Bulletin Update

Greetings from sunny Thailand! During the day the weather is gorgeous, but at night it gets really chilly. It's cold enough at night and in the morning to wear a jacket, but I definitely don't feel like it'sthe end of December! We had a short week at the school this week- the last day of classes was Wednesday, and now we are on a break until thebeginning of January. I was talking to Lawan (another teacher) the other day about how even though it's nice to have a break, we miss teaching our classes! The students miss going to class too. During the break the other teachers and I are heading to Laos to get our visas renewed. We will leave for Vientiane about the middle of next week and be gone until the following Sunday. It will be a quick trip, but an enjoyable one I'm sure.

Over the semester break Mandi and I went to the beach, which wasawesome. We arrived back at Legacy on Thursday night- Thanksgiving. Noone else had done anything to celebrate, so we decided we should fix a special dinner for the students. The next night we made salad, fried chicken, mashed potatoes, and green beans for everyone- it was great, and the students really liked all the food. On Saturday night Mandi and another teacher and I took several of the students to a big festival in Chiang Mai. It's called Loh Krathong- there are constant fireworks, a big parade, and people float krathongs- small flower arrangements with candles- in the river. There were thousands of people all up and down the streets and along the river- it was one ofthe most crowded places I have ever been in, and it was so much tryingto navigate through the masses with all of the students. This festival puts all 4th of July celebrations to shame- not only are there big fireworks in the sky, but everyone sets off their own fireworks andfirecrackers as well. They also release hundreds of paper lanterns, sothere tons of small lights in the air- it's beautiful. It was really fun for everyone. This week was the first week of the second semester, and classes are off to a great start so far! Now I am teaching health class now and I am tutoring a few more students, and next week I will start giving piano lessons.