Day 29 - 31 Happy Birthday to the King!

On Friday it was the King's birthday which is recognized as a Thai national holiday. The King is the most respected person (beside Buddha) in the country so of course he gets a day that honors him. The current King in Thailand has been in reign for over 60 years, but little known fact he was actually born in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and was a great saxophone player who played with Benny Goodman (a well known American Jazz musician)!

For his birthday they have a huge celebration that is televised live from the palace in Bangkok and includes all day festivities, a speech from the King, and a fireworks display at dusk. At approximately 7:30 on Friday night my friends and I were sitting on the ocean in Hua Hin at seafood restaurant and everyone stopped in the middle of their meals to stand and sing to the king for about 10 minutes. We didn't know what they were saying so we sang Happy Birthday instead! (Note: Every Monday everyone in the country wears yellow shirts with the King's emblem on the left breast, because it is his favorite color so I have had to add yellow to my wardrobe since arriving in Thailand.)

Due to the Holiday we didn't have school on Friday so 3 of my friends and I went down to Hua Hin (about a 3 hour bus ride Southwest of Bangkok) for the weekend to meet some of our others friends who are teaching there. We stayed in a guesthouse that was propped up on stilts over the ocean, so when we woke up in the morning the tide was right under our room! It was a nice relaxing three day weekend that was spent on the beach, reading a couple books, enjoying a campfire on the beach, exploring the town, and devouring some great seafood!! Life is pretty rough right now....