Lindsey Marie M: School's Christmas

Christmas Tree in one of the 6th grade rooms

Today was the school’s Christmas party. Twenty-six people from Chiang Mai Christian School came to help our school celebrate. Last night we had dinner with them, and helped them roll up towels to hand out to the students. They then came and had devotions with us this morning before school. After the morning assembly the students filed into the meeting hall and one of the teachers from Chiang Mai sang while our chaplain played the guitar. They sang many songs, and took the opportunity to introduce the teachers and students who came from Chiang Mai to the students. After the singing and introductions were over, one of the teachers from Chiang Mai gave a message. At the beginning she asked for a student to go up and help her. One of my older fourth graders, Emanuel went up and she gave him a big stuffed Hello Kitty doll. I’m not sure exactly what she said, but basically instructed him to give it to someone he thought deserved a Christmas present and that would enjoy it, or something like that, I didn’t really understand all of the instructions, just that he was supposed to go and give it to

Santa came to talk to our students, he
seems a lot skinnier than I remember :)

someone. Without hesitation he left the stage and made a beeline for me and handed it to me. I really wasn’t sure what was going on as I didn’t really understand the instructions, so I wasn’t sure what I was supposed to do with the stuffed animal, but then she said that it was for me and I could keep it as Emanuel had given it to me because he thought I would like it(or something like that). I felt so honored and special that out of all of the 700 people in the room he chose to give it to me. I also felt a little bad as you could tell every student in the room wanted to be chosen. However, I got the feeling that most of them agreed with Emanuel’s decision to give it to me as many of them commented about it to me throughout the day. I haven’t even been here two months yet and I already feel very accepted and loved here. The school is like a big family and they have adopted me in. Throughout the message she talked about giving our best, she talked about the feeling of giving something to someone that you know they will like and how God gave us his son. In the end she had a second Hello Kitty doll that she gave to Emanuel because he so willingly gave up the first one to give to me.

our teacher playing the guitar and a teacher
from Chiang Mai singing

After the message was over, they split into groups by grade and the teachers from Chiang Mai had songs and games for each of the age levels and then they made angels as a craft project. Some of them were very beautiful and some of them need to learn the meaning of the phrase “part of art is knowing when to stop.”

introducing the people from Chiang Mai

When the group activities were finished the students were each given two coupons for lunch. The teachers had split into four groups to prepare food for lunch. They had set up four stations outside around the edge of the field and students could choose two to eat from. I ended up helping serve the khao mun gai which is rice made with chicken broth and then chicken on top with a sauce and soup to go along with it. I was given a bowl to serve the rice with, so by the time I had served several hundred students my hand was super sore from gripping the bowl in such an awkward way. However, it was a labor of love to serve the students so it was worth a little pain in my hand. It got over it quickly.

the choir performing

After lunch was served to everyone the students were free to go, and the teachers were given an hour before our Christmas party was to start. They had initially been going to do it tomorrow night, but then some weren’t going to be here, so they were going to do it tonight, but those who weren’t going to be here tomorrow had to leave tonight, so we just ended up doing it this afternoon and instead of having a potluck dinner they bought cake and drinks for everyone, but still told me to make the dessert I had planned to make. So, I hurried home and made sandwich apple pies. I had prepared the apples last night, so just had to butter the bread, put them together and cook them. I made a big plate and took it to the party, arriving right at the designated time.

Emmanuel with the Hello Kitty doll leaving the stage

and look where it landed :)

To start the party they had an important man from the community who is connected to the school give a message and pray. Then, they chose one person to start the gift giving process. At the beginning of the month we each drew a name and they called it our buddy and we had to get a present for our buddy that was 500 Baht, about $17. The first problem I had was that I didn’t know any of the teacher’s real names so I didn’t know who I had. Luckily we were in a meeting so I had the teacher next to me go around and tell me everyone’s real names so I would know who I had. The second problem came when I realized I had an older teacher who I had barely talked to because every time I try to talk to her she just smiles at me and doesn’t respond. I then spent a few weeks watching her and making observations on what I think she would like. She is a very classy woman who is always dressed nice and so not knowing her house or what she might need at home I found a bag that was crocheted to give to her, and then gave some lotion from home and I had picked up some chocolate on the trip to give to her as well.

students and teachers from Chiang Mai teaching our
students a song/dance about panda bears

To do the presents they chose someone to go first, and then that person got their present and said a few sentences about who they had or why they chose what they did, then they gave it to that person. That person then got their present and did the same thing for their buddy. It was quite interesting as some had just asked their buddy what they wanted and others hadn’t said anything to anyone about who their buddy was. Everyone all month tried to get me to say who my buddy was, but I kept it a secret until I told one person this week to try to get them to help me and see if what I chose was a good idea or not, but she didn’t really say anything other than to agree the

decorating angels

person that I got was very hard to buy for. When it was my turn I received a present that was wrapped in paper that said “Anniversary Wishes” from an older male teacher at my school who is married to another teacher at the school. It really made me laugh when I saw it. I then got my present and gave the intro speech and gave the present to my buddy.

many students took turns hugging my Kitty

After all of the presents were given there were raffle prizes from the school, so we each drew a number and then got a prize accordingly, there were also presents that the school from Chiang Mai had brought for us, so we drew for those as well. I got a huge mug/bowl from the school, and a little change purse from Chiang Mai. The interesting thing about the gift exchange was that no one unwrapped their presents at the party, everyone kept them to take home and open. It was quite the interesting way to do things. When I got my present home and opened it I had an orange ASEAN polo shirt and a pair of pants that are SUPER tight, so I need to get a longer shirt/dress to wear over it and wear them as leggings because they aren’t very appropriate to wear in public by themselves even though the Thais do it, this American doesn’t really fit into one size fits all Thai pants the same as they do…

one of our teachers helping with the hot glue

After presents were finished, cake and my pies were passed around, and each person got a bottle of juice. The party was then finished and so people talked for a while before heading their separate ways. I was so relieved to have the party finished in the afternoon so I had the entire evening to relax after a long day filled with two wonderful parties. I came home and made a smoothie with my new smoothie maker as a treat. It was very delicious, and I can’t wait to practice and learn some recipes to make delicious smoothies with all of the wonderful fresh fruit that is available here J