Well, where do I begin? Do I talk first about the amazing sights I've seen? The Troubles I had travelling? Or all of the amazing people I've met along the way? Seeing as how I sent e-mail after e-mail out to friends and family and wish not to torture them with it all again, I will talk about my own journey through the lands of Thailand.
Being the first big trip I've ever taken, I was naturally very nervous for the whole thing to come together. All went off mostly without ta hitch (other than a few minor travel problems) and I found myself safely in Thailand.
As I look back, I can't say that this trip has changed my life or that I am a completely new person because of it. Instead, I find myself a little more content with life, overjoyed at the thought that I have been to Thailand and am now lucky ebough to be living in New Zealand. Lookng back too, I tried to always be thankful for where I was and for what I was doing. There are very few of us who are lucky enough to get to go to university and get a degree, let alone travel the world while doing it.
I have also never been so proud to be Canadian. I loved when people asked me where I was from because I would look then in the eye and say "Canada." Pretty much everyone loved Canada and thought it was great that they had met another Canadian (guess there are a bunch of us out there). It is funny to think of myself before I left, probably really only able to identify myself with other Albertans, differing myself from Saskatchewaners and Newfies. Meeting Canadians in Thailand, however, was such an exciting thing for me, the familiarity and commoness of it all, feeling like we had much more in common than things different between us. Identity has become much more apparent in my life.
I also realized how much home meant to me. I always knew how much I loved family and how much I loved home, but the simple things became so much more obvious to me. I missed the quiet and comfortable simplicity of Lethbridge, I missed my parents being just a phone call away, I missed winter (I was surprised at this myself), I missed ceasar salad, I missed driving, I missed working at Costco, I missed having a hot shower, I missed sleeping in a place where there were no bugs. But most of all, I missed my friends. These are all things that I know I took for granted at home but now realize how lucky I am to have had them. And its funny, because I am the type of person who often tries to look at my life and be thankful for what I have and try to see how I can use my experiences to make myself better inside and for those around me. I realize this even more so now. But you know what, I wouldn't trade the gross sheets, the cockroaches, the cold showers, the noisy hotel rooms, and the lack of personal space, for anything in the world, I have been to Thailand and am darn proud of it!
However, I am not going to lie. A part of me was more than anxious to leave the busy streets of Bangkok, the Tuk-Tuk drivers, the markets, the street vendors, the people selling stuff on the street who never cease to leave you alone. I looked forward to a rountine, to not living out of a bag, to have a consistent place to sleep, and to not to pack and unpack my huge traveelling backpack every three days. I am ready for the holiday to end and I am ready to start the last leg of my university career. I am ready to start teaching, as nervous as I still am. I am ready for the challenge and I am ready to meet new people. I am ready to see how I can and will grow as a person, and I am ready to see what New Zealand has to offer.
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