The last two weeks have been eventful at the school here with the lead up to their annual sports days and now as we start to approach Christmas.
Earlier in the week the school had two full days of sport that they called the ‘Thailand Games’ and its like a mini Olympics. The school was divided into 4 team colours and the teams competed in soccer, volleyball, bocce, handball, table tennis, badminton, running races, tug-a-war, cheer-leading and Sepak Takraw (a Thai sport where you hit a ball over the net with your feet). Last week was a big week of preparation and it was a challenge to keep the kids focused in class with all the excitement. The kids would practice in every break and the whole school day was shortened to allow practice and team meetings at the end of the day. On Monday this week all the teams played and the top two in each sport (primary school, high school, male and female teams) were selected for the finals that were held on Tuesday.
Many of the parents came on Tuesday and the kids all dressed up in traditional outfits and marched in a parade in their teams and had an opening ceremony. The teachers prayed and dedicated the day to the Lord in the ceremony and it was a great witness to the parents. After the ceremony the male teachers played a soccer game against the older students and the female teachers played volleyball against some of the parents and then all the final competitions took place. The teachers all made sure Ben and I didn’t get out of participating by booming our names out on the loud speaker when there was an event we should be in “Kru (teacher) Ben len (play) football, Kru Angela len volleyball. It was a very fun but very hot couple of days and I think everyone was exhausted after it all. It was handy that there was actually a public holiday the next day for everyone to rest up before getting back into normal classes.
With the completion of the sports days and the countdown to Christmas there wasn’t much rest at the school on the public holiday. The boarding kids spent most of the day decorating the school and church with Christmas lights and tinsel, Christmas trees and nativity scenes. It is a very special time of the year and everyone is excited. The carols are starting to be sung in the church services and worship times. On the Wednesday night after the decorating was finished we had carols, bible reading and prayer in the church and it was so nice to be able to come together so far away from home to start the celebration of Jesus birth and remember his amazing gift in our lives.