As promised...

... some pictures from when my family visited. Enjoy!

Here are the four of us at Doi Suthep...



... Lauren and me on an elephant...



... some monks at a temple (I think at Wat Chedi Luang)...



... Lauren and Dad on a bamboo raft...



... and the Amari Emerald Cove Resort, our gorgeous hotel on Koh Chang. I think this picture is taken from the balcony of one of our rooms.

Homesickness: Noun - A longing to return home.

It comes at unexpected times. This morning, it was seeing my Golden Retriever, Guinevere, looking at me from across the world on a Skype camera. She had her chewy bone, like always, in her mouth. At that moment, I wanted nothing more than to be home in my house, in the Central Valley, sitting on the hardwood floor in the family room and petting my dog. I know. It's strange.

When I get homesick here, I feel strange, almost ungrateful. Here I am, living in another country, a country that some would call exotic. I'm lucky, right? How many people want to do what I'm doing and don't get to do it? I'm blessed. I'm lucky!

Nevertheless, it happens. Today, I changed my plane ticket. It is official; I will be back in California on Monday, March 2nd. My time in Thailand has an actual ending. I can see it in the not - so - distant horizon, only six weeks away. Somehow having the date set in stone makes it feel even farther away. I love Thailand. I love Chiang Mai. But sometimes, it feels like I've been here forever and I can't really remember life before Thailand, at least not in vivid detail.

I miss my family. I miss my friends. I miss healthy Christian community. I miss Santa Barbara. I miss SCHOOL!

My future is somewhat uncertain. I expect to hear from most graduate schools in mid to late March. I hate that a few people on an application review committee have my destiny in their hands. Yes, I know, I'm being dramatic, but they do have an awful lot of power. I'm looking forward to the next chapter in my life. I'm eager to begin school and be around people who love literature as much as I do.

But for the next six weeks, I hope to live in the moment, enjoy Thailand and enjoy the people that I've met here. We always want what we don't have, right?

Ha.

One of my favorite things to do in Chiang Mai is listen to conversations while riding on a "songtao," the most common form of public transportation. Usually this involves listening to conversations regarding myself. I often overhear conversations with two or more locals discussing me. Most Thai people assume that, as a farang, I am unable to speak or understand Thai. Little do they know!

Here is a conversation that occurred yesterday, when a gaggle of first-year nursing students joined me on the bus:

Girl #1: Look at that professor. Her skin is so white!
Girl #2: I like her hair.
Girl #1: Do you think she can speak Thai?
Girl #2: No, I don't think so.

Me: Actually, yes, I can speak Thai!

(Exclamations of surprise and delight by said nursing students).

They then proceeded to ask me what my name was, where I'm from, if I like Thailand, and where I learned to speak Thai. When they arrived at their stop, all waved goodbye and wished me a lovely weekend. I'm going to miss the friendliness of the people here when I get back to the States.

They came and conquered.

Here's a little update since I haven't blogged in a while (wow, did we ever think "blogged" would become a verb?):

My family had a great time. I had a lot of fun taking them to my favorite places in Chiang Mai, as well as elephant riding, Doi Suthep, and Koh Chang.

I think the highlight of the trip was going to Koh Chang, an island several miles off the coast of Cambodia in the Gulf of Siam. We stayed at a gorgeous resort right on the beach and did nothing but lay on beach chairs, swim in the ocean, and read for five days. We did go snorkeling one day at a smaller island near Koh Chang. My mother, the snorkeling FANATIC, went crazy and stayed in the water looking at fish long after Dad, Lauren and I had retired. My favorite fish that I saw was the parrotfish, which is crazily colored. And we saw about a gazillion sea cucumbers, which I've never seen in the wild before. Pretty cool.

Now they have returned to California and I'm back in the routine of teaching classes at CMU. My students have about three more weeks of class and then we start final exams! I can't believe it.

I'll try to bum some pictures off my family in the next few days and post them so y'all can see a snippet of our adventures.

They're here!

Just a note to let you know that the Hansen family has arrived safely in Chiang Mai. I was rather a frazzled tour guide this morning, as I went to the wrong terminal to pick them up, didn't have enough cash to pay the taxi driver, and couldn't figure out how to work the elevator in my own apartment building. I think they were happy to see me despite the mishaps.

More to come later!

Merry Christmas!

It hardly feels like Christmas when it is 80 degrees outside, but nevertheless, Merry Christmas and Happy New Year! I had a fun Christmas Eve and Day celebrating with friends: attempting to make cookies in a tiny toaster oven, watching Christmas movies, going to a service at my church, being pampered at a spa, and eating lots of turkey and mashed potatoes!

I miss my family and cold weather and Christmas decorations, but the past few days have been good ones, with minimal amounts of homesickness. It helps to know I'll be seeing most of my family (Mom, Dad and Lauren) in less than 48 hours. I'll share some Hansen Family Adventures a little later in the week, as I'm sure there will be plenty!

I wish you great joy as you celebrate with family and friends, and remembering the most important reason for this holiday; the birth of Jesus Christ. May you feel His presence this Christmas.

Many blessings!

Cue the "Hallelujah Chorus" from Handel's "Messiah:"

I am ALMOST done with all of my graduate school applications! Horray! A few loose ends need to be tied up by my parents at home, but other than that, I am officially finished.

Applying to graduate school felt much different than applying to college. Sending my writing sample and personal statement to all the schools felt like sending my carefully - nurtured and much - loved children into a black abyss called The World Wide Web.

Now I feel a little lost. Applying to these schools has consumed so much of my time, energy and thoughts that I feel guilty when I'm not working on my applications, or at least thinking about them.

I never was very good at waiting. I get impatient when there are more than two people ahead of me in line at the grocery store. Now begins a season of uncertainty, waiting for letters to arrive in my mailbox, waiting for the people who have my future in their hands to make a decision. Perhaps I am being a little overdramatic (shocking!), but it is never easy for me to put myself and my work on the line with the possibility of rejection.

Despite all this, I feel relieved that my part of the process is at an end. I feel at peace and confident in God's faithfulness.

P.S. I recently discovered that one of the literary critics I cited in my writing sample is a professor at NYU. She is also on the PhD admissions review board. There is a good chance that she will read my paper; I hope she likes it!

P.P.S. Some of you have been asking, so here is a complete list of all the schools I applied to:

New York University
Tufts University
University of Colorado at Boulder
Boston University
University of Massachusetts at Amherst
Portland State University
Georgetown University
University of Washington at Seattle
The Graduate School at Boston College
University of Illinois at Chicago