After traveling the world more than once or twice, you would think that goodbyes would get easier…but they just don’t. The taste of the meal I had with my family before leaving for The World Race in January 2008 is still lingering on my tongue. The other day I read some messages I got right before leaving some people I met in Ireland in 2009. I can still remember the laughs I had in Romania later in 2009 with friends. Leaving for Thailand last November was harder, I remember the feeling of having my parents make the drive to see me off and come to my going away party. I can still taste the baked goods from that party (yeah, I like food!). Once again, in 2 days I am faced with goodbyes as I come back to America.
I had lunch today with a good friend of mine here in Thailand. Somewhere in the conversation I realized that this very event wouldn’t be able to take place in 3 days, and it once again made me sad. For 8 months, Thailand has been the closest thing to home that I’ve felt in years. The last time I spent 8 months in one place was in 2007. On Monday when I step off the plane onto American soil once again, I fear the moment that I open my mouth and accidentally (or intentionally) say “Sawatdii Khrap” instead of “Hello”…or when I want to eat at my friend Phon’s restaurant because he knows exactly how many chilies to put in my dish (and even more the look on his face when he proudly announces that he tricked me and put an extra one in to make me more Thai!). I won’t have the donut lady that laughs when she sees me and slips an extra donut to me for free…I won’t know what to do when eating at a roadside stand is not the normal thing to do.
Please don’t get me wrong…I am extremely excited to see my friends when I step off that plane, to see my family again, and to go to the lake and celebrate my parent’s anniversary. I’m excited to drive on the right side of the road, I’m excited for American food. I’m looking forward to so many things being back in America, but a part of me is stuck here in Thailand.
I’ll miss my church…and the great people that greet me as I walk up…and the patience they show me when I struggle to talk to them in Thai. I’ll miss my Thai classes as my Thai teacher has become a great friend, and consistently reminds me that I can speak Thai much better than I could French when I took French classes in high school (many people will remember that disaster!). I’ll miss walking to the 7-11 and greeting all my normal smiling faces along the way.
It all seems surreal…even if I know I’ll see them again, it just feels strange. All that to say that on Monday, July the 4th I’ll be back in America. I’m sure one of the first text messages from my sister will be a warm insult to welcome me back (once I get a phone number there anyway!)…and strangely I would feel out of place if that was not the case. I’m sure the familiar voice of my parents will sooth portions of the drive from Atlanta to their home in Ohio. I can almost feel the cool Michigan breeze that I will feel once I get to Higgins lake later next week. It will all be a great warm feeling in my heart, even if I am missing Thailand at the same time…
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