A YEAR WORTH OF DISTANCE

I may be scribbling this entry in advance prior to my end of contract this October but the chance of writing it while it's still warm and freshly intact in mind might be too late or gone to forgetting. It's my 11 months now here in Thailand and as if a year already. Didn't expect that I could survive for that long, knowing that I didn't ask God to send me here in Siam country. I can still clearly remember how reluctant I was to leave the Philippines to teach in Thailand. Loneliness, frustrations visibly painted on my face on that day which you couldn't really see any excitement in me though working abroad is really a dream. When I finally arrived here in Thailand, the more homesickness and directed down I felt that day. Sighing and deep audible breath of weariness was the only gesture of expression I could possibly utter, to say the least. First, two months were filled with begging to the Lord if He could possibly send me back to the Philippines that He may perform unusual miracles that may cause any rejections and disapproval of my visa and everything. Because He planned everything according to His gracious will, things went well, and let me stay. For my 10 and almost 11 teachings in Thailand aren't easy. Some part of it is enjoying & challenging, some are roller coaster rides. Of course, gaining new friends is another tool to consider why I still survive the roller coaster ride of homesickness. Traveling to Thailand's tourist sightseers was among the enjoyable adventures I have had. You can safely travel anywhere else without worrying about your safety. No pickpockets, swindlers nor hold-upper. Seeing those amazing temples, historical places, pagodas, and buddhas up close were kind of a perfect experience-sense of fun. My imagination runs wild when I took a week trip to Hongkong so as a one day visit to Macau. It was unexpected travel filled with savoring and joy in my heart that it came to reality. Amidst the simplicity of Thailand, working here is well worth telling. I might have regretted it by now if I didn't accept the challenge of teaching here. I would say, I may never get the chance of seeing Hongkong & Macau. A one year of teaching here in Thailand is a year's worth of distance a sea away from home.