Upon Arrival.

I’ve been home for about four weeks and I feel as though at any moment I’m going to wake up from a nap and realize I’m still in Thailand. Weeks before my flight home, I fantasized about lying on my bed, watching my favorite TV shows when they air instead of days after on Hulu, spending time with my family and pets, and eating lots of cookie dough ice cream. Now that I’m home (while eating cookie dough ice cream), I’m thinking about my friends in Thailand, wondering what they’re up to, what restaurants they’re eating at, what games they’re playing with the children, and how much they’re sweating in the triple digit weather. 

The ability to be in on the other side of the world in 24 hours still boggles my mind. I am very fortunate to be able to travel within a full day’s time and each time I make the journey to and from Thailand, it really does get easier. I still don’t sleep on the plane and end up staying awake for 36+ hours, but it’s worth each trip.

When I arrived home and stepped foot in my room, the first thing I noticed was all the stuff I had. I looked at my closet, full of clothes and shoes I hadn’t worn in over a year, and wondered where the obsession of having to have lots of stuff came from? Why did I own so many tops and bottoms that I clearly didn’t need, only noticed because I left them behind when I moved? So, the first thing I did was clean house. I went through all my drawers and closet and decided to free up space. I went through shirts and shorts, jeans and dresses, pants, and shoes, giving away items I didn’t use anymore. I felt embarrassed. Here I am, a typical American, with more than I need, filling up large black garbage bags of clothes to donate, all the while thinking about the girls in Thailand who have a single drawer to their name with a few key pieces of clothing and shoes. What would they think if they saw that the amount of clothing I owned added up to half the clothes the girls in one house owned?

I have never been more aware of my American mentality of “More is better” since moving to Thailand. In America, we expect so much, we believe we’re entitled to it. We believe that our hard earned money should stretch as far as possible; we expect deals, negotiations, extras for what we’re paying for. It’s evident in the amount of food we receive at restaurants, in the BOGO deals at supermarkets and clothing stores, in the rewards we earn for using specific credit cards or items we purchase. I hadn’t realized how conditioned I was to this thinking until I moved to a country that didn’t offer any of these perks, whose portion sizes are what they’re supposed to be. When you go to a Dairy Queen or McDonalds and order a small, the small is the size of a kid’s small. Crazy, right? Medium is actually the size of an American small and large is the size of an American medium. There are rarely BOGO deals and forget about entire aisles of spaghetti sauces or Poptart flavors. You get the brands they offer and if you don’t like what they have, well then I guess you’re not eating that specific food. Definitely something to get use to. Coming back to America, back home, it reminded me of the accessibility we have to virtually everything. Don’t get me wrong, it’s not necessarily a bad thing, I know that I am fortunate to have been born in a country that allows me accessibility to so many goods and opportunities and I am very grateful for that but I have also learned that I don’t always need all this stuff.

Hence the closet purge…followed by purchasing of new clothing. It’s a brutal cycle.

This past Sunday, I spoke to my church’s Sunday school, Beach Street, explaining to students fifth grade and under what I’ve been doing and who I’ve been working with while living in Thailand. I wanted them to see what a day in the life of a Thai student looks like, so I showed a picture slide show of all the children I work with on a regular basis. They were amazed that these Thai children look and act just like them. There were some funny pictures, children with ice cream scoops tucked in between two slices of white bread and children walking around with string tied around a cup to make it “to-go”.

                                       

     (a literal ice cream sandwich)

They were surprised at how many Thai children were in my pictures! I was impressed with some of the questions asked, like how do you travel to Thailand, what’s the time difference, why children are sold into slavery, why is English so important to learn, and what does education have to do with a successful future? I stressed the importance of education and trying to earn high scores in school. I explained to these students that in Thailand, unless you have a degree, there aren’t many options to make money. Some students told me afterwards that what I’m doing is something they would like to do in the future. Knowing that the work I’m doing has inspired this generation to want to help others less fortunate is truly humbling.

I also spoke to my church’s youth group, girls I used to teach before I moved across the world. Knowing that a handful of them want to go out into the world and help others puts the biggest smile on my face. With the older girls, I didn’t have to sugar coat the reality of being a woman in a world that doesn’t value women. I was real with them when I explained that the most important thing us woman can do to better our futures is to earn an education. There is nothing more encouraging and inspirational than women trying to make the world a better place, giving examples of women like Malala Yousafzai, a young Pakistani girl who fought for her rights to earn an education when the Taliban tried, by force and threats, to deny women’s educational rights.

At the end of the day, at the end of my trip, all I can hope to do is inspire those around me to want to help others, whether it’s overseas or next door.