Hello from my home in Wheaton, Illinois. I sincerely miss you, Thailand. I sincerely miss you, The Well. Hello to all my Thai family halfway across the world. You are so missed this Friday night.
I wanted to wrap things up the best I could from my return almost two months ago. I can't believe it! I have been in America now almost the same amount of time I was in Thailand. Life is different, a different pace; all that was to be expected, though. I am currently enrolled in a tourism class in my Anthropology department and it has made me ask a lot of questions about my time in Thailand. Was I a tourist or was I a local? Can you be a local and not speak the language? If you have been to the tourist spots in Bangkok, are you labeled as a tourist? Did I walk away from the city with a pompous aire about me because I stayed with locals and met daily with locals? Whatever the case, I miss it and I miss being a tourist or a local or a tourcal? Haha. I don't know.
As I sit in my room tonight, I remember all the nights that I spent with Kirsten and Kindra and I miss those two rugrats. I miss the Love Shack and our family meals and oh! Cori's omelets! I am also working at a Thai restaurant back in the States which has been a beautiful way to stay semi-connected to the culture because the family I work with is Thai and they are phenomenal people. Tonight, more than food, I am remembering the selfless attitude all of us beheld while working at the Well. I miss the attitude of giving and knowing in my soul that although it was tiring, it was so worth it! So so worth it. Life here in America is a lot about self-gratification and it is draining. Ironic, huh?
I am also working on a project with a Communication professor that involves an upcoming movie called Trade of Innocents. It is about Americans fighting to end sex trafficking in Cambodia and other countries. It was actually filmed in Bangkok about a month before I arrived. Anyways, I am entered into a marketing contest to come up with some ideas to market the movie on college campuses. It's a pretty cool way to earn credit and still get to think about the tough issues of battling such a hot topic in the media.
Another big part of my life right now has been looking toward the future and applying for jobs--lots of applying for jobs. I am looking toward the hospitality industry and my dream would be to work in America for awhile and transfer to working in a hotel in Bangkok and maybe intersecting my love for hospitality with fighting the injustice of the sex trade. We will see!
I would appreciate prayer for my future and my last months at Wheaton. I love this place but I can feel it slipping away from me already! Pray that I embrace my last time here and I open myself up to God and don't plan so much for the future that I forget to live in his glorious present. I exist here for a reason and I want that reason to mean so much more than the future that I am not promise.
Thank you to all who have been following the blog. Feel free to contact me at anytime! I'm not done with Thailand yet.
Sawadee kaa!!! [bye!]
