my school and tried to do as much as I can with my friends here because of the chance that I might never see them again. It's been a great year, and this month has not shied in comparison.

    First I went back to school. I got to start seeing all of my friends on a regular basis again. I didn't realize how much I missed going just to see my friends, but after the first week or so the feeling started wearing off. My Thai language skills had improved over the break, but I still didn't know enough to understand the teachers in class. I found myself starting to daydream or nod-off in the middle of class, but I still had my friends.

Just a random day in class when someone had a camera.

One of the days I wore my jacket to school, and of course pictures were mandatory.

 
     Finally I got a break from school, and I went on a trip with my friend Joao to Bangkok. We went with some of the members of our host families, and we stayed with friends or family of our host families (We didn't stay in the same place the whole trip).

We got the chance to visit China town in Bangkok!

We met up with some friends and went to a temple in Ayuttaya, the old capital of Thailand.

This was at a show of old-time soldiers in the floating market of Ayuttaya. It was really cool.

This is the Siam Museum. We went, and because we had our passports we got in for student prices! It was all about the history of Thailand.

      We did some other cool stuff while we were there as well, but for some odd reason Joao and I both forgot our cameras so we don't have very many pictures. After our return from Bangkok, we began to start seeing some of our friends off at the airport. They were all sad occasions.

The first to go that was close to us was Diego. He is also from Chicago. He is second from the left.

The second to go was Raul, the exchange student from Mexico. There were a lot of people at the airport. 

As you can see we like to do one final group hug before we all depart.

This was the last one to leave before me: Fabio. He is from Venezuela. Rest assured we did do the group hug, but no one got a picture of it.

    After saying so many goodbyes to people that were leaving, it was time for me to start saying goodbye to the people that were staying while I was leaving. I did a kind of farewell ceremony at my school. It wasn't that big of a deal, but the director of the school gave a speech, I gave a speech, I performed a song on my trumpet, and some of my friends sang a song for me. It was a great way to say goodbye.

A video of me playing the trumpet at the farewell ceremony.

After the ceremony my teachers took a picture with me. My host mom slipped in the picture as well (she is the one in the pink sweater).

Me playing the trumpet at the ceremony.

A picture with the head of the English department at my school.

  Like I said before, I am also doing as much as I can with my friends before I leave. I have done a lot already, and this upcoming weekend (my last here in Thailand) is full of plans. I think I only have one night (and only late at that) to do all my packing before I leave, but I think I shall survive (and enjoy every minute of my last days).
 
    I do believe I will miss all of the people that I have become close to here in Thailand. I have my families (three altogether), my mentors (teachers and Rotarians), and my friends (foreign and Thai). But that being said I do have a lot to look forward to. I have a college to prepare for, friends to become reacquainted with, and a family that is ready to have me back. But I have also been told that my parents are throwing a coming home party, and that anyone in the area is invited to come by.

    So now I am very close to going home. I can't wait to see everyone there, but I will miss my Thai friends and family. จะคิดถึงคนไทยทุกคน  คิดว่าจะเจอก้อนอีก My next post will be after I have returned. I do believe I am excited...

Third and Final Family

    I know this is kind of late, but as you can see from my previous blog posts I have been kind of busy to try and write anything about my family. But now I have time! This family is great. My host dad and mom work together as the bosses for a water distributor (Nestle).

A picture of my friends and me in the office of my host mother.

My host father is on the left. The president of my Rotary club is on the right.

      My grandmother owns a long-term stay hotel, and I have one host sibling. He is my host brother, but right now he is on his own exchange in Michigan (I will get to see him when I return home). 

My host Grandmother during a ceremony in Udon Thani.

My host brother participates in baseball in his high school in Michigan.

  
When I am with my host family I spend most of my time in my host parents' office. It is very near all of the hang out spots, and it always has as stock of snacks and drinks. 

   When I'm not in the office, I have usually gone out to eat with my host parents. This host family does not, as of yet, have a conventional house. We live in the hotel that my grandmother owns, so we do not have a kitchen do cook meals in. The hotel is very nice. My host parents live on the first floor, and I live in my own room on the second. The room reminds me more of the dorm rooms I have seen before than a hotel room (So it should be good practice for me since I am going to college in the fall).

    This family is really great. I have shared all of my host families with Joao and Raul, the other two exchange students from my Thailand Rotary club, and this host family has treated us all as their sons even when we stopped living with them. I now only have a few days left with them and will miss them a lot, but I will get the chance to see my host brother in the US.