Friday was Children’s Day. For the occasion, we had no classes in the afternoon. When I went to my 7th grade class before lunch, the students were already playing, and it looked like they had had no class before mine. Bank came up and gave me their request to not have class that day because it was Children’s Day and they wanted to play. Being a nice teacher, I agreed. They clapped and thanked me.
So, I had only one class Friday, and that class was 20 minutes shorter than usual. The morning assembly was long. Students stood at the front of the gathered students and carried the ASEAN flags and posters with information about each country. I learned later that they were practicing for an opening ceremony for the special guests in the afternoon.
In addition to a program for Children’s Day in the afternoon, some people came to the school to video recycling projects. Several were on display, but half of the products were made by adults. I don’t know who they were, but they were not teachers.
All teachers had been told to have a recycling project in their classrooms so the guests could see that everyone was doing something. Some teachers had special bulletin boards made with recycled paper.
But only two people came, and they wanted to talk to only a few students. They didn’t walk around the school. While they did their recording, all of the other students were sent to the common area to wait. We waited over an hour. Students sat playing and talking. After about 45 minutes, the ice cream donated by parents for the occasion was brought to that side of the school, and students lined up to get an ice cream cone. At that time, chaos took over, and students who were not in line started running around.
When the media people finally finished with the recycling project, everyone gathered on the blacktop for the program. Since no special guests came and the media people only wanted to video the projects and talk to a few students, there was no opening ceremony that they had practiced for in the morning. A few students sang some Thai rock songs. A group of teachers dressed as students did a short skit and threw snacks to the audience. They were a big hit. A group of girls did the line dance. I think they were to perform for the special program for the guests that didn’t come. Then Sister Viphaporn drew cards and distributed prizes to the winning students. By that time, most students had drifted away and were hanging out elsewhere. I think only those who had cards in the box stayed to see if they would win anything. It seemed to me that, other than not having classes for the afternoon, the Children’s Day program wasn’t much for the chldren. It was mostly a program for the special guests Sister Viphaporn thought would come to see the recycling projects. My other schools had special organized activities like relay races and some sports competitions. It was a time for the students to have fun. This event was about putting on a show for the special guests who didn’t come.
Saturday there were special activities at the Municipal Building. Tony and I had been told to help with the school’s booth. As usual, there were many more teachers there than needed. We had plaster molds for children to paint, pictures to color, and English fun worksheets. The last were not a popular choice, but the painting and coloring were enjoyed by many children.
Teachers also handed out snacks. Beside us, Khun Kwan’s school also had plaster molds to paint. We were the only two schools with activities. Other groups had food that was free. Children had bags full of snacks to take home. It reminded me of Halloween. People started coming at 8:30, and by 10:15 we were out of plaster molds and snacks, as were other booths.
Since we finished early, I went on to the mall to see the exhibits at the private school exhibition. Kate and Lovely were assigned to help at the school’s table there. I had joked that I was surprised that Sister Viphaporn didn’t want her Western foreign teachers, not only the Filipinos, on display. Friday morning Sister Viphaporn said she had learned that one of the other Catholic schools was sending their foreign teachers; so she thought Tony and I should be there. She really gets paranoid when she thinks this school isn’t doing something the other Catholic schools are doing. When I went to the other school’s booth, I didn’t see any foreign teachers. As at the other event, there were more teachers at the school’s booth than needed. Most were just sitting around. There really wasn’t anything to do.
I hung out there for a while and walked around and watched some student groups dance. I left after a few hours, as there didn’t seem to be any point in staying. I did manage to be seen by a couple of the Sisters and get my photo taken.
The mall still has its Christmas/New Year’s decorations outside. And the entrance is decorated for the upcoming Chinese New Year.
I had two nice surprises on Thursday. Khun Irene invited us to eat lunch in her classroom. Parents had cooked noodles and provided fish and som tom for students’ lunch. Khun Irene had invited several teachers to join them. This was special for New Year’s and Children’s Day. It was the best lunch all week. Then, in the afternoon, Khun Dakom called and invited me to have dinner with them and his friend and his daughter. I wasn’t sure who we were joining, but, of course, I agreed to go. It turned out to be Bruce and his daughter, who was visiting from the U.S. I enjoyed chatting with her, and he was the most sociable I’ve seen him. We ate at the “beach,” one of the restaurants floating on the Mun River. It was pleasant.
Khun Kwan and Khun Joy both passed their examinations. This is the big project Khun Kwan was working on for a few months at the end of the year. Khun Toy proudly showed me Khun Kwan’s new official portrait in her new white uniform.
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