Last week, my first night here, I got to participate in an amazing Thai ceremony to welcome the 'freshy' nursing students to their new home at Payap.
As any good ceremony does, it started with the students crawling under the arms of all the Ajang (teachers).
Their teachers would tease them by pushing down on their backs so that they had to crawl on their bellies. They had great attitudes, though. All in good fun.
Next there were some speaches in Thai. I was hanging out with Jew (next to me), who is the Nursing dorm chaplain, and P' Thang. In Thailand, P' is a prefix that means 'big sister.' P' Thang is my first P' in Thailand. Although I only just met her, her mother, Ajang Rujira, insist that she is my P'. P' Thang is studying to get her doctorate in nursing from Chiang Mai University.
After the speech all of the students came up to us Ajang and we tied pieces of string on their wrists and said a welcome and blessing for them. By the end some of them had strings all up their arms!
The ceremony is very traditional. The students are wearing traditional northern Thai clothing, and the color of their pants signifies what year in school they are. Next we had a traditional northern Thai meal.
I don't know the names of any of this except chicken and sticky rice, but it's all very spicy and delicious.
I sat with the Dean of the faculty of nursing (far right), Ajang Rujira (she used to be the Dean, but 'retired' to the position of Residential Life Supervisor, i.e. my boss), and P' Thang.
Next some of the students did fire dancing (that's right, they're awesome!) and traditional Thai dance. They are a very talented group of students and I'm thrilled to work with them.
I was so honored to participate in such an important Thai tradition. I was the only non-Thai there and definitely the object of some young childrens' gawking. Nevertheless I was firmly enveloped in the warmth, hospitality and generosity of my Thai co-workers.
You're the only farang around? I thought there were lots of them. And where's the photo of the motor scooter?
ReplyDeleteYes - like your dad, I thought there were going to be a few Americans working or attending there. Are you able to converse with anyone?
ReplyDeleteThere are two campuses. I'm on the old campus closer to downtown, and I am the only Christian Volunteer on my campus. The main campus, about 10 minutes away, is MUCH larger. The other three Christian Volunteers live and work on the larger campus. All of the international programs and students are also on that campus. I'm over there a lot with them, but my work is primarily on the nursing campus.
ReplyDeleteYes, many Thai people speak English very well. I almost always have someone nearby to explain what is going on. And around the neighborhood I can speak a little Thai and use hand motions to communicate.