January 24th: Shopping…Grocery Store…Farewell Party

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Today was an eventful day full of last minute purchases before leaving Thailand. ☹ We went back to one of the first shopping streets we went to and wandered around. I got some small purses for my buddies to put some of the smaller gifts I got for them in and I also got a wooden ladle for my mom made out of a coconut shell. It was nice to be back in the hustle and bustle of the Thai shopping scene one last time before heading home. I will miss these kinds of open air shopping markets when I go back home. After the shopping in the morning, we had some lunch and then had a meeting as a group to talk about some reflections on the trip and discuss comments we had about the exchange program. It was great to be able to decompress about some of the thoughts we were all having and it was cool to hear that a lot of people had been reflecting on and thinking about some of the same things I had been thinking about. Overall, we reflected on how great of a trip it really was and how sad we were to leave. After the meeting, we took the vans to the grocery store to pick up some of the foods we enjoyed from the past 3 weeks to bring home with us. I was expecting the grocery store to look like the open markets we had been visiting, however, it looked a lot like an American grocery store! The prices were a lot more expensive than the open markets, but it was good to see the contrast. I picked up some dried mango, hot sauce, curry paste packets, and some Thai tea to take back home. We all got chocolate ice cream brownie crepes at the market too which were good! After the grocery store, we went back to the college. I was feeling pretty fatigued, so I took a little nap and then woke up to get ready for the farewell party. I was excited for the party, but I knew that having this party meant we were getting close to the end of the trip and I did not like that. We all got dressed up in our fancy colorful dresses and headed to the Green Lake Resort to celebrate. When we got there I was so amazed by the beauty of the resort. There were a bunch of nice tables set up right near the lake, along with a big stage, and a screen. It was so great to see all our buddies again and they all looked so cute in their colorful outfits. I was not used to seeing them in clothes that were not their uniforms! We had dinner which was a mix of traditional Thai dishes such as Khao soi and seafood. We ate and then the picture slide shows started. There was a slide show from the photographer, one from BCNC, and one that we had made as Messiah students. It was so cool to look back at all the memories we had made while in Thailand. After watching the videos, some of the buddies did some dances for us. They even did “So long, farewell” from the Sound of Music. ☹ My buddy Noon was in that one! After the dances, my buddy Jha got up and talked about her experience with the exchange program and all she learned. I almost cried at the end when she said that they memories we shared will be impressed on her heart forever. It is going to be so difficult to leave this place and leave my buddies. Debbie shared some words of thanks to all the professors and it was an emotional time for her because the director of the school is retiring. After giving gifts to the professors, they had us all come up and a bunch of the leaders and professors presented us with gifts which was so sweet! I will miss them so much! After all the gifts were presented, we did some karaoke! We all danced and sang to different American and Thai and Korean songs and had a great last night together as a group. On the way home from the party, I gave my buddies their gifts and Jha opened up her gift and the letter I wrote her. As she started reading it, she began to cry. It was starting to hit us both that we would have to say goodbye soon. ☹

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