So, as per tradition, it usually takes me about a month before I post on any significant event and seeing as New Years was about a month ago I thought that I would write about my New Years experience. I have already written a bit about the New Years tradition, so here I relate more my experience than anything. After having celebrated New Years at Bunyawat during the day with the students and then at night with the teachers, I headed to the bus station to take the overnight bus to Bangkok to ring in the New Year there with Yui. The bus ride was uneventful. I arrived early in the morning and began the process of finding a guesthouse. I knew where I wanted to stay and made my way there slowly as I had to wait for the different forms of pubic transportation to open (I did arrive at about 4:45 am). I made it to where I wanted to stay and found that most places were booked. It being New Years weekend and all, I should have assumed that much, but didn't. After haggeling with a few owners I was able to find a more expensive guesthouse for that night and then a cheaper one for the next couple nights. In the end it worked out alright, but as you'll soon see it was all for naught. I met up with Yui and spent the day (now this was December 30) walking around town and shopping. That afternoon, I wandered over to the National Stadium and bought myself a ticket for the championship game of the King's Cup Football (soccer) Tournament which would be played later that evening. I had been following the King's Cup for a bit and knew before I left that the championship game would be played and would be played across the street from my guesthouse. So, I was really excited to go check out the game. The game was between Thailand and Vietnam and proved to be an exciting event. I have always wanted to go to a game in Thailand, Europe, South America - anywhere where soccer is more popular than the US. I wandered over a few hours early to buy my ticket and found that the place was already packed with people who came to take there seats already. There were banners, flags, noise-makers and people all over the place. So, I stayed. I found my seat (I purchased the 200 baht ticket which got me a seat with a back in the middle of the stadium...the 100 baht tickets were seats without backs in the middle of the stadium and the 50 baht tickets were seat without backs on the edges of the stadium) and sat down next to a father and his son who had come to cheer on the home team. He had convinced his father to buy him a noise-maker and was happily toot-tooting on that long before the game even began. The game started with little fanfare, but the fans were dedicated and before long there were chants of "Thailand! Thailand! Thailand!" and not long after that the wave began. It wasn't a great match - both teams didn't really put up much of a fight. The game carried on and despite the rather mundane game we were watching the fans responded to every little thing which seemed to carry the Thai team forward. The first goal came in a rather ordinary fashion, but again, the crowd responded with tremendous enthusiasm. Between the rest of the crowd and at the urging of the little boy sitting next to me, I found myself with a Thai flag in hand and was shouting "Thailand! Thailand!" like the rest of them. It was quite fun. After that first goal, someone somewhere unfurled a huge Thailand flag which was stretched out and passed above the heads of the fans in the stadium. The flag was at least 20 people by 20 people and flowed like the wave from hand to hand across the stadium and back several times. The game moved on and Thailand put in their second goal of the night which Vietnam responded to and soon the game was 2-1 going into the late stages and that's how the game finished. Thailand 2 Vietnam 1. Thailand had won the Kings Cup. Prior to the end of that game candles were passed around and shortly after the game was over and the trophy was presented people began lighting the candles and the stadiums lights were turned off. The stadium was filled with the glow from the candles and several songs were played and nearly everyone was singing along. It's was quite the moment. After the songs finished and to the delight of the crowd, a fireworks show began above the stadium. When that finished, it brought an end to the night and the crowds dispersed and made their way home. And as others struggled to get taxis and fight the traffic, I walked leisurly along the sidewalk and made my way back to my guesthouse and was there in 10 minutes. What a night! Here are some pictures from the game.
And so that brought an end to the 30th of December. The next day, New Years Eve Day, saw me heading crosstown to meet Glenn Fee for lunch. Now, for those of you who know Glenn, there is no need to explain, but for those of you who don't Glenn is someone I worked closely with at DU. I traveled with him to Dharmasala, India and he is the one who first introduced me to Thailand and put the idea of me studying there in my head. He had again gone to India and on his way back to the US, he stopped of in Thailand for a little vacation and so we were able to connect and have lunch together. It was great to see him and chat about his most recent trip and my experiences here. It's always good to see a familiar face. After that, I headed back to the guesthouse to rest and relax before meeting Yui to begin the evening. Our plans were to meet near the guesthouse and go grab dinner somewhere before heading off to a countdown party in near the center of town. I met Yui and as she approached she was on the phone - normal and not anything out of the ordinary. After she gets off the phone she tells me that her dad had just called and told her that there had been bombings in Bangkok (I'll write more about the bombings in a little while). After attempting to gather as much information as we could, we decide to change our plans. The countdown party was out as was riding the LightRail to a restaurant for dinner. We decide to go watch a movie in the mall and then eat dinner at a really nice little restaurant in the mall overlooking the city (this is a nice mall...tourists come to see this mall it's that nice). We bought our tickets and went in and sat down and shortly after the previews the movie stopped and the lights were turned up and we were told to leave because they were closing the mall because of the bombings. At this point, any desire to stay out in the city left and we decided that we just wanted to be home. Yui called her parents and they invited me to come and stay with them and wouldn't have to stay in the middle of the city (which was very nice of them). Yui and drove back towards her house stopping for dinner on the side of the road. We arrived and began watching the news reports of the bombings. Countdown parties all across the city were canceled and most people went home to celebrate there. We rung in the New Year in front of the tv and shortly afterwards the news reported that two more bombs exploded in the city and had injured more people. Yui and I looked at each other and were very glad that we had come home because the blasts were at the location of the countdown party we were planning on going to. And with that, and a few more phone calls home to my parents, I said goodbye to 2006. The next morning we woke up and had breakfast and Yui and her parents went to Wat Phra Kaew (the temple inside the Royal Palace) to make merit according to Thai tradition and I stayed at home. I was flipping though the channels and came across CNN and was able to watch New York's New Years Eve Party. It was a bit odd as I was watching it at noon and it was light out. Nevertheless, it was neat to see and again with more phone calls home, I rung in the New Year yet again.
And so that brought an end to the 30th of December. The next day, New Years Eve Day, saw me heading crosstown to meet Glenn Fee for lunch. Now, for those of you who know Glenn, there is no need to explain, but for those of you who don't Glenn is someone I worked closely with at DU. I traveled with him to Dharmasala, India and he is the one who first introduced me to Thailand and put the idea of me studying there in my head. He had again gone to India and on his way back to the US, he stopped of in Thailand for a little vacation and so we were able to connect and have lunch together. It was great to see him and chat about his most recent trip and my experiences here. It's always good to see a familiar face. After that, I headed back to the guesthouse to rest and relax before meeting Yui to begin the evening. Our plans were to meet near the guesthouse and go grab dinner somewhere before heading off to a countdown party in near the center of town. I met Yui and as she approached she was on the phone - normal and not anything out of the ordinary. After she gets off the phone she tells me that her dad had just called and told her that there had been bombings in Bangkok (I'll write more about the bombings in a little while). After attempting to gather as much information as we could, we decide to change our plans. The countdown party was out as was riding the LightRail to a restaurant for dinner. We decide to go watch a movie in the mall and then eat dinner at a really nice little restaurant in the mall overlooking the city (this is a nice mall...tourists come to see this mall it's that nice). We bought our tickets and went in and sat down and shortly after the previews the movie stopped and the lights were turned up and we were told to leave because they were closing the mall because of the bombings. At this point, any desire to stay out in the city left and we decided that we just wanted to be home. Yui called her parents and they invited me to come and stay with them and wouldn't have to stay in the middle of the city (which was very nice of them). Yui and drove back towards her house stopping for dinner on the side of the road. We arrived and began watching the news reports of the bombings. Countdown parties all across the city were canceled and most people went home to celebrate there. We rung in the New Year in front of the tv and shortly afterwards the news reported that two more bombs exploded in the city and had injured more people. Yui and I looked at each other and were very glad that we had come home because the blasts were at the location of the countdown party we were planning on going to. And with that, and a few more phone calls home to my parents, I said goodbye to 2006. The next morning we woke up and had breakfast and Yui and her parents went to Wat Phra Kaew (the temple inside the Royal Palace) to make merit according to Thai tradition and I stayed at home. I was flipping though the channels and came across CNN and was able to watch New York's New Years Eve Party. It was a bit odd as I was watching it at noon and it was light out. Nevertheless, it was neat to see and again with more phone calls home, I rung in the New Year yet again.
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