Loi Krathong via the International Station Wagon

Tonight was the magical night of Loi Krathong in Thailand.  All day students were working on creating their Krathong to set free in some nearby body of water.  These Krathongs are made from a banana branch thing (yes very technical terms) and covered in intricately folded leaves and flowers.  Some girls even brought out a sowing kit for precision.  Although the boys often put in less effort, they also made quite beautiful Krathongs.

Around 7pm we started our way to the festival in little Wang Chan.  However, it wasn't long before we were en-route to another destination where the bigger festival could be found.  And yes, this is where the International Station Wagon comes in.  Pe-Oh drove this antique (awesome) vehicle and piled us about 11 people deep.  Two us were English speaking Americans, a few of us where Chinese speaking Chinese, and the rest were Thai speaking Thais.  We may not have known what was going on exactly, but we were able to gladly share each others company on such a special occasion in Thailand.

When someone releases their Krathong into the waters, they make a prayer and release their past grievances, anger and other bad parts of yourself.  I used this time to remind myself that I just need to chill out sometimes.  Instead of constantly thinking about my next move in life, and what I'm going to do 6 months from now, I need to think in the present.  My bad part is that I can dwell on something so insignificant and let it bog me down in the long run.  So in honor of Loi Krathong, I promise I will try to just chill for the next 6 months and not worry about my next big move and where I'll be a year from now.  I will live for today and still maintain full responsibility and dedication to the students who need me now - even if I'm sometimes just there for them to get a good laugh at me :)

Happy Loi Krathong, Thailand!