orchids

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We had a chance to see orchids from their inception; as I understand it, on the farm the little orchid sprouts spend three months in their bottles, and then another fifteen months looking like asparagus stalks. Then they're painstakingly tied individually to support strings. By the time they look like beautiful orchids, they represent a lot of human effort.

Orchids also grow in the wild, of course, and live as graceful decoration for temples and gas stations. But orchid farming is big business in Thailand, labor intensive and admired by all.

--------------------------------------------On the tray are orchids at the temple; money for the flowers goes to the temple upkeep (and the monks' upkeep as they get no salary). Then the bundles of flowers are presented reverently at the "altar" area, usually a grand statue of Buddha with a space for people to kneel in respect.

And orchids in arrangement with other flowers, usually for presentation to somebody you want to honor. A common occurrence, honoring with music, dance, flowers--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------This was a display made by one of our students for Honor the Teachers day; note the folded banana leaves and variety of flowers.

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Below you see a flower display in central Bangkok, special for the Queen's birthday. And our school dancers, each with orchids in her hair.--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

the tallest Buddha in Thailand

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Putthamonton is a lovely park and "outdoor temple" about 3 miles from my home. Too far to walk but an easy, short drive. I've been there three times now: by car, by bus and by motorcycle. I'll gladly go again any time the opportunity arises.

The Buddha is 52 feet high (as I learned from the internet before I came); he's visible from many vantage points and is serene and beautiful from all angles. The park is well-maintained and serves as an excellent example of the diversity of Thai gardening.

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Some photos couldn't upload; I'll show you more after I return to the states--you get the idea, and I love Putthamonton!

khon performance, Dipangkorn students

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These are Dipangkorn students performing for the school on Tuesday morning, August 17. Just an ordinary morning, but with music and dance. First we had the school songs and announcements, then a demo of dance-fighting, culminating with the dance above which depicts the story of Tosakanth (king of Longka), Hanuman (king of the monkeys) and Pra Ram and Pra Lak (brothers who are rivals of Tosakanth). It's a continuation of the story I saw at the royal khon presentation last month.
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Later that afternoon, I happened to be in the building where the same performers were being sewn into their costumes. Also note the make-up in the background, for the two whose faces show in the performance.

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and finally the performance. Our traditional Thai musicians and the four costumed performers were transported to a nice hotel in Bangkok where they provided a stunning portrayal of the ancient Thai story.

For the four-day weekend of Queen Sirikit's birthday, YaJing from China and I were invited by a student SaiParn and her family to take a trip to see something new in Thailand. The dad asked us both: what would you like to see? YaJing said "the beach" and I said "I don't know, Ayuttaya or Chiang Mai...". A thoughtful expression from the dad; he made one phone call, said "My friend would like us to join him in Chiang Mai." And so it was...

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It's a seven-hour trip from our part of Bangkok to Chiang Mai, so we left at 4:30 am after a lovely breakfast of rice-and-shrimp soup. We saw the town give way to green rice fields; I think the green is even prettier than the tobacco fields of Western Mass. As we drove north, we saw mountains in the distance on both sides. Soon we were in the mountains: lush forest and cool breezes convinced us we weren't in Kansas any more--nor even in Bangkok.

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The lush green forest of Chiang Mai is quite different from the lush floral environment around Bangkok. Moss, mist, cool breezes--all in our party were shivering in jackets except me--I felt fine in my t-shirt, enjoying the first "fall day" since my arrival in Thailand.

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Wat Doi Suthep is wonderful, a wealth of environments within the same temple. Above is the magnificent staircase leading up to the temple area; the balustrade is tile dragons, undulating from the base upward to elaborate dragon-tails. The little girl is dressed in traditional Chiang Mai dress--she will pose with you for a fee, and they also have the clothing for sale.

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Chiang Mai is famous as a tourist attraction, and with good reason. Our first morning at the hotel, SaiParn's brother Palm did a google search with everyone gathered 'round, and we narrowed down our options. In our three days we saw quite a variety...

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The Great Holy Relics Pagodas of Nabhamethanidol and Nabhapolbhumisiri were built in 1987 and 1992 within walking distance of each other in honor of their majesties King Bhumibol Adulyadej and Queen Sirikit on their respective 60th birthdays. Each pagoda is a temple with a Buddha statue inside, artwork all around, and each is surrounded by a wonderful park, and then by the lush deep forest.

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SaiParn and YaJing had fun boiling eggs in the hot spring. You buy raw eggs in a little basket, then hang the basket from the hooks in the mineral water, a natural 105 degrees C. A sign tells how many minutes for soft-boiled, firm, or hard-boiled. There were also a guyser and some hot streams to dangle your feet. I found it interesting that many of the Thais, despite their acclimation to hot weather, exclaimed in dismay at the heat of the water. Generally baths or showers here are cold water...

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The brown structure is among the oldest Buddhist edifices in Thailand. Next to it is a newer temple building, and saffron-draped Buddhas in front. I love the variety of Buddha faces...

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We didn't go any closer than this to Wat Pra Bpa Daeng, Temple of the Red Forest. It's architecture is typical of the Chiang Mai area, and this shows the lovely valley with its rice fields.

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We also saw the Temple of Twenty Pagodas (Wat Sao Lang in Northern Thai dialect), went to Doi Intanon, highest point in Thailand. We spent lots of time and some money at the famous Chiang Mai night market, also had dinner at the Chiang Mai Cultural Center, lounging on cushions and entertained by traditional dancers. Our last evening we had dinner at the family friend's home, and I was invited to watch its preparation. Then out for another repast and karaoke before heading home. You'll need to wait for more photos after I return...

Mother\

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Queen Sirikit's birthday, August 12, is also celebrated as Mother's Day throughout Thailand. We had life-size pictures of Queen Sirikit up from early in August--replacing the large pictures of Crown Prince Vijarilakorn (I should know the spelling, but am not sure) whose birthday is July 27.

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Schools have holiday for the Queen's birthday and the next day, making a 4-day vacation. Our school thus celebrated Queen Sirikit's birthday on August 11, and a fine celebration it was!

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We started the day with assembly as usual, but extra long as we presented birthday greetings to the Queen in seven languages: Thai, English, Chinese (YaJing), Japanese, German (Julian), Spanish (Toto), French (me), plus a special Thai poem composed by my Thai teacher Ajahn Siribuhn and delivered in lovely poetic cadence by a student, then music provided by our own student bands--both the Western style band in white wool jackets and the traditional Thai musicians as seen here. Our student dancers were lovely, as always.

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All the students prepared for the celebration for days in advance, and at lunch (after a special feast provided for all the teachers), we three AFS teachers were invited to judge the artistic presentations to the Queen--an honor for us, but not easy to choose!

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After lunch we all gathered in the upstairs auditorium for the celebration of Mother's Day. You see the students seated as usual on the floor of the auditorium; along the wall are assembled a number of mothers. They were honored by being brought up to the stage in groups of eight; speeches were made and then students came up to greet, honor and hug their mothers.

The surprise for me came after all the mothers had been honored (I got to give certificates to one group of moms). Students cleared chairs from the stage until only one was left, and the announcement was made: Thai, Thai, Thai, Mrs. Sue Richardson, Thai, Thai...I don't really know what was said, but they motioned me up onto the stage and I was soon surrounded by six smiling students. They bowed to me, presented me with jasmine garlands, bowed again. Tears were streaming down my face even through my wide grin...completely unexpected.

I don't know whether Queen Sirikit could possibly feel more honored than I did on her birthday.

flowers 1

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Flowers seen casually along the roadside: they're everywhere. To the right is typical, near my house as seen from a local eatery; the steps are my neighbor's doorway; orchids are ubiquitous. If I have a chance, I'll post a whole section on orchids. Lotus deserves its own post as well.

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This is a flower farm, walking distance from my house, but I'd never have known about it but that Boom took me there; she knows the proprietess. This is one step in a process of Big Business flowers--we went to see the flower market, discovered that a lot of flowers change hands daily in Thailand.
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This is just the tip of an iceburg of flower pictures; Dave is right, you may count on many cards to come of this adventure. Floral beauty is everywhere, and beautiful. I don't think it will spoil my enjoyment of a New England autumn, but it helps me understand why Aom was not spellbound by our glorious display.

Pattaya with Aom and family

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Some of you will remember our AFS student Aom; I've had a couple of opportunities to spend some time with her and her family. This was school vacation--the full moon weekend in July and the following Monday.

The occasion was the holiday, a religious remembrance of Siddhartha's first sermon, given to the desciples who all convened one day. As I understand it, there was no message sent out, just a bunch of people showed up who wanted to hear the Buddha.

Some current Thai people headed for famous temples to honor the day; many people also headed to the beach as we did, so we found crowds at most restaurants and at the sea. Quite congenial crowds, I must say.

Aom's parents are young and active, friendly, with much better English than they pretended while Aom was with us. Aom's brother Eig speaks very good English; his girlfriend Book is lovely, with little English but attentive and cheerful.

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The green pictures are from Nongnooch Gardens, a fabulous botanical garden with many different habitats; look online and see more. Thailand definitely has an advantage for creating topiary and formal gardens, as the weather is warm and wet all year long.

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From the left: Eig, Maw, Aom, me, Book, Paw.

Aom is doing well, was quite tired from all her studying. She's trying to decide what language to study at university (she's attending Thammasat, one of Thailand's most prestigious universities.) I think she liked being the host, with the opportunity to show off her fine country. It was a fabulous three days.

Wat Sala Daeng: Temple of the Red Pavilion

Here you see our local temple, Wat Sala Daeng, literally the temple of the red pavilion. It's an easy walk from my house, on the way to the local market. The temple in a local area takes on the role of the cathedral in a medieval town, the center physically and spiritually.

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Most weekends I've spent an hour or so in or around the temple, very peaceful and quite beautiful. Also interesting as they're in the process of renovation and I love watching the new buildings take shape.

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This is the temple where our school brought our freshly-made beautiful candles, a marvellous procession from the school to the temple and then a quite formal ceremony inside at which the monks received the candles, giving their blessing in return.

Now begins the time when monks are traditionally confined to the temple for three months. They have living quarters and meditation space in surrounding buildings (also quite beautiful at least from the outside); the ceremony of presenting the candles was held in a lower level of the same building you see here.

You don't often see monks in the main pavilion itself, and as far as I can tell no formal services are held here. It's more a place for ordinary people to sit in the presence of the Buddha, sometimes chatting quietly and sometimes taking photos (thus my comfort in gathering images to share...) Usually people enter quietly, bow low three times to the Buddha, and then sit in the respect position for as long as they want to. It was especially popular on the full-moon weekend of July, the official beginning of Buddhist Lent.