We are Full of Sickness (but a little delirium is nice)

Homesickness is indeed an illness. I don’t care what anyone says, it is an illness. It takes the energy out of your stride. It makes one listless and apathetic. It makes getting out of bed difficult. It makes a person uncomfortable and wanting of something to comfort them that is ultimately out of their reach. I am certain that if I were to look in a mirror now I would surely be pale and I’m sure my colour will return once I am in Canada

Cheryl and I have been longing for the shores of Canada. We miss our family, our friends, and our culture. It has become a mix of things really. Part of it is a longing for the country of our origin and part of it is loathing for certain qualities (or lack of) in our surroundings. Every now and then the smell smog, soi dogs, the smell of dirty oil cooking on a cart and filling a street full of acrid smoke, and of course the open sewers of Bangkok make me wish I were amidst the clean air of Canada. When I run in the morning I am chased by dogs and smell the garbage that was tossed into the street over one week prior and I wish for the sanitation and salutations of my fellow Canadians.

However, I am certain that once we are home the vice versa effect will come into full swing and we will say things like “I wish we could still get a delicious lunch around the corner for under a dollar” or “Do you think I can convince the 7-11 to make me a fruit smoothie for 30 cents?”. These are things in abundance here in Thailand that will never be in Canada. We will miss the inexpensive luxuries, and the exotic sites and foods. We will especially miss the beaches of southern Thailand and the traveling to the island of Koh Chang on the weekends. We will even miss the general hubbub of the bustling overcrowded city and the delightful cultural misunderstandings that are the basis for so many experiences. We will miss Thailand.

As well, although we will be so happy to be home amidst the illusion of common sense and decency and the aloof kindness and honesty that us Canadians are so well known for, we will then flip the proverbial coin and complain of things such as the cold. The winter will descend upon us with a ferocity that we will have forgotten over our time overseas for we are now climatized to the brazen temperate climate of the tropics. We no longer sweat in plus thirty-five and we put on a sweater when the temperature dares to drop below twenty-eight. We are now spoiled tropic-dwellers in need of some freezer-burn to harden into hearty Canadians once again.

Wait a minute. I think typing this entry has helped me to appreciate something. All you suckers are way over on the wrong side of the rock right now. You are all wearing long underwear, coats, toques, mittens, and double socks. You are cold frozen with your cars plugged in and your gas bills rising. We, on the other hand, have plans to fly to Cambodia, Laos, Vietnam, and multiple trips to a tropical beach. Thank you my readers in Canada. Due to relative difference you have comforted me. I am no longer homesick, I am self-righteous in my indulgences. Perhaps I am forgetting the soft-spoken manner of being a Canadian. I will just have to soak up the sun until the hard life of Canada reminds me of my humble roots once again. In the meantime, I will consider peity to be simply the act of eating dessert.

*Post writing this blog Cheryl and I spent this previous weekend, once again, on the beautiful island of Koh Chang which has the place we are calling our favourite on Earth. The pictures included are from this previous weekend (sunset c/o of Cheryl's photo finger). We are still homesick, but are now more thankful for the tropics than sick about home. But, Christmas is around the corner and distance does make a heart grow fungus.