Christmas Surprises

Wednesday, 22 December 2004

Yesterday afternoon, one of my parents told me that there was a bomb at a nearby school, the one that is the most famous school in Nakhon Pathom. She said many people at her clinic (she's a doctor) were talking about it, and there were police all over the place. I asked my friends Tik and Aw about on our way to dinner, but they didn't seem very worried about it. I told them I was surprised we didn't hear about it at school. I told them that in America, the school would be locked down because we are only a kilometer away from that school. But, I don't have all the facts, so I am not sure if people got hurt, or if it was just a threat, or what. I tried to ask people about it today, and some people didn't even know about it. All the gates to our two campuses were closed shut (usually, they are wide open) though, and one teacher mentioned to me that it was because of the other school. With the lack of more Thai vocabulary though, I am still not certain of all the details. But, students were here at school as usual, and no parents or families seem concerned about it.

Today, I taught three Thai first grade classes English Christmas songs, read 'Twas the Night Before Christmas (and explained what a chimney is - perhaps here in Thailand, Santa just goes through the window), sang "The Reindeer Pokey" (a Christmas version of the Hokey Pokey), and taught them how to make snowflakes. All the children had a blast! They were so intrigued by the snowflakes and the different patterns they could make! Tonight, P'Aot (Ajarn Ong Ard, our principal's daughter, and the director of the English Program) is going to take me to a special Christmas celebration at the nearby Silpakorn University. Should be fun!

Just found out more from Matt about the bomb yesterday. Apparently, the son of the president of that famous school got into a gambling situation gone bad. He couldn't pay up the money he owed, so the "casino" had people plant a bomb at the school. The bomb did not go off and did not harm anyone. But, police were all over the area near the school, and the school closed for today.