Tonight, my friends and I went to an evening event called Luna Blessing and Khantok Dinner. This event was created for Fresher Week which is a welcoming event for fresher (freshmen) into school. I wish Madison had something like this during my freshman year; it would have really helped me connect with people and navigate my freshmen year.
As we were entering the building, most of the freshmen girls were screaming at us and bringing out their phone to take pictures. Apparently, they were shock to see my friend, Colton, who is a tall white male. It was kind of weird seeing this because they were acting like he was a celebrity. Even when we were entering the building and going to our seats, most of the students were looking at us and taking pictures. I guess this must have been their first time seeing foreign students.
Before the events started, the Mae Fae Luang University (MFU) choir sang some song, but I wasn't able to understand because it was in Thai. After the singing, the MCs came out and told us about the event. Fortunately, there was an MC that translated everything into English, so I had a general idea of what was going on. The first thing that occurred was a special dance that invited the good spirit into the arena. There was a dance around a white, gold, and red decorative centerpiece as it were being lowered to the ground. Then, a group of dancers started to dance with brooms to call on the spirits. Following them, there were a group of men carrying some type of object. They set it on the stage and a monk/priest came up to pray for the ceremony, MFU, and MFU freshers. After the prayer, the elders came and sat at the front of the stage. A few students went to the elders and received a string on their wrist from them. The string represents the blessings they received from the elders.
Once the blessing and prayers was over, there were different dance performances such as sword dance, flower dance, and candle dance. Two of my Thai friends performed some of the dances. They looked very beautiful and gracefully as they were doing these dances. I also love the traditional outfits and hairstyles they had. It was very elegant and beautiful. One thing that struck my mind was the traditional outfit was like tube tops that shows their shoulders. However, Thais are conservative in their dressing, so they frown upon women that would expose their shoulder. It was interesting to see that the traditional outfits didn’t follow that code. My favorite dance from the event was the candle dance, where the dancers had to dance with flaming candles on their hands. It looks a little dangerous, but at the same time, it was elegant and gracefully.
I’m glad I was able to attend this event because I wanted to see traditional Thai dance and ceremony. I was able to experience Luna's culture through prayers, dances, and presentations. This event is one of the best thing about studying abroad, you get to see things you won't see in America.Â