Dear all,
I am sitting at the dining table, determined to get a letter written to
you but the distractions are amazing – I can procrastinate by working on
the budget and expenses, or by finding answers to all the questions the
students suggested for the Thai Society exam (which I have been asked to
write, administer and grade), or by playing the ever present spider
solitaire… but what's really affecting me at the moment is the soothing
music someone is playing throughout the neighborhood in response, I
expect, to the crying baby I was listening to earlier. It's calming as
I said – that almost muzac/lobby music that has lots of harps and piano
played slowly – but this version has wood thrushes added to the mix.
It's weird enough to be planning Christmas while in shirt sleeves and
looking out at banana trees and blooming flowers, but when you throw in
the wood thrush, it really causes a positional jangle for me. But, I'll
enjoy it and be thankful that it's given me a way to open a long overdue
communication with you.
The last time I wrote to you, we were in the village of Ban Lao, staying
with farm families and participating in celebrations at the local wat.
There were almost two full months ahead of us in Thailand, and for some
I think it felt like forever. And suddenly, today, we were drawing
names for secret Santas for Christmas, composing skits in Thai for the
Thai language final, reacting with disbelief at receiving a study guide
that would take some time and effort to work through for the Thai
Society exam, and, for some, heading off with new found friends to the
Hmong New Year celebrations six hours away. Our time in Thailand seems
to have evaporated and quite possibly in just a few short weeks we'll
find that the whole program seems to have flown by as well.
Since early November, we have all learned a great deal about Thai
Society with lectures on the Burma situation, History, Buddhism, Dance,
Music, Economy and Politics. The latter provided welcome background for
the upcoming elections on December 23. We've had two cooking classes so
make sure you ask someone to prepare green curry or sticky rice with
mango or kao soy or stir fried chicken with cashews. We all scattered
for fall break (some to the beaches, some to a small resort town several
hours away, some to the north and several of us to downtown Chiang Mai),
and re-gathered for Thanksgiving… at least those of us who didn't get
trapped in Bangkok when luggage was lost and flights were missed. We
participated in Loy Krathong by floating small banana plant rafts in the
river, dodging firecrackers and gazing into the night sky to watch the
floating lanterns. (Except for me – I got a rare chance to go to Doi
Inthanon National Park to spend the night with friends in a cabin and to
go birding with a guide the next morning. What a great treat!)
December brought a special opportunity for almost all of us to gather
with one of our students and her grandparents in a village north of here
for a day of Hmong ceremonies and feasting, and then a 7 day trip
through central Thailand at historical sites, Bangkok and The Beach
(Chan Am). So this coming week is “Wrap Up Academics Week” and the
following is filled with good-bye parties and Christmas, with wrenching
decisions of what to discard, pack to carry with us (we're still limited
to 44 pounds), and what to trust to those fickle mail systems. And on
the 27^th , we're off to Vietnam.
On the whole, students are well, happily occupied with plans for “what I
want to do before I leave Chiang Mai” as well as academics, spending
time with their Thai families, and waiting for visions of sugarplums to
fill their heads.
Our best to you. Student journal entries are attached – I am having
trouble finding a sufficiently fast connection which is probably
virus-free to load pictures for you. Those will need to wait, but will
come eventually. In the meantime, enjoy their words and have fun
visualizing!
Merry Christmas,
Kris
I am sitting at the dining table, determined to get a letter written to
you but the distractions are amazing – I can procrastinate by working on
the budget and expenses, or by finding answers to all the questions the
students suggested for the Thai Society exam (which I have been asked to
write, administer and grade), or by playing the ever present spider
solitaire… but what's really affecting me at the moment is the soothing
music someone is playing throughout the neighborhood in response, I
expect, to the crying baby I was listening to earlier. It's calming as
I said – that almost muzac/lobby music that has lots of harps and piano
played slowly – but this version has wood thrushes added to the mix.
It's weird enough to be planning Christmas while in shirt sleeves and
looking out at banana trees and blooming flowers, but when you throw in
the wood thrush, it really causes a positional jangle for me. But, I'll
enjoy it and be thankful that it's given me a way to open a long overdue
communication with you.
The last time I wrote to you, we were in the village of Ban Lao, staying
with farm families and participating in celebrations at the local wat.
There were almost two full months ahead of us in Thailand, and for some
I think it felt like forever. And suddenly, today, we were drawing
names for secret Santas for Christmas, composing skits in Thai for the
Thai language final, reacting with disbelief at receiving a study guide
that would take some time and effort to work through for the Thai
Society exam, and, for some, heading off with new found friends to the
Hmong New Year celebrations six hours away. Our time in Thailand seems
to have evaporated and quite possibly in just a few short weeks we'll
find that the whole program seems to have flown by as well.
Since early November, we have all learned a great deal about Thai
Society with lectures on the Burma situation, History, Buddhism, Dance,
Music, Economy and Politics. The latter provided welcome background for
the upcoming elections on December 23. We've had two cooking classes so
make sure you ask someone to prepare green curry or sticky rice with
mango or kao soy or stir fried chicken with cashews. We all scattered
for fall break (some to the beaches, some to a small resort town several
hours away, some to the north and several of us to downtown Chiang Mai),
and re-gathered for Thanksgiving… at least those of us who didn't get
trapped in Bangkok when luggage was lost and flights were missed. We
participated in Loy Krathong by floating small banana plant rafts in the
river, dodging firecrackers and gazing into the night sky to watch the
floating lanterns. (Except for me – I got a rare chance to go to Doi
Inthanon National Park to spend the night with friends in a cabin and to
go birding with a guide the next morning. What a great treat!)
December brought a special opportunity for almost all of us to gather
with one of our students and her grandparents in a village north of here
for a day of Hmong ceremonies and feasting, and then a 7 day trip
through central Thailand at historical sites, Bangkok and The Beach
(Chan Am). So this coming week is “Wrap Up Academics Week” and the
following is filled with good-bye parties and Christmas, with wrenching
decisions of what to discard, pack to carry with us (we're still limited
to 44 pounds), and what to trust to those fickle mail systems. And on
the 27^th , we're off to Vietnam.
On the whole, students are well, happily occupied with plans for “what I
want to do before I leave Chiang Mai” as well as academics, spending
time with their Thai families, and waiting for visions of sugarplums to
fill their heads.
Our best to you. Student journal entries are attached – I am having
trouble finding a sufficiently fast connection which is probably
virus-free to load pictures for you. Those will need to wait, but will
come eventually. In the meantime, enjoy their words and have fun
visualizing!
Merry Christmas,
Kris