Thailand, Koh Samui, day one May 19th, 2007

After a really long night traveling from Beijing, China to Koh Samui, Thailand I finally arrived at Yoga Thailand this morning at 7:00AM. There are only really late night flights to Thailand from Beijing so so I had no choice but to take the 9:00PM flight to Bangkok. We arrived in Bangkok at 1:30 Bangkok time. it was only a 4 hour flight and I slept pretty much the whole way. Then I arrived in bangkok and had to wait until 6:00 AM for my next flight which would take me to the island. I didn't really mind the wait and figured I would stay in the airport seeing as though I only had a couple of hours to wait. That would have been ok, I could have curled up on some bench and taken a nap. Unfortunately the airport was a total iceberg. It was totally freezing. The temperature outside was a nice 25 degrees but inside they had the AC cranked. I pulled out everything I had in my bag to put on so I could try to get a little nap before the check in counter opened at 4:00AM. To no avail, I just could not fall asleep. Plus the chairs were metal and they too were freezing cold. I finally boarded the plane and was able to thaw out a bit. thank goodness.

So it was a short one hour flight to Koh Samui, a small island off of the Southwest coast of Thailand. The Koh Samui Airport is simply awesome. It is a thatched roof, that is it, no walls, no insane safety line, just the beautiful Thai mountains in the distance and beautiful scenery to look at. Everything is so green. It is so nice to be here it is peaceful and breathtaking

There was one other fellow who was picked up at the same time as me. He came on the same flight from Beijing too. He works for the Australian Embassy in BJ. So we were both rather dizzy with fatigue. My eyes are so red right now.

After only a short drive we arrived at the "hotel". A young Thai girl explained to me about how things work. Everything here is included in the price. It is a yoga retreat so we are going to be eating a yogic diet. I think this is great but I will have to venture out and get some good spicy food in a week I am sure. It is easier to explain what isn't in the cooking then what is. No meat, at all; no garlic, as it supposedly interferes with your concentration; no onions, not sure why; no hot spices, this will be difficult for me because i love spices. So basically brown rice and vegetables. I am not really worried as the breakfast was awesome this morning. Everything tastes so good. Maybe because I am in this paradise. No smoking or drinking on the premises too but there is a bar up the road. However I have never really needed booze. I had a few drinks with Don, one of my coworkers, on Thursday and it was no biggie and actually made me feel yucky the next morning.

We live in these little bungalows. Simple rooms, clean, no TV. We eat outside and do yoga in a huge-ish room. Although I have not done yoga yet. I saw some doing it this morning. I arrived too late to partake.

I ate breakfast with a few others and then a few of us sat around chatting. It was a nice morning. I then went back to the room to take a nap the lack of sleep was finally catching up with me. I slept almost 3 hours and feel a little groggy now but we are all to meet together for the introductory pow-wow in an hour or so.

Hopefully this time in Thailand will help me clear out my internal closets. I need to move on and cleanse. A few of the other girls that I have met seem really great with happy spirits. I am sure this will lend to the cleansing atmosphere that just envelopes one here. Goals this week: be happy, enjoy this amazing place and the joy that yoga brings into my life. Eat healthy! Keep to the diet, it will only help my state of mind; Don't feel guilty about my emotions, they are natural and it is good to feel them. Start to look to the future, stop living in the past and try to leave him behind; Look to the future and what it has in store for me, embrace it and don't be afraid of being alone. This will enable me to make better decisions for me and not for other people. Start doing what is best for ME, no one else. Bring joy back into my spirit.