Last week we traveled to Cha-am, three hours south of Bangkok, for our Completion of Service (COS) conference. 50 volunteers arrived in Thailand on January 14th, 2005, and 45 of us made it to this conference – an impressive statistic!
Our last date of service will be March 27th, 2007, so to help us wade through paperwork, medical tests, packing, and planning during these last three months, Peace Corps puts on the COS Conference. Over the course of three days, we spent time reflecting on our original goals for our time in Thailand and what the highs and lows of our experience have been. They gave us lots of information about our upcoming doctor and dentist appointments, how to deal with future health issues resulting from PC service, buying our plane tickets to go home, and how to find RPCV (Returned Peace Corps Volunteers) groups in America. We also spent lots of time working on our resumes and talking about graduate school applications, job searching, and networking. Several former volunteers from different countries who are now living in Thailand came and talked to us about what we might expect our post-PC experience to be like.
There was lots of laughter, as well as a few tears. Time on the beach, in the pool, and at the ping-pong table. Buffet meals, "coffee breaks," noodle stands on the street at night. A wedding invitation. Nervousness and excitement about what lies ahead.
The photo doesn’t show the whole group, but if you look closely you might find both Robert and me.
Our last date of service will be March 27th, 2007, so to help us wade through paperwork, medical tests, packing, and planning during these last three months, Peace Corps puts on the COS Conference. Over the course of three days, we spent time reflecting on our original goals for our time in Thailand and what the highs and lows of our experience have been. They gave us lots of information about our upcoming doctor and dentist appointments, how to deal with future health issues resulting from PC service, buying our plane tickets to go home, and how to find RPCV (Returned Peace Corps Volunteers) groups in America. We also spent lots of time working on our resumes and talking about graduate school applications, job searching, and networking. Several former volunteers from different countries who are now living in Thailand came and talked to us about what we might expect our post-PC experience to be like.
There was lots of laughter, as well as a few tears. Time on the beach, in the pool, and at the ping-pong table. Buffet meals, "coffee breaks," noodle stands on the street at night. A wedding invitation. Nervousness and excitement about what lies ahead.
The photo doesn’t show the whole group, but if you look closely you might find both Robert and me.
1 comment:
You're right -- Robert is in the middle, and I'm in the back row!
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