Snow Globes

Well it is good to be back writing again. In the past few weeks I’ve had my first and hopefully last exotic illness of the trip which was followed by my first Christmas and New Year’s abroad. For Christmas I wanted to buy Heather some yarn for knitting but I couldn’t find any. There weren’t many people in the store so I asked an employee where I could find some yarn. When he understood what I was asking he laughed because I was unable to communicate that it was a present.  Instead of helping me out the employee went and told about nine other staff that the foreign guy loves knitting. I know this because he spoke to the staff than pointed at me and said “knitting” and then everybody was laughing at me.

Thais absolutely love getting gifts and Thailand is very much a gift giving culture. For Christmas I gave the two Thai teachers that I work with snow globes from Canada. It caught me off guard how happy they were. They took pictures with the snow globes, started dancing with the snow globes and assured me they were going to tell their children all about the snow globes.

For New Year’s we stayed with some missionaries that Heather knew from Prince Edward Island. They live in Ban Tallot, a rural agricultural community in the province of Chaiyaphum. They treated us incredibly well and made sure that we had a relaxing break from teaching.

While in Ban Tallot we had a New Year’s dinner with a bunch of other foreign English teachers. It was nice to hear stories from others that are experiencing life in Thailand as well. Before I share one of their stories here is some information about monks. They are only allowed to eat between dawn and noon and they are not allowed to cook or store food for themselves overnight. They rely on the people to provide them with food. In the mornings they walk around and the people make merit offerings by giving give them food. One British fellow left his house while eating toast.  A monk was walking by, saw him, and stopped. He stood there clearly expecting to receive some food. The Brit didn’t have any food on him but the monk kept looking at him expectantly so he gave the monk his half eaten piece of toast.

One of the people whom Heather and I had the privilege of meeting was a Thai lady who lives next to the dump. She has a fascinating story. Her entire lower body was paralyzed and so for years she sat in her hut unable to move herself around. Then the missionaries from PEI arrived in Ban Tallot and eventually made their way to the dump where they met this crippled woman. That night the dump lady had a vision where Christ came to her in bright white robes and she asked him to heal her. He said it would happen but she would have to wait a little longer. The next day the missionaries returned and prayed for her. After the prayer they could hardly believe their eyes as the dump lady got up and started walking.
This story happened less than a year ago and the lady has been walking ever since. The lasting memory that I have of our meeting was the passion she displayed often by raising one hand high into the air and praising Jesus Christ her saviour.

The card and the tree made it feel a bit more like Christmas.

 The monks came to school to bring in the New Year with prayer, chanting, and speeches from the Dharma (The teachings of Buddha)

Students giving monks food

I was sitting in my chair with the sun beating down on me wondering how I could possibly survive another few months of this heat when this kid appeared in a parka!

A white elephant monument in Phitsanoluk. White elephants are considered sacred animals in Thailand. Monarchs would give white elephants to favoured subjects but the animals weren't allowed to work  and cost loads to keep. Hence the English saying I was given a "white elephant."  

Buddhist Art

Sweet elephant battle

Ban Tallot

Brahman Cow

Ban Tallot is so small it hasn't yet made it to google maps but it still has a beautiful temple.

Elephant tracks by my apartment. 

Thailand's 4 Great Kings
1. King Ram Khamhaeng (r.1279-1298) Shrine in Sukhotai. He established Buddhism
as Thailand's religion and sponsored the creation of a Thai alphabet.
2. King Naresuan (r.1590-1605) Shrine in Phitsanoluk. He freed Siam from Burmese rule.
3. King Narai (r.1656-1688) Shrine in Lop Buri. He reigned during a time of prosperity.
4. King Taksin (r. 1767-1782) Shrine in Tak. He liberated Siam from another Burmese occupation.

A mural re-enacting Taksin the Great's battle against the Burmese.