Loy, Loy Krathong

I am in the midst of my second week of teaching, and I continue to flounder in a state of uncertainty about how and what to teach. The kids are so very sweet, but I am incessantly confusing them with ill-conceived and overly optimistic lesson plans. In carrying out yesterday’s lesson plan, I never even reached the “game with past perfect” activity because I couldn’t manage to adequately execute “make students fill in seating chart.”

So instead of regaling you with more tales of incompetence, let me and tell you about this lovely festival that coincided with my arrival in town: Loy Krathong.

Loy Krathong is an annual apology to the river, a making of amends for the usual take, take, taking of resources and pollution of the rest of the year. For Phitsanulok, this means apologizing to the Nan River, which cuts through the middle of town and serves as a hub of commercial and social activity. The very day I arrived, the whole town was busying itself in preparations for the night’s festivities. The area of the town along the river was transformed into a carnival of food, lights, theatre, and krathong vendors.

The Nan:



First among the many traditions I was exposed to, the parade:





For an hour and half, we watched as a mélange of high school bands, groups of small, costumed children, and countless neon floats bearing beautiful Thai women processed past us, moving in a streaming dance with the surrounding traffic (not redirected for the occasion).

As we watched the parade, the evening air began to fill with floating lanterns, delicate flaming lights borne up into the night. At first tens and then hundreds drifted slowly in the dark sky. I tried fruitlessly to take pictures to show you, dear reader, because I wanted you to see how pretty it was, but really there is no way to share the beauty of all of those lanterns suspended above our heads or convey the magic of their quiet and slow rising into the inky air.

A lantern lighting:





(I didn't take that second picture)

After a delicious dinner of street food and fresh ice cream (homemade with coconut milk), we readied to float our very own “krathongs.” We found our school’s energy club industriously selling krathongs as a fundraiser, and painstakingly selected the perfect ones. After hiking down the steep banks, we lit our krathongs and with a quiet prayer and a wish, released them onto the river. Here’s mine:



And P’Maew, one of my wonderful co-teachers, floating her krathong:



Finally, totally beat, my host teachers returned me to my little apartment nearby the river.

So what do you think? It’s pretty, right? In terms of environmental impact, Loy Krathong might be a touch of a problematic holiday, but at least most of the waste is biodegradable, which is a lot more than can be said for Christmas decorations.

Oh, I almost forgot, my favorite part, the Loy Krathong song! Take a listen.

Next time I plan to show you pictures of my house! It is my motivation to finish decorating. And maybe I’ll even write a little about my daily life here? Until then, farewell dear reader.

Yours,
Rebecca