March Ends-Movin’ On...

March ends...
final exams 
are over...
grades are done!

School Graduation,
happy to be finished
and sad to leave
friends behind.
I believe that is a
universal feeling
among high school
graduates.
The students proudly
carry their diploma and
their brilliant light
out into the world.
                                                                                            

School is out in April, 

so I'm off to China to 

visit my daughter, 

Carrie and grandsons 

Aidan and Taylor. 

I have only seen them 

on Skype since leaving 

Las Vegas last October.  

When school begins in May, I will be teaching at a different school. The Rayong English Programme School (REPS) is in Banchang, two hours south of Bangkok. I am looking forward to meeting new students and teachers.  I have loved teaching here in Sopisai, Nongkhai and will miss my “Thai family and friends”.  

A beautiful and emotional activity that is done at welcome and farewell parties is the connecting circle of love.The Thai Tradition begins with prayers and chanting as string joins everyone together as one. More chanting and then everyone takes pieces of pre-cut white string and ties a circle of love and connection around each others wrists.

This week has been one of contrasts:, Life and Death, Joy and Sadness, Opulence and Poverty, Peace and Turmoil, Hot and Cold, Sunshine and Rain, Hope and Despair, Beginnings and Endings.

A baby born in the morning

A funeral in the afternoon

A wedding in the evening

The circle of life, all in a day

The brilliant rays of the sun against the smoke of cremation…

 This was a reminder to me of how precarious and precious life, health and happiness are. I continue to live in constant gratitude for every day. I so am blessed.

Scout Camp

Boy Scout and Girl Scout Camp - Sopisai, Nongkhai - March 2011

 

Fun, hiking, 

outdoor activities, 

singing, eating, 

camping…

time in the 

wilderness.

We listen 

for instructions

before 

departing…

On the road...

Going 

separate 

ways...

Help, 

I can’t 

see!

I experienced a yellow watermelon for the first time. Imagine my surprise when I cut it open to share with the scouts. We roasted fresh bananas picked from the tree and I couldn’t say the Thai name, so just called them BBQ bananas. Now everyone laughs and says “bar-B-cue, ba-nan-na.” Instead of dipping them in chocolate, we dipped them in sweetened condensed milk, "aroy," “sap-sap” delicious!

Let's take a photo before the performance

Evening Entertainment...The Thai English Teachers put on a SHOW... What a Drama!

Thai dancing around the campfire...

Notice the hands

B-Boy Dance?

Taking a much needed rest.

Camp 2011 Ends.. we all feel like the dog... EXHAUSTED and HAPPY!

Final Field Trip

Of course we had to take a photo before we boarded the bus for the final field trip of this school year.

Once onboard the bus, the Thai music videos began...The old big black box TV is housed at the front of the bus and speakers are placed all through the bus, so there is no escaping the blaring sound. Might as well enjoy the singing and dancing.

Looking out the window during the three hour ride, I was struck by the beauty of the countryside. The vivid wild flowers and lush green tropical plants create a beautiful backdrop for the simple thatched roofs that perch precariously on four poles like stilts. Small bonfires in the front yards are used to stay warm during the cool mornings and also to cook their meals. Bumping along, we passed an elephant on the side of the road, a buffalo cart filled with rice bags, motor bikes zipping by, and a saffron clocked Monk just walking.  Rubber trees lined one side of the road while the salt flats dotted the other side. I wonder if that is where the expression "salt of the earth" comes from?

Arriving at the Ban Chiang National Museum which acheived UNESCO World Heritage status in 1992, we take a picture.
Thai's love their photos and enjoy "posing" for them.

The artifacts in found in the museum near Udon Thani are believed to be between 3,500 and 7,500 years old. Fragments and whole pots are classified  into three periods, early, middle and late based on the shape and the whorl design. The ancient pottery displayed at the museum is exquisite and reminds me of Mexican and Mayan pottery.

An old Thai tradition was to be buried with whole and broken pots covering the entire body... gives a whole new meaning to "you can't take it with you."

One of the original archaeological excavation pits is located at Wat Pho Sri Nai, just a short distance from the World Heritage Museum. The outdoor pit contains 52 human skeletons that were interred with ceremonial pottery.

Of course the day would not be complete without eating and stoping at a Thai temple to light a candle, burn incense, and shake the fortune telling sticks.      Buddha Blessings from Thailand!

Makha Bucha Day

Makha Bucha Day is a holy day in Thailand so it is also a school holiday.

It was Feb 18 and the morning after the Full Moon.

As I got up at the crack of dawn the moon was still visible and looked to me like a heart of clouds was encircling it. Makha Bucha Day, translates loosely into Monks Day, and it is the Thai tradition to visit the temple, bring food and money, and then have breakfast with the Monks. So the night before I went to the market and bought flowers, oranges, grapes, sticky rice stuffed into bamboo stalks, and "ping-pong" balls (fish and meatballs).

I had not been to the local monastery and temple so I was filled with anticipation. Of course I was expecting an exquisite glittery Thai "Wat" but what I hadn't expected was a primitive open wooden structure in the forest.

As we brought in the food, many women were already busy setting up trays with a variety of traditional Thai foods. it looked like enough to feed the whole village.

The four Monks sat on a platform in the front and the men sat on the left with the women and children sitting together on the right. A mixture of aromas from the freshly cut flowers decorating the center, the trays of foods waiting to be consumed and the smoldering incense filled my head.

Now the chanting would begin (before breakfast). Lucky for me I had some sense of what was going on as I had a monk from Sri Lanka live with me in Las Vegas.

At least I was a little familiar with some of the words and knew when to kneel and when to bow three times. It was a bit chilly that morning and two hours later, my hands and feet felt numb from sitting cross-legged so long, wondering when the chanting would end...I was hungry!

Markers of Monks who have gone on to another life

Next we poured water into our containers, went to the forest and picked a tree to feed.  Now we would wait for the Monks to eat, they only consume one meal a day, it's after their morning chanting and they eat very slowly. Finally it was time to enjoy the breakfast feast, even though it was almost noon. I guess it was an honor to be asked to eat with the village elders, somehow it just made me feel OLD! But I did get a special blessing from the Senior Monk for a long and healthy life... I'll take that!


 

Birthdays are Universal

       Happiness is celebrating birthdays in any language and any country.

One of the joys of the evening was teaching everyone to sing 

"Happy Birthday" in English.

We laughed and tried to sing...mostly clapped, but the children got the idea and enjoyed the cake and candles. There are no ovens in a typical Thai kitchen, so the cake was store bought.

The little girl whose birthday it was lives in the house next to mine. For her gift I looked all over the little village to find a "Barbie" doll. It didn't exist. I happened to be lucky enough to find one in Bangkok, the only one with dark hair and a sparkling yellow gown. Needless to say she was very happy and took the doll to bed.

In the Thai culture every celebration is a party and centers around food and an evening of eating. Usually the cooking is done together and outside. The eating is done mostly with hands picking up noodles and sticky rice and then communally sharing all the side dishes.

One fish often feeds a whole family and the portions of pork, beef or chicken are very small, with lots of cabbage and green vegetables.

Cucumbers are a favorite. Lucky for me the really hot spicy sauces and dips are  usually separate and you can dip "nit-noy" (a little bit). I like Thai food and everyone laughs at me when I say "sap-sap" or "aroy," delicious!

  

 I am so grateful that everyone here in the community has welcomed me into their families.

Could it be that GOD is smiling ?

Little House in the Woods

I have a new house I call it “my little house of wood in the woods”… the school built it just for me because they want me to be happy and stay.

They even cut the trees that they built the house with but they saved a very sacred old tree with protective spirit ribbons tied around it.
I have a tiled bathroom, hot water to take a shower, a sink and western toilet… I did not have a sink in the other house and for those of you that have traveled in Asia, the original toilet was the stand up/squat kind.

My bedroom is painted “pink.” I am not sure I would have picked that color, but it was my surprise and everyone was sure because my name is Rose that I would want a pink bedroom!     Last weekend I made curtains for the windows, sewing them by hand. I sure could have used a sewing machine! 

It is amazing how little I have learned to live with. I have a hot pot for my kitchen, but mostly I eat my meals out as it is very inexpensive. I can have a delicious lunch or dinner meal for about $1.00 US.
The day I met my first elephant at an outdoor market was also the same day I made my first art purchase, a hand painted silk fan with Thai Elephants. YES, of course I paid to feed him … a Thai tradition for good luck in the New Year. The food was inhaled quickly and  that's why he's smiling and I have my hands behind my back!

I started teaching the teachers English after school and their first lesson was “good morning and good afternoon.” They were very happy and felt successful being able to greet each other. Now almost everyone can say "good morning" to me when I walk to school.

 In the evening I couldn't resist teaching a little American "Las Vegas Poker"

New Year Celebrations

  

Happy New Year 2011 or in Thailand, Happy 2554

To begin the New Year, here is one of my favorite Buddha Quotes:

“Whenever you see things, just see;

  Whenever you listen, just listen;

  Whenever you know, just know.”

 Our New Year celebration continued for two weeks…

Beginning on January 30^th, and then continuing on New Years Eve day, we started at one o’clock in the afternoon and finally welcomed in the New Year at Australian midnight.

That reminded me of when we were in Vegas and California and celebrated New York New Year! We ate all day and toasted with the School Director and the “American” James, who was our school Santa Claus. He was visiting from Switzerland, and it turned out that 20 years ago he was in the Peace Corps and taught English at the same school that I am teaching at now. He said it was much smaller then, and only had three grades. James is now an attorney, and works for the World Trade Organization in Geneva. It was nice to actually have an English conversation. We talked about Swiss cheese fondue, and all the many varieties of which I remember fondly from my travels to Switzerland. Cheese is almost non-existent in Thailand, and I do miss that! (I bought some Thai mozzarella cheese, and disappointedly it tasted a like a rubber band.)

Everyone joined in for both Thai and American Karaoke, complete with video screen and microphones. 

Happily, since I don’t sing, I was able to teach a little song to the young son of the Head of the English Department, which he sang with gusto!

Welcoming in the New Year would not be complete without visiting wats (temples) and receiving Buddha blessings from the monks.
I gratefully received two hand woven wrist bands, one that takes all the negative energy away and another to bring in good health.

They are still on my wrists, and it is customary to wear them until they fall off naturally.

The next New Year celebration was a special dinner for all 60 teachers at our school directors house with happy students helping to serve the food and wash the dishes

Again more FOOD, gifts and more Karaoke, with a big screen and microphones also set up outside. 

My gift came from the head of the local government; it is a special golden tree to bring abundance and good health and has its own place in my home. 

Continuing with the annual new year honoring of teachers was the all day and into the night " Teachers Day" celebration, January 16^th. 

The event began in the morning with all teachers from the Sopisai District, about 1000, being welcomed with an orchid corsage, coffee or tea and something sweet. 

The morning ceremony continued with monks on stage chanting for about an hour and ending with a special water blessing for all in attendance. 

After a delicious Thai lunch, the afternoon was spent with a variety of sport games and teacher competitions. 

The evening was transformed into a Thai style night club, complete with music, and on stage singers and dancers.

Lots more Thai food was served including fish, beef, chicken, pork, vegetables, rice and noodles.

 

The day finally ended with everyone dancing… at least I think that was what it was… 

more like a combination of line dancing and aerobics, but everyone was laughing, singing and having a wonderful Thai time...until next time,
Happy 2554!