A "stream of consciousness" post.

The picture above is of the coastline of Koh Chang (Elephant Island), located in the easternmost part of the Gulf of Siam, near the border of Cambodia. When my family comes and visits we are making a stop at the island for about five days before they head home. I've been working on figuring out our travel arrangements, so I've been thinking about it a lot. I can't wait. People, you think Hawaii is beautiful... Koh Chang is 10 times as lovely and less touristy. I spent days lying by the pool, staring at the glorious ocean that was only a few feet away. I am very excited about going back and taking my family with me.

Speaking of which, it is only about four months until my family will be here. Crazy. The last day of classes is in about four weeks. Crazy. I go home to California for the semester break in about five and a half weeks. CRAZY. When I got here at the end of May, October seemed so far away. Time has passed so quickly. I feel like the week has hardly begun when it has ended.

I've been thinking a lot about what is going to happen after I leave Thailand in March. I know that I am going to live at home for a while, working until I go back to school... providing I get in somewhere. I'm applying to graduate school for Fall 2008 and I honestly cannot wait to go back to school.

"What?" you say. "But you just graduated four months ago! Don't you want a break? Aren't you sick of school?"

The truth is that I love learning and going to class. I will talk about literature to anyone who will listen (and even those who don't want to listen, as my long suffering family will testify). I'm excited at the prospect of going back to school and concentrating entirely on what I'm interested in. I've been doing a lot of research on graduate schools and have compiled a list of schools that I want to go to (all on the East Coast, actually. I feel drawn to the other side of the country since I did my undergraduate work in California).

I know that March will creep up on me and give me a surprise. I want to enjoy the time I have left in Thailand, because I do love it here, despite the difficult parts of life. I enjoy teaching, especially interacting with my students outside of and after class. I love living in this beautiful, ancient city, and seeing the wild mountains rise up out of nowhere. I feel blessed that God led me here and has provided for me without fail, time and time again, in all sorts of situations. But I'm excited about what the future holds.