Life Update Via Pictures!

So, it's been quite a while since I've updated this blog for you all so I am just going to go tumblr with it and post a bunch of pictures with captions! 

Birthday Pics:

1. Parental Presents: I got a sweet package from my parents a few weeks before my birthday. It was the ultimate Christmas-away-from-home kit (ELF, my Christmas stocking, etc). And my new obsession: Guerlain's Le Petit Robe Noir Parfum. Thanks rents!

2. Birthday Party Dinner: My Thai friends and foreign friends came out to dinner for my 23rd birthday at Ant Pub. We drank our way through six Singha towers and had a delicious dinner. The best part was that my three Thai friends Opal, Jao, and Lalitta sang "Happy Birthday" to me on stage and gave me a cake in front of the whole place.

3. One of my awesome Thai co-teachers gave me this beautiful Buddha pendant.

Christmas:

1. These are two of my kindergarten students. Rin is the adorable one in the pink taffeta dress (KG 2/1) and Mellisa is the fairy (KG 3/1). This was at the Assumption Christmas Pageant on the last day of school before break. I loved these two pictures because it shows how beautiful they are without all of the terrifying make-up that some parents put on the little girls...it's unnatural and scary.

2. These are the Christmas stockings made by my KG 2/1's. Awesome colors-these kids are so good at coloring!

3. Dang, check out that chicken! But really, it was delicious and the vegetables were incredible, probably due in large part to the fact that I don't eat enough veggies here and so have developed scurvy. Just kidding...but really. One of my students had me over to their house for a day of hanging out and eating, and it was perfect. Just enough to get my mind off of not being home for the holidays but not too overwhelming either.

Full Moon Party:

Yes folks, I went to a Full Moon Party at the infamous Haad Rin Beach in Koh Pha Ngan. It was absolute insanity, and while it was the most fun I've had in a long time, I will never do it again. Definitely a one-time deal! It was great to meet up with an old acquaintance from UVM who is now a good friend and to meet foreigners from all over the world. Actually, that part wasn't that great. I've come to realize that outside of Ubon and other non-touristy areas of Thailand, foreign tourists are typically rude, entitled, jerks. They treat the locals like they are stupid when it's actually the foreigner's fault for not making an effort to learn the language prior to arriving in a largely non-English speaking country.  Be a traveller, not a tourist. Sorry for the rant, it was just so aggravating to see arrogant Australians and Americans and Brits being so horrible to people on the island just trying to make a living. Anyhoo, Southern Thailand is of course so beautiful that I can't wait to go again and try a quieter, less-travelled place! **There aren't really any pictures of the actual parties themselves because carrying a camera wasn't really an option. Plus, there are certain things better left to the imagination.**

This is Dao, one of my Thai co-workers. The picture was taken in the Srisaket province                             at my boss' father's one-hundred day death memorial. The girl to the right is Bpoo, another co-worker. She doesn't think she's beautiful! Crazy...

 

My yoga instructor Nook at her beautiful wedding! Check out those feather eyelashes.

Sent with his "butterfly hands." They had to make wings with the outline of their hands while learning about butterflies!

Tete (tee-tee) spelling during playtime.

"A coward is incapable of exhibiting love; it is the prerogative of the brave."

So this blog was initially written as an email which I sent out to a bunch of people. But I don't have an email for everyone so here it is. I wrote this in a minute of quiet inspiration in reflecting on the past week in regards to the tragic Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting as well as the apparent coming of world's end. It's impossible to remain untouched and unfazed by last week's shooting. We are all parents, brothers, sisters, sons, daughters, teachers, police, first responders, etc. We are also humans, and in that way, this calamity has deeply touched us in one way or another. 

I am not sure about you, but the shooting, along with the many others which the United States has been party to in the last few years, has made me question the existence of God or a higher power. This is not meant to offend anyone, and I am truly sorry if it does. I was raised a Catholic, but have found in recent years and due to personal events in my life, that I consider myself to be more spiritual than anything. I think that religion has the ability to free you, but it also has the ability to cage you, and that is what it was doing for me. I honestly cannot believe that any God, that any higher power, could possibly have wished this on the world (if they do exist). I also am confused and a bit angry because it seems that everyone who I talk to who IS religious thanks God for everything wonderful and good in this world, but the minute something calamitous or heartbreaking occurs, there is just NO way that He could be responsible for it. That, to me, is like saying you will only be friends with someone when the times are good. I do not think that God is without fault and in that way, I believe that he would willingly accept the blame for the things for which He is responsible. Again, it just baffles me that God is responsible for everything good in this world, yet none of the bad. 

Every single one of you in entitled to your own beliefs and opinions, but I for one feel that in the past few years, I have become much more open to learning different religious, philosophies, and general ways of thinking outside of the bars of strict religious  teachings. I have posted a video at the bottom of this blog. It truly is an eye-opening insight into the concept of Religion VS Jesus, and how Jesus the man would not have done many of the things which religion so often calls for. 

Regardless of my belief's or anyone else's, I am sending my thoughts, prayers, love, and peace to the victims of Sandy Hook and to their families. I will leave you with this quote by Mahatma Gandhi:

"Power is of two kinds. One is obtained by the fear of punishment and the other by acts of love. Power based on love is a thousand times more effective and permanent than the one derived from fear of punishment."

Unfortunately, Adam Lanza, the other mass shooters, and those around the world who have created power by instilling fear, did not ever listen to these words. Perhaps if more of us did, such senseless tragedies could be avoided. 

Hello everyone!

Well it's almost 8:00 PM on Friday the 21st...and I am still alive here in Thailand. Hope things are going equally well in the western world. I was just thinking over the past week or so about a few things. First, I wondered what I should be doing if in fact the world was ending today. I am 10,000 miles away from home and was thinking about how I would much rather be around my family than the people (though wonderful) I just met. Fran Murray of course brought me back to reality by saying "it wouldn't really matter where you were since we would all be in the same situation." Thanks Dad.

Secondly, the events of last Friday, December 14th, acted as a catalyst for a small change within myself and I am sure within many of you. Those vibrant, young, innocent children will never have the opportunity to learn how to ride a bike, go through a high school break-up, find true love, come home drunk knowing what they were in for the next day, travel around the world, or do anything on the infinitely long list of life which we have all been so lucky to have experienced. The whole situation made me realize so many things all at once, a reawakening just as my car accident had been (in a sense).

Far too often, we do things because we feel responsible for others or because we just feel like "we should." While these are often positive things, they do not always equate to our own personal happiness. Our feelings, moods, emotions, and actions create a daily ripple effect on not only our own lives, but on those of others. If you are unhappy doing whatever it is you are doing, realize that your unhappiness does not only affect you, but the people around you. We are certainly not perfect and we are always going to have periods of unhappiness or frustration or anger-it is human nature. However, when possible, we should do WHATEVER makes us happy. That might mean saving up to build your dream house on Lake Sunapee; it might mean quitting your job, even though it pays the bills, because it is using up precious time of which we have so little to waste; travel around the world. Just do you and do it well because we only have one shot at this whole life thing. I am starting to babble, but I just hope that you all had similar realizations this week. Those children and unfathomably courageous teachers will never, ever have the opportunities to live this beautiful life that we do. Even the bad things that happen to us usually have a positive outcome in the end, at least to some extent.

I have some advice which I am sure you are all already aware of. I know many of you are older and wiser than me, but hear this 23 year-old out:

1. Take a moment out of each day to think about something you are grateful for, no matter how small or insignificant it may seem.
2. If you think you should call someone who you haven't spoken with in some time, do it. There is probably a reason beyond our control that the thought popped in your head.
3. Tell your loved ones just how much you love and appreciate them. You truly do not know if it could be the last time you get the chance.
4. Find the beauty in everything. Trust me, it's in there somewhere.
5. Do not waste your time on someone who does not reciprocate your love, affection, and/or friendship. The longer you hold on, the harder it is to let go-even if the person is not who you are meant to be with. Doing everything for someone is being a doormat, not loving them.
6. Start something new...not tomorrow or next week. Be it a painting, a blog, exercise, smiling-whatever. Just start a new path from the one on which you have been treading.
7. This one may take a little longer, but write a "bucket list" or "to do" list or something that will give you physical proof that you have dreams and goals that you can check off. Just because you are 56 years old does not mean you still can't make that trip you've always wanted to go on.
8. Live in the present. You can think about the future, but don't let it define your actions now. Reflect on the past, but do not let it define you-that can be crippling.
9. Spend time each day thinking about someone other than yourself.
10. Regardless of your religion, pray, reflect, meditate, or send love to not only the victims of last week's shooting, but to those suffering every single day all over the world. Tragic and jarring as the Sandy Hook shooting was, there are people who you can still help RIGHT NOW.

I am sure there are a million things I could add to that list, but this email has already taken up much of your time (thank you for reading it by the way). I appreciate you all to one extent or another, and I love you all in the same way. So Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah, Happy Holidays, Happy New Year, Happy Kwanza, and Merry/Happy every other holiday you may celebrate. I hope this wasn't too confusing for you all, I just had a moment of clarity I suppose, and hope it came across that way. See you all later.

Love, Emma

P.S. This is a pretty moving video for anyone, including all of the "religious" people out there.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1IAhDGYlpqY (Jesus VS Religion)

First Sunrise

Again, I am not going to write a full blog right now; I'm way too tired and delirious from waking up at 5:00 AM the last two mornings. I'll post some pictures anyway for you to look at! On Sunday evening, I went to Pha Taem National Park (near Khong Chiam, Thailand...basically the border of Laos and right on the mighty Mekong River). I went with three of the other Americans, as well as my host mom/boss, her husband, and Miss Wanna (another Thai teacher, Busaba's best friend). Miss Wanna would fit in so incredibly well in Vermont/Western Massachusetts it's not even funny. Sweet jewelry, snazzy patchwork pants, and a super chill attitude. Anyways, Pha Taem is famous because of it's 3,000 year-old cliff paintings and mushroom rock formations...you'll see in a bit. Enjoy the pictures and feel free to ask me any questions via Blogger comment box! Peace.

Beautiful Assumption Kindergartners!

Loy Krathong Festival (day of). 

Robin. Kid's got swagger.

Beautiful girl.

Bankbon.

In full makeup still, but ready for the hula-hoop relay.

"Sport's" Day Parade

Befirst.

"Sport's" Day Parade