Christmas in Thailand
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For the most part, Christmas is a normal day in Thailand - I went to work as usual. However, I did not teach classes that day, as my school had a huge Christmas and New Year celebration instead. We had been preparing the decorations all week for this day. I arrived at school to find my students in a sea of red, dressed in their Santa and Santy hats and outfits, with reindeer antlers, or even as elves. After our morning assembly, the other foreign teachers and I kicked off our school's Christmas celebration with a few Christmas games. After that, a couple of our older students gave a brief history of Christmas. Then, we got to watch each class dance to popular Christmas songs, such as "Jingle Bells" and "Jingle Bell Rock." Winners of the Christmas coloring and card-making contests were announced, and raffle prizes were given away. The first half of the day ended with class pictures. I realized that day that Thai people absolutely love to take pictures and will celebrate just about anything so that they can dress up for a photo opportunity. After lunch, some performers from a local high school came by, before each class went back to their homerooms to have a class party and gift exchange.
I finished off the night by having dinner with a few other foreign teachers in Kalasin before calling my friends and family back home to wish them a merry Christmas. Although my holidays were spent abroad and away from my family, I felt very thankful to have the opportunity to celebrate it in a different way this year.
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