Our First Noel in Thailand

One of the perks of working for the country’s largest Catholic School is, come Christmastime, you are blessed with a ten-day holiday. We kick-started ours with two back-to-back Christmas parties at the school. The first was planned by and for the students, and each classroom brought in a variety of food, drinks and sweets in quantities fit to feed a small nation. Before the festivities truly began, Mac’s ladyboys could be heard bickering over dish presentation and how many pictures to take before anyone could start eating. For most of the day we wandered around campus, graciously accepting plates of food (sometimes already eaten off of) in overwhelming portions. When we had run out of covert methods for refusing the heaping servings of macaroni and hotdogs or scoops of ice cream on waffles, we decided to play some basketball (uniforms and all!) The boys thought this was fantastic and cheered us on with enthusiasm, but most were too shy to join our game. The ladyboys, on the other hand, were very concerned that we would dirty our clothes and squealed whenever they were in danger of making contact with the ball. Even if we didn’t know a student from one of our classes, they knew us and were eager to ensure that the foreign teachers didn’t go hungry or miss the opportunity to pose for a candid shot with some of the boys.
Our second party was held on Christmas Eve for staff and their families. We attended evening mass at the school chapel before dinner and entertainment at the stadium. We enjoyed our dinner with Brien and Aom (the science teacher from our office and his adorable, very pregnant wife) and the German teacher/U-18 soccer coach, and his family. It was an eventful evening of lucky draws (in which Mac won a lovely set of pens), karaoke and the Christmas spirit. Once things started to wind down, we called it a night and headed back to the apartment. The next morning we would embark on our first international adventure in Southeast Asia and we wanted to be well rested… and packed.