Songkran

Duration: from April 12 to 15, 2020 in Phuket (The dates vary depending on the regions).

Location: Songkran is the Thai New Year. The entire country gets a lot of days off, and most Thai people will be going back home to celebrate Songkran with their families. Just expect a lot of traffic jams on the road as everyone is out on pick-up trucks, throwing water at each other.

Details: Staring in the early morning on April 13th, the water ceremony will take many forms. Initially, you are only supposed to sprinkle (洒) your family with a tiny cup of water at home. It’s good luck. Then you sprinkle a statue of Buddha very respectfully and do a little pray.

Later in the morning, the game starts to change. Because this is the hottest time of the year, sprinkling each other with water is a lot of fun. Add a little beer to that and Songkran turns into a country-wide water war.

It starts rather gently in Phuket Town around 10 am, turning to water dogfights (混战) in the afternoon in Patong, Kata and Karon, and ends full-scale wet war zone in Bangla Road until late at night.

Survival Tips:

Many people still remember the magic of Father Christmas from when they were children. As parents, they try to keep that magic alive for their children for as long as they can.

That is why Letters from Father Christmas could be the perfect book for those who regard Christmas as a special time of year. The man who wrote these letters is one of the most famous names in English literature — J.R.R. Tolkien, author of The Lord of the Rings. The letters were Tolkien’s way of keeping Father Christmas alive for his four children, over a period of more than twenty years.

Every Christmas, an envelope with a North Pole stamp arrived. It was addressed to Tolkien’s children. Who could it be from? The children must have been very excited as they opened it. Inside, they would find a handwritten letter from Father Christmas. The letters were also beautifully illustrated—each must have taken its true author, Tolkien, a long time to complete.

The letters told wonderful stories about Father Christmas’s life and adventures at the North Pole. A regular character in the letters was Polar Bear, who once climbed the North Pole (an actual pole in this case) and fell through the roof of Father Christmas’s house. In another letter, Father Christmas complained about how he could not stop his helpers playing games with the toys instead of wrapping them up. Interestingly, the letters did not contain the usual warnings to children that they might not receive their presents if they were not good. The letters did, however, change as Tolkien’s children got older：

...but if you find that not many of the things you asked for have come, and not perhaps quite as many as sometimes, remember that this Christmas all over the world here are a terrible number of poor and starving people.

Letters from Father Christmas tells us that as well as enjoying the adventures of Father Christmas, Polar Bear and other characters at the North Pole, we can all share the true spirit of giving at Christmas time. By expressing love for his children in such a special way, Tolkien may indeed have been the real Father Christmas.

Diwali (Deepavali) is a festival of lights observed in October or November each year in Canada. During the festival, various community groups, businesses, schools and associations celebrate it in different ways. Some companies have Diwali dinners and some communities organise gatherings that feature firework displays, dances, street lighting, and plays.

Many women wear fine jewellery and silk outfits to celebrate Diwali. Some women and girls use Mehendi, a dye decoration which can last a limited time, on their palms, and then they will finally get colourful hand paintings. Many homes that celebrate Diwali have various types of sweets, salty and spiced food as well as Diwali herbs (香草). Various lights, candles and sparklers are lit inside and outside homes, particularly in courtyards, on Diwali. Diwali is not a nationwide public holiday in Canada, but it is a prevalent festival celebrated in many towns and cities. There may be traffic jams and parking places may be full in areas where events are held to celebrate Diwali. Some businesses may close early on Diwali.

Diwali is called the “Festival of Lights” and is celebrated to honour Rama, a hero who once fought and won a battle against the demons (恶魔). In the past, people lit their houses to celebrate his victory over demons (light over darkness). At the same time, every household did careful and complete cleaning at home in advance. It is believed that the goddess of happiness and good fortune, Lakshmi, travels around the Earth on this day and enters the house that is pure, clean, and bright.

Diwali celebrations may vary in different communities but its spiritual meaning is generally “the awareness of the inner light”. As the word “Deepavali” means “a row or cluster of light”， the festival symbolises the victory of righteousness and the lifting of spiritual darkness.