Lindsey Marie M: Christmas Caroling

With some students and the tree at the church

This morning the students got up before 5 to start getting ready for the day’s activities. The church made breakfast for us, we ate, and got ready then trucks came to pick us up around 8. We were taken to another church where we met up with a group of people who were going caroling with us. We practiced each of the songs a time or two, then were on our way. They had several stops set up for us, one at the provincial capital building, one at a university, the police station, and a friend of the choir directors’ house.

The church had a stack of these books from
Operation Christmas Child that we participated
in many times when I was in college.

At each place we got out and got set up then the important people from that place would come and the preacher would give a little introduction about who we were and then he would give a little talk about Christmas caroling and read the verses about the angels coming to the shepherds. We would then sing several songs, some Christmas carols the church sang with us, and then the choir would sing a song or two that they knew. This was usually followed by the exchanging of gifts, us giving a basket and them giving us an envelope of money. We would then pile back into the trucks and head to the next place. The first trip I was made to sit in a car with some teachers, but after that I jumped into the back of a truck with some students and enjoyed listening to them talk and watching their excitement as we passed wedding dress shops and they chose which one was the most beautiful. At each place I had the camera so had to take pictures and couldn’t really sing with the group. I enjoyed it, but also wished I could have been one of the angels proclaiming His message with the students and church. At the police station the main officer promised the group that if they took first he would give them 10,000 Baht, and if they got second or third they would get 5,000 Baht. The police also gave certificates for gas for each vehicle that drove us to get 500 Baht.

baby Jesus in the manger at the second church

don't be fooled, the couch and flowers are fake on this backdrop

The final stop was the choir directors’ friends house. There he had drinks for each of the students, and after they sang he gave the group some money as well. I was very impressed with how accepted we were at each place, and the generosity of the people towards our group. It was interesting as the students were all in their Karen clothes, which I’m used to seeing them in. However, many people in the main city Kanchanaburi had never seen people in Karen dress. So, it was interesting to hear the students talk about how they were being stared at. I wanted to point out that that is how I felt all the time. However, I refrained from pointing that out as I don’t think they realize they ALL stare at me all the time to see what I’m doing.

in the back of the truck with some students

When we finished, we went back to the church where we ate lunch that some of the teachers had gone and bought for us, and they changed into their school polo outfits to travel to the school we were staying at that night. The bus couldn’t get back to where the church was, so our bags were loaded into a truck and we walked to where the bus was. Some of the boys unloaded the bags from the truck and put them on the bus. It’s funny because when I was in the Peace Corps one of the questions to get in was if you could carry your own bags. However, now traveling with the students they always want to help me carry my bags as all of the other teachers just expect the students to carry their things for them. I feel weird having my students carry my things when I’m fully capable of doing it, but if I don’t let them they might get in trouble for not carrying my things. Such a tricky situation.

our first caroling stop the provincial capital building

our second caroling stop, a university

When we got on the bus I was very very ready for a nap, as was the ladyboy I was sitting with. So, he cuddled right up to me, and we shared the scarf I was using as a blanket and slept for the first hour or so of the trip. We were to stay the night at a school that is part of the CCT group of 26 schools. We arrived at the school and had to carry our bags up the stairs of a cross walk, then walk across two roads and back down. It was funny as many of the students had never been on one and several of them were scared to be walking over the street below. We were to stay in the boys dormitory as the students from that school were off for Christmas break. They had set up forty beds in one room and were going to have all the students and two male teachers stay in that room and the female teachers in another room. However, the female teachers thought it would be better if we stayed in the room as there are more girls than boys in the choir and it wouldn’t be appropriate to not have a woman in the room. After about half an hour they ended up moving all of the boys to two smaller rooms where they were packed in pretty tight.

in front of the university

the third stop the police station, here the police are listening
to the students sing

They fed us supper, and then the students showered and started ironing their student uniforms to wear for the competition. They took a break to practice one last time, and the women teachers took the opportunity to take a shower in the boys bathrooms, as the girls had had to shower in a big community shared bathroom. After they finished practicing, I asked the choir director if we could read Luke 2 together as that is a Christmas Eve tradition back home. He agreed we could, and so I read it in English, and then he read it in Thai, then they had me pray in English before going to bed. As they were getting ready for bed there was a bat flying around in the hallway and so I was trying to take a picture of it and then ended up having a late night chat with some of the students in the hallway. It was fun as I was getting to know them better, and we were just enjoying each other’s company. Around midnight they were finally almost finished ironing everyone’s clothes for the next day, so I climbed into bed and went to sleep after a long and memorable Christmas Eve J