fin

It's been two weeks since I left Bangkok. Acceptance -- and boredom -- have set in.

In the last two weeks, I've read three novels, applied for a job as a donut baker's helper, cooked two dinners, gotten over jet lag, helped with a garage sale, and sopped several inches of standing water out of the dishwasher with a towel.

It's high time I reflect on what I've learned in the last 10 months, in the form of newly acquired skills I might add to my resume. They are, in no particular order:

zookeeper
animal trainer
competitive athlete
event coordinator
environmentalist
translator
travel agent
detective
professional buyer
chef
crash dummy
barista
diplomat
mind reader
crisis manager
editor
taste tester
exterminator
propagandist
entertainer
graphic artist
financial planner
dancer

This list is scattered, bizarre, and disconnected -- so appropriate to how I felt for much of my time in Thailand.

So what did I learn?

I guess I learned that living abroad and working with locals requires you to be ready for anything and prepared to find creative solutions to whatever problems you face.

I also learned that it's not as difficult, stressful, or intimidating as people may think.

Really, there's too much to say. It's been fun, Thailand. Thanks for teaching me to eat spicy food and dance to pop music. Thanks for the daily sauna treatments and the rainy season soakings. Thanks for the memories. No thanks for the fish balls. I hope to see you again sometime.