Busy Weekend - Monk Ceremony

The past few days have been so busy for me, but a whole lot of fun~ Since there's been so much going on, I've decided to make a series of posts about it. Starting with what happened on Saturday to Sunday.

Now for those who are not aware, the primary religion of Thailand is Buddhism. It's a fairly peaceful religion that believes in training of the mind and body spiritually. While there are Buddhist temples everywhere in Thailand, the most common sign of Buddhist majority are the monks and nuns who are practicing their faith to the deepest extent. Contrary to what I thought, once you become a monk, it doesn't really mean that you are set in the position for life. According to Fook, most only remain a monk until they feel they have acquired enough Buddhist teachings to obtain happiness in their lives.

It was this weekend where one of my cousins, Golf, would become a monk. This all started out around 6 in the morning when we took the long drive to Kanchanaburi, where the rest of the family would be. We first met at the temple where Golf would have his hair shaved in preparation for becoming a monk the day. First all the family members took turns cutting off pieces of his hair and placing them in a giant leaf that I believe is sacred to Buddhism in some way.

Once we were done cutting off parts of his hair, the monks took him over to a hose to wash off his scalp and hair because they would shave the rest off quite soon.

Three monks took the task of shaving his head. One did the actual shaving with the razor while the other two held water to wash off the razor after each cut.

And I know this is kind of random, but I thought it was so funny when the monk's cell phone rang and then he started talking on it all while shaving off Golf's hair. LOL

When it was finally all done, several of my aunts picked up the pieces of hair that had dropped to the ground and put it in the leaf from before.

After all this Golf went to change into ceremonial clothing for the upcoming festivities. During this time, several of my family members decided to play "drag-around-the-exchange-student" with me, taking me to all different places to pose for pictures. At first, I thought it was cute, but it quickly got annoying when they would drag me and push me around until it hurt just to get me to pose a certain way. I can't really blame them though for they can't exactly tell me what they want, so they just tell me what to do with their actions. Ay, I really need to learn more Thai. XD

Once Golf had finished changing, a band arrived to start the parade to grandma's house where we would stay until the next day when the ceremony would be complete. The parade was really cool actually! Family members lifted Golf onto a horse and had him ride through the parade, holding a fancy sun umbrella over his newly shaved head. The rest of us followed along with the parade, dancing to the music played by the band. Each time we passed a sacred place or temple, the new monk would be carried off the horse and taken into the sacred room to give a blessing. It was all really fun, and I am glad I got some really exciting pictures of it!

When we arrived at grandmother's house, we all ate a big lunch. We would all be staying at her house that night because, well, her house is huge. And with the amount of family members we have, it's really the only place we can all meet without feeling over crowded. Did I ever mention how cool my grandmother's house is? It almost looks like a mansion! I seriously get lost there everytime I go. I've also lost count as to how many bathrooms are in the house. So far, I've only ever been in three, but there could easily be more. Her house is the perfect place to invite a lot of people over for a party. There's plenty of space and a big kitchen to prepare food in. I can totally see why we all chose to meet up here and stay!~

After we ate, Fook, Parn, dad, Film, and I all were dead tired and took a nap in the living room while watching television. I happened to wake up while everyone was asleep and decided to take pictures of them all! They all looked so peaceful sleeping, I couldn't resist. LOL

In the evening, we all went out to a party where there was live music and a dinner in celebration of Golf becoming a monk. I had been to one of these parties in the past, and so I find it essentially works like this. You order "tables" and sit down everyone you can fit so you don't have to pay too much money. Since we had a lot of people though, we ended up having to take about three tables to fit us all.

I got to sit next to a bunch of my aunts and three of my cousins:

From left, Art, Nai, and Name.

Basically, once you got a table, people would bring out these huge dishes of food for the whole table to share. In Thailand, this is main way to eat. You all have small bowls or plates and you pick at one giant dish that you all can share. However, don't think you'll walk away hungry for when eating in Thailand, ALWAYS expect there to be more. They didn't just bring out one big dish, they brought out at least 7 at different times throughout the evening. Needless to say I was completely filled by the end. XD

At parties like this, there is a concert going on while you enjoy your meal with live performers who have different sorts of music styles. We had a girl singer who sang soft songs, another girl singer who sang wild songs, a few guys that sang slow songs, and a duet who sang a bunch of crazy song. Unfortunately, my stupid camera didn't flash right when I took pictures of the performances, so they're all dark looking and you can hardly see anything. So while I don't have pictures, I'll just say it was a fun time. Especially when the two guys came on and sang to get us all to dance. I find Thai dancing to be incredibly easy, not pressure at all. It's not really about who can pull the best dance moves, just about moving your body any way you can!

Around 10 at night, we decided to head back to grandmother's house and go to bed. I got back, only to realize I forgot to bring contact cleaning solution with me in my bag. So I had to spend the night worrying about whether my lenses would get stuck to my eyes...great. On top of this, no one told me when we would be waking up the next morning. I asked around and someone told me around 11 in the morning, which would have been great if they had been correct. No, instead of 11, we had to actually wake up at 6 in the morning, again. Needless to say that morning I was incredibly cranky and angry at just about everyone. I wanted to snap at every person who talked to me, but I held it in for it was Thai culture to remain peaceful at all times. I don't think I did too good of a job though... One the bright side however, my contact lenses didn't stick to my eyes!~

Anyway, after we ate breakfast, the parade from the day before started up again to go to the temple and have Golf become a monk officially. This time, I got a lot more pictures~

At the temple, Golf was carried up the stairs and began to throw fruit as well as plastic flowers that contained little bits of money inside them. Had I know this beforehand, I would've made a bit more of an effort to catch some! LOL But that's what happens when you walk into these things blind at times, heh.

He then proceeded to the temple while a few of my friends and I decided to go buy ice-cream, haha. We're so supportive, eh? It's all with love though! Finally, he was a monk and would be living at the temple to study about Buddhism to obtain happiness and enlightenment. We all sort of went back to grandmother's house at different times; going our separate ways if you will. Eventually though, I made it back home where I humbly welcomed my bed.

...

Or not!

Where'd I go next? Well I'll write about that tomorrow, or whenever I get the time otherwise! Hope you enjoyed and thanks for reading!

*~*Miki of Feathers*~*