Hello friends...

It has been quite a while! The lag between posts is not because I don't want to write, but because there hasn't been a whole lot of news besides the usual routine of teaching class, grading papers and working on graduate school applications (which is occupying a lot of my free time and energy).

I can't deny that it is nice to feel like I know what I'm doing. I have memories of me wandering around the campus in a bewildered daze during my first two weeks. Now I know faces, textbooks, and proper etiquette (I hope!). My students generally show up and show up on time, which is delightful. I'm used to standing in front of a classroom and have gotten the hang of grading.

Random people I meet often ask me what my experience has been like. I hardly know to to answer: usually I say, "Challenging yet rewarding." I'm the type of person that processes a lot after the fact. When I go home to California in early March, I expect that a lot of time will be spent thinking about what the heck happened this year.

But in the meantime, I am enjoying feeling like I fit at CMU and like I fit in Chiang Mai. I've been here for almost six months now, and this city does feel like home. I still miss my family and my friends and fall weather, but I feel content as I prepare and look forward to the next chapter in my life.