“Happy Bird-day Jesus…” the grade 9’s and 10’s sang LOUDLY during our school Christmas program. I stared out of the sound booth window (I was the light techi this year) mouthing the words and dancing a bit to encourage them to smile. Some smiled and others laughed, it was great! I can’t tell you how proud I was of them!!! The class that wouldn’t sing the song if their life depended on it 2 weeks before was all wearing the correct colored shirt and jeans and lined up nicely. The class that made the music teacher cry because of their stubborn attitude was now singing, almost clearly, their part of the Christmas play and SMILING! Man, I was so proud of them!!!!! I hugged and praised them as each passed by after the play was over.
But wait, there’s more! We decided to do an impersonation game for our skit for the outside program. One or a few kids would dress up and come on stage and the audience had to guess who they were to get the candy prize. We had 4 different times of the night when they would come on stage to do an Act. Our practices were a bit weak and their lack of enthusiasm made me a little wary of the results, but once again they confounded me with their performances! They remembered their costumes, came on stage, AND those that have never come to a Christmas program before came and stood in front of over 300 people! These kids that skip out on any type of project or field trip not only participated in the program, but did it with little coaxing! Man, it was FANTASTIC! There were a couple of bloopers which only made it that much more fun! I hung out with my class the whole night and we played jokes, gave wedgies, and just enjoyed the time together. Some of my students from 3 years ago even stopped by just to say hi! What a great time!
We ended the night with the traditional farong teacher Thai dance, which was a tribal dance from up north. The kids and parents loved it! We had a great time too! Im so thankful for how the night turned out. Usually the Christmas program goes on too long, the kids whine, the teachers are bored, and people leave as soon as possible…but this year we ended at a reasonable time with people smiling and the kids hanging around longer for one last hug. I wish you all could experience the sights and sounds of our Christmas…the stage with the flashing colored lights that say “MERRY CHRISTMAS”, the huge stage made of loose wood planks covered by an army tarp, the red and green balloons stuck in random locations through out the school with heart shaped balloons on sticks randomly stuck in for good measure, the music that is blared too loud over the gigantic speakers that emit an electrical burning smell all night. All the parents rushing the stage for their 50 pictures that block everyone behind them, the kindergarten kids in more makeup than catwalk models, and the chaos of getting each class back to order after the entropy of dinner has occurred…ah the memories!
Christmas at GES is definitely something to behold. I praise God that He is honored through out the night in song, skit, and attitudes. Im thankful that we can share the real meaning of Christmas and show how much this baby Jesus changed our lives by the way we love these kids, parents, and Thai staff. Well, as Christmas draws near, let me write what I often see here in Thailand: MARY CHRISTMAS! Too funny!