Be the change you want to see in the world -Gandhi

Happy Thanksgiving!

Thanksgiving day, 2006.

Yesterday was Thanksgiving and though I spent most of the day trying to teach the story of Thanksgiving to five classes of Thai students who were only mildly interested, I had time for reflection on the many blessings in my life and time to spend with people I enjoy having fun and giving thanks together!

Thanksgiving seems to be an interesting concept for Thai students. The literal translation from Thai wan krup khun prajao is day of thanks to God. Though this is appropriate, I feel it only partially describes what the day stands for. I tried, with some help from my co-teachers, to tell the story of the Pilgrims and Indians and the first Thanksgiving. Next, I described typical activities for Thanksgiving day: gathering together of family members, watching the parade, cooking, eating, watching football, eating, playing football, sleeping, sitting, talking, eating and more eating. A day of rest and a day of thanks. Most of the students found the concept quite wonderful.

We talked about turkeys. They don't really exist here. Some students had seen them... In the ZOO! Ha! We talked about pies. Not a single person I talked to had ever seen, much less tasted, one. We talked about fall - a season that does not exist in Thailand. In fact, Thai people are fascinated by the concept of four seasons, as they have only three: hot, rainy and cold (or, as I call them: hot, hotter and hottest - "cold" season is lucky to see temperatures in the 70s F). I described how the leaves turn all sorts of beautiful colors and fall off the trees. "Real" cold weather, makes leaves die, but they give a beautiful show first. I think the students thought this was pretty neat too.

Finally, I had the students create a fall leaf of their own. I had some picture examples with shapes and colors, but they had to draw their own and color it themselves. Then, they had to write the sentence, "I am thankful for..." and write as many things as they could think of. Some students came up things such as "for being the daughter of my mother" or "for the breath of life". However, I was very very surprised that most of the students sat there and stared at me (this in and of itself not unusual) like they had no idea what I meant. We encouraged them to come up with some things in Thai and then let us help them translate. Still they stared blankly. Apparently, the concept of giving thanks is not one that they are used to contemplating.

I'm not sure exactly why this is. Though the focus is on the present moment in Buddhism, maybe prayers center around future events, such as harvest or health or maybe even future lives. I'm not entirely sure, but I was really astounded that so many students seemed to be at a loss for anything at all to give thanks for.

As for me, I spent a great deal of time this week thinking about all I am grateful for. During my time here I have learned to be thankful for so many things I took for granted before. Here is a short list of some things I deeply appreciate:

* sincere friendship
* freedom of thought and expression
* friends and family
* expressions of love across the miles (or right at home)
* critical thinking
* smiles from the heart
* toes in the grass
* cheese, baguettes and wine at a picnic
* dark chocolate
* the technology that allows people with much to help people with little

I will continue to give thanks for things here and at home that touch my life and help this world to be a better place.

Something I was very thankful for yesterday was the impromptu thanksgiving dinner I had with my Thai "family". I spend time with this family many evenings a week and really feel like a member of the family. Yesterday afternoon, I went to their house and told them not to cook dinner because it was American Thanksgiving and I wanted to make dinner for us.

I made garlic mashed potatoes, carrots and beans, creamed corn and cranberry sauce (from Bangkok) and a pumpkin pie. We bought grilled chicken in place of turkey. It was a great feast and I think they enjoyed the little taste of America. Here are some pictures: