Mai T(h)ai Life: สุขสันต์วันคริสตร์มาส (thats merry christmas in thai)

this past weekend was the first in which i did not venture into the city or go on other various trips. the cause was the much anticipated christmas show/party at school. when steinar and i showed up saturday at 6, we had no idea what to expect. what we found, in addition to the decked out school and gigantic stage, were over a hundred tables sprawled out in the courtyard area, with many of the seats at the tables already filled up.

just after 6, the show began. each class had choreographed a dance and been practicing it for months now. the show started with the youngest, who are 2 years old, shaking maracas for a good 5 minutes to no beat at all. as they were progressing by age, the first hour or so of the show was less than thrilling, and i was reminded of my old dance recitals when the younger kids would have their teacher in front of them and still be unable to hold it together for a few minutes.

finally, the kindergardeners ended and it came time for my students to perform. i had seen many of them practicing and was excited to see them do it live. after they performed, they were allowed to come out into the audience and so i was able to meet some of their parents, though most of them dont speak any english so the meeting was very brief.

we came back on sunday and this time were put to work, handing out programs at the front entrance. not having uniforms like the other teachers, it seemed as though some parents thought that we were handing out advertisements, not programs, and seemed to shy away or duck past us as quickly as possible.

after the show began, we were put to work in the "prize present" area. what this consisted of was a huge present with holes cut into it on each side. with their entry ticket, everyone got another ticket to claim a plastic egg from this present. inside the egg were papers with letters on them, which determined which prize they won. im not sure who created the giant present, but they were not thinking. they should have known that it was going to be mostly little kids doing the egg picking, and made the holes closer to the ground. ill tell you, working that station and picking up kids all night while its 80 degrees and wearing a santa hat with lights in it make you sweat. and this made it feel like anything BUT christmas.

following the show, there were many photo ops. it didnt matter who the camera being used belonged to, everyone jumped in. and after they jumped in, they wanted pictures of just them with certain people. being white, steinar and i became like another, live, attraction, and students as well as teachers and parents, were stopping to pose with us. id sum it up by saying the phrase of the night was "teacha, one more pictah!"

so that was my weekend. for christmas, the group of us in bangkok have done a secret santa drawing and were planning to do a "party" on christmas. some of the group is heading down to an island, and so it will be smaller than expected but at least we will be together. ill be staying in the city with steph at her place, which has a pool, so it wont feel much like christmas anyway.

sunday night i leave for laos to do my visa run. im going with a company that does two runs a week, so im not worried, but i am not going with anyone i know. ill only be there for two days anyway, and then i come back tuesday night and wednesday night leave on the overnight bus down to koh phangan, an island south of here known for its full moon parties. we are actually staying in koh samui, and going to koh phangan for new years even, when there happens to be a full moon party as well. it should be madness.