Alright so I tumbled  off the tumblr train for awhile… now I’m back and you’re going to get an onslaught of pics, quotes, and rants from overseas before I come back (underseas?). 

I’ve got about 2 weeks left at Nong Bua school and all I can say is”sheeeyyyittt” (in the words of Senator Clay Davis from The Wire).  I am stunned/amazed/dumbfounded/aghast (even) at  how fast this school year has passed.  I’m going to miss ol’ NB School, with it’s acre of on campus jungle and it’s sweltering classrooms without a/c.  I’ll miss the students most of all.   Most of them have been wholly endearing, bright enthusiastic and curious about everything outside their little town.  I’ve also endured whole classes of cheeky little bastards, but they’re endearing in their own way.  The teachers have been nothing but kind and helpful, they also like karaoke, alot, which I’m totally down with. 

After school wraps up I’m staying in Siam for a few months to travel the SE Asia quadrant (and wait out the dreary Willamette Valley winter/spring).  I’ve got lots of plans but time and budget constraints will dictate what actually happens.  On the docket as of now:

• Huck Finn style boat trip down the mighty Chao Praya River.  Dave is a seasoned sailor of the Thai waterways and under his guidance our crew expects to make it all the way to the Gulf of Thailand.
• Moto Rides.  I’m itching to hit the road for few weeks and I want to check out some of the lesser traveled areas around Laos and Northern Thailand.
• Laos, Vietnam, Cambodia, islands, mountains, beaches, more boat trips, waterfalls, national parks…

The list goes on. No doubt I can’t do it all, but I’ll certainly try. It has been an amazing school year, but I’m very much looking forward to this opportunity to travel around a part of the world I’m just beginning to know and understand. 

—Colin