Making the Move

Had to wake up today at around 7:00am because we had checked out of Glory Place in anticipation of going to Bangkok. All of my group is being split up and heading to different regions in Thailand to teach. After checking out of the hotel, I was placed in a van with six other group members and we drove to Bangkok. Upon our arrival, the driver dropped us off at the main bus terminal. Some of my group had agents who met them but mine did not which was a little disconcerting based on the fact I had my luggage and no direction as to where to go.

I decided to ask one of the agents that was there for help in finding a hotel and she gave me the name of a hotel that coincidentally was very close to my agent’s office that I had to be at on Monday at 9:00am. I thanked her profusely for her assistance and drove in a taxi with Jonathan to the Nasa Hotel. I was surprised by how nice the hotel was, but I was still feeling anxious, nervous, and stressed from the transition period between Hua Hin to Bangkok. Jonathan decided to travel around for a little bit which gave me some alone time. Once inside the hotel room, I broke down and cried for the first time. I don’t if I was tired, lonely, homesick, anxious, afraid, nervous, out of my element, jet lagged or a combination of all these reasons but the tears flowed like a waterfall.

Finally, I was able to get control of myself after talking on the telephone with Christy and walked down the street to the local market where I was able to eat. I took my food to the canal, sat down on a concrete block, and watched the large boats pass through the canal way. Several children were riding bikes in the area and approached me while I was eating. One spoke decent English and was excited to show off his English-speaking skills to me by engaging in a lengthy conversation. Interacting with them made me feel even better and I walked back to the hotel where I finally took a much-awaited nap. That night Jonathan and I had dinner at an authentic Thai seafood restaurant (Ton Thong). We ate shrimp, spicy curry seafood soup, listened to karaoke and live music while the rain beat down on the roof.