Five weeks ago I came to Thailand knowing no one. I had read everything I could get my hands on about Thailand, but reading about it just isn't the same as being here. I was nervous. "What if I don't get along with anyone? What if I don't like it there?" I thought. I think back to this now, and laugh. How could I not like it, and how could I ever not like people who were adventurous enough to travel to Thailand for a semester? Every day I see new things. I'm challenged in my daily conversations to question my beliefs and learn more. Everything intrigues me. I stop and appreciate the beauty of this country when I see the sun setting, a glittering temple, a magnificent view, or a beautiful child. I can't imagine leaving. Five weeks here and I've been captivated.
The reality that eventually we're going to leave (much sooner than we'd like) has set in. We've come to realize that we have limited weekends and still so much to see. The dorm has become a frenzy of planning the rest of our weekends. We're booking hostels, tours, and transportation up until our departure dates. And departures, well, those have been extended by all of my friends that have the ability to stay longer. Two of my friends have decided to stay another semester and four more have extended their trips up until the very last minute before they go back to school. Two of them are actually missing their first week of school. I mean, how often are you in Southeast Asia? It's totally worth it! Christmas and New Years here? Sounds amazing.
The rest of my weekends are planned out. Cambodia to see the Angkor Wat Temples this weekend, and I get to experience traveling alone to Northern Vietnam to see Sapa and Halong Bay next week. White Water Rafting for two days with one night camping in the jungle in Pai, which is in Northern Thailand, the following weekend. Laos, Koh Phangan, Southern Vietnam and the killing fields in Phnom Penh the following three weekends. Possibly Malaysia after that. Sometime around then I have finals, and then my dad is coming. What's supposed to come after that, I don't even want to discuss at the moment. I'm not ready to leave. It's been a month and a half since I've been here, and two months until I'm supposed to go. I don't want to leave this country, the people here, or this life that I'm living, which is an absolute dream.
I've experienced the exciting times. Going to the beach, spending a day with elephants, being a tourist at the Grand Palace, and becoming used to Thai culture. This second half of my trip is going to be spent appreciating. While I have a whirlwind of things going on, I will never have more time to spend learning about myself than when I travel to Northern Vietnam and spend 6 days surrounded by a new culture and only having myself to rely on, or when I travel to Cambodia and see poverty and desperation in the faces of the people around me. I am more blessed than I even know. I need to understand how others live their lives around the world, because it's no where close to how I live mine in the United States.
All that's on my mind is that fact that I could stay another two weeks and go to India. I could see my Dutch friend, who I rarely get to see, studying abroad in Bangalore, travel with a few other friends that couldn't stand the idea of going home any sooner than necessary either, and spend Christmas and New Years in a country so foreign that the celebration itself won't be the only thing that's overwhelming. But it's more than that. I spoke with someone that traveled to India two years ago and described the experience as one that really opened his eyes. He said it was hard to see the kids in the street all alone, and the absolute poverty that existed. He said it really took time to process what he witnessed.
Below is an exert from a blog I read written by a solo female traveller that fell hopelessly in love with India:
India has always been the destination of most serious seekers, from Jesus Christ (apparently) to Mark Twain; and The Beatles to Ram Dass. I once asked Swami Brahmdev why India is considered the most spiritual country on earth and he said it was because the extremes could be found in such abundance: extremes of darkness and degradation to extremes of lightness and beauty. "India is the soul of the world," he told me
To travel well in India, I think you need to adopt a certain attitude. I think you need to see yourself as an explorer and a student; and to see everything that happens as an adventure and a teacher. IF you are ready, willing and able to open up to what I call "the magic of India," you might find yourself fallling hopelessly in love with the country as I did.
Her blog is found at http://www.mapsofindia.com
"You don't visit India for it's beauty," a friend said. She described her need to go to India by saying that she needed to see it because of the poverty and the culture. She's not going to see the Taj Mahal, but to meet the people, understand their lives, and see how the rest of the world lives.
The thought of leaving this country and these people that in one month I've fallen in love with, is miserable. Culture shock never really hit me when I came to Thailand, but reverse culture shock upon my return is what I really fear.
Extending my trip two weeks gives me enough time to return home just in time to see my family for a few days, pack up my things, and start a new semester. That's all I really need. Besides, if I don't do it now, when? It'll be years before I get the opportunity to come back.
"The real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking new landscapes, but in having new eyes." Marcel Proust
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