skating
on the clouds
in the clouds
where ?
unsure
supposed to be
planted
sprouting
earthed…
time
a concept
blended –
when did it start to feel chilly ?
Tag: personal
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On January 5, 2020 I left for for a country on the other side of the world, completely different, when I hadn’t even been to any countries than the US & Canada. On March 21, 2020 I found out my wonderful time was being required to come to an end, a choice I wouldn’t have made at all.
My last few weeks in Thailand were ones I will remember for the rest of my life. It was spring break, then classes were switched to online/canceled for week, so it was like a two week spring break instead of just a week. I started out going to Bangkok by myself, stayed at an airbnb with a nice view, met up with my now boyfriend a lot, hung out, and then went to Phuket with other friends from study abroad as well (and later-on my (now) boyfriend and his friend would come along as well). I saw elephants, beautiful beaches and islands, wonderful sunrises and sunsets, rode motorbikes, and just went with the flow of things.
I came to Phuket without an airplane ticket back to Bangkok, unsure of when I would want to come back. So, when everyone else left Phuket my boy and I had some time to relax by ourselves before coming back to Bangkok, then I had planned to go back to Hua Hin for school again.
I planned on coming back pretty late, pushing my time in Bangkok to the fullest amount it could be because I enjoyed it much more than being in the smaller beachside town of Hua Hin. Turns out, it was for the best, because classes were cancelled and I ended up staying in Bangkok that entire next week. I had a great week just chillin, watching movies, and walking around with my boy. Then, all of the sudden, people were starting to want to go home. I convinced my parents that it was a better decision for me to stay in Thailand. Then, the next day, the US decided to raise their travel alert to a level 4 and I had to leave and go back home. Can I say, that is the worst way to end the best few months of your life, no exaggeration.
Right at the time when I was feeling the most at peace, the happiest I think I have ever been overall – I had to leave it all. I had gotten into my routines, found what I liked and made me happy, I was not ready to leave. I am still right now pretty pissed off that I had to leave, but I know that despite the fact it was cut short the few months I spent really changed me forever. So now after all of this complaining, I want to talk about the best parts.
- The sound of the birds. The birds are so loud, and so different from the birds in Maine or in Missouri. I got used to the sound of this one bird that would start very early in the morning and basically go on the entire day and night. They really should make just a sleep sound or relaxation sound just with these birds because they sound so wonderful and peaceful every day. (video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-ZtcEGYeSd8&feature=youtu.be&fbclid=IwAR1fhShDgA5aXufGd1AeRElFVkDY_eKDpl6QWvxTFRobMJwgswHXx0XQTPA for the bird sounds of course)
- The street food and markets everywhere. There was always really good and pretty cheap food anywhere I’d go – and it wasn’t like the street food of NYC like hotdogs and that crap, but really good fried rice and pad thai and other assortments of good food. And the markets – loaded with things full of color everywhere, the amount of color I saw everyday in Thailand so satisfying and beautiful and honestly improved my mood.
- The temples. Every temple was just so beautiful I had just never seen anything like it.
- The tropical climate. While it took a couple weeks to get fully used to after coming from winter in Maine, once I got used to it, the hot weather was amazing. Any day and every day can be a beach day, any day and every day you can get outside and enjoy fresh air, read a book, talk a walk, do whatever you’d like. I wasn’t there during monsoon season of course, but the warmth was very nice.
- Motorbikes. Once I got used to the motorbikes, even though I didn’t drive them, they were pretty awesome. You can go anywhere and everywhere, you get to feel the wind through your hair and on your face, it’s just wonderful.
- City life in Bangkok. For some reason I have this thing, I just really love public transportation and really hate my car – and the MRT and BTS were really clean and nice when I could take them. Not on the same level of convenience as NYC’s subways, but a lot cleaner.
- 7/11. Man do I miss 7/11. 7/11 had everything you could ever want or need, these really yummy jelly beauty drink things, all kinds of snacks, some had coffee they made there, they had amazing Oishi honey lemon green tea that I 100% became addicted to. (If anyone can send me some, I’d love you forever). I just want one of these 7/11s here, and within walking distance.
- Bubble tea & Thai tea. I really didn’t realize how much I liked these until I got it a few times while in Thailand then all of the sudden I was hooked. I miss the availability of these drinks!
- Thai food. At first, I didn’t really like thai food as much. But as I grew accustomed to it, I was starting to really like some of it. Now I really miss it.
- Great people. I met some really awesome people while I was there, and that’s always the best part of going anywhere.
- Not hearing about american politics, any kind of stupid idiotic crap that I hear all the time at home (like on social media and stuff that I would ignore more when I was away), less outright rude individuals with no respect for others – it was just a nicer place to be.
Honestly, the way I was living so carefree there made me realize that that kind of life if the one I need to live all the time, anywhere I am at. I also realized I might be much happier getting away from the United States – sorry y’all – but the whole air everywhere here is so fast-paced and kind of rude a lot of the time and so not peaceful (and a lot of ignorant as well, shoutout to STL in particular – again sorry but true). The way I was stressed out all the time before and pushing myself to do too much (shoutout to all the online classes and 18 credit hour semesters on top of 20-40 hour work weeks!) was way too much, and the people I used to hang out with – not all of them were so good for me. I know how to be more at peace now than I ever knew before (but this quarantine is really testing that hard).
So here are some more photos from my trip that I did not post in the last one, all from February – March. 🙂
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all the above camera photos are from the Phuket area… so now time for the others…
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Individual resting on their motorbike on their phone in Hua Hin, Thailand on January 25, 2020. Every morning we are born again. What we do today is what matters most.
BuddhaOn January 7th of this month I arrived in the first country I have ever been in outside of the US (besides Canada), and one of the furthest destinations I could have chosen, Thailand. After a 14/15 hour flight from Boston to Hong Kong, a 3 hour layover, then a 3 hour flight to Bangkok, and on top of that a 3 hour drive south – I arrived in Hua Hin.
I came in with no expectations, I had never known much about Thailand, in fact before Webster I had never really thought about Thailand at all, let alone did I know it was a country that existed that may be an option to experience sometime in life. The only reason I even knew Thailand existed was because I had tried Pad Thai a few times and heard of a few people I know really enjoying Thai food or Thai milk tea.
However, whatever expectations or preconceived notions I had (that I didn’t even realize) were challenged. Thailand is a beautiful country so far, and I have only seen Hua Hin, Cha-Am, and a few national parks so far but I think it is safe to say that the whole country is going to be amazing. Hua Hin has an amazing night market, it has malls (one with a cheaper but cooler basement for buying more than just normal mall things), amazing food (Thai AND others), amazing beaches, a more artsy night market (Cicada – which is way more up my alley with amazing artists and skilled jewelry makers, henna artists, etc), and around here we have a great look out, we’ve seen monkeys, and stray puppies (and their mom). Pretty much everyone here is friendly, but you do have to look out for people trying to charge the tourist price instead of the normal price or people in general trying to get extra money out of you. There are beautiful Buddha altars at most places, including where I stay at. The workers bring out orange juice or other drinks and light incense, and there are a lot of shops selling the items to create your own altar. I have seen also the phenomena of putting way more people on a motorbike than should fit, including families with more than two small children. There was once when a family was driving not a motorbike but some cart and a child, no older than 6 just hopped off/fell off almost into the street and they almost got hit. People here drive with more relaxed rules, and in addition they drive on the other side of the road which is difficult to get used to. I think I expected Thailand to have less of the things I am used to, like Hua Hin still doesn’t have a Shake Shack or a place to get good mac n cheese but they do still have at least two Starbucks, a Burger King, Mcdonalds, AND a KFC (interestingly enough). AND 7/11 is a BIG thing here, they are not run down like the ones at home – they have a lot of food and different items you may need. I also didn’t expect to like the food that much since I am not usually into asian food, but I really grew to love it. I also realized I can’t push myself to do too much spicy food, my irish taste buds just will not get used to it that quickly (I will get literally dizzy and light-headed if I eat something too spicy & too much of it too fast).
Besides the obvious differences I will continue to experience and grow used to, I have also experienced a lot in my own thoughts and personal life already in just this first month. My 2-year relationship that I originally thought was solid ended pretty much right when I got here after a few days of communication issues (before and after arriving in Thailand). At the same time, I was trying to get myself to open up and make friends (but I tend to be more introverted in situations with more people that I don’t know or aren’t comfortable with). The combination of these two situations were not so great to begin with. I really wanted to go home and be with my close friends, but I made myself (thankfully) stick through the first few weeks and just talked to friends over the phone and through texts and used these new experiences to help myself realize that this is the one time in my life I will be doing less school (only 12 credit hours) and not working at the same time, near a beach, and I need to let myself experience it happily and not mope around. After a few weeks, I have met a lot of wonderful people who are really kind & fun to be around who make studying abroad in a place outside of my comfort zone (at sometimes emotional times) that much better and enjoyable.
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I have also realized the importance of meditation, mindfulness, and relaxing instead of being go-go-go all of the time. Sometimes it is okay to spend a whole day relaxing in your room if you need it, and sometimes it is a day to go out and spend all day at the beach reading a book. Some days are days to hang with a few people and take my camera everywhere I go, and sometimes it is just a day to experience whatever without taking photographs at all. Remembering that every day is a new day, and like the Buddha quote above – what you do today is what matters most. Work is not everything, conflict is not everything, we should not worry too much (so much so that it affects us too much) about anything. We should live in the here and now, and that has been the most transformative thing for me during this first month away from home in a place where nothing is familiar. The best experiences I have had so far have been when in my head I was in the most here-and-now mentality instead of being in my own world – which have mainly been during national park visits and at the beach and a few times at the market.
I have taken a lot of photos while I have been here, some on film and some digital and some just on my phone, just of all of the things around me – the best being when I was the most mindful of the environment around me.
Collection of my digital images from January 10-January 30, 2020. All in various places in Hua Hin, Cha-am and at a National Park. This experience has been great so far and I can’t wait to see what is next.
e.d.m. 