Wedding Bells and Scouts

It has been a very busy week. We have been preparing for an English camp at school tomorrow. We will rotate the kids through 4 stations, so that means 4 classes in the morning and 4 in the afternoon. That will wipe us out, I'm afraid.

Last Saturday night we went to a Thai wedding party. It wasn't that much unlike ours. Some things did stand out however.

First, they had a "small wedding," only about 7-800 guests. Apparently they are commonly over 1000, and they were surprised that American weddings aren't commonly that large.

Second, they had a served meal of 8 courses! I know I write about food a lot, but believe me, it IS worth writing about. First, fried shrimp in a fruit salad. Then fish "bladder" soup. (delicious, and I couldn't really get a clear answer about the "bladder" part). Next, Chinese sausage. Fourth, Pork shank with Chinese chestnuts. Fifth, Chinese lettuce with sliced snail. It must have been a big snail because it looked just like the bamboo shoots we buy in a can. Then, steamed Butterfish in plum sauce. After that, egg noodle stir fry with shrimp. And finally a mixed fruit and grain dessert in a thin sauce. Fantastic food, but you had to pace yourself for all the courses.

Third, they had a bottle of Jack Daniels Red Label whiskey at each table. The best part was that I was the only one at our table (all ladies but me) who drank some. The bad part was someone else took the bottle home. (imagine trying to do that at ours)

Fourth, they had the traditional speeches etc. But during the wedding, people came up and "offered a song" to honor the bride and groom. There must have been at least 10 friends who sang, some better than others, but an honor nonetheless.

Fifth, the wedding party greeted each table and gave all the guests a small token gift as a memory. Then "friends" collected the gifts, which is always money. The guests simply take out the invitation and return the money in the envelope so they know who it came from.

The meal began about 7:00 and by 9:00 it was finished. I was shocked at how fast everyone cleared out then. Especially because the bride and groom were singing a duet and I thought that was cool. So it was fun, very filling with a few surprises.

I posted some pictures of scouts at our school. In Thailand, they allow the boys and girls to be together, apparently. I don't know when they separate them into Girls Scouts and Boy Scouts, but these kids looked to be at least 8th graders.

On Sunday, Susanne and I are the featured guests at the local radio station. So at 7:00 in the morning we will be answering questions about our feelings of Thailand. That will be interesting. An assistant director at school (a friend) has a 1 hour program every Sunday morning and he announced it last week, and apparently the broadcast reaches into parts of Malaysia too. I'll post if I have time.

Later Beam's family is going to take us to a famous Chinese restaurant in Hat Yai. It will be a "welcome, thanks for coming and farewell" feast all rolled into one. Speaking of farewell, it will be very hard to leave these wonderful people, students and friends. Words just can't explain the wonderful time we have spent here. Eight weeks seemed like a long time when we first arrived. Now we're wishing that time would slow down. I'm not sure how any experience could top this in my lifetime, and we are convinced we will return again to renew the bonds we have created. (maybe even teach for a semester during the cold WI winter..... November to March here.)

And seriously, they are looking for 2 teachers to start in November from anywhere in the U.S. so if you know of anyone wanting an adventure of a lifetime, let me know.