Sukhothai July 8-10

This weekend will forever be one of the most special I will ever experience my in my life because Teacher Ron invited me and the other teachers to her home town of Sukhothai to experience her son becoming a monk.
We left right from school on Friday so I brought my bags with me and we all had a quick body shower at the school. This was very weird but makes sense because we have been sweating all day and don't want to be trapped in a van with smelly people for 8 hours. Yes.... the drive took 8 hours. I didn't really do my research before and thought it was close because we were just going for the weekend, but nope!! The whole weekend I never really knew what was going on. This is the trouble of the teachers not speaking fluent english and I only know words in Thai and can't really formulate a sentence. I was just very observant and followed the lead of the teachers. If they wore army pants and flip flops then I wore army pants and flip flops.. hahahahaha just kidding (mean girls reference if you didn't understand ahah). I just watched and followed, it's become a great talent of mine! We had a full van load and lucky me got squished in the back row which had 3 seats but 4 of us.... We stopped lots for pee breaks and dinner at 7Eleven. I slept for some of the drive but it was hard as I was sitting on the crack of two seats and the A/C was turned on so high I was freezing!!!! We left the school around 6pm and arrived at this unidentified building at 2:30am. I wasn't sure where we were all going to sleep, but it was on the floor. A hard tile floor with a thin sheet to lay on, small pillow and blanket. It wasn't as horrible as it sounds. Most beds in Thailand are rock hard anyway so my back has adjusted. I fell asleep right away but kept waking up because I was worried I wouldn't wake up in time! That's the one problem with not knowing what's going on. I didn't know when I needed to wake up or what the plan was for the next day; would I be able to shower again? Where is the bathroom? What should I wear? The teachers told me to bring white clothes but do I wear that on Saturday or Sunday? Everyone was up and moving around this large room around 7am. I think it was a front living room of a house but had no furniture in it. There were rooms off of this room with other people sleeping in them. I showered, which was interesting as it was only a bucket of water and scoop. Then I got dressed and noticed the teachers getting all dolled up so I put on some makeup too. I wanted to feel involved in the prettiness. Yah curled my hair and I loved it!!! I literally have not straightened or curled my hair in almost a year so I forgot what it looked like done. Then we went and walked the property. There were around a 100-200 people helping set up tables and chairs under tents and prepare food. We said our hello's and yet again no one spoke English but all the mothers were quick to introduce me to their sons. We went upstairs in the one building and had breakfast. The main and most popular dish was crickets. The teachers absolutely love them. I was grossed out but hey when am I ever going to be able to say I had crickets for breakfast so I tried one and it wasn't that bad. The teachers mingled and chatted while I just observed and took everything in. It's amazing what you notice when you can't understand what the conversation is about. I watched the smiles and laughter and felt apart of it, it was nice. Then the head cutting and washing ceremony took place. I learned this weekend that 3 is an important number in the Thai culture. Everyone lined up and took turned cutting some of his hair. You cut off three pieces and placed them in a banana leaf. Then the men shaved his head and eyebrows leaving no hair on his head and face. Everyone then lined up and washed his head with blessed, fragrant water. I felt really honoured to be apart of this special moment. People were crying and it was emotional for the family. Then Ron and the gang took her son to the temple to notify the monks that he was ready and to be present for the ceremony (I think... I was never told but through observation it looked like they were registering for something at the temple and discussing stuff with another monk). Back to the family property we went and started the big ceremony. They had a band all set up and a master of ceremonies who ran the event. I figured it would only last half hour but nope.... 3 hours. We sat crossed legged on a hard wood floor for 3 hours. I couldn't feel my legs or feet, but it was such a fun experience. The master of ceremonies spoke and sang for the whole three hours and people danced and drank! There was around 100 people in this small room and bottles of whiskey and probably only 2 shot glasses were passed around! Everyone just wanted to celebrate! Other parts of the ceremony included tying a cloth bracelet around the monk to be wrist, passed a dish around with water and a flame and did a special movement 3 times.The band had so much energy and made everyone laugh! When it was over we had dinner and this huge staged was set up!!! They had singers and dancers that preformed for us while we ate! It was amazing and I had the time of my life! We danced and drank more until around 11 pm then went to bed.
The music truck that was blasting music all weekend started playing music at 4am. I guess that means it's time to wake up! We quickly got ready and went outside with everyone else. Everyone had their car, motorbikes and vans all ready to go. Ron and her son and his dad sat in special chairs in the back of the pickup truck and everyone followed behind with their hazard lights on just like a funeral. When we got to the temple the sun was starting to rise and we did a dance train around the temple 3 times. And yes they brought whiskey and were trying to give me shots, but holy it was 5am!!! Then Ron's son took paper flowers filled with coins into the crowd and everyone runs and tries to collect them. It was really exciting! Then Ron and her family went into the temple with the monks and her son wearing his white robes and the doors were shut. We heard chanting and after an hour the doors were open and out he came wearing his orange robes. It was a very special moment. Then everyone headed back to the family house and had breakfast with the monks. We took turns and gave rice to each monk dish. The food was amazing just like every other meal! They fed me so much I felt so full I don't think I ate for the rest of the day on Sunday. The monks left and the clean up began. We packed our bags and off we went. We were in the van and back to Bangkok by 9:30 am! The ride back was horrible because I couldn't sleep and the traffic was bad! Finally got back to my apartment by 7 pm at night.

Teacher Appreciation Ceremony

In Thailand teachers are very well respected and every year in June the schools hold an appreciation ceremony to say thank you to all the hard working teachers. Our celebration was on June 16 and each student brings in a flower arrangement, which they often use for offerings to the monk or Buddha to present to us. All the teachers sat in a row at the front of the classroom and 1 student would kneel down say thank you and present us with their flowers. This was repeated until all the students had a turn to thank a teacher. This was such a special day and I felt so appreciated. I think this needs to be a holiday that comes to Canada, It makes the teachers feel amazing and also shows the students that teachers should be respected and that they deserve a thank you. The kids in Thailand always show respect to teachers everywhere! Even walking to school in the morning I pass the same little girl and her mom and even though she attends a different school she always Wai's (there sign of respect when saying hello) me. Some of these flower arrangements that were brought in amazed me!! They were so beautiful!!!! My one student Ethan also made a personalized card and single white rose to give to me. He is so sweet! Some of the mom's also brought in donuts, coffee and snacks for all the teachers. This is a day I will always remember because it was a day I really felt loved. I felt appreciated for all the hard work I do. The kids had fun too showing off the flowers they brought in and then kneeling down to the teachers to say thanks and then give them the flowers. Great ceremony that every school should participate in!