Hello all!
I don't want to leave. It's that simple. "But Apu you have so much back home. Your school, your job, your friends. How can you say that you don't want to go back home? Don't you miss everything back home?" I don't want to go home! Yes I miss my friends and family and school but my love for Thailand can easily overcome it all. I'm not homesick in the least! And I haven't been at all. In fact, since I've been here, I haven't felt more at home.
But alas, I have responsibilities back home. And although it sounds like I'm complaining (and I may actually be complaining a little) overall I'm just very excited for my future. I came out of this trip with so much more than I had going in. I have learned so much about different cultures, different educational systems, different research, and myself. I feel that I have grown and matured in our stay here. I am so incredibly excited to use all that I have learned for my future endeavors. And although I wish I could stay for longer, I know that I can leave because I also know that I will return to this beautiful place.
And speaking of time, one thing that us SMRTies have talked about often is how different time moves here in Thailand. Our month and a half stay feels like a 5 day stay and a 5 month stay at the same time. It feels like I have met my colleagues just yesterday but also like I've known them for years. It feels like today was my first day in a song-taew and at the same time I was born in and grew up in one. Okay, that may have been an exaggeration but I still believe that Time here has been a fickle and elusive mistress. I know that when I will return I will always look back on this trip and wonder where the time went.
-Apu