Thailand Days Re-Revisited

So...the last two weeks were fun, although exhausting. Schools were closed for summer holidays or something, so the week before the Chiang Mai trip I'd been assigned to teach the teachers at my school together with 3 other volunteers. Kind of a different feeling all of a sudden having 20-something teachers and other faculty members in front of you in the classroom. At first I was under the impression that we were only supposed to teach the english teachers and perhaps a few more, but the whole thing seemed to have been pretty popular with the staff, hence the big attendance. If the students were shy, quiet and unwilling to speak their minds, the opposite can be said about the teachers. Especially the assistant director, also known as "crazy coconut lady" due to the fact that you would always end up with more "burned coconuts" than you could carry whenever she would drive you anywhere. She had a way of "taking over the class" when given the opportunity, so you had to make sure there wasn't any questions about who's boss! Well, what's thirty years of teaching compared to 6 weeks of volunteer work anyway, huh? Luckily, Lacy had just the right kind of booming teacher voice needed to get the job done, giving the rest of us the chance to sit back and enjoy the coffee and cookies we were always served during class, best cookies ever...mmm. On my last day they arranged a day trip for all of us, and some students too, including a forest temple, an archaeological site and...a winery. Not what you expect on a fieldtrip with a bunch of teachers and students, but lots of fun. Especially since they all bought a few bottles for the songthaew ride back home which were passed around while the teachers entertained us with something that was apparently "bad songs". I couldn't have gotten a better ending to my teaching experience in Thailand and I really enjoyed the school and all the people there.


As for the rest of the time, new volunteers kept coming, old ones leaving, and after a while one had gotten sort of numb to all the new faces, names and people to get to know. Goodbye parties were mixed with the introduction to the intricacy of Nong Khais nightlife, both held at Surreal and Bar-Nana and with the newly established coffee-ritual in class every morning, there was always one or two more beers at night. New friends were made, both thai and farang, and old ones were said goodbye to. There was always something going on at night. During my last two weeks the downtown area was occupied by the annual Nong Khai Fair, with everything found at the regular markets multiplied by 100, as well as rides, games, exhibitions and live music.
Trying to make the most of my final weeks in Thailand, I slept on average 3-5 hours a night between teaching, running back and forth from the Fair, and the rest of the time trying to spend as much time as possible with the people I probably won't be seeing again anytime soon. Don't know how it worked out, but I guess when you're having fun anything works even though some days are a bit sketchy. I've got the days a little bit mixed up, but I clearly (well...) remember a BBQ some days before I left.
On my very last night Mark had arranged a buffet and some special cocktails at Surreal and as always, a great time and then off to Bar-Nana. The night ended not so early in the morning in the hammocks at Meechai Dorm. Probably my best night in Nong Khai and the perfect ending of my time there.
Of course I hadn't packed at all and and the next morning, with a brain not working on full speed I surrendered to the task of locating all my stuff and trying to squeeze them down into my bags about two hours before I had to leave for the airport. Don't know how I managed not to forget half of my stuff and especially not how I got to the airport on time. With my bags packed, I eventually succeeded in hauling what must have been the slowest tuk-tuk in Thailand, and after some quick goodbyes I left my friends at Meechai Dorm in a cloud of dust traveling at the speed of a lawnmower.




Bye bye Thailand, thanks for everything.