Christmas in Bangkok

Although it is not a traditional holiday in Thailand - they certainly have embraced the holiday. Especially commercially. Christmas is everywhere.

Santa gave me -

1)My first full time paycheck ( well part of it. - let me explain. Everyone in Bangkok gets paid once a month, but if you work for a good company like I do - you get an advance halfway into the month. So I do get paid every two weeks. My salary is 36,000 baht a month. I get an advance of 10,000 baht on the 25th and the balance of 26,000 baht on the 12th. So, its a little strange but easy enough to get used to and it is certainly better than once a month.) I spent some money on much needed things for my apartment. (A trash can, a rack to hang my clothes on -laundry places dont use dryers, why bother?? its so hot you just hang them on racks and they are dry in 1 hour,- towels, bath stuff and a good book on teaching yourself to read and write in Thai for my new years resolution.

2)The discovery of a 24 hour diner about a 15 minute walk from my apartment that has American Breakfast (scrambled eggs, sausage, toast and juice) for about 2 dollars.( Sometimes you just want food - not an adventure.)

3)The discovery of an awesome neighborhood called Chatuchak which is full of fabulous authentic antiques from all over the Far East and.. hold on to your hats.... A street vendor who has tons of used books in English. Now, those of you that know me well know that of my favorite things to do in life - browsing antique stores and used books are way on the top of my list. Thank you Santa.

My school, ECC, had a Christmas Eve party for all its teachers from all the branches on a rooftop in Bangkok with free food and free beer. It was great meeting all the other teachers and the more I share my experience with them - how I landed a great job in three days and how much I paid to get certified- it becomes clear to me that someone has truly been looking out for me and I am grateful.
Drinking Thai beer, eating great food on a roof top, looking at the Bangkok skyline all lit up at night - not a bad Christmas Eve.
At school on Saturday and Sunday we also had Santa give out gifts and take pictures with the kids. Some of the younger kids even learned some carols and sang them in front of the tree at school. It was all very sweet and surreal at the same time.

I couldn't help thnking - Where will I be next Christmas?
I wonder as I wander.