Exciting week

I am eventually going to finish my holiday blog post (it is almost done, I swear!), but this week is just too exciting to resist.

I am going to be marching in the Thai candle parade this Friday!!!!  Basically there will be a parade around town with 8 different groups, each one a different color.  Everyone in each group is dressed in traditional costumes of that color and marches along with elaborately carved candles.  We march along a set path, with the groups splitting off into different formations as we march through town, eventually reconvening back at school.  We will pass by a few temples and through all the main streets in town.

The students are also super excited because there will be some famous Thai t.v. actors and actresses joining us here.  They are actually students at Rangsit University in Bangkok, and will be coming here to talk to the students about attending university.  But they will also join in our parade, which is really fun for the kids.  I think it is awesome, despite the fact that I have absolutely no clue who they are.

So as for me--I have been invited to represent the purple group.  So at 4 a.m. on Friday morning I will be picked up by 2 students (Bam and Patti?).  They will take me to get my hair and makeup done.  The hair will be a wig...a white chick from Georgia doesn't exactly have enough hair for the elaborate Thai hairstyles.  Then I get shipped off to get my clothing.  They will have some outfit for me, including shoes--they have my shoe size, and thankfully have concluded that flat shoes are acceptable since I am already "tall."  After all my primping is complete, we come back to school.  I will walk at the front of the purple group and carry the sign.  I am giving Pee Neat my camera tomorrow--these pictures should be to die for!

In other news, my work permit and visa are finally complete!  And tomorrow I will go to the tailor to get my clothes made.  Apparently new teachers no longer get the green fabric, but I still have the pink and purple ones from my previous post, so those should be pretty great.  Excited to see what we come up with!

More excitement: Monday and Tuesday are holidays, and I pretty much get a full week of free grading time next week.  It is midterms, but only for the Thai teachers.  I have to schedule my exam after the Thai exams, so I will spend next week writing my tests and catching up on grading.

All in all, things are looking pretty good this side of the planet!