Homesick in the Thai Rain
Originally posted November 3, 2015
I found myself feeling the first real sting of homesickness tonight.
After 8 hours of TESOL class today I was exhausted and laid down for a rare nap. I woke up to the familiar sounds of raindrops on the metal roofs and street below.
Feeling a bit more refreshed, I sat up and scrolled through my iPhone wondering what the rest of the world was up to. It was 5:30pm in Thailand, which meant everyone I knew back in the states was still in dreamland, 12-15 hours behind.
Being from the rainy Pacific Northwest of America, I have fond memories of the rain. There’s a nostalgia for home that I feel with every rain shower, no matter where I am in the world.
Tonight in Chiang Mai felt different as I sat in bed listening to the raindrops. The feeling wasn’t a homesick sadness that could bring me to tears…
Rather I felt myself rewinding time back to all the people I’ve shared rain showers with, wishing they could share this one with me. A type of loneliness that stung in my heart.
I scrolled through photos of my family: brothers, parents, niece and nephew, sisters-in-law. I wondered how they were spending their time, wished I could hear their familiar voices, and feel their warm embraces.
I reminisced of my mom making hot apple cider on the stove for my brothers and I after rainy soccer and football games.
Of cozying up after a cold, wet day in blankets and pajamas.
Of smelling the unmistakeable scent of fresh pine mixed with the crisp, fresh Oregon air.
Of laying in my childhood bed listening to the natural notes each drop made as it touched the Earth.
There’s something magical about that Oregon rain. A magic that I carry with me.
No matter where I am, though, a rain drop will always stop me in my tracks. I take an instinctual moment to acknowledge the beauty of the rain.
Even when it’s pouring buckets of rain and I’m drenched in the Bangkok streets like I was two weeks ago, I’ll be smiling. The rest of the world will rush for cover, and I’ll stand and soak it in for a moment… quite literally. The sounds, the smells, the sensation on my skin, and the way it makes the whole world ever so slightly slow down.
The homesick pangs have subsided a bit after writing this post.
I am grateful to have people I miss and a beautiful rainy home to go back to one day.
For now, I’m embracing the Thai rain.
All my love from rainy Thailand.