Balls, Baby Sunflowers & Some Perspective

Students playing volleyball leading up to Sports Day

Sports Day at Mae La Noi Daroonsik

For the past week and a half my daily afternoons have been filled with the soundtrack of students’ shrieks and cheers. Sports Day is coming up and saying that the students at MLND are beyond ecstatic would be an understatement. On December 4th, the whole school will join together for a series of sports competitions ranging from running races to volleyball matches. In the lead up to this celebrated day, sport matches have been occurring during every afternoon activity period and they’ve been a thrill to watch. I will admit that my eardrums took a little time to adjust to the constant high pitch cries of excitement surrounding the volleyball court outside my office, but I’ve grown used to it and honestly find it quite funny to watch how intensely dedicated the students are to supporting their peers. I don’t know what it is about sports, but they always seem to break even the most timid students out of their shells. I’ve loved watching some of my more shy students leaping up and down when a volleyball player makes an excellent spike or bury their heads in their hands when their favorite team is defeated. While it’s no fun to watch a student crumble after missing a game winning serve, it’s heartwarming to see their classmate pat them on the back and tell them not to worry – there’s always next year.

Bua Tong Forest National Park and School Donation

This past weekend I got to experience something pretty special – I got to celebrate my 23rd birthday in Thailand. As many of you know, I’m not a huge fan of grand celebrations for my own birthday, so I was excited to learn that over my birthday weekend Kendall and I were invited to join a group of teachers making a trip to a rural school in the northern part of the province.

On Saturday afternoon we left Mae La Noi and headed about 100 kilometers north to Bua Tong Forest National Park. While this isn’t a hugely popular tourist destination for international travelers, the park becomes packed with Thai visitors every weekend, particularly in the month of November when the mountainsides are covered in small blooming sunflowers. Once our caravan of cars arrived at a popular campground in the park we set up our tents and did what any Thai person does when the sun begins to set – we ate. Cooking delicious food over a campfire and being surrounded by friends was a perfect way to end my 22nd year. And there was even cake!

The following morning we woke up early to visit a well-known viewpoint in the park and took approximately one millions photos before deciding that it was time to move on. Our next visit was to Ban Pang Tong School, just down the road from the park. Over the last few months, teachers at MLND have been collecting various supplies, such as clothes and snacks, to donate to this rural mountain school. It was exciting to have the opportunity to visit another school in the province and see the similarities and differences when compared with MLND. The campus was absolutely stunning. It had views of the surrounding sunflower fields and even had rooms to rent out to visitors traveling through the area. It was also a joy to see the students’ faces light up when we unloaded our trucks filled with bags and bags of donated supplies. While it certainly wasn’t like any other birthday I’ve had, it was incredibly fulfilling to celebrate by being a part of something that brought so much happiness to students in need.

Top: Donation at Ban Pang Tong School; Bottom Left: Being tourists in Bua Tong Park; Bottom Right: Birthday cake!

Time for Reflection

It’s official. It has now been just over three months since I left the United States. That’s 93 days since I said goodbye to my friends and family and traveled halfway across the world to my new home in Mae La Noi. Before leaving, I had so many thoughts and expectations about my upcoming adventure and I feel as though now I’ve had enough time to properly reflect on my journey since moving to Thailand. While almost every day I’m learning new things and having new experiences, I’ve come to realize one very important thing:

People are just people.

Before boarding my plane at Dulles International Airport I was convinced that I would show up in Thailand and immediately be overwhelmed by culture shock. How could I not be? I had never traveled to Asia before. Everything about Thailand seemed so foreign. It was thousands and thousands of miles away from my home and everything I find familiar, so I was bound to struggle to fit in to a new culture, right? But you know what – the culture shock never happened. I got off the plane in Chiang Mai and realized something important: the people there weren’t any different than the countless other people I’ve met in North America or Australia or Europe or Africa. They were just people. People who liked to eat and liked to laugh and liked to travel and wanted to welcome me with open arms to their country. People in Thailand are no different than people anywhere else in the world.

Now I won’t deny that there haven’t been hardships since being here (my digestive system will be the first to tell you that), but I have been shocked at how easy it has been to transition into the Thai lifestyle. In just three short months I’ve already formed friendships that I know will last a lifetime and I’ve already thought about how sad I will be when my visa expires. But I am also incredibly grateful. I’m grateful for this experience and for meeting so many new people with so many new perspectives and life experiences. I’m grateful for learning that I can get from Point A to Point B in a country where I can’t read or speak in the native language. I’m grateful to know that I have friends and family around the world supporting me and wishing me the best of luck. And I’m grateful for realizing that no matter where I go after this year, I will always have a home in Mae La Noi.

Until next time.