Loi Krathong and Yi Peng

The recent full moon last week was cause for celebration through all of Thailand. 

Loi Krathong

In the traditional Thai lunar calendar, the full moon in the 12th month, (usually November), is the time when Loi Krathong is celebrated. According to Wikipedia, "Loi Krathong is often claimed to have begun in the Sukhothai (1238 until 1438), by a court lady named Nopphamat. However, it is now known that the Nopphamat tale comes from a poem written in the early Bangkok period (1760's to 1930's). According to H.M. King Rama IV, writing in 1863, it was a Brahmanical festival that adapted by Thai Buddhists in Thailand to honor Buddha, Prince Siddhartha Gautama."

Furthermore, "Loi means 'to float', while krathong refers to the (usually) lotus-shaped container which floats on the water. Krathong has no other meaning in Thai besides decorative floats, so Loi Krathong is very hard to translate, requiring a word describing what a Krathong looks like such as Floating Crown, Floating Boat, Floating Decoration. The traditional krathong are made from a slice of the trunk of a banana tree or a spider lily plant. A krathong is decorated with elaborately-folded banana leaves, incense sticks, and a candle. A small coin is sometimes included as an offering to the river spirits. On the night of the full moon, Thais launch their krathong on a river, canal or a pond, making a wish as they do so. The festival may originate from an ancient ritual paying respect to the water spirits...The candle venerates the Buddha with light, while the krathong's floating symbolizes letting go of all one's hatred, anger, and defilements. People sometime cut their fingernails or hair and placed the clippings on the krathong as a symbol of letting go of negative thoughts. However, many ordinary Thai use the krathong to thank the Goddess of Water, Phra Mae Khongkha."

The festival is celebrated throughout the community, with many locations set up along the river with stands of seating for watching and launching floats. Traffic is bad in the old City on a good day, so as much as we wanted to view the events first hand, we decided to have our own little celebration a bit closer to home. (Also it WAS a school night!)

This year the full moon fell on Monday, the 18th. Conrad and Vivienne both made floats at school. We waited for night to fall, lit the candles and they launched their floats on our private "pond".

Letting go of negative thoughts. (And no, we did not include fingernail clippings.) 

Make a wish.

We paid our own brand of respect to the water spirits by swimming with the floats. 

Thank you, Phra Mae Khongkha, the Godess of Water.

Yi Peng

The festival of Yi Peng is held on the full moon of the second month of the Lanna, or Northern Thai, calendar. "Yi" means second and "Peng" means month in the Lanna language. Due to differences in the Thai and Lanna calendars, Yi Peng and Loi Krathong happen in the same lunar cycle. The festival is meant as a time for tham bun, to make "merit", the Hindu and Buddhist versions of kharmic brownie points. "A multitude of Lanna-style sky lanterns or khom loi, literally "floating lanterns", are launched into the air where they resemble large flocks of giant fluorescent jellyfish gracefully floating by through the sky. (Wikipedia) Although difficult to capture with my camera at night, the sky above the rice fields behind our house was beautifully lit with hundreds of pinpoints of light, the floating lanterns.

Later that evening, we celebrated my friend Antoinette's birthday one day early. At the end of the night, another friend provided her with a lantern to launch. 

Happy Loh Krahtong and Yi Peng, everyone!
(Happy Birthday, Antoinette!)

Martinfest 2013

Last year Conrad and Vivienne celebrated Martinstag in Shanghai with the German Playgroup we regularly attended there. I cannot believe a year has passed and the time to celebrate Martinstag has come around again.
This year, in Chiang Mai, we celebrated with their school. The children spent a few art classes making their lanterns for an evening celebration. The festivities took place on the grounds of the McKean
Hospital and Rehabilitation Center, not far from the German School.
The evening began with a picnic dinner on the lawn.

As darkness approached, everyone got their lanterns ready. Vivienne was very proud of hers: a red Ferrari, logo and all, fashioned out of an empty liter water bottle. Conrad went very traditional this year.

Everyone gathered in the nearby open-air church to sing some lantern songs, accomapnied by a guitar trio made up of 3 of the teachers, including Conrad's teacher Herr Tetzel.

A re-enactment of St. Martin sharing his coat with the beggar was provided by the first grade class.

As it got dark, we lit the lanterns and walked around the property, led by the guitar trio. The kids proudly and joyfully sang the songs they have learned over the last few weeks.
Vivienne happily carried her Ferrari.

Heinz and I walked with the lanterns that the kids made last year. They made songbooks also this year so I was even able to sing along, seeing the lyrics. I know all the melodies by now from listening to them singing the songs at home.

Conrad mostly walked with his friends but I did manage to catch up with him and get a picture of him, too.

The McKean Center, a branch of the Church of Christ in Thailand and formerly a leprosarium, has a Nursing Home facility at the heart of its campus. The children stopped in to deliver some cheer and songs to the residents.

After making all the rounds and singing all of the songs, everyone was invited to a bonfire in one of the nearby lots. Those who wanted to could toast bread dough on long sticks in the fire. 

Conrad actually even ate his! 

It was a lovely clear night, but still not cool enough to warrant spending much time around a bonfire! The kids had fun and that is always the most important part. And I enjoyed watching them. I felt a lot of nostalgia for our Shanghai friends, but that's nothing new.

Hope your lights are shining brightly~

Out Our Back Window

A few months ago I posted an entry introducing you all to our neighborhood, including pictures of our back door neighbors,

the cows. Early in August, about a month into the rainy season, the fields had filled up with water and their true nature as rice fields became evident. A few backhoes showed up and shored up the walls between the paddies. Then one rainy Sunday morning a team of workers appeared and began to plant the rice.

 

The rice seedlings are delivered to the fields in sacks.

Then the seedlings are planted by hand in small bunches, a foot or so apart. Here is a full day's work for the team.

It truly looks like back-breaking work. I know I couldn't do it.

Some of them worked in bare feet. Some of them wore socks. One or two of them had boots that were lower than the water line. Eeewww, working in wet boots all day long. I can't even begin to imagine what that would be like.

I was really worried for awhile, when I realized that there would be acres of standing water outside our backdoor for the season. How terrible, I wondered, will the mosquitos be? There is always the fear of contracting Dengue here, a mosquito borne disease. Whatever is living in the fields still, frogs in the water, bats in the trees, dragonflies in the bushes, geckos climbing all over my house, must be eating like Kings and keeping the mozies under control because we have not had a problem at all. It's been a great relief!

The plants have grown very high and filled in a lot in the last two months. 

You can see the rice grains growing on the tassels.

I'm very curious to see the harvesting process. We'll share those pictures with you too, when the time comes.

What's out your back window today?

A Day in the Life: November

There are so many stories waiting to be told, pictures that need to be shared, but I'm having trouble finding the time and clarity of mind to get them coherently organized. In the meantime, I'd like to start catching up by sharing the lovely morning we had today.

It is November and I think it is safe to say that the rainy season has officially passed. Today was cool and comfortable, with a beautiful blue sky overhead, all day long. We started our day with a delicious "Power Parfait": blended bananas and frozen blueberries, eaten with a spoon from a fancy parfait glass.

Next on the agenda was Kids' Yoga class at the beautiful and tranquil Narittaya Resort and Spa, 10 minutes away. This morning Miss Hiromi decided to have class out on the lawn. Oohm.....

Conrad learned to do Sun Salutations this morning.

 

Vivienne likes to do "Candlestick". They both learned this one in gymnastics, in Shanghai.

Hiromi, the Pied Piper, has them all motionless. What a trick!

Namaste~

During the class, we Mom's often meet in the open air dining room of the resort for a coffee and a chat and a fabulous breakfast by Chef Teddy. Too soon, it always seems, the class is finished and the munchkins descend on our peaceful idyll, clamoring for their after-class smoothies.

It's a great way for all of us to start our day: sunshine, great food and great company. Maybe one day soon you can join us there.

Namaste~