Asian Population Studies

With Stacy, Carlyn, and a couple students we were all sure we've never seen before

Since New Year’s was on the weekend, and there was a government holiday that gave us days off the following Monday and Tuesday, the students at Aolukprachasan didn’t get to celebrate together until last Friday.  And as I’ve stated before, Thais will celebrate just about anything so they can throw a party.

Kids lined up for morning assembly.  That's the director at the
bottom looking as self-important as ever.  Have I mentioned he's
a ridiculous handful of confusion on a good day?  Yeah.

We were unaware that there would even be a celebration until Wednesday morning, so what we thought would be a three-day week became a one-day week (we had work permit and visa things to sort out on Thursday so they took us out of school so we wouldn't be deported).

Tables lined up with food ready for the monks

Monks patiently sitting through the director droning
on before they get their food.  They haven't done this in a year,
you KNOW they're hungry!

Students with their food

Friday morning was a Buddhist celebration where the kids brought in food from home to offer to the monks.  It was hard to get enough information to really understand everything, but basically they do it once a year on New Year’s (other schools do it at other times) and it’s called giving “merit” to the monks.  The monks have no money of their own so they exist on the food that people donate to them. 

This happens every morning as well, but on a smaller scale.  When we’re walking to catch the bus at 6am, we see monks making their rounds through town.  People have tables set up with food.  They give the monk the food and kneel before him.  In return, the monk does a prayer chant for their heath. 

 At school, the kids and teachers brought in all kinds of food, some of them in fancy packaging, and lined it all up on tables set up outside.  The students who didn't have anything to give the monks sat on the field for the duration of the ceremony.  One of the teachers told us that they aren't punished for not contributing, but if you ask me, separating the givers from the non-givers sure seems like punishment!  The monks sat together and there was a very long blessing ceremony.  Obviously we didn't understand any of it, but what we were surprised to find out was that most other people didn't either!  Turns out, the blessing was in Balinese!  Why Balinese, you ask?  No idea.  I think the blessing was pretty standard though, asking for health and such.  After the blessing, the monks walked the length of the tables and collected the food.  Students (male of course, since females can’t touch a monk) followed them with garbage bags to collect the overflow.  When it was all said and done, the food completely filled the back of a pickup truck and then some.  We have been saying for months how we wish we could take part in some sort of traditional Buddhist something, and we finally did!

After the ceremony, the kids partied.  They seemed to organize everything themselves with little help from teachers.  There was of course a carnival again, even better than the one at Christmas, with games of all sorts – and balloons everywhere, naturally.  Each class organized their own gift exchange and some of the kids were even making food.  I got to taste a particularly tasty concoction called lab, which was a combination of ground chicken and pork with red onions, chilies, and cilantro.  It was SO good, but SO spicy.  My mouth was on fire for a good few hours after that.

Chopping cilantro and onions...on a piece of tree trunk...
on the ground.  Welcome to Thailand.

This fruit is called Rambutan.  Kinda reminds
us of Koosh balls.

The edible part.  It's very sweet!

 The Thais use two calendars, ours and their own traditional one.  The Thai calendar is up to the year 2555.  What’s weird isn’t that they celebrate our New Year’s (they celebrate Chinese New Year as well), but that it was on our New Year that their calendar year went from 2554 to 2555.  The Thai New Year is in April and is one of the craziest celebrations in the country.  There are city-wide water fights that are completely epic, and I am actually a little upset that I will be gone before that takes place.  So logic would follow that on the Thai New Year, the year switches on the Thai calendar from 2554 to 2555, and on the Western New Year, the year switches on the Western calendar from 2011 to 2012.  Not so.  January 1, 2012 was also January 1, 2555.  So then what the heck happens on the Thai New Year?  Is there no real significance anymore?  Is it just another excuse for a party?  Have they eschewed an unusual amount of their traditional celebrations to fit in with the western world?  So many questions; absolutely no answers.

2555....Hey Cate, is this the year Firefly takes place?

Stacy and I with Wisa, another English teacher