This morning I got on a bus with fifty some students, a few other teachers, and the EP secretary. The first three hours of the journey the students sang karaoke. They asked me to sing. I said I’d be happy to if they had a song I knew. We finally found one, but by the time it came up in the play list, we were stopping for lunch.
When we walked into the restaurante the food was on the tables waiting for us. Every table had its own pig’s leg; it’s own fish; four loaves of Chinese bread; a pot of soup; fried vegetables; and rice. Each table sat about six people. There were a lot of leftovers left behind (This would be an appropriate place for a frown emoticon if I believed in the use of such things).
Back in the bus, we transitioned from karaoke to a VCD of some Thai television show. I preferred the (sometimes bad) singing.
We arrived at our resort around three in the afternoon. After getting our baggage to our rooms we were given tickets to use in the resorts activity area. I shot a few arrows (impressing the watching students with my archery skills). I paddled around in a paddle boat. I then watched others do things like go karts, zip lines, etc.
After dinner and a quick dip in the pool, I was asked to share a little about Christmas. I think that went pretty well. I spent a lot of time chasing questions down rabbit trails. Thai people in general are not nearly so familiar with the basics of the Christmas story as American people in general. Unintentionally using the word “kings” in reference to the Magi, can lead to several minutes worth of near futile explanation.
When that was finished we (primarily I and Manoraj (who studied in the States)) sang a few carols. With the carols finished, we somehow switched gears to ghost stories. I’m a entirely unsure how that transition happened. The Thai ghost stories I listened to were not fictional, they were retelling of personal encounters with the unsettling, often involving death. A little strange for Christmas Eve.
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