Flying Across Our Earth

Hour eleven of twelve: The food cart on the plane rolls down the aisle for what feels like the hundredth time. I am on the second leg of my journey, preparing to land in Tokyo to await my flight to Bangkok. After tons of music, sleeping, and working out the cramps in my backside, I find myself hovering over Asia, halfway across the world from my home in Louisville, Kentucky.

A few weeks ago, the Prime Minister of Thailand declared Bangkok in a “state of emergency” in the mist of 30,000 plus protesters outside the government buildings in the capital city. I only know what I read from the BangkokPost and other online news sources, but now that I am flying in that direction, I begin to have more curiosities about the implications of living in a protesting city/country. Will I witness any protests? If so, you can be certain, I will keep my distance. Will the morale of those at TUSEF (Thailand-U.S. Educational Foundation, the organization responsible for my Fulbright grant in Thailand) be down? Is it silly of me to have such concerns?

I feel anxious right now thinking about life in this foreign country. I know one thing for certain –I am going to pour all of my effort into making Thailand a familiar country rather than a foreign country. I am eager to learn the language, the culture and traditions.
What will the food be like? Will I find a place where I fit in? Will students really be able to learn from me, from what I have to offer? When I make mistakes, will I recover quickly? Will my Thai colleagues see me as a polite and respectful American?

This is the time to believe in what I know –I am patient, open-minded, flexible, and optimistic. So, I suppose I should say chook dii (good luck) to myself. Afterall, I am leaping into the biggest adventure of my life thus far.

Thank you to everyone in my life who helped make this opportunity possible. Your love and support was, and continues to be, life-changing. I love you and miss you all.
Next stop Tokyo. Three hour layover. Six and a half hour flight to Bangkok. Sleep.

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I’m on the flight now to Bangkok. I’ve been introduced to the other seven Fulbrighters on this flight. On the plane, I am seated next to little Noah (age 3), whose parents are living in Myanmar working for the Embassy on behalf of the U.S. State Department. I was able to speak at length with them about the situation in Myanmar. My previous knowledge stems from research I did for a paper in my International Negotiations course last semester.

It is 5:22am in Louisville. It is 6:22pm in Tokyo. It is 4:22pm in Bangkok. It is 11:23am in Amsterdam (near where I used to live in Holland –Den Haag).

Time is such an unusual concept. It is great for organization of course, but nearly useless today/tomorrow/yesterday to me at this very moment. I woke this morning, technically yesterday morning, at 7:30am in Louisville. After hours and hours of travel, I am comically confused. Should I be hungry? Should I be tired? Is it actually a new day, or just a new time to set my watch by (EST plus 11 hours)? Ha! Mai pen rai (no worries).

Bangkok, here we come.

Sawatdee ka (hello and goodbye)