ghosts from the past

One of the weirdest feelings you can have is having someone from your past walk in like they were never really gone. It unsettles you, especially when you aren't expecting it. I know the feeling. Only this time, I am the ghost from the past.
Today I am visiting the school in Bangkok where I taught for two years. Like so many things in Thailand, it seems the same except when I really look and I easily find the changes. I arrived at school via skytrain, then motorcycle taxi. A quick aside about the motorcycle ride: I forgot just how scary those things are. First of all, I was in a skirt so I had to ride side sadle. Gripping the back bar for dear life, I braced myself as the taxi driver weaved in and out of traffic making his way the front when at red lights, then speeding off at green lights. Considering I am writing this blog, I made it safely. But I don't plan on doing that again.
Once at the school, I easily flashed my expired school badge and walked right on in. Since I'm one to avoid specifics, I won't say too much about the school. But it is a very prestigious school in Bangkok, meaning one would expect the security to be a little bit tighter. As I approached the teachers I once worked with, I noticed the look of recognition then surprise at seeing me there. Among the students, the looks seemed to be confusion followed by recognition. Then, almost reluctantly, they seemed excited to see me again. Slowly students have begun to approach me and ask my name, unsure if it really was me. A ghost. A teacher they once had.
For me, the experience has been nearly as unsettling. A friend that I taught with in Thailand has the word 'surreal' tatooed on her back. Being back in Bangkok and at the school, I suddenly have a very real, clear understanding of the word.
As the plane was landing, I began to hear a line from a song playing in my head. "It feels like home to me. Feels like I'm right back where I belong." But as I've been visiting all the places that were once so very familiar to me, I've begun to wonder if the saying that you can never really go home might actually be more true.