A place called Ranot

There is always not enough page  to write all the stories about the place called Ranot.

Ranot

When I first came here, I was surprised by how small this city - hmmm I guess village will be a correct word - is. Compare to my town, Batam, it's nothing. I never thought that I would spent half a year of my life in a place like Ranot. Duh, to be honest I didn't like it at first. No cool place to hang out and no cool people to hang out with. Not to mention that this place doesn't have a mall, KFC or cinema. So can you imagine how desperate life can be in a place like this?

But I decided to give it  a try.

Anyone who used to live in a crowded and big city, when he was dumped in a very small place that only has one main road will be surprised by how much he misses living in a peaceful place. And that's what happened with me after staying for a month. No stuck in a traffic jam and cars honking and no crazy bus driver makes me loved this place.

Here for the first time I learnt to set 8pm as my latest time to go back home. I had my rusty bike that has been so kind to be with me for the last 6 months. All shops started to close around 7pm to 8pm. And by 9pm you will hardly find people walking on the street. So for my own safety, I tried to go back home before 8pm.

my rusty bike

And because it's really small, people always know each other. So wherever you go, people always know who you are and greet you. At first I felt awkward as I was walking on the street and people smiled at me and even said "Sawa dee ka". It took weeks  for me to finally adjust myself to this new environment and learn to smile back. And now I kinda enjoy it. I feel like a celebrity - hahaha, throw stone right on my face to wake me up - and I will miss this when I go back to my country.

If there is a place to compare Ranot with, that will be my home town Sijungkit. Rice field and cows are every where. Back when I was in Batam, I would never see rice fields, I could only find buildings and building and buildings. But here, hmmmm, as I was cycling to the school I could see rice field on my right and left side. I remember I always went for a cycle after teaching along the road. It's the moment that I will miss so much, with music on and the scenery of the simplicity by living in the small village.

On my cycle  route.
 

Sometimes when we know that we don't have many things to do we will start to do things that we haven't done for a while or try to do things that we never think we will do.

Finally after months I started to draw and even paint again. I used most of my free time to paint and draw whatever I saw and now when I am back to Batam I have many papers to bring back.
And I learned Thai Boxing or Muang Thai. It was awesome. Where else I could punch and hit and kick someone for free. And the craziest thing was I was taught by the students that I teach at school. Those students were from the naughtiest class. So when I got a chance to hit them during the practice, I used it a revenge time for always talking and playing in my class. Bad teacher!

It was only 6 months. But I am so grateful to be sent to a place like Ranot.
Because in this place I learned a lot.
I learned to live a simple life and away from the crowd and who knows that I could survived for 6 months.
I learned to enjoy something that I used to call "boring place" when I refer to my home town.
I learned to love my life from those humble people in Ranot.
I learned that it's not the place that can make you happy and enjoy your stay in a new place, but it depends on how you want to try to love it more when you wake up in the morning even though you know for sure that   place offers you nothing but simplicity.

I've told ya, rice field again.

Thanks Ranot! You will always be a part of my life.
I will miss you!

Danya