Holidays in Thailand

So the holidays have come and gone – so fast! It was a great time to spend time with special people. One advantage of being at a Catholic school was the fact that they observe Christmas and I got Christmas off. Even though it didn't feel like Christmas in most parts of Thailand, it definitely felt like Christmas at my school. Every classroom in our program was decorated to the nines! It was awesome and the students loved it. I helped my students prepare for their big Christmas performance – they sang “Rudolf the red nose reindeer.” They really enjoyed the performance aspect of the song since its fun to sing and dance to. One of the more “Santa like” students, Poom, acted as Santa and was adorable. He had his own solo when singing to Rudolf, who was played by Jeffrey.... You'll never guess what happened to me though, while I was doing all the students makeup before their performance – my sensitive stomach kicked in and I had to leave early and go to the hospital. Darn my sensitive stomach!

The next few days a few of my students gave me Christmas gifts – it was so sweet and unexpected. Some of their gifts were above and beyond a typical gift from a student! It's funny; it’s like getting schwag from my previous job – minus the logos of companies. The ideas are still the same though :)

After the Christmas celebrations at my school, I along with a few friends took off to Ko Sumui! It was a wonderful time considering it was one of the most unorthodox Christmases I've ever had. I spent a lot of time on the beach, basking in the sun where I saw Christmas trees every so often in lobbies of hotels and restaurants. I again, also took full advantage of the amazing massages right on the beach every day. On Christmas Eve, we did the most unchristmas like thing and went to the “full moon party” on Ko Phangan. It felt so wrong, but also right since - we’re in Thailand where majority of the population doesn’t celebrate Christmas and it's one day, one year..Why not!? It was a good time, lots of Santa hats were worn and good times were had. It's basically dancing on the beach to great music. One Christmas eve I won’t forget, that's for sure!

After Christmas, I returned to Bangkok and relaxed there for a bit, and then met up with my family up north near Khon Kaen. My mother, sister, and uncle flew from the U.S. And went back to my mother's hometown or village rather. My mother's village is small, about 200 residents and it's in an extremely rural part of Thailand. It was peaceful, but not a whole lot to do there. The air was so clean in comparison to big cities in Thailand, that’s for sure. It was so good to see my family again, and to spend time with my Thai side of my family. Mind you again, my Thai is that of 4 year olds at best and very little of Thai family can speak English. But smiles go a long way, and my body language is pretty darn good if I do say so myself! I'd rock it in Charades from teaching English here! :)

But, I tell you, my mother is a much more relaxed person in Thailand, she's always on the go and always busy

in the states, but when she is here in Thailand, she's got this huge smile and is a lot more easy going. It's great to see her so happy. Another thing about my mother is she's not one for details when she tells me things; this has always caused a little strife with our communication through out my life. Here's a little example of that when I recently visited her village. So, I am napping with my sister and we're awoken by mother who says, “Come on, get up, we're going to go for a walk.” I'm thinking, why is it so important to go for a walk. She then continues us to hurry up; “Lieu, Lieu!” ( Hurry in Thai she says) , Some of our family members will be joining as well as friends.” Well, when my sister and I tumbled outside in a quasi sleepily stupor, we noticed it was the WHOLE village and everyone was Thai Dancing in the streets to blasting Upcountry Thai music provided by a stereo system with two gigantic speakers being toted in the back of a pick up truck. What a sight – and guess what. My camera's batteries were dead – so you'll have to wait a few more months for the pictures since they’re on my mom’s camera...

But it was a quite a sight! Oh yes, everyone was out having a grand time, candy was being tossed for the kids and the adults were enjoying libations being passed around. Also, there was a family sitting in the pickup truck's back on chairs. People from the village were giving them gifts – which of course prompted me to inquire why, my mother shortly responded, “They’re father died, so the villagers are giving them gifts and condolences.” My mother also told me this parade like village walk is for good luck. I've noticed that there are a lot of things that are for good luck here. I had a blast. But my stomach wasn't cooperating with my visual paradise. My sensitive stomach was not letting me get away with the traditional Isan ( Northeaster region of Thailand, where my mother is from) food I had cautiously consumed mere hours ago. My stomach killed me, but I kept on trucking with the aid of Gatorade, Soda water, and bland food. Hey, after playing the food poisoning game for a while – I know what helps :) Also, Susan, a fellow teacher and former Peace Corp member, told me about the B.R.A.T. Diet. This is also one that I've used often after getting sick here – it consists of Bananas, Rice, Apple Juice, and toast. It helps! Also, Rachel, another fellow teacher endorses it as well...so it works :)

In addition to the BRAT diet, thankfully, my mother being the woman is always prepared for anything – (she is the original Mary Poppins) brought some good' ol American snacks that would be kind enough to our stomach. She kept my sister and I going with the timeless concoction of peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. I love my mom for that, but boy did I get over the snacks after consuming them for 3 days!

So most of my time spent in my mother’s village was spent spending time with family members I didn't know or didn't remember who remembered me. (I feel like a jerk for that) People in the Northeastern part of Thailand aren't exposed for Farang (foreigners) like Thais in touristy parts of Thailand, so my sister and I tend to stick out and be remembered. There's many of them and 2 of of us :)

On New years Eve, there was a huge party held my uncles house. Tables, Chairs, Tents, Karaoke System, were set up at my Uncle's place. Also, from wee hours of that morning my aunt and other family members were cooking up heaps of amazing food! It was a busy day filled with plenty of friends and family celebrating the New Year. My Uncle also got his house blessed by monks, so there was a lot of commotion on New Years Eve. It was a trip, I walk upstairs and there are like 6 monks sitting “Indian Style” at the front of the room all lined up, beginning to do
their chants to bless the house. The day was really cool because everyone came to celebrate New Years with us

– for my mom (New Years is her birthday) since Thai New Years is different from U.S.'s New Years. On New Years day, I packed my things and headed back to Bangkok. I was sad to say goodbye to my Thai side of my family, but I looked forward to spending more time with my mom and sister in Bangkok. My mother and sister later joined me in Bangkok for the weekend before they returned to the states, which was nice to be able to show them

my place and have them meet a few of the people that I spend a lot of time with. . I got the chance to take my sister to check out the beach of Pattaya – it is the closest beach to Bangkok, so it was a nice day trip. Looking back on my Christmas Holiday, I felt very thankful to be able to spend it with my family and great company. Like everything enjoyable, it went by so quick!