Getting ready to bid farewell to C-buri

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I walked home from school yesterday feeling lighter, with the proverbial bounce in my step. It was finally sorted out that I will be finished teaching on Friday, February 27, which is exactly 2 weeks from now. I can’t believe it. I’m not looking forward to telling the kids that I am leaving or to leaving them at all, but I am practically bursting with excitement that my time of living in Chonburi is almost over.

Kari and Steph will be arriving in Bangkok from Boulder in just under 2 weeks. I can still remember when they bought their tickets—way back in August when I had accepted with TEFL, but still hadn’t gotten my own ticket to come back to Thailand! It seems like forever ago, and I guess it really was ½ a year ago. Time has really flown. I can’t wait to take them for yummy food and good massages, and to see the sights and scenes through newcomers’ eyes.

I’m taking more circumspect walks through Chonburi and surveying “my domain” with an already semi-nostalgic eye, as though I am seeing things for the last time. One of the things I like to do when I’m walking home at night is to pause for a moment on one of the pedestrian bridges that cross over the busy main roads. This is when I 'survey my domain' by looking down at all the motorbikes speeding by, the cars’ lights, and the dirty streets and I sigh and think, “Ahhhh, dirty Chonburi. Though it’s hard to love you, in a way I really do.”

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Photos

This is the view from the 5th floor of my apartment building
It is another favorite place to 'survey my domain'

These are the clothes-drying 'cages'
The only reason I went up to the 5th floor in the first place was to hang my clothes us to dry. They get enough heat up here, even though they aren't in the direct sun and the cages protect the clothes from all the dang pigeons

Comments

[Stephanie Null]

Ahhh C-bus
I'm kind of sad I won't get to see it in person! But glad you included the pics

[Courtney]

ohh the Dirty Dirty C. yes, we'll all miss it so.

[lkrhoads]

You know, I was just thinking the same thing today. It's unfortunate that it wouldn't be convenient to just 'swing by' Chonburi so you could have a look. I will probably be taking some more pictures in the next week, though, and I will try to bottle up some of the exhaust smell to share with you when you get here!

[lkrhoads]

Glad you got to see it before we exit Thailand! I'm going to write a stern letter to Lonely Planet demanding that C-buri make it into the next edition.