Checkin' In

My dear friends and family...so sorry for not posting. Things have been hectic as the school year was winding down. I went for an interview at Yonok University, thought it went terribly but heard from a friend that they loved me. Still awaiting their confirmation but it will be a better job with more perks (ie transportation stipend, less teaching hours, beautiful campus). I went to meet up with a friend Amy from springfield. We met in chiang mai where she was taking a yoga massage course. She's a friend of my friends and we'd never met before but we had a good time. I took her up to Doi Suthep which was a bust because of all the pollution. I was feeling so sick after spending 2 days in Chiang Mai. Hopefully now the situation is under control. They are also going to have Songkran (thai new years) early this year. They think that having people throwing water will help bring down the dust in the air...haven't yet been able to seed the clouds.

Anyways, Hilary's parents and aunt came to Lampang and they were so great. It was nice to see Thailand through their eyes..so excited about everything and very interested in our lives. We had a lot of fun on Monday taking them to temples and a mausoleum of a dead monk, which is quite uncommon in thailand as folks are generally cremated. Monday night we had a nice potluck and we got to watch a DVD of Hilary's grandma playing accordion. it was so cute that we decided to write her a thank-you card from all of us. then amy said that it was her grandma's birthday so we made a birthday card for her. This week i said goodbye to many of the teachers at LCCT who are either going home or moving to chiang mai. it was a tough week.

And so last night, i ventured onto the overnight train with karen and we woke up in bangkok this morning. i'm taking another overnight train south and meeting hilary and fam on koh pangyan tomorrow. i can't wait for more island time...it will be good for me after all the pollution. so my next blog will be from the islands. horray!