============================================================== To reach ALL SJD members, please send to sjd@satjadham.net ... Do NOT include any other addresses when sending to the list... Include as LITTLE of the original messages as possible........ Message sent by: LanXang Siengkhene *** Announcement: *** Please register for SatJaDham Fifth Annual conference at the website http://www.satjadham.org/sjd5sd/ ============================================================== Before I go on to another subject, let me go back to my school again. Everything year, during the Lao New Year, they had a contest between all schools in the province. That contest was about who was going to build the best thing. One year, it was about the kite. Another, it was about the balloon and so on… the contest was held at the public school in front of my school. With ingenuity, my school managed to win the first prize most of the time. I did remember that the only part I contributed to the winning team was the coloring of the kite and the balloon. Whatever it was, it felt great to do well besides academically. Also, at my school, we occasionally went to the Catholic church nearby to pray to all the grim looking saints. Wow! What a contrast! This church was so richly adorned with stained glass while the temple next door was shabbily decorated. In fact, it was so old that only the constant wiping of the diligent monks made the wall look a little bit more presentable. Funny may it sound I went to both the church and the temple. The church was because of the requirement as an Ecole Charite student. The temple was instead because it was fun. I liked to there go when they had walking in circle holding the candle (WienThien) around the temple. Seeing the flame flickering with wind and the young couples trying to shelter the candle from being blown out made the walking behind them exciting. There was another Boun that fascinated me. It was Boun Khao PadubDinh (the alms giving to the soil). Everywhere around the temple, I could see batches of sticky rice with some KhaoNom (kind of dessert) on it. Last but not the least, I liked Boun Phaveth when the monks would go on reciting the story of Phaveth for the whole night and even the night after that. What I didn't like was that I had to walk home right in the middle of the night when silence was dreadful and every rattling of the leaves made the hair on my head stand tall. It was said, or it was rumored, that the widowed ghost (Phi Mae Mai) would throw her long hair down at you if you walked under the big Pho tree in front of the temple. What's more if you survived that juncture, your legs would be pulled down the bridge when you tried to cross it. Unfortunately for me, I had to walk past both the Pho tree and the bridge to get to my house. At times, I would run with my eyes half closed until I had got home. I was glad to report that the ghost never caught me. In fact, it was more true to say that I had never met a ghost or even its shadow even once. Wonder if I saw one, how would I react? (to be continued) -- Wherever I am, my heart and soul will always be with the once great LanXang. __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Talk to your friends online with Yahoo! Messenger. http://im.yahoo.com _ ***************************************************************** Visit SatJaDham Homepage at: http://www.satjadham.org (or .net) *****************************************************************