Wake now, Discover.

It’s hard to believe it has been a week since I began my move to this part of town!  I am all settled in though and already feel as though I have made my house a home.  I am in love with my place and my neighborhood.  I get to wake up every day and look out my window to the amazing views of Bangkok.  There is a street market right outside of my place that goes on every night that sells everything from dressers to shoes to fresh fruits to contacts to water guns to live birds.  I love that I can walk down to grab my meals from the street vendors, or I can grab whatever ingredients at the market to cook (since I have a stove finally!)  I have been waking up every morning with a smile on my face, and I absolutely love it!  Such a good feeling to look around and know that all your hard work has paid off, that this moment you are living in is so amazing and more than you could have ever dreamed.

My view from my bedroom.

I have spent this last week unpacking, arranging, rearranging, and organizing.  Buying the little things to make the “big” difference in my new place.  I don’t feel as though I am finished, but then again, are you ever really finished?  It’s been an exciting little journey so far, getting to go explore and look for all the perfect things to add to my home.  (Although I have realized that my new favorite 60 baht shop needs to be avoided at all costs because it is a bit dangerous!)  I have absolutely loved my time off of work to just relax and venture out around my new stomping grounds.

Evy helped me move in, and on that first day we found an awesome Korean restaurant right by my place that I am already obsessed with.  (Seriously craving it at this very moment.)  They brought us some food before our meal, and I still am not sure what it was, or how we were even supposed to go about eating it.  We kind of just threw it all together though to create our own little meal with it, and it was amazing!  (If anyone knows anything about Korean food, a little help about what this was or how to eat it would be greatly appreciated for future reference.)

This last week also marked the somewhat ‘start’ of my new job.  Basically, I got to go in and get the run through on procedures and get an idea on the material I will be teaching.  I also officially signed my two year contract at my new school!  They helped me get all my visa stuff situated and my new bank account set up.  Seriously so grateful for all their help on these important things that would have been a pain to do on my own.  But after two days of waking up early, I am glad to be back to enjoying the rest of my summer vacation!

This past weekend I was able to enjoy a new experience all in itself.  One that I did not think I would be doing, especially in Thailand: I joined my friend in celebrating Passover.  Now, I am not Jewish, but I am all about experiencing new things, so I was really excited to accompany her.  I had no idea what to expect though, so when I left Friday night I was a bit anxious for what was to come.  We showed up to this hotel where we joined a large group of others who had come together to celebrate the first night of Passover.  The Seder was really neat!  The Rabbi spoke in English, so I was able to understand what was going on.  If you have never been to a Seder, it is when the story of Exodus is told.  (Think Rugrats: I ended up watching the Rugrats Passover episode, and to my surprise, it was pretty dead on!)  The Seder involves the story telling, lots of wine, and a feast.  I really enjoyed reading and listening to this story, and it was great to meet people from all over the world who had gathered for this special day.

I enjoyed the first night of Seder so much that I told my friend I would gladly join her for the second night.  We went to the Chabad house in Bangkok.  We sat around and waited for the prayers to be finished, and then we were brought upstairs to where the Rabbi lived with his family.  This night was a much smaller group with everyone sitting in the Rabbi’s dining room.  Since everyone besides me spoke Hebrew, the Seder was done in Hebrew.  Luckily I had an English transcript of the haggadah and had already gone through this once, so I had an idea of what was going on.  To be able to take part was a truly incredible experience.  During both nights of Seder, I felt very welcomed, as both Rabbis had invited me to come join them again.  It was a really unique experience, and I loved being able to learn more about Passover and how it all began.

I was reminded this week about the importance of new experiences.  I think it is really important to step out of your comfort zone and try something new.  When you experience something new, you expand your mind in so many ways that you may not have once thought were possible.  You open yourself up to see the world in a new way.  It is through these new ideas and experiences in life that allow us to grow.  Get out and try something new today.  Take a risk.  Grow.  

“A mind that is stretched by a new experience can never go back to its old dimensions”  – Oliver Wendell Holmes