I have been back in Thailand for six days now. I had a really nice—but short—visit in the U.S. The purpose of the trip was to go to Christina’s wedding, but I also squeezed in a 3-day trip to Omaha and Lincoln. I had an interesting encounter as I was getting on the plane in Chicago. A man about my age from central Nebraska was in line in front of me. He had made a comment about our numbers as he got in line and then chatted about where we were going. A few minutes later, he turned around and said something like, “Tell me if I’m wrong. You’re a nun.” I was rather surprised and told him he was wrong. After a couple minutes, he turned around again and said, “It’s just your quiet demeanor.”
On the way back, I went to the Thai Consulate in Chicago to apply for my non-immigrant B visa. This is a two-trip process, as you turn in the application one day and pick up the visa two working days later. The first day I enjoyed lunch at the Thai restaurant next to the consulate. The second day I enjoyed walking back to the train station. I hadn’t been walking in the city for a number of years and enjoyed walking along the river walk and seeing buildings I remember from 40+ years ago.
The wedding was, of course, lovely. They had good luck and it didn’t rain on Sunday, as it had on Saturday; so they could have the ceremony outdoors like they wanted to. Cheryl had invited out-of-town guests to her home Friday and Sunday nights. These were additional opportunities to visit with family and a few friends I hadn’t seen for many years and to chat with some new people.
It was especially nice to become acquainted with the nieces and nephews again as older people than they were five and eight years ago. And to meet the new baby Annabel and play with her brother Daniel.
The trip back to Thailand was gruesome. The plane on Thursday was delayed two hours due to rain earlier in the morning. Then we were told that it was further delayed to wait for a mechanic. The second delay meant that I would probably not make my connection to Tokyo; so I was rerouted to fly on Friday. Since this was a last-minute change, my bags went on to Detroit, but I was flying out of Minneapolis the next day. The baggage man at the airport was very helpful. I went back to my brother’s house for the night and enjoyed hanging out with him and my nephew. Back at the airport on Friday, I learned that my bags had made it to Minneapolis, which pleased the baggage man as well as me. In Minneapolis, I learned that the plane to Tokyo was delayed a few hours due to a hydraulic leak. Then it was cancelled. The airport people were quite efficient about getting about 800 passengers assigned to hotels. We were given vouchers for food and a room. A special plane was being brought in for us Saturday morning. In the morning, I decided to do a quick e-mail and received a message that the plane was delayed until 4:00 PM. So, I stayed at the hotel and watched TV. I did a quick e-mail check again before leaving and learned that the departure had been changed to 2:30. Fortunately, I still had time to get to the airport and make the flight. After that, all went well.
The trip from Minneapolis to home took 40 hours. I arrived in Bangkok at midnight Sunday night and hung out at the airport for a few hours before going to the bus station, as it’s a more pleasant place to hang out. At the bus station, I waited for the ticket booths to open at 5:00 AM Monday morning. I was able to get one of three seats left on the first class bus, but had to wait three more hours. I could have gotten a second class bus earlier, but they stop a lot and, therefore take two hours longer and arrive only an hour earlier. So I decided that it was worth waiting for the first class bus.
It was difficult letting people here know about the changes in my travel plans. I e-mailed Sister Viphaporn but wasn’t sure if she checked mail on the weekend. I also e-mailed Khun Yindee and asked her to call Sister Viphaporn and Khun Kwan, but I wasn’t sure if her e-mail at home was working. I had no way to contact Khun Kwan directly. I did hear from Khun Yindee after the first change that Khun Kwan had called her when I wasn’t at the bus station. I learned later that she called again Sunday when I wasn’t there. I called her Monday morning, and the family was there to meet me when I arrived in the evening. She now has an e-mail address and knows how to use it. She e-mailed me to tell me she was worried because I am like family to them. She does take care of me well. Khun Dakom also called me Monday afternoon. It made me feel welcomed back.
Arriving two days late meant that I missed school on Monday. But, more importantly, I missed my day to relax and recover a bit at home on Sunday. So the rest of the week I was very exhausted and travel-weary and jet lagged. The teacher who taught my classes while I was gone did all the worksheets I left but didn’t correct them. So I had a big pile of papers to correct. This took most of the week.
When I arrived home, I found out that the termites (or whatever they are) in the extra bedroom had surfaced again. The larvae had eaten through the whole bottom of a box of books and into some of the books. They had eaten through the bookshelves from the bottom and back and into some of the books. It was a mess. I removed the bookshelves and damaged books to the porch that night and sprayed them and the floor and wall in that corner of the room and moved the rest of the books to another room. Over the next few days, I cleaned them in the evening. I didn’t need this extra work, since I was very tired, but it had to be done.
My body was tired and tight and my shoulders hurt. Usually, only my left shoulder bothers me, but this time it was mostly the right shoulder. I desperately needed a massage. I vaguely remembered seeing a sign somewhere, and Thursday night, when a teacher was riding me home, I saw it again. So, Friday I stopped on the way home. I could stay only an hour because Khun Dakom called to tell me they were coming to Ubon to have dinner with me. She spent a lot of time on my legs, which don’t usually need extra attention, but which I knew were very tight. When I left, I knew they were much better. She started on my shoulders and suggested that I come back for an herbal steam massage. I planned to do that on the weekend, but Khun Dakom and Khun Toy invited me to go to the village on Saturday and spend the night. When I returned Sunday, I was too tired to go out.
I really enjoyed being back in the village. I do miss it. I miss the quiet walk to school and greeting people along the way. I miss teaching with Khun Yindee. I miss being in the country. I miss seeing some of the children—the neighborhood children and Khun Teamjan’s grandchildren—regularly. While Khun Toy went to school to do some work, I walked around the village a bit. Some of the old women saw me and called to me. Khun Noi also saw me. Khun Ying was not home, but Khun Kasemsri was. We had a pleasant visit. It was good to see her again. She said the students keep asking when I will come back. I guess they remember that I left last year and came back and haven’t really understood that this year I am not coming back. She said people call the radio station and ask where I am. It’s nice to know I am missed. I also briefly stopped to see the other Khun Toy, who hugged me. We went to Khun Suwit’s farm for dinner. I stayed in Khun Toy and Khun Dakom’s small house by the pond. They stayed in the other room there. I wondered if they stayed there because they didn’t want me to be alone in the house. He is calling it my house now, which is sweet.
Sunday morning I went to the wat with Khun Toy, as she was taking the grade 7 and 8 students. The old women were happy to see me and several tapped me on the shoulder to get my attention and greet me. After breakfast at the farm, Khun Somlan drove me back to the city.
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