I arrived at her house around 7:15 am to make sure we would have time to take pictures before the ceremony. My 'graduation' gift to her was a large pink teddy bear - which she loved and insisted on taking with her.
When we arrived, we went straight to the window where the families borrowed the graduation robes for the little ones. They were so cute with their uniforms showing underneath their tiny little robes!
Nong Nice (Nan's sister) holds the bear and Nan has me hold
the flowers from her teacher. (She was a little grumpy.)
We took pictures with her friend and with her teachers all around the school. There were about 7 arches set up for photographic purposes, balloons and all.
with some friends and her teacher
with some friend and the teddy bear
(If only Thais liked to smile in pictures more...)
Around 8am everyone filed into the auditorium for the ceremony. The ceremony started, as usual, with about 45 min of talking from the "higher ups" at the school. (The affinity for pomp and circumstance here is overshadowed only by the affinity for microphones!) Needless to say the students, and I, were a little bored.
But, we made it through and after the speeches, the 2nd year preschoolers provided entertainment. Again, it was the usual - Thai "babies" with more make-up than the world has seen since the 80s dancing around on stage. I am always impressed that kids this young can remember all their moves. However, it is also upsetting to see what some of these moves are. The suggestive ways that they teach their young children to dance don't seem to fit with the culture of reserve. This show was not too bad - more cute than suggestive. For that I was grateful!
After the performance, each student had a moment in the spotlight as they walked across the stage to receive their certificate, barina. They had obviously practiced quite a few times (fortunately not while we sat and waited, as is usually the case) because each student walked to the middle of the stage, did a 90 degree sharp turn, made a deep wai (bow with prayer hands) and reached his/her right hand straight out to receive the certificate. I was amazed at how perfectly each of these five year old performed their 'duties' in receiving the certificate.
After they had the paper, they did another sharp 90 degree turn, held the certificate against their bodies in their right hand and continued off the stage.
Nong Nan walks off stage after receiving her certificate.
Though the students were a bit fidgety, they were really very patient as they waited for all their friends to lap barina anuban.
I snap a quick picture of Nan and her friend
while they are waiting.
After all the students had their certificates, each class was brought on stage to take a picture with the directors/ sponsors of the school, the principal and the class teachers.
Nan's class picture
An up-close of Nong Nan in the class picture setup.
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