OK, second post for today (check below for post about my new house). Wednesday this week was Loy Krathong, the Thai holiday where people float small boats made out of a section of a banana tree and decorated with various plants, flowers, and a candle. Loy means "to float" and Krathong is the Thai word for the little boats. Part of the symbolism of the holiday is letting go of your troubles and problems and "floating" them away, as the Krathongs are floated away.
Teay came back to Uttaradit on Tuesday night, so we were able to do Loy Krathong activities together. We went to three different locations: first was at a lake/pond near Wat Prathaen Sila At (one of the most famous temples in Uttaradit), the second was a small location near another temple and at a faster/narrow portion of the Nan river, and the final was at a large public plaza area near my school called Rim Nam Nan.
We bought and floated a Krathong made out of corn husks (figured it was Kansas style!) at the first location. At the third, we released a paper hot-air balloon, called a Kom Loy. These originated in Chiang Mai and are now very popular with Loy Krathong -- you can see many of them floating up in the sky at any given time on Loy Krathong night.
Here is a video of launching the Kom Loy:
And you can view the full gallery of photos HERE.
I'm behind on my updates as usual, but a lot of things have been happening that have kept me busy!
The biggest change has been my moving into a new house. Ivan was renting a home from Pi Yai, but he decided to move to Bangkok to do some post-grad studies and do some teaching there after the first semester break. So, his place was opening up and I came over to check it out a couple of times and decided it would work well for me also.
Ivan's house is in town in Uttaradit, fairly close to the school, so it is an easy drive to work. The location is extra nice because it is adjacent to the Nan river -- visible through trees from my living room and bedroom, and easily visible from the back garden. It is also right next door to Spencer and Nuchy's house (also a rental from Pi Yai). The house is pretty big -- 3 bedrooms, 2 baths, good sized living / dining room, and a kitchen. It was pretty well furnished beforehand, but I've done some shopping for additional things with Teay. And Teay's Mom gave me some spare sets of dishes, silverware, etc. from her shop, as well as a propane tank and stovetop for the kitchen, so I can do cooking at home also.
The outside is nice also; there is a covered parking spot for my car and a nice big garden area with trees, shrubs, and a 
fish pond / fountain thing. Actually, that was my project for yesterday -- the pond was more of a mosquito pit; lots of sludge and grime and no fish, so I bucketed the water and sludge out, washed everything off and then bucketed that out, and then filled it up with fresh water. Spencer told me I could swipe a few guppies from his pond, so I've got a few starter fish in as well -- hopefully they will eat off the mosquito larva.
So this is my 2nd full week in the new house and I'm getting pretty well settled in and comfortable. I've robbed the dining table for use as a computer desk (priorities!) so a replacement for that is pretty much the only major thing left on my list. The internet has been working well (Spencer and Ivan have had some trouble with it in the past, but a recent fix seems to have it in order). I had the choice to keep paying for UBC satellite TV or get it shut off and have the dish taken down, and I opted for the latter -- I basically haven't watched any TV since I got here, and most of what I watched in the states before coming was Colorado Avalanche hockey and NFL football, both of which are somewhat tough to get here (hockey particularly) and made more difficult by the 12-hour timezone difference!
I guess that is all I've got for this post. I've got a full gallery of photos of the new house HERE. Next on my agenda is writing another entry about Loy Krathong this week, so I'll try to get that up soon (should be today!).
