Thanksgiving 2008
Wonkapkoonpawja
The literal translation in Thai is a celebration in thanking God. Kapkoon (thanks) Pawja (God). I find this interesting because Thanksgiving is not considered a religious celebration in the States. There are many meanings of Thanksgiving, many that I realized were hard to explain through pictures…although my Pilgrams and Indians and peace signs did turn out nicely. But I think the most important concept stressed since 2nd grade is thankfulness…”what are you thankful for this year?” And in that, no matter your religion, you are ultimately thanking your Pawja, your own God, your creator. In the spirit of the holidays…I am most thankful for this opportunity (a year ago I never imagined I would be spending Thanksgiving with 2 Thai teachers, a thai student, a Chinese teacher, and papaya salad) and of course, my family (my first Thanksgiving away from home) They always say home is where the heart is and my heart is definitely with my family. Even though there was no pumpkin pie this year…I am still thankful. (to replace the pie, I’ve hung a picture of it on my fridge). I did manage to make mashed potatoes (something new that they seemed to enjoy), green beans, and chicken. Grandma’s chocolate cookies were of course the best part…and were deemed “heavenly” by the teachers.
Although a little late, I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving.
We are now beginning to decorate for Christmas. Although it is not celebrated, they love putting on a Christmas play, which I will help with this year and they love learning about it. The students helped me decorate my classroom– we put up lights, made an advent calendar, and are in the process of constructing a “hand” wreath with all the classes. We also sing jingle bells almost every class. Happy holidays!
Tags: Travel
kimmiejean
sounds like you had a pretty nice thanksgiving holiday, and that your cooking skills have improved?! mom’s cookies are a great hit all over the world, i reckon! she’s been making a lot of batches for upcoming christmas gifts, too. i sent your mom a bunch of ecards for her birthday and hope to call her soon, as i missed doing it on wednesday. she said she was treated to dinner and a show by jess and gramma, and i think they went shopping, too. haven’t got any gory details yet about the results. i sure missed being at the beach for that holiday. still waiting on my eye to get better, and may have to be further delayed in getting to the beach, but am sure looking forward to when i can eventually head that way!
interesting that they don’t celebrate , yet still put on a christmas play. sounds like they are doing their best to help you feel more at ‘home’. happy holidays to you, too. hope to hear about your next excursion soon, and MORE PICTURES!! i expect you’ll get a nice christmas package to help you feel more at home andcloser to the family.
later,
u.p.
Love you Kimmy, miss you–glad the cookies were a hit–more in Christmas package to come. It’s good to be thankful every day for all the good things we have and even for the problems as they make us stronger–heard you had a beach holiday–a little bit of home? I love to hear about everything you are doing. Jess, Mike and I took Mom out to dinner and a show for her birthday–I think she enjoyed it. Tornado watch tonight til 10 pm–strange weather, snow in New Orleans! And we had a thunder storm today. Stay well, dear. Love, GMa