i'm thrilled to get to laos to have five days by myself in nature, rolling through coffee-bean-filled plateaus, seeing gorgeous waterfalls, peeping on some rare fresh water dolphins, reading "the sorrow of war," waking up early in the morning and just strolling around.
i'm way more upset than i expected to be to leave these kids. the unexpected gifts, the sincere sentiments from them, the personal song, the "when will you come back?"s are too much for little me.
i can't wait to get to hanoi. after that quiet nature time i'm gonna be pumped up to get in an INSANE city. shopping shopping shopping. (btw, shopping alone is one of my favorite hobbies.)
i can't believe i'll (probably) never see these kids again, and absolutely never again as a whole class...unless i come back feb 2012 to see them graduate. :)
explaining to my students why i'm leaving thailand has been difficult.
student: "ohh teacha, i miss you!" (side note: verb tenses are hard.)
me: "i'm gonna miss you too! i love you all. thailand's a beautiful place."
student: "when you come back to thailand?"
me: "umm...i dunno...not for a long time."
student: "aww! what do you do in america?"
me: "i don't have a job."
so you love us...you love thailand...you have a job here...why are you leaving again?
(note: because i miss my family and friends desperately. fear not, i'll see you all soon <3)
23.9.10
20.9.10
saying goodbye sucks
i have 5/5 for the last time tomorrow. my classes are like my children and i know i'm not supposed to pick favorites but...
5/5 is hands down my favorite. when i taught them last semester, i never had a co-teacher. they respected me and listened to me and treated me like i had something to say anyway, without being forced to. they've been really open and honest with me, and in return, i've been so with them. i've had some of my favorite conversations in the past year with these kids. they make me feel like i'm good at this not because i'm a foreigner, but because i'm nicki arnold.
oh god, that was easily one of the cheesiest things i've ever said. excuse me for being bizarrely emotional this week. it's a weird time in life.
post-class edit: i cried.
5/5 is hands down my favorite. when i taught them last semester, i never had a co-teacher. they respected me and listened to me and treated me like i had something to say anyway, without being forced to. they've been really open and honest with me, and in return, i've been so with them. i've had some of my favorite conversations in the past year with these kids. they make me feel like i'm good at this not because i'm a foreigner, but because i'm nicki arnold.
oh god, that was easily one of the cheesiest things i've ever said. excuse me for being bizarrely emotional this week. it's a weird time in life.
post-class edit: i cried.
19.9.10
a bts waterfall
i went to bangkok yesterday for no important reason, really. it's my last weekend in thailand and i wanted to do some shopping to make sure i got everything. (evidently i didn't cuz i managed to buy some stuff.) lauren, christie, and i went to the chatuchak weekend market, which is essentially all of the stuff that has ever been for sale in thailand in ONE AMAZINGLY HUGE MARKET.
it was overcast and the skies were yelling at us with huge thunderous shakes. it was threatening rain. as we were leaving--they to their friend's apt, me to the bts--the clouds finally let the trap door open and baaaaaaammmmmmm monsoon season came on in full force. fat drops of rain fell and i looked like i took a shower in my clothes. you could kind of see through my pants, which is wildly scandalous but what can ya do? i (and about a hundred other people) made it to the shelter of the bts. loads and loads of water fell off the trains. everyone was all giggly in the way that only sudden, intense rainfall can make a group of people.
i sat down next to the sweetest american couple on the train. they had midwest accents and we talked for about six stops. i love random conversations with strangers. this is one of the top 10 things i'm looking forward to in america/any country where i speak the same language as people.
my hair's a hot mess (it's all thin and i haven't had it cut since sarah trimmed it on koh chang in april) so i got it cut. the lady was really sweet, spoke excellent english, and didn't turn my hair into an asian hair style. she blow dried it and everything. i felt pretty and fancy for the first time in months.
i wandered the city for a while to soak in the insanity one last time and came home to join maddy, ally, ally's thai bf dton and, later, his brother dtam for some drinking and hilarious talking. yesterday ruled.
it was overcast and the skies were yelling at us with huge thunderous shakes. it was threatening rain. as we were leaving--they to their friend's apt, me to the bts--the clouds finally let the trap door open and baaaaaaammmmmmm monsoon season came on in full force. fat drops of rain fell and i looked like i took a shower in my clothes. you could kind of see through my pants, which is wildly scandalous but what can ya do? i (and about a hundred other people) made it to the shelter of the bts. loads and loads of water fell off the trains. everyone was all giggly in the way that only sudden, intense rainfall can make a group of people.
i sat down next to the sweetest american couple on the train. they had midwest accents and we talked for about six stops. i love random conversations with strangers. this is one of the top 10 things i'm looking forward to in america/any country where i speak the same language as people.
my hair's a hot mess (it's all thin and i haven't had it cut since sarah trimmed it on koh chang in april) so i got it cut. the lady was really sweet, spoke excellent english, and didn't turn my hair into an asian hair style. she blow dried it and everything. i felt pretty and fancy for the first time in months.
i wandered the city for a while to soak in the insanity one last time and came home to join maddy, ally, ally's thai bf dton and, later, his brother dtam for some drinking and hilarious talking. yesterday ruled.
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