Class Dismissed, Katie

I didn't close my eyes to keep my tears from falling, I wanted to watch my students (Kinder - 3rd since I also teach Music).  We were all singing...

Surrounded by Your glory, what will my heart feel? 

Will I dance for you, Jesus?  Or in awe of You, be still? 

Will I stand in Your presence, or to my knees will I fall?

Will I sing "Hallelujah!"  ... Will I be able to speak at all? 


I stood behind one of my students who is already a leader as we sang at chapel a few Tuesdays ago.  I thought about how I WILL get to see her in heaven someday, because heaven is real, and she knows, believes and loves Jesus.  How incredible and right it is that even 20 years apart in age and from completely different cultures, this little girl and I share an understanding that God is who He says He is, and that He does what He says He will do.   

So I found myself imagining what it may be like to stand with her in view of the Lord someday, wondering if her peers would all be there, wondering who she will bring with her to see the face of Jesus.  

I also wonder how many books these children will publish in their lifetime.
Listening to them proudly read me their stories were some of the most priceless experiences I've had in teaching.  

School is finished and five consecutive years of teaching have come to a close (I think).  I'll explain my future plans later.  For now, just let me be a little melancholy.  In the next few blogs I'll post, taste the little bits of where the majority of my time has been spent this year ~ you'll understand why I have been so affected by the CRICS family, whom I love deeply. 

Songkran

Songkran.

... the funniest festival ever.

... the biggest water fight ever.

... the only time I would ever let a complete stranger rub talcum powder on my face while I wait for the pump to finish at the gas station.

... also the only time I'll think it's fun for more complete strangers to dump a bucket full of ice cold [ARCTIC] water all over me.

... and probably the only time I'll ever ride around downtown in the back of a pickup truck shooting with a water gun aimed at people who don't speak my language.

*Songkran* 

In Thailand, the New Year celebration comes in April, the hottest time of year (although compared to these days, I'm like "late April, you got nothin' on May/month of SAUNA LIVING."  In Chiang Rai, it's currently 90ish degrees outside and it's 10:45 PM.  It feels a lot like a Texas summer, but with 50% humidity and limited air conditioning.  I happen to love it.  It's great for my waves and my plants.  ;)

The Songkran Festival is a time when Thais show honor and respect for their elders (in our school, this means anyone above the age of 50).  They use water as a blessing, and it's poured over the hands or lightly on the back of older people.  It really is neat living in a country that respects their elders and honors them so much.  At some point in the past few decades, this "sprinkling of water" turned into a full-fledged, country-wide water fight.  

See? 

The water fight/sprinkling of blessings lasts for about 5 days.  The picture below was about 3 days after Songkran began in the third week of April.  This was not an uncommon thing to encounter as we pulled up to stoplights.  We actually avoided riding our bikes during Songkran because people stand outside with water hoses and buckets, "blessing" anybody that rides or walks by. 

I'm just glad he had bubbles.

Nellie, Mandy and I headed to downtown Chiang Rai on the official day of Songkran just to see everything and be part of it... in a simple way.  People that we walked by dumped buckets of water over us, and I quickly realized it would be one of those days when I just had to roll with it; I knew the day would end up being fun and would make for great memories.  It was even better than I expected.  

SUPRIIIISE!!! 

We stopped at a coffee shop to have a snack and noticed a truck of farangs (white foreigners) driving by.  Turns out, it was a group of our friends!  They picked us up a little later and we got to "ride the gauntlet" as one of them described it.  This is what it looked like:  

After riding the gauntlet and getting SOAKED TO THE BONE with ice that I swear came from Antarctica, we actually decided we hadn't had enough, so we made some new friends and continued the fun for a few more hours.  
*(picture a block of ice filling a jumbo trashcan, that's literally what they used)

While the day is a fun water fight, it is actually a very spiritual holiday.  Not only are elders given blessings, but Thai Buddhists use this holiday to give alms to the monks, to practice rituals to pay for the sins of their passed away relatives, and many young men and boys enter the process of becoming a monk.  During the week-long celebration of Songkran, Buddhists sprinkle water on their Buddha images as a cleanse.  And, turns out, the talcum powder that was rubbed on our faces at the gas station was actually meant for our "protection to ward off evil" (I did a little research on the Buddhist symbolism of Songkran).  Nellie and I just thought the purpose was to cool us off from the heat.  =p  

Those are my 2nd graders.  :) 

The week before Songkran started, my school did its own celebration.  Our Thai staff planned an excellent day of various Songkran events.  They maintained the cultural significance of the holiday without the influence of Buddhism in it.  


Every child, every parent and every teacher participated in the school-wide water fight at the end of the holiday program, ages 2 to 60+.  What sweet memories.  This doesn't happen everywhere - once again, how grateful I am to be part of this community and to get to spend this year in this country.
  

I couldn't take any more pictures than this, too much water and too much fun to be had!