It's the most wonderful time of year

HOLY COW! How is it already the end of December? I don't know where the time went, but I can tell you truthfully that I spent it struggling through lesson plans, having mini-adventures, singing carols over and over until I wanted to pull my hair out, and sweating out every ounce of water in my body!

The biggest thing to happen since I last blogged was CHRISTMAS! It is so different celebrating my favorite holiday without my family and friends and the sub-zero degree weather of wonderful Wyoming.

Christmas looked a littler different this year, but that really shows that it's not where you are, but the people that make your holiday great. At school and at home I experienced love and excitement for Christmas and it still felt pretty darn festive! (I love Christmas carols so I didn't actually want to pull my hair out, but we did sing them everyday for the entire month!)

(The foreign teachers in all our red glory)

The last half of December was spent decorating classrooms, learning to wrap a gift, making snowflakes, wreaths, and snowman, and learning Christmas carols in english. I wasn't sure how festive this holiday would be since it is not celebrated the same way in Buddhist and Muslim cultures. Despite this fact, Christmas is still widely "celebrated" mainly for the decorations and for schools to learn about Santa and stuff. So it was very festive and joyful and very fun to experience!

(Santa and his mini me)

The Christian meaning of Christmas is nonexistent here though, and that's what I missed most. One of my favorite holiday traditions is attending the late night worship service with my family, and then doing holiday shenanigans all night until we all drift to sleep one by one. Then waking up on Christmas day to someone inevitably singing some wake-up/good morning song and gathering to share the holiday together in our pajamas. That's what I missed most about not being able to be home.

Despite having to work on Christmas day, everyone wished me a Merry Christmas and then that night, there was a big party hosted by @On's.

(Disclaimer: On is so amazing and is so fantastic when it comes to helping out and supporting people who come through Satun!)

I started the night with my make-up on point and even took the time to straighten my hair! Of course neither of these things lasted more than 10 minutes, but hey! It looked good for a bit! The party had a live jazz duo who played songs all night, there was delicious food (and plenty of it for those of us who went back for seconds, thirds, and sixths), and hanging out with friends new and old was so fun! I drank, danced, and was merry, and experienced my first Thailand Christmas with my pseudo-family.