An Emotional Last Day of Home-stays!
On The last day of most programs, you expect people to be excited and cheerful, but the Civic Semester Program was different! As I walked down from my host family's house, my brother played the song “Take Me Home, Country Roads” on his speaker. I couldn't help but break down; 45 days seemed short, but that mattered most. It was a moment of looking back and appreciating the memories we’d created and the fun we shared with our families. Their warm embrace could show how close we had been to them. We would always share meals, go to the temple together, go to the Sunday market, and play soccer with the young kids in the village. These were more than just activities—they were experiences that wove us into the fabric of their lives. Those moments, filled with laughter, kindness, and connection, are memories I will treasure forever.
On the first day of the homestay experience, everyone was slightly buzzed about whether they'd click with the home and the people since most of us had not tried it before. I wasn't any better; I, too, was concerned, but the beautiful thing that gave us hope was the look on our homestay moms when they came to pick us up and take us home on the first day. That was enough to sell out some anxieties. On the last day, reminiscing about our experience was very nostalgic and sad since we had to leave. It's like we'd gotten used to our families there so much until leaving was painful. What I didn't expect at all was to see our mothers break down. Even if I had to write a poem about it, 1000 words wouldn't be enough!
I didn't know that we were so deep into our connections with the families, at first it didn't look like it; we came in with just a little knowledge about the Thai language, but at the closing end, my favorite friend (Mali) gave an incredible, yet emotional speech in the Thai language (who could have believed that it would be possible!)—that's the Civic semester for you! Also, the last day triggered a memory about our first day of meeting each other on campus (after about one and a half months of meeting online). That day sold us dreams that came true on our last day. We started as just random strangers, but in the end, it was all beautiful streams of tears of our friendship with one another! Our families noted that!
The program might have just ended, and we might have wished it could have been longer, but the people and the memories will forever reside with us, giving us beautiful smiles! Civic semester students had not explored Thailand before, but I think we have left a giant footprint at the heart of Chiang Mai! And it will forever be remembered! We’re glad to be the trailblazers of the Thailand Civic Semester location.