Last day in Si Satchanalai

Today is our last day in Si Satchanalai. I gave a farewell speech to the students and teachers at the morning assembly. It was very sad.

We will be leaving for Bangkok at 8:30 in the morning by train. Another long day of traveling.

Ratree and family gave a great farewell party for all of us tonight. Fortunately, Russ did recover enough to attend. We ate more great Thai food, watched slide shows of our trip,( I think between everyone here we must have about a million pictures), and had one last night of karaoke. We were presented with some farewell gifts, everyone gave speechs, and maybe a few tears were shed. It was a great time.

I am excited to return to the States and share everything that I have learned here in Thailand. I think many people in the United States think of Thailand as a 3rd world country, but after being here for three weeks I have learned that that is definitely not true. In some ways it is a more simple lifestyle. Farms are family farms and many people make their living by selling fresh produce and meat at the open air markets. But that only means that the food you get is very fresh and locally grown, and I am sure not loaded with pesticides/herbicides. The cost of living is much less than in the United States, with many things costing a third to a fourth of what they might cost in the States. But it is a very technologically advanced society. Computers and cell phones are everywhere. Their highway system is very good (and we travelled many of them!!). They take great pride in their cars, in fact they make jokes about "old" cars like we make jokes about dirty cars ("wash me"). The teachers are highly trained. They must complete a 5 year undergraduate program and one year of practice training before they can teach. Their schools may look different, but the school sytems are quite rigorous. They do track students here, with each grade level divided into 5 or 6 levels, depending on ability. Only those students in the upper levels will go on to college. From what I heard, there is an extensive university system, with many branches located around the country. There are also many vocational opportunities for both high school age students as well as post high school. I have been very impressed with what I have seen and learned. It is also a very beautiful country. I feel very lucky to have seen as much of the country as we have in the short time that we have been here.