Celebrations of Asia

This semester is (very) quickly drawing to a close but even with all the hectic-ness of planning my upcoming trip with Harriet in April, and getting exams/marks sorted for my students, that hasn't stopped me, or the school for that matter, from having time to fit in some more celebrations and expose me to the many dimensions of Asian culture. Firstly, a few of us ventured once again to the Church of the Blessing in Korat to greet some friends of the church from Seoul, Korea and watch them perform some songs, dances, and a play about the story of Isaac. Although I'm not the religious type, it was a nice environment to spend the night and a welcome opportunity to meet new people. One person I met in particular was a guy named Allen, who was from Seoul and had come with his church to speak the word of God and perform around various schools in the city. I was blown away by his friendliness and his genuine interest in introducing himself and wanting to get to know me. (Plus he knew where Wales was and had heard of Cardiff Bay so that straight away was an icebreaker). You might be wondering why I was so shocked, but without sounding stereotypical (although this totally sounds stereotypical), many people I have met over here haven't been so confident in introducing themselves, and this is almost certainly down to their lack of confidence in their English speaking skills (remember I said that hardly anyone in Korat speaks conversational English?). Regardless of this, it was really nice to meet him and makes me realise how lucky I am to meet such amazing people from all over the world.

That weekend, I met up with my friend and went to a Molam concert. Molam is a Thai peformance group whose music is inspired by and celebrates the instruments and musical culture of the Isaan province (the province which I live in -- the biggest in Thailand). When I was first asked to go to this, I just imagine it to be like a regular gig...a couple of hours in the late evening of a Saturday night...how wrong I was. We didn't actually show up at the gig until midnight which was practically in the middle of nowhere (around 40kms outside of Korat) and didn't leave until gone 6am. We spent all night drinking and dancing to this really cool music. Donning perhaps the sparkliest outfits I have ever seen, the group performed a string of songs which all seemed to connect to some story they were acting out (or so I thought...this all was completely delivered in Thai remember...) and everytime the group broke out in song, everyone would be on their feet and dancing. Furthermore, this one group performed the WHOLE night, and were still going strong when I left at 6am. God knows how long they were on until!

The following week welcomed the next big holiday in the Thai calendar, which was (ironically enough) Chinese New Year. At Assumption, the school was decked out with Chinese lanterns, banners, and all the staff were wearing red as a mark of respect (and good luck!). The Brother Director presented each staff with a HongBao (紅包), a red envelope containing money (560 baht!). The envelope is red to bring good luck and to ward off bad spirits. Also I found out that the amount of money you receive has to end with an even digit to again bring good luck (and you give money ending in an odd digit at funerals...).  The Chinese teachers and interns of Assumption also put on several performances showcasing traditional Chinese song and dance, as well as some modern Chinese pop dancing.

In Korat itself, the city put on a three-day celebration; All the townspeople gathered at Yamo monument to celebrate the turn of the new year. Decked out with stalls, Chinese lanterns, glowing dragons and the like, the place became almost unrecognisable. I wandered around alone on the first night but it wasn't until the actual day of Chinese New Year that festivities really got into full swing. For dinner that evening, a group of the foreign teachers went to Korat's only 5* hotel, Sima Thani, for what was an awesome buffet. Considering it was just over 300 baht for the all-you-can-eat buffet which sampled both western and asian dishes, it was well worth the money and happily sent my body into a food coma. Following that, we all ventured to Yamo to see the main event. When we arrived, we were greeted by two large glowing dragons scaling two (maybe) 50ft poles. It was quite the spectacle and marked the pinnacle of the celebrations. As this year is my Chinese New Year (The year of the Goat), it was imperative (apparently) that I was to wear red on this day. In Chinese culture, your year actually is a sign of bad luck, not good luck as I originally thought. And heck, after quite a crappy year last year, I didn't want to take any chances!

(Photo Credit: Natalie Yau)

Let's hope this next year does bring me good luck and fortune! 恭禧发财

Special Days, Special Reunions, and a Special Announcement

As I'm sure you're fully aware of by now, Thailand and my school in particular likes it parties; any excuse to throw a celebration that uses more money than sense, Assumption will jump to the chance (no offense). The last week of January saw my week cut short once more, due to a weekend-long event called ACN night(s) and cancelled lessons in the week for preparation. This event, which was essentially a glorified parents evening, was a dinner party that showcased traditional Thai dances from every class in Assumption and boy, did Assumption put on a show. With each seat being sold at 400 baht (£8), I estimated that the school must have made close to 3 million baht (£60,000) from both nights.

Pop Duo Four-Mod.

Bie The Star!

The stage was extravagant, the costumes even more so. The school really spared no expense (haven't I mentioned that already?!) into putting on this show. As fun as it was to see, it did mean our weekend was cut short as we had to 'work' both nights; i.e. stand there looking pretty so the parents could see the Foreign Teachers. But, it was made worthwhile as we got to see our students perform and show off how talented they all are. In addition to the kids performing, we were treated to some special performances from some famous Thai singers. I didn't quite realise how famous they actually were until everyone just went CRAZY for them. The first night was pop-duo Four-Mod, who according to Wikipedia, had a string of number 1 hits back in the mid to late-2000s. Their style of music was very bubblegum Pop-esque(?), but it was fun to see how excited everyone around us were to see them. Mr. Jon especially took a liking to one of the girls, Mod (trying to get a seflie with them didn't quite go to plan).

That night, I was told that if I "thought they were big stars, wait until tomorrow", when Bie (the Star) performed. Bie came 2nd in the third season of Thailand's version of the X-Factor known as "The Star" (that's where the name comes from) back in 2006. And, as is true for our talent shows too, the runner up usually fares better than the winner, which is exactly the case here. As well as starring on Thai stage and screen, he has also been named as one of the most influential people in Thailand. I also found out that he went to Assumption's sister school in Chiang Mai where he was raised which was pretty cool. His debut single "I Need Somebody" drew the biggest cheers that night, and was my favourite song of his (due to it being the only one with English lyrics...). Overall, it was a fantastic experience and something I felt blessed to be a part of...when will that ever happen again?

Some of my students performing at ACN Night.

Normality resumed after that night (which at Assumption means I only missed maybe one or two classes that week), until I found out that one of my old camp friends, Kayley (aka Nimbus) would be in Bangkok that upcoming weekend! I had not seen her since the summer of 2011 but we worked together at summer camp way back in 2010. So that Friday, I took the normal bus down to Bangkok (where they played Final (bloody) Destination as the on-board movie...um NO.) and stayed with Grit for the night before reuniting on the Saturday. It was such a surreal feeling seeing her again and it almost felt like we had never been away from camp. We spent all afternoon reminiscing on good times from Sealth and what we had been getting up to since then over some delicious food at this amazing Vegetarian and Mediterranean restaurant called Seven Spoons (check it out on TripAdvisor!).  I had a balsamic honey and pulled pork sandwich (okay, neither Vegetarian OR Mediterranean) but it was some of the best food I've had in Thailand and only 240B (just under £5). Our reunion took us once again to Chatuchak Weekend Market but had to unfortunately be cut short so I could make my way back to Korat for a friends birthday. It was great to see you, Nimbus! All the best on your future travels and endeavours.

Camp Sealth Reunion in Bangkok!

When I got back, I had realised that this week would bring yet even more cancelled classes due to special events being held by Secondary 2 and 3. On Monday, Secondary 3 had some sort of integrated learning day...which to me just looked like a chance to make a bunch of Papaya Salad and play games. I joined them in the afternoon section where they put on a mini-concert. Willing students would come up and perform acoustic Thai songs. This then lead to some of the Thai teachers performing. It was so cool to see but kind of hard to get in to as I didn't understand anything that was being said. However, after one teacher began speaking a bunch of Thai, pointed at me, followed by the whole of the Secondary 3 cheering, I realised that I might have just got roped into something...which turned out to be me singing an English song in front of EVERYONE. After repeatedly telling them that I cannot sing, that excuse wasn't quite good enough and I was asked to sing Ronan Keating's "When You Say Nothing At All" in front of around 250-300 fifteen year olds...dear god. (Thank goodness there is no video evidence...yet)

Assumption has some of their own superstars!

Finally, as I'm writing this, we are approaching the final official week of teaching for this semester. CRAZY RIGHT?! To think, that its been almost 4 months since I first stepped foot in Thailand and now if I wasn't staying, this would be the last time teaching my kids....where has the time gone?
On that note, I would like to announce that I have officially decided to renew my contract and will be continuing to teach at Assumption College Nakhonratchasima for another academic year! (Until end of March 2016). It was a tough decision but I realised that I would regret going home after such a short period of time that way by so incredibly fast. Plus, I am really enjoying my time here in Thailand, have met some of the most amazing people, and I've barely got chance to explore this beautiful country I am in. Finally, this time has been a chance to find myself again, and have a fresh start after what has been a whirlwind of a year. So yeah...get ready for another year of blog posts!