Happy Holidays 2022!
Happy Holidays and Season's Greetings from Thailand!
I think the winter holiday season in Wisconsin is such a magical time. I am happy that I don't have to scrape snow off my car every day, but there are some things that I desparately miss:
- cozy sweaters and scarfs
- skiing, tubing, sledding, and hiking in the snow
- warming up with hot cocoa and marshmallos after a day of playing in the snow
- romantic Christmas decorations that line the streets
- rich homey winter vegetables and soups
- reading Christmas stories under the tree
- singing Christmas carols
- and of course, wrapping family and friends in a warm hug
A note on "Happy Holidays"
I hope to include all the winter holdiays in this umbrella term; Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Years, and any other holiday you celebrate at during this time. For me, it's Loy Krathong.
Loy Krathong has become one of my favorite winter holidays. It's a spiritual holiday in South East Asia to honor and celebrate the Goddess of Water. In Thailand it's called Loy Krathong and usually takes place in November.
Thais make or buy little boats (krathongs), add candles, and sometimes other offerings, to launch into the water. We say a prayer thinking the Water Goddess for the blessings she has brought us, and offer an apalogy for using too much or polluting it.
It's a bit counter intuitive, because sometimes these boats are made from styrofoam, or have metal pins in them, or other bits that take a long time to decompose. There has been a strong push for the use of more eco-friendly materials, and the government sends out teams to collect the boats from the waterways when the festival is finished. At my school, my students were taught to make krathongs from a colored puff that fish can eat. I used the leftovers to make one of my own!
Tor, Auto, and I went to launch our boat at a nearby beach. Afterwards we played with some fireworks! They even managed to skip across the water like you would a stone!
Link to the TikTok Video
Family Brag Letter
Is this me writing a family brag letter? 😱 Feel free to skip this part and brag about yourself and your family in the comments
How do you even start writing a brag letter? How do you sum up a year? Do you talk about the painful bits? How do you describe the joyful moments? How do decide what to include? Apparently these things made the cut:
Tor
Tor spends most of his days on the river, working on our oyster farm, catching shrimp, crab, and most recently squid. He refurbished his dad's boat and adapted it for nighttime squid fishing. It gets the job done, but he is already drawing up plans for a bigger boat.
My favorite part (besides riding along) is when Tor brings his catch home and cooks it up. He is a master seafood chef! He usually grills or deep fries the fish whole, and makes a delicious peanut, tamarind, or seafood sauce to dip it in.
April was a tough months for all of us. Tor's dad was in the hospital for around three weeks and then sadly passed on April 27th. We held a three-day funeral at the neighborhood temple, sleeping there every night, and hosting relatives and community members during the day. Tor has worked really hard to support his mom. He took over his dads chores and responsibilities and built her a new home. We keep his photo and ashes on an altar in the home and think of him often.
We have been planning to build a home on Tor's family land on the river for over a year now, and in November we broke ground and had a house blessing ceremony. The ceremony is done to ensure that the habitants of the home enjoy a happy life there. We tossed flowers, popcorn, and coins into the footing holes, and invited a person from the neighborhood temple to come perform some rituals.
Building a house is an exciting and stressful time, but I have been so impressed by Tor in his role as project manager and assistant builder. He amazes me with his planning abilities and ever-expanding technical skill set. He makes it easier for me to "trust the process."
Auto
Auto is part human, part fish. He would spend all day, every day in the water if he could. At his school's Sport Day he won first prize for swimming. At the water park he insisted on riding the "Point of No Return" drop slide. He is constantly creating swimming pools where there aren't any.
For those of you who havent' been introduced to Auto yet, he turned ten and began Primary Grade Five in May. Auto lives with his Grandparents in Chanthaburi. When I moved back to Thailand, his dad and I decided to live in Chanthaburi to be close to him.
I'm still navigating my role as step-mom-who-is-more-like-a*hopefully*cool-aunt, but our relationship has come a long way. In 2019 we knew shy finger guns and dramatic deaths. Now we play basketball, discuss legos and video games, and he sprinkles some English into our conversations. My favorite, was when he put on Tor's jacket for a motorcycle ride and said "I am dad." 😂
I wanted to share some of my favorite childhood experiences with him, so we rented a car and took a family trip to Pattaya (Thailand's Wisconsin Dells/Vegas?) in July. Okay fine, I just wanted to go to a waterpark. But, I made sure that there was an activity for everybody.
- Took grandma to the beautiful Santuary of Truth.
- Auto and Tor got to race go-karts.
- We ALL got to enjoy the waterpark (Which, and I hope they don't ban me from Wisconsin for saying this, was WAY better than any waterpark I've been to in the Dells. And I've been to most of them).
Following the passing of Auto's grandfather, it was a well-timed and much-needed family bonding experience. I loved watching Auto's confidence grow as he encountered new experiences. On day one he shyly stood behind his dad at the breakfast buffet. By day three he was fetching omlettes for grandma.
Morgan
What to say about myself? Why is talking about myself the hardest? I've sat with this blog post completed minus this section for weeks. Still, I'm not sure how to wrap up.
I've done a lot of teaching this year. Suprise, suprise, after changing my degree from teaching to geology, I am now teaching for a living. I teach Primary Grade 2 students in an English Program full time, and I teach Visual Programming and Game Design to kids after school. At the end of every class I ask my students these three questions:
- What one concept or activity do you remember the most?
- What was difficult or challenging?
- What are you proud of?
What concept or activity do I remember the most?
My favorite activity was our family trip to Pattaya, which I detailed in Auto's section. I cannot express how refreshing, rejuvenating, relieving it was. Living abroad, during covid, has been very isolating for me in many ways. I spent the first six months in a white box apartment, struggling to teach online, and waiting for Tor to come home from work. Then I spent another 6 months to a year trying to navigate Thai school politics and build friendships from a pool of ephemeral expats. Then me, Tor, and everyone in his family got covid, and soon after his dad's health deminished and he passed. It was exhausting.
Going to Pattaya felt a bit like going home. A long road trip with a good book. A full day at the waterpark. A lot of down time to giggle and be silly with family.
What was difficult or challenging?
There have been many difficult days. Many difficult weeks. Namely, the passing of Tor's father and trying my best to support his family through a grieving process I was quite unfamilar with.
More existentially, I'm still trying to discern how I fit into the world and with what purpose I want to move through the world. It can be slow and painful, but I'm trying to approach it with curiosity and grace.
I'm so blessed to have an amazing support network of friends and family who pick up the phone and allow me time to discuss my latest challenge. You know who you are, thank you ❤❤❤
What am I proud of?
I read 24 books this year! I've been trying to read more, since college was really good at killing my desire to read for fun. I haven't gotten back to the point of reading under the covers until 5 am, but I'm getting better! For now, I enjoy reading in transit - a book on the bus or train, an audio book in my ear on the way to work. If not in transit, I better be on a hammok. Preferrably with a bowl of fresh fruit or cocktail in hand.
I'm also very proud that I completed my Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL) Certeficate training. I started in Feb. 2021 and was moving steadily along until Thai school year 2021 began in May. I was overwhelmed, in a formal teaching position for the first time ever, teaching Primary Grade 6, teaching everything online in zoom. There was a lot to get used to. By school year 2022, I had a handle on things and was teaching Primary Grade 2, an easier level. I was quickly able to wrap up my final course and earn my certificate in September. This was my first positive experience with an online class. I loved that I could move at my own pace, take a break for a few months, and pick it back up when my life could handle it again.
Did you make it all the way to the end? If so, then I'm proud that I wrote something worthy of your time, and I'm proud of the relationship we built so that you're reading this far. Thank you. Maintaining realtionships abroad is challenging. Please know that I think of you often, and look forward to the next time we can sit down together.
Happy Holidays, Happy New Year.
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