A Very Bandon Sriserm Christmas

So Christmas Eve is upon us, and holiday celebrations are in full swing here in Nan.

Getting paid to entertain.

At least they are at Bandon Sriserm School. The ajaans and I have been bringing Christmas spirit to the kids of BS with vigilance: popsicle stick Rudolphs, cotton ball snowmen, design-your-own stockings, nonstop Christmas carols blasting from our office, and a 7 foot plastic tree in front of our door. All week long, the halls have sung out with tiny "Mewwy Cwist-mas!" shouts from children of all sizes. At lunch hour, a group of 3rd grade girls single handedly turned our office into a veritable Winter Wonderland. Sriserm kids from 1 to 92 know "Jingle Bells" by heart (although most parts in between the chorus get mumbled over). Although very few of our students will actually observe a holiday on December 25th, Christmas for Thai kids is a lot like Halloween: a fantastic excuse to throw a class party, sing songs, and be entertained by the foreign teachers. So entertain we did.

A Thai gift exchange:
Piglet wrapped in a chip bag. 

In 6/1, we organized a White Elephant gift exchange for our class party. The students piled their wrapped gifts in front of the room, I turned on some Bing Crosby, and the games began. There was almost no stealing of gifts - which could be the result of politeness, or more likely the fact that every gift was so random and amusing that no one could pass up the opportunity to open the next one.

This morning, the four of us dressed in Christmas costumes to sing carols and pass out candy to the whole school at morning assembly. Courtesy of Aj. Prakop's seemingly endless stockpile of English-teacher-goodies, Emily and I dressed as silk Chinese-style Santa and Mrs. Claus. We stayed in the outfits all day... it was practically like wearing my pajamas to work.

Because of 6th grade Girl Guide and Boy Scout camp this Thursday and Friday, and a mysterious no-school day for Kindergarten, I was a student-less ajaan today. To make up for it, I joined Emily (er um, Santa) as Mrs. Claus for her 1st grade Christmas class parties. Highlights included gifts of candy jelly and handmade paper fans from students, and watching Joke smear chocolate all over his face instead of decorating his Christmas tree. God I love my job.

Just your typical married couple.

Tomorrow we'll wake early to the 80 degree heat of December in Thailand, gather 'round the 1 ft tall plush Christmas tree in our apartment (courtesy of the Hebner family), and open each others' gifts. After mid-morning Thai massages, we'll be off to celebrate Christmas Day with the Nan Farang Bicycle Club (aka other whities) with drinks, food and fun at a local restaurant.

For now, 'tis the Night Before Christmas... and we're off to the Fifth.

MEWWY CWISTMAS!