Now that my time here is seriously winding down, this is easily the question I am being asked the most. It’s not so easy to answer, but I’ll give it a try.
Moving to Thailand is hands down the most rash decision I have ever made. I’m someone who thrives on overanalyzing and weighing pros and cons. I entertained a few different plans for post grad, but when they fell through I pretty much just said “I think I’ll move to Thailand” and a day or two later my application to the LanguageCorps was sent. I literally had no reason behind choosing Thailand except for that it was essentially as far away from New York as I could get. Well, that and I thought to myself “Who goes to Thailand? Nobody.” Turns out my hipster ambitions coming out here were dashed as every day my mom was telling me she talked to someone else who had been to Thailand before. So with no real thought being put into coming out here, it’s hard to know if it’s what I was expecting, because I really wasn’t expecting anything other than to teach English.
I certainly wasn’t expecting the homesickness that nearly wrecked me the first week I moved to Ayutthaya. I wasn’t expecting worse problems with the education system than the people love to blame America, and New York especially, for. I wasn’t expecting packs of dogs that wanted to kill me around every corner or the absence of hot water either. I also wasn’t expecting the inspiration and beauty that has come from living among the ruins of Asia’s one time most important city. I definitely wasn’t expecting to find joy and a new sense of youth in teaching children, and I certainly wasn’t expecting to be won over by them.
There’s a lot I could complain about. I have 2 posts in my drafts talking about all the negative things I’ve come across teaching here, but even though I’m super proud of their witty titles, I had to make a very conscious decision to leave them unfinished. It’s too easy to complain. At the end of the day have some things here sucked? Absolutely, I’d be lying if I didn’t admit that. Ultimately though, I’ve been living in Thailand- freaking beautiful, half a world away, Thailand for goodness sakes- for 5ish months now. The awesomeness of that alone absolutely trumps all of the stupid things my schools do. I got the education that college never could have given me. I’ve got an expanded worldview, memories to last me a life time, a whole new appreciation for my home and my age, plans to travel for 10 weeks mostly on my own through Southeast Asia (which is really turning into a nightmare to plan. What was I thinking?), new friends, and a wanderlust I know I’ll never be able to shake.
The question I can answer with certainty is “Was it worth it?” That’s a resounding “Yes!” I might not be staying out here as long as I initially thought, I might have wanted to throw tiny children out windows, I might have lived with lizards and spiders and cockroaches (oh my!) for months, but I wouldn’t have traded that for anything in the world. Without a doubt I am a better, stronger, wiser person than when I left New York, and I can’t wait to share my experiences with you all back home. I did everything I set out here to do. I’m not going to look back on this with any regrets, and I think that right there sums up what an incredible experience this has been.
Until Malaysia,
Mr. S