packing.

so i'm procrastinating from packing up my room and dusting off my backpack for one last journey in asia (for now...) and i've just been thinking about what a year it has been.  it seems like yesterday i was at LAX with chelsea, saying goodbye to our parents and going off on the biggest adventure of our lives thus far.  it's been a year of teaching and learning a lot from the most adorable students, meeting new friends who i hope i'll remain close to for years to come, having old friends come and visit and creating new memories with them, and traveling and seeing some of the most beautiful places on earth.  what a year it has been.

this past week at school was a lot of wrapping up loose ends--getting students to complete missing worksheets, finishing testing, end of semester parties, and of course saying goodbye to all the students and faculty members.  i knew i was going to have a hard time saying bye to all my students (tun-tun and oops especially), but i didnt realize how hard it was going to be to say goodbye to my co-workers.  The head of the english department, miss kim, has been amazingly helpful all year long and im not sure what bradley and i would have done without her.  the thai teachers in my class were always so helpful and even though we spoke different languages and had a hard time understanding one another they became my friends at school and helped me out whenever they could.  the managers of the school, kru noi and kru gai, seemed really sad to see bradley and i go.  kru noi even asked if i would want to marry her son and stay in thailand with her.....or if she could just come to america with me!  i told her she could visit anytime!  

 the foreign language department out to lunch on our last day

saying goodbye to the kids was hard.....and not just because i was so sad to leave them, but hard because all the kids were on sugar highs from their class parties and were running all over the place!  oops gave me a big hug and a kiss on the cheek when i said bye-bye to him.  JR clung to my leg and made me take 20 pictures with him before he let me go.  tun-tun pouted and wouldnt take any pictures with me, but he gave me a big hug at the end of class that made my heart melt.  i just love that little guy.  these kids made such a huge impression on me and i'll always look back at my year with them with wonderful memories.

  a few of my littlest kids.... my N2 babies (minus tun-tun who was pouting in the corner)

 K1/1

 half of my N1 kids

 ting-ting, care and i

 me and oops <3

tomorrow morning katie bradley and i set off on our big trip to INDIA.  i am beyond excited for this trip, but also a little nervous.  i have heard how overwhelming india can be, so i think im just going to take a deep breath and take in all that i can.  we fly into kolkata tomorrow afternoon and the tentative itinerary is to head up to darjeeling for a few days, cut across to varanasi, check out the taj mahal in agra, hopefully ride some camels in the desert before making our way to new delhi, and from there fly back to thailand and spend a week back here before heading back HOME.

so i guess this is my final post for my year of teaching in thailand!  

love you all and see you soon!

thailand top 10

so im finally kind of accepting that my time in thailand is quickly coming to an end.  i have 9 days left teaching and 13 days till i leave for india.  i am trying to figure out where the past year has gone and thought it would be a good idea to make a list of my top 10 moments/experiences/places in thailand! 

**i'm not including any of my travels to vietnam, laos, and cambodia in this since that would have taken up all of my top 10!

1.  my students--i have been blessed to have amazing students the past 2 semesters.  they are amazingly smart kids and this year wouldnt have been the same without them.  from oops pooping his pants in class last semester, to how-poh chasing me around school to give me high-fives, to poon-pun finally speaking to me for the first time, my students are what have made this year the most memorable.  yeah they've been crazy at times (like my special class last semester when i had 24 students aged 2-5 for an hour everyday by myself....) but i wouldnt have changed a minute of it.

2.  thai food--before coming to thailand i had only eaten thai food twice.  all that i knew about it was that i liked pad thai.  i also couldnt handle anything spicy to save my life.  fast forward a year and now i eat a wide array of thai food and i LOVE spice.  some of my favorite thai dishes are som tam (papaya salad), tom yum gung (spicy soup with shrimp), nam tok moo (an issan dish made with pork), gai yang (grilled chicken), laap moo, and gaeng khiao wan gai (green curry with chicken).  and although i LOVE thai food, i'm really looking forward to eating some dishes that don't involve rice...

3.  songkran--the 3 day non-stop nation-wide water fight!  so much fun especially since i celebrated in chiang mai and i was there with kianna, alysha and chelsea.  chiang mai was the perfect place to be for this celebration; the people were friendly, everyone from the little toddlers to the old grandmas got involved in this celebration.  pouring ice water onto anyone and everyone and getting soaked to the bone for 3 days was a great way to celebrate the thai new year.

4.  koh samet--this is probably my favorite island in all of thailand.  this was the first thai island i ever went to and it has had a special place in my heart ever since.  it had it all--beautiful white sandy beaches, warm water, an amazing night life, and its close to bangkok!  i've been to this island 5 times in the past year and every time i go i fall a little more in love with this place.  from my first visit there for the king's birthday with all my girlfriends to spending weekends there with new friends, koh samet will always have a special place in my heart.

5.  elephants--i love elephants.  from the 2 elephants that are walked around the neighborhood around where i live, to spending a day taking care of and learning to train and elephant, elephants have been an amazing part of my year.  i never imagined that i would get to ride on the neck of the elephant telling it which direction to go and being able to give an elephant a bath.  they really are amazing animals.

6.  renting motor bikes on koh lanta--when kianna alysha and i were on koh lanta we decided to rent our own motor bikes and drive around the island.  it was one of my favorite days ever!  it was such freeing experience and a great way to explore the island.  we drove to little towns, to the national park, and to look out points with amazing views.  it was a perfect day.

7.  ayutthaya--over christmas break chelsea and i traveled up to ayutthaya and check out the ruins.  while the ruins were amazing, the best part of this trip was the epic photoshoots that chelsea and i had.  we really utilized the self-timer on her camera and took advantage of the 3 shots 1 click option.  we got some amazing pictures with some amazing temple ruins.

8.  parents in thailand--having my mom and dad come out and visit me was a great experience.  being able to show them where i live and work was really exciting.  the best part was taking them to eat out where i live.  the "restaurant" is a little stall in the middle of a parking lot with metal tables and plastic chairs.  the look on my moms face when i told her we were eating there was great, but i think they really did love the food.  other highlights of their visit included going to a rooftop bar in bangkok, getting caught in an epic downpour in chiang mai and getting completely soaked, and our thai cooking class.

9.  surin islands--this place truly is paradise.  it doesnt get much better than staying in a tent that is pitched right in front of the clearest, bluest water you have ever seen.  we spent 5 days on this island and our life revolved around laying in the sun, snorkeling and chasing little nemos through the water, and relaxing.  rough rough.

10.  khao san road--the epicenter for backpackers in south east asia.  this road is dirty and super touristy, but its always a good time.