This is what goodbye looks like

my scrapbooked journal: now an inch thick with travel stories

traveller bands: the yellow stolen from southern belle Lucy, the pink and yellow made for me by girls at the orphanage, the white and red, some string I found on Mod's porch and fashioned into a band

the brown books: messages from everyone at foundation. We all wrote in each others and vowed not to read them until on the plane home. They have quotes from funny happenings here, contact details and just funny things to read. There are so many beautiful and hilarious messages in those pages, testimony to my amazing and hilarious new friends!

thank you cards: from kids at my last placement: a reminder of the children, the lessons, the songs, the games...

I want to say thank you, lastly to so many people- those who started this journey with me- who sponsored me to come out here and the teachers and friends who inspired me to travel. Those who listened to this blog which now has almost 1000 views, that's so cool to see, thank you! And to the wonderful volunteers and travellers who I shared this experiences with, thank you guys. This summer has gone beyond words (coming from someone who writes a lot...). Anyone on this webpage must fall into one of those three categories, so THANK YOU ALL!

Lastly, my wish for anyone reading this page is that they travel. If you can't get on a plane this summer, get a bus and see your own hometown- go to new coffee shops, talk to strangers, get involved in local culture be it temples, theatres or bookstores nearby. Go out and see the world (well, a bit of it...)

Above 1: A quote I found on the wall in Peace Bar (Chiang Rai) and loved instantly
Above 2: Playing my favourite game- how many people can you fit round a table in Doi Chaang

 

Until next time
"Goodbye"
Georgia <3

Thai Culture

FOOD!

Not gonna lie. The thought of eating something other than rice has me excited all week long. Because there’s only so much comfort given by Oreos. So while people around me plan temples to visit and daytrips, I create menus in my head. Tonight I had a cocoa frappe (a week without dairy products made the arrival of a cream-laden chocolatley drink to my table worthy of whooping) tomato soup, fries (A CARB THAT ISN’T RICE!) and a Dragonfruit (try it) and Kiwi smoothie. I’ve literally been walking round the town making food plans for tomorrow “So breakfast can be pancakes and then it’ll be pizza for dinner…”.

On weekends we volunteers tend to gorge ourselves on western food- fries, pizza, milk, cheese, chocolate, waffles, pancakes. Obviously the rich, oily, sugariness came as a shock after a week of rice so a lot of us spend Saturday night feeling ill. But I have no regrets

This is half the volunteer group at Doi Chaang, the Asian version of Starbucks. So far I’ve had around thirty bowls of rice. Rice is good. Rice is constant. It’s the side dishes- the mushy dark green, foul looking vegetables that I’ve taken to avoiding. Ew. Hey, I tried them. My first week I tried every dish but I kept making this face, every meal. So I soon gave up.

 

PANTS!

I don't know if there's an actual name for these type of trousers but we all just call them pants. Perfect for this climate: loose fitting, pretty pattern cotton pants. We all wear pants. We all love pants. Pants! That is all.

 

SA WAT DE KA!

This is the standard Thai greeting (for girls, for guys it’s Sa Wat De Krup). You cannot buy anything at the shop, ask a question or say hello without saying SA WAT DE KA!  And wai-ing. (Smiles are also obligatory :D )

 

MOSQUITO NETS!

SQUAT TOILET!

Urgh. Not so glamorous. There’s not really much to say about squat toilets, except that they are everywhere and they are not my favourite thing.

 

MONKS!

The Monks here are just Thai men who happen to wear orange robes. They own iPhones, have tattoos and go to cafes around town.

 

SHOES!

In Asian culture it’s polite to take your shoes off before entering any temple, classroom ands some cafes.                   

 

THAI TIME!

Everything runs late. I call it “running on thai time” because if you arrange to meet up at 8.30 and show up at 9.15 you’re not considered late. Similarly, last week my first class of the day started at 9am but the school didn’t collect me until 9.15am.

Above: Chiang Rai clock tower that lights up on the hour

 SKIN WHITENING!

It's funny how at home everyone wants to be more tan and here girls lather themselves in skin whitening products...

 

STREET VENDORS!

For those brave enough (so far Emily and Sam) there is a variety of fried insects to buy and eat. That’s right. People PAY to eat bugs here. Mealworms and Crickets and other winged beetle things.

 I was quite excited about getting street food, which is world class here. Here I am, getting a dragonfruit smoothie. I think my excitement shows…