Welcome to Chiang Mai

I anticipated this moment for three months. Ever since I walked into my room back at the University of Maryland and told my roommates I was thinking about studying abroad in Thailand. Ever since I clicked the “apply now” button on USAC. Ever since I booked my flight to Chiang Mai. Ever since I hugged my family goodbye at the JFK international airport. 

And yet it still doesn’t feel real. 

I kept waiting for this “big moment” to hit me. For me to feel that rush of emotions - that realization that I will be on the other side of the world for 5 months without anybody that I’ve ever known before. But nothing has hit me. 

Maybe that’s a good thing. Maybe that means I was more ready than I even thought I was. 

I woke up this morning - or technically yesterday morning - at 7:48 to my Dad yelling, “You can have anything you want for breakfast! As long as it’s pancakes.” Those were good pancakes. 

I hugged my dog goodbye and pulled my 67 pound suitcase (a little over the limit - something I now regret) out of the house and into the car where my mom, dad, and 3 sisters joined me for my last couple of hours in New York.  

At the airport we had some extra time, so we all got lunch together. My last meal in America: Asian food. 

As I went through security, I waved goodbye to my family, collected my bags, and dropped my laptop on the floor just in time to give my mom one more dose of anxiety before I headed off for Gate 5. 

And the journey began. 

I am now laying on a bed in Uniloft, Chiang Mai, 3 airports and 21 hours of flight later. The traveling wasn’t too bad. As my family knows, I can fall asleep just about anywhere. I met most of my group at the connecting flight in Korea, and they all seem really cool. We’re all in the same boat, just paddling along together. 

So maybe that’s what it’s about. Just moving forward. Maybe there isn’t this “big moment.” Yea I’m on the other side of the world. And I don’t know anyone just yet, and I don’t know the language, or the school, or the area. But I will learn. And step by step this experience will shape itself... and I can’t wait to see what comes next.