Saturday, April 14, 2012

songkran means new year.

I've barely been back in Khon Kaen for 24 hours and over 500 people have touched my face. Um what?!?! That's because today, yes TODAY, is part of the Thai New Year known as Songkran! You see, here in Thailand, the year is actually 2555 (that's right, it's not 2012) and New Years is April 13-15 (not the last day of December). But it gets better. Instead of dressing up and gathering around the champagne and Dick Clark/Ryan Seacrest annual show like we do in the States, Thailand does it alllllll differently.

Coming at the beginning of the hottest part of the year, Songkran is celebrated with a giant NATIONWIDE water fight! As we drove from a small village six hours away back to Khon Kaen last night, our van was constantly pelted with water and baby powder by kids, teenagers, and adults alike all out on the streets. Khon Kaen (where I live) is one of the most popular Songkran destinations for Thais from all over and today I learned why. Non and Nampeung, two of the Thai students I became close friends with over these past two weeks at English camp, took us downtown to Cow Neyow Street (which means sticky rice, fun fact) and we got to celebrate like Thais do! Nampeung's uncle drove a pick-up truck while 15 of us -oops, don't read that Mama and Daddy- rode in the back with two giant trashcans of water and tons of buckets. We rode around the street for hours, throwing water on others and having water thrown on us!! Along every single road there was bumper to bumper traffic of trucks just like ours and literally the entire CITY was celebrating. I don't think I saw a dry person all day. Dozens of people were selling buckets and baby powder and these ginormous blocks of ice so you can make your water icy and elicit shrieks of surprise from the unsuspecting people in other cars. It was so COOOOOOL.

Our group of four American college students and four Thai college students after we had a mini Songkran water fight with the kids at English camp!

One of the most interesting things is the baby powder. People walk around with containers of baby powder and wipe it on the faces of complete strangers all day long. Literally. Someone you don't even know walks up to you, puts both hands on your cheeks, and rubs baby powder on you while saying "Sawatdeeka!" or "Happy Songkran!" or, if you're clearly a foreigner like we were, saying whatever English phrases they know, usually including "I love you" or "Hellooooo". It was a hilarious and insanely strange experience all at the same time.

Some of the major companies in Khon Kaen (cell phones, alcohol, soda) set up this big festival with about a dozen concerts and foam machines and I got to attend this celebration with thousands of people who speak a language I barely even know! Mindboggling. I'm beyond happy to say I got to ring in the Thai New Year just like any other Thai college student would- by being pelted with icy cold water and having baby powder rubbed on my face by strangers. Casual. With all of this being said, I want to wish a very happy Thai New Year to everyone back home in the States! May 2556 be a wonderful year for you! Pretty crazy to wrap your brain around, huh? :)



PS... I couldn't bring my camera due to the extensive water factor of the day, but I found this video on Youtube that captures pretty much exactly what my day was like. Check it outtttt...

PS PS... Thai students LOVE to take selfies. I just spent two weeks with Thai students. We took a lot of selfies. Judge if you must. #livinthethailife