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Jackie will be back in about 15 mins... April 14th (2:15)

The title of this blog is a note that has been posted on my wall for a while now. At the time I had to skip out on my office hours to run to the International Student Centre to get my tax packet and my signature for travel, so I can not come back next year (take that C'dale), and then drop off some scantrons at Instructional Student Services for my class' midterm. fhhhghghghghghg <- and apparently that's what Juan has to say about that (Get your own blog Juancho!). It seemed fitting for this blog also :) Well after two weeks of not so good workouts and slogging through wet runs, longs swims and limited bike rides. This week I finally kicked out some good runs at faster paces then ever for my outdoor times - dropping my average run pace 10 seconds, and finding a convenient "add on" section of road to include in my lake running route. Splendid splendid. Last week I thought intensively about how good the forest smells after it rains, and tried to remember if the rainforest in Thailand ever smells as good as the mixed evergreen/deciduous forests here after it rains (Read: after the skies part and Niagara Falls "aerial style" occurs). It's unfortunate that I can't remember. And hard to believe that it's been almost two years now since my Khao Yai trip. I used to think that it didn't bother me. With all the muddling of my dissertation topic last year and my perpetual irritability, I thought I wouldn't really care if I ever went back. But I miss it now so much. Dinner at Thai Taste on Monday made my tastebuds ache for REAL Thai food. This past week teaching the cultural unit of the course has been all about the Thai-Canadian cultural contrast ancedotes. And talking about fieldwork with Rose this afternoon has made me very antsy now trying to sit at my office desk. This morning when I was running, I started thinking about how I could wear my running shirts under my field clothes in the forest...
You know it's time to go back when you start thinking about your dirty disgusting tick-and-leech covered field clothes. When you start WANTING (not just daydreaming) to see a python or an elephant cross the road while you are running the winding roads around the lake through the forest. And when you keep looking up at the trees but there is no one there to look back at you.
I miss the gibbons.

Two more months to go.

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Aldershot Scott said…
I had a Professor Gibbons for microbiology once. Can't say that I miss him.
April 24, 2009 at 10:52 AM
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