Farangs X 7 and Halloween!

I can hardly believe that its already the month of NOVEMBER!  It snuck up on me this year, Halloween popped up out of no where and then I blinked and it was November. I get all turned around with the months here, for my entire life November is the beginning of the holiday season and even though we don't get too many leaves changing color in Southern California to mark the start of fall, I always feel its presence when mom puts up the Thanksgiving and Christmas decorations up around the house, holiday tunes start being played on the radio and in the shopping malls, and I start to need to bundle up by wearing my only few pairs of jeans/pants and jackets.  In Thailand, November feels exactly the same as it has the past 9 months minus a little dryer now that monsoon season has come to an end.  It cools down a bit in December hitting maybe low – mid 60s/70s in the morning and the children show up to school wearing a beanie, scarf, and winter coat and even though I too get a little chilly, it still doesn’t feel like winter and it feels like the holidays are still months away. I guess that’s Thailand “Cold Season” for you!

I’ve gotten all resettled into my Khon Kaen routine, school, gym, tutoring after school and on the weekends.  Christmas is right around the corner which means my three weeks vacation is coming up quick! I’m saving/making as much money as possible so I can blow it all away during that travel time. But there have been some exciting things going on this week! Which brings me to my… Three Good Things of the Week!

1. News Flash: Khon Kaens population of farang girls has just TRIPLED! A huge group of girls have just arrived to the KK after being placed here by CIEE, the same program I came though.  4 are at another school in Khon Kaen and 1 is taking Jess' class at my school!  We all live in the same apartment building, four of us on the same floor. Its SO strange to have so many other western girls in my age range here, I've gotten very used to having my school/tutoring life as my Khon Kaen life and my traveling time as my fun life, and now I feel like my Khon Kaen life can be a fun life too!  Our group is rather large and us seven girls ventured to the night market last weekend.  I'm sure we get starred at more than ever before, but I feel like I personally am being less watched when I'm in the middle of a large group and its a good feeling.  I'm still the only blonde though!  Its really fun to have new girls to hangout with and I'm excited to see what adventures we have in store!

2. Monday was Halloween and KGE (Kindergarten English, my department) has a party with games, prizes, and a costume contest every year.  Last year, Halloween was one of my first days in Khon Kaen so I didn’t dress up as I had no idea what to wear and didn’t want the other teachers to get a strange impression of me if I showed up in the wrong type of costume.  This year, I did a little planning and took a hard look in my closet, I didn’t want to spend any money but wanted to participate in the festivities.  Luckily I had ordered a yellow dress to wear out on the town when I’m traveling and my mom had stuck in the last care package. I paired it with black leggings and a black sweater and BAM, I’m a bumble bee!  I found some black tape at the supply store next to 7/11 and made antennas out of a straw and black paper making my costume extremely easy to put together and virtually free!  The kids LOVED that Teacher Chelsea was Teacher Bee the day and the games like trick or treating, zombie tag, pin the face on the witch, and bobbing for apples was a success.  A little different than our traditional Halloween celebrations in the States and VERY different than the infamous UCSB Halloween, but it was still a great time.  Most popular costume this year: batman and dead people!

Loi Krathong 2010

3. On Wednesday, Teacher Nim took the new teacher Emily and I to "Rose Wedding" to shop for Thai costumes to wear for Loi Krathong.  For those who have been loyal readers to my blog for twelve months now, you'll remember how last year I wore a pink traditional Thai costume and looked more like a blonde barbie trying hard to be Thai.  Well, I must have left quite the impression because this year I was asked to be the MC for the event this year!  In the past, I was that girl in class that would rather write a 20 page essay than get in front of the class to give a presentation, I've actually been in situations where I have fainted in front of an audience.  In college, I was so nervous to meet potential roommates for the following school year that I fainted leaving them questioning if I was an addict of some sort.  Fortunately for me, the fainting episode was my only downfall and they liked the rest of my interview (and their other options were SO bad), that they still picked me and some of those girls are my best friends now!  I've overcome this extreme fear of public speaking and I'm not the slightest bit nervous.  I'm really looking forward to Loi Krathong (I guess it helps that many people in the audience may not understand what the heck I'm saying!), its going to be a fun evening with carnival games, dance performances, and a Thai beauty contest to award who will be little Mr. and Mrs. Loi Krathong for 2011.  I will be in my rented Thai costume with my hair professionally done, on stage, and probably have thousands of photos taken of me, celebrity for a day!  Finding a costume was a lot easier than other Thai costume searches I had in the past and I'm happy with what we found.  Pictures and details on the event will be posted next week! :)

How many batmans can you fit in one picture?

KG 3B!