Made it Safely

Just wanted to check in and say that I made it safe and sound from America to Chiang Mai.  My time this summer in America was amazing and I will treasure it for the next two years!  I am so glad I got to spend time with so many people and create new memories.  However, I am happy to back in Chiang Mai and back to work and back to living the international lifestyle.  Some of the things I was most excited to come back to were:  fried chicken and sticky rice (which ironically I havent had yet), sweet and sour chicken (which is as amazing as ever), driving my motorbike, teaching, and living in a diverse culture where I am a minority trying to 'fit in'.

My trip was fairly uneventful.  My trip to Toronto was the most stressful even though it was only an hour flight.  My luggage was overweight to begin the day.  So I had to take stuff out and pray Moe had room for it.  I had just walked up to my gate when they called to start boarding.  When I landed in Toronto and went to pick up my bags, they were no where to be found.  After waiting for 2 hours to check-in to my next flight, I finally learned that my luggage was already waiting for me!  Here is a picture from my flight to Toronto.  The clouds were beautiful.

While at the Toronto airport, I got my first Iced Cappuccino from Tim Horton's and was very happy.

At the Toronto Airport they had stations set up at the gates where travelers could use Ipads.  It was the coolest thing ever.  There were literally hundreds of Ipads available for people to use all over the airport.  They were connected to the internet, had free games, and were connected to airport information as well. Also there were outlets all over so you could charge your own device if necessary!  SO COOL!  I love technology when it is used right!

The rest of my trip was smooth sailing, or flying.  My friends picked me up at the airport and planted me at home wonderfully.  I arrived to flowers, a clean house, and pictures of Chico on the wall from our housekeeper.  She is wonderful.

Moe's trip was smooth too.  He ended up sitting by a colleague on his 12 hour flight from Chicago, which is super crazy, but they had a good time.  And all of our stuff made it safe and sound too!  

School has begun already. I am super busy, but it is good.  We have already had 8 days of school! My 14 kids are wonderful and will be great.  I love getting to start fresh with a new group of students and having old students stop by after school or on breaks to visit.  I love teaching.  I am also coaching middle school volleyball again.  This year we are having a girls team and a boys team rather than co-ed, so I am coaching both.  It is interesting thats for sure!  We have a good time though.  

I am already reminded of why I am here and how much I love being here.  Things are great, even though it is sometimes busy and stressful. I love my life! and I am sooo blessed.