Day 22: Loy Krathong
Happy Birthday Papa
I could get used to the laundry service here.
Yesterday we handed resort employee a dirty laundry hamper and this morning it showed up at our door, washed and beautifully folded for 200 Baht (8CAD).
There’s a lot we miss about Canada—the family group chat received a list of foods we are craving (Spaghetti & Caesar salad are probably at the top of my list) but this laundry luxury is one thing I’m definitely going to miss about Thailand once we’re back home.
It feels like we’ve hit our stride at TMK. We’re getting better at improvising, we’re getting increasingly comfortable in the uncomfortable (teaching kids who don’t understand much English)
The students are unbelievably gracious, warm, and generous to us. We got cheers when we walked into one class and L received multiple gifts from students: treats that they had paid for.
It’s the kind of generosity and love that I can’t accurately describe.
All I can do is witness it and receive it.
Speaking of generosity, in the afternoon we were back in Geography class—this time witnessing teacher Jessica in action.
Her and her cousin are both 30 something Americans and they are kind of a big deal around Thoo Mweh Khee.
They have given their heart and soul for this place and are self supporting (i.e. don’t take a school salary), and are motivated by a deep love for the Karen people.
We feel lucky to have the opportunity to get to know them.
All of these virtues more than makes up for this borderline sacrilegious map in the classroom that misidentified Vancouver Island as a part of America.
Side bar: I’d love to know the story of how Powell River came to be included on this map. Also, for the geographically inclined, rest assured that the other maps in the room were far more accurate.
The evening was also a lot of fun.
It’s a Thai holiday called Loy Krathong—it’s celebrated with floating lanterns that had the evening sky looking like Rapunzel's birthday in the movie Tangled.
People also make these cool floating decorations that they put in rivers and streams, and they light fireworks that I still hear popping in the background as I type this up.
We celebrated by taking our new friend Esther (you can read about her back on Day 19) out for dinner 20 minutes down the road.
After she bought the girls a lantern and we got to set it free into the night sky.
As lovely as this week has been, I find myself desiring space to exhale and reflect on not only the adventures of the past 22 days but also of the past 10 or so weeks of my sabbatical.
I can feel this rich season beginning to wind down and the return to normal life drawing closer.
There is so much about this transition that I’m looking forward to but there’s also so much I’ve learned during this time that I’m fearful I’ll forget.
These 3 weeks of travelogue have only scratched the surface of what’s happened here and say nothing about the experiences I had before getting on the plane destined for Tokyo on October 23rd.
Maybe when this trip is over, I’ll have to write a little bit about that too?
Bonus Content 1: Happy Birthday Papa from the kids at Thoo Mweh Khee
Bonus Content 2: Lanterns!
