Blessed

Laum invited some monks to come on Friday and hold a special ceremony to bless the school.  I don't know where they found all this crap to make the required, gaudy Buddha shrine, but it was erected quickly.  My favorite part was the circular, electric glowing lights that blinked different colors every seven seconds.  (Yes, I counted.)  Four monks sat in the front,in their saffron robes, eyes averted down.

 Radek and I were encouraged to participate, so we sat on the mats like everyone else, in the proper seated position, with your weight on one side and legs tucked behind you on the other side, toes pointed backwards.  It is acceptable to rotate positions during the ceremony since it can get tiring.  I have never sat through an entire Buddhist ceremony before.  This one lasted 40 minutes.  I kept peeking at the other teachers and students and mimicked their actions.  We held our hand up in a typical prayer position, only higher with the fingers at nose level for the entire time.  This got tiring, so I ended up sort of resting my face on my fingers.  I figured it didn't matter since the monks seemed to be concentrating so hard on chanting, praying, meditating, or waiting for this thing to be over.  (It was hard to tell.)

Sitting like this is fine for about 15 minutes, but then the hard floor and cramped position makes you feel like a 90 year old trying to get out of a recliner after a Thanksgiving meal.  Nobody squirmed more Laum.  Every five minutes, he was rotating his chubby thighs.  He also answered his phone a couple times during the ceremony.  I'm pretty sure Buddha would not approve. 

Moreover, being raised a Catholic, I'm sure Radek can stand, kneel, and genuflect like a champ in a cathedral.  However, the concrete floor was not conducive to this European behemoth.  It took a little convincing (because he didn't want to be rude), but finally Cynthia said, "You're a Westerner.  Go sit on the chair." 

During the ceremony there was continuous chanting.  Sometimes it was an old man in the corner, sometimes a monk, sometimes all the people in unison.  At times, it was obvious that the participants forgot lines, but they would just smile in embarrassment, and carry on.  It was really cool, but honestly, after a while, I started wondering when it was going to end.  About that point, everybody started moving forward toward the monks, while still sitting, and several women made a point to park me right in front of a monk.  What is going on???  Luckily, one of the teachers kept whispering instructions to me.  Just in case you find yourself in this awkward position as an American raised Lutheran, just follow these simple steps.  Bow your head and touch the ground with your hands three times.  Give the monk his large bowl (filled with rice), using both hands.  Do three more bows.  Give a 4-tiered metal container (filled with meats and vegetables) to the monk.  Then, move back to your original position on the mat.

 

After this, I figured the conclusion should be coming along pretty soon...until I felt a wet spray of water land directly all over my body.  I looked up, surprised, and caught the monk with a glimmer or a smile on his face.  Ha ha.  Very funny.  Start the water flicking with the barang.  Anyway, he continued to flick rose water at everyone for the next ten minutes.  I am certain that he specifically aimed for me the most.  (In the picture above, Mr. Thang is flicking some of the people outside who missed out on the initial deluge.)

The women had prepared a feast, so we ate in the lunch room.  There was rice, chicken curry, fish soup, mango salad, water greens, watermelon, and some weird, bitter green branches that looked like someone had just pulled them from their backyard.  I tasted them.  Yep, they tasted exactly like a bush.  Radek must have a strong stomach because he ate everything and had no issues.