NATIONAL SCOUT DAY

July 1st is National Scout Day in Thailand. Scouting in Thailand is strongly supported by the government and is a big part of school curriculum. Every Thursday students and teachers wear their scout uniforms to school and greet you with a salute. The older boys wear funny little ranger hats and brown uniforms, the older girls wear green uniforms and green hats. The little kids wear blue uniforms and these cute little short-billed baseball caps. And they all tie little bandanas around their necks. The teachers also wear scout uniforms, the men sport brown knee-high socks and cool belts. I don't have a cool uniform, I just wear my regular dress pants and a dress shirt on Thursdays.

Every morning the students kick off their day with the flag ceremony, it's held in the courtyard and lasts for about a half hour. On July 1st the morning flag ceremony was extended to celebrate National Scout Day. They honored a handful of teachers and marched around the courtyard for a while, it was quite an event! The picture in the upper left corner is of the courtyard full of students, and that's not even all of them! None of the kindergarten kids were there, and all of the first and second graders were hanging out in the cafeteria just off the courtyard. Scout Day was funny.