Khrupkrua dichon (my family).

My brother Nathan and my sister-in-law Milli left for Cairo, Egypt today, where they will work at a NGO for a year. I'm really excited for them (and it gives me an excuse to visit Egypt) but I'm also a little saddened, knowing that I won't see them again for a long time - well, a year, unless I visit them.

I knew coming into this job that missing holidays at home would be the hardest part of the year. I love my house at Christmas. Every cheesy paper Santa and Amy Grant song smacks of my idlylic childhood. We always choose a Christmas tree that is way too tall for even our living room's vaulted ceiling and putting up the tree in the stand is a task that, without fail, jeopardizes my parent's marriage (well, at least for the twenty minutes it takes until the tree is up).

Yes, I know, I realize that it is only September and Christmas is a long time away, but since two of my siblings jetted off to Africa, this means that my small family is spread over three different continents. I think because I have such a small family makes holidays like Christmas even more important to me. Even thinking about missing Christmas at home makes me homesick.

But here is the new news: I changed my plane ticket to go home during the semester break for October 3rd instead of October 9th, which gives me six more coveted days at home. My little sister will be home from Westmont for her fall four-day break and I miss her something awful. So, a month from today, I will be on an airplane flying across an ocean to go home. Gulp. I hate flying. I do it because I love traveling more than I hate flying. I think that having two weeks at home will get me through missing Christmas when December rolls around. I'm content with going home instead of traveling because I have traveled in Thailand extensively already; I don't feel like I'm missing out. Twenty-four hours with my family will refresh me emotionally in a way that a week on the beach could never do.