The generosity of the Thai people

Tonight was a significant enough night that I had to blog. Korin, a new ETA who now teaches at Sawan Anan Wittaya in the same department as me, jump started the Bags of Caring Hearts for Soldiers Fulbright campaign to support the soldiers of Thailand helping with flood relief efforts. I taught 6 classes today and after being on my feet for 6 hours of the day, I wasn't looking forward to the fundraiser which was going to be in the form of student bands from our school playing music at the local night market and us holding boxes for donations.

It wasn't the event that hit me nor the good music by our students nor the camaraderie of the young teachers in our department. It was the generosity of the people in our little town of Sawankhalok. All sorts of people came to drop money into our boxes. It was the people who seemed to have the least but gave generously who touched me the most. There were ladies in plaid shirts, day laborers, who passed by in a group and each dropping coins into our boxes. I highly doubt they make much for their hard work, yet they still had the heart and generosity to donate to our cause. There were students with their single moms who came to support us and gave money. There were grandmothers and grandmothers. There were shopkeepers and food sellers around us who, after closing shop, came to give us some of the money they earned. I was blown away by how kind and selfless these people are. They had so little, but the 20 baht they gave was so meaningful. Twenty baht in Thailand can buy you one meal so it was equitable to at least 5-8 dollars in America.

I still don't quite understand how people who have so little can give so much, but this shows I have quite a lot more to learn. I live in an amazing community. The little town of Sawankhalok and the people have captured my heart.

This is my backyard...

With scenes as beautiful as this in my backyard, how can I ever leave this place?

The end and the beginning

It has been 3 months since I've written. I haven't disappeared into the jungles of Thailand. I've simply been busy teaching my students and loving them more and more each day. This past week is the marker of one year since I have been in Thailand on a Fulbright. We also met the new batch of ETAs coming with ready minds and open hearts to come teach in Thailand. I've met my replacement in the wonderful person of Korin. She is SET UP for success...that's all I have to say. I couldn't have chosen a better person to come and teach at Sawan Anan as a Fulbright ETA. Although I've decided to stay on and teach one more semester (big news!), I can only describe myself this week as having "jai hai" syndrome...translated to "a lost heart," because I cannot deal with the fact that this amazing year of Fulbright has officially come to an end and my fellow sister ETAs are heading off to travel in Southeast Asia before heading back to the homeland. Perhaps I am in denial with all of this, so I've put an invisible barrier between my heart and my head. It has been a very fast year, and the fastest one since college where years seem to be only as long as months. I will reactivate my blog and write as much as I can about these next 5 months in Thailand and my wonderful students and friends. I'll post pictures and write more later.