One of my favorite aspects of Thai culture is the
unsurpassable joy and energy Thai’s put into every holiday, even the most seemingly
minor holidays such as national Sports Day, which was celebrated with a day off
and a 2,000+ person parade. Even though Thai’s seem to celebrate absolutely everything
I was still not expecting more than a sliding acknowledgement of the existence
of Christmas. Rarely have I been more
wrong.
(Teachers relaxing after the kids left for the day)
On Friday, all 1,800 students showed up in red and green clothing, Santa suits, frosty the snowman outfits, Santa hats, and Christmas dresses to play pin the tail on Rudolph, sing Christmas carols, preform Christmas dances that had been practiced for weeks, write letters to Santa, make Christmas ornaments, and do gift exchanges. Kids were caroling in the hallway and even some ESC kids that barely can speak English in complete sentences could do a fairly good rendering of ‘Jingle Bells.’ Food was provided for Christmas parties and desks were pushed together in long tables that the kids in each class sat around. Looking through the glass windows it appeared to be a proper Christmas dinner.
(Can you find Frosty?)
(Most classes put on some type of Christmas show for the rest of the school)
As I watched tiny Thai kindergarteners dance to ‘Silver Bells,’ I couldn’t help but to laugh at the absurdity of a 90% Buddhist culture celebrating every aspect of Christmas except the Christ part, while back home in a 80% Christian society we desperately avoid any mention of the holiday in school, even the non-religious aspects. We are trained from a young age to refer to Christmas break as ‘Winter break’ and Christmas parties as ‘Holiday parties,’ decorating the school with secular blue and white snowflakes instead of Santa’s in order refrain from making anyone of another religion uncomfortable, even though a few red and green paper chains has little chance of offending anyone.
(Making Christmas ornaments)
(Writing letters to Santa)
(Making Christmas ornaments)
When I asked some of my caroling students if they celebrated
Christmas at home they laughed and said ‘no,’ but that they loved decorating and
singling the songs… and of course, the gift exchange. My first thought was ah,
of course, they ignore the heart of Christmas because the religious
connotations conflict with their own, but adopt the fun celebration aspect.
Then I had to laugh at myself because that’s all I celebrate too, through the
entire decoration process, the school’s Christmas party, and my own celebration
at home, I never once thought of Christ and the origins of Christmas. I
celebrate the same aspects of the holiday as Buddhists, the fun ones, even
though I consider the holiday ‘mine,’ and an integral part of my culture and therefor
who I am. Still laughing….
Granted, my experience of Christmas was skewed because I celebrated it at an international school where 15% of children are foreign, but here, in a 90% Buddhist country, I celebrated Christmas at a school for the first time ever. Classes were cancelled and a half day was given. 50% of classes the day before were cancelled in order to decorate all of the classrooms and school with colored lights, garlands, snowflakes, Santa Clauses, and Christmas trees. The result was stunning. Even the atrium housed a 20ft beautifully decorated Christmas tree with an array of perfectly wrapped boxes beneath it.
(Not the tree I was referring too but another nice one :)
On Friday, all 1,800 students showed up in red and green clothing, Santa suits, frosty the snowman outfits, Santa hats, and Christmas dresses to play pin the tail on Rudolph, sing Christmas carols, preform Christmas dances that had been practiced for weeks, write letters to Santa, make Christmas ornaments, and do gift exchanges. Kids were caroling in the hallway and even some ESC kids that barely can speak English in complete sentences could do a fairly good rendering of ‘Jingle Bells.’ Food was provided for Christmas parties and desks were pushed together in long tables that the kids in each class sat around. Looking through the glass windows it appeared to be a proper Christmas dinner.
As I watched tiny Thai kindergarteners dance to ‘Silver Bells,’ I couldn’t help but to laugh at the absurdity of a 90% Buddhist culture celebrating every aspect of Christmas except the Christ part, while back home in a 80% Christian society we desperately avoid any mention of the holiday in school, even the non-religious aspects. We are trained from a young age to refer to Christmas break as ‘Winter break’ and Christmas parties as ‘Holiday parties,’ decorating the school with secular blue and white snowflakes instead of Santa’s in order refrain from making anyone of another religion uncomfortable, even though a few red and green paper chains has little chance of offending anyone.
(Taking a break from cleaning to play with our new Van de Graaff generator)
(The science team minus 1)
Interesting story. Also beautiful children. They seem so engaged in their activities. Are these the children you teach?
ReplyDeleteMarcia