Christmas

Christmas in Thailand was relaxing and mellow.  There was no Christmas advertising bombardment, no Black Friday, no children begging for a long list of toys.  Instead, we spent our time doing fun things around town, treating ourselves well, and taking time to watch the sun rise above a sea of clouds.  Did we miss family and friends?  Definitely.  Did we miss cutting and trimming the tree, setting up lights, shopping, or shoveling snow?  Not so much...We managed to have a few Christmas dinners, go swimming, ride tandem bikes, feed elephants, and even get tattoos!

But instead of writing every detail of our Christmas week, I will simply post some photos that will tell the tales for me.  Enjoy!

Playing Catch Up

I have discovered that so much happens here in any given week that if I don't write about it quickly in this blog, I won't want to write about it because too much experience accumulates, making me feel overwhelmed and lazy about sifting and sorting through it all, looking for a common thread with which to weave a tale for you.  Alas it has happened again.  There's too much going on to report it all, but there are a few things that stand out in my mind as being the most impactful.  To wit:

I have finally finished my semester teaching at the university, turned in my grades and received my final pay check and it feels good.  My experience was less than satisfactory, to say the least, and now I am on to better things.  Next month I will start teaching at the school that is our rock here, where Jess and the kids have gone every day.  Soon, we will all get out of the car together each morning and literally spend every waking minute together!  I have been hired to help the younger kids at the school with different aspects of English literacy and to continue my classes in ESL with the (mostly) upper elementary classroom.  From my post in the school's library, I will shush noisy kids and assist the more bookish ones with appropriate selections for their perusal.  I will be a children's librarian!

In other news, Radd has begun his career as a Muy Thai fighter.  After learning the basics of the sport in gym class, he took a few karate lessons, until his sensei broke his hand in a motorcycle wreck.  So, now he training under our neighbor's expert tutelage.   He (our neighbor) is a former Muy Thai champ, with the most wins of any foreigner in Thailand.  He's also a really great guy, so Radd has fun in his gym and feels very encouraged.

Suni is continuing to take violin lessons at school twice a week for an hour each time.  She's got a ways to go on her technique, but she is picking up notation reading and her understanding of the instrument quite quickly, in my humble and most objective opinion.  On Friday this week, she will have her first performance playing Silent Night and Jingle Bells for the whole world to enjoy.

Speaking of Jingle Bells, the school is preparing for their Christmas Celebration and I must say, I'm a little surprised by how enthusiastic everyone is.  In the school of 100 kids, probably 98% are Buddhist, but I guess Christmas Spirit is infectious.  Who can resist a Christmas tree, lights, ornaments, carols and good cheer?  Jess' class is even doing a Nativity play with Radd cast as the wise man who brings myrrh (the wisest one, if you ask me).

And finally, in the last week, we have had dinner with two Thai families on two separate occasions, and are truly feeling the love of this country.  Last Friday, we spent with the parents of Radd's school buddy.  After a delicious meal, we had dessert and a great conversation about life, culture, politics, the future, you name it.  We even made plans to go camping with them in a few week's time, such was our mutual enjoyment of each other's company.

And last night, our friend's from Bangkok, Bow and Ake, came up to Chiang Rai for a visit to the north and met us at a popular Thai restaurant.  We enjoyed many northern dishes and shared a couple beers too, along with the aforementioned conversations about life, culture, politics, the future, etc. etc.  It also filled our hearts with happiness to spend time with them and their precious little girl Neptune.

All this and next week is vacation time!  It's hard to believe it, but it gets better.  We are planning on going to a place called Pu Chi Fa to watch the sun rise over a sea of clouds and then to a quiet little spot on the Mekong River for a day or two to relax.  With the weather being what it is, we are trying to spend as much time outside as possible while we watch web cam footage of Bozeman's deep freeze.  You have no idea how much joy it brings to see these images with a cold beer in my hand and flip flops on my feet.  Bwahahahahaha!!!!!!

 Fresh veggies on the street!

                    Fill 'er up!  Getting gas hand                                 cranked out of a 50 gallon drum.













Peekaboo!  Radd sticking his head out of the back of the Big White Buddha's head.

Celebrating Thai Style

     It has been a couple of weeks now, but November 14th was Loy Krathong in Thailand.   It is celebrated on the full moon in November which happened to be the super moon this year.  It is one of the most beautiful holidays when the Thai people give thanks to the river gods by floating "Krathongs" in the water.  We were told that the celebration was off this year due to the king's death, but at the last minute (which is how most things happen here) all festivities were on.
     We began the afternoon at school by making krathongs out of banana trunks as the base and banana leaves creatively folded and twisted to cover the slice of trunk.  Once you had a foundation there was no end to the beautiful creations that can be made with all types of flowers (the classroom floor was covered with orchids and many other tropical bouquets found in the students' gardens).
     After school we went down to the river just a few kilometers from the school under a major bypass through the town.  We hung out for a while observing the locals' ways of saying a prayer, lighting their candles and incense on their krathong, and setting it afloat.  It was also customary to set free turtles, catfish, and eels into the river that many people were selling along the way.  Radd and Suni chose some baby catfish and snails to feed the river.
     When the moon was rising we went up onto the top of the bridge to watch an impressive sight rise above the river to the east.  It was all very peaceful to see the candlelit krathongs below us and the super moon above.
   
     Another beautiful and impressive celebration we participated in recently (like today) was "Sports Day" at our school (Piti Suksa Montessori).  As the name implies, this day was about celebrating sports, but also sportsmanship and cheering for your competitors and classmates.  It also got the parents and teachers involved in some interesting events, like "drag your kid across the grass on a potato sack race."  It was one of those days where it's impossible not to have fun.
     The day started with a grand entrance complete with a runner carrying a flaming torch above his head.  The runner was none other than our boy Radd!  After the lighting of the flame, there was a flag raising ceremony, singing and dancing, a Thai boxing exhibition, baton twirling, and I don't know what else because it was just so full of activity.  One of the highlights though, was the tug of war. First was the kindergartners,  then an upper and lower elementary mix.  Then came the parents vs. parents and finally the parents vs. teachers.  Who doesn't love feats of strength?  The whole school cheered loudly and enthusiastically for their team and in the end every team I pulled on lost.  I blame my poor choice of footwear, but it may have been the other members of my team......
Anyway, in the end, the Red Dragons (our team) won the day with the most points, so Radd and Suni got to celebrate the big win and so we took them out for an early pizza dinner at our favorite pizza spot in Thailand, Bon Lom Jen.  Scrumptious!