Wai Kru

I don't think my tone will quite portray the awe I feel regarding this topic.

Thursday morning at school we had a Wai Kru ceremony which is held every year at schools in Thailand. The Wai Kru ceremony is when the students pay respect to their teachers. They do this partly to thank their teachers for teaching them well in the past, but also to gain merit and good fortune for the future.

Unlike teacher appreciation day/week in the states (which usually seems to be run by the PTA), the students organized and planned this assembly in their Thai and Chinese classes, where they made a power point presentation explaining Wai Kru and made the flower arrangements that were given to the teachers.

During the ceremony, all the students must stay lower than the teachers to show respect. The whole student body, preK through 12, sat on the floor in the assembly hall/gym and the teachers sat in chairs. Teachers were called up front where they were given an apple by the administrator (reflecting Western culture), flowers from the students (Thai culture), and teachers gave crackers to the students (which represented Confucius and the Chinese culture).

The part that was most impressive was the presentation of the flowers. Student representatives from each of the homerooms presented the flowers. To the left of the teachers, students were grouped and waited in a kneeling position to bring the flowers forward. A few students at a time scooted forward on their knees with the flower arrangement in their hands. Once they formed a line in front of the teachers, they set the flowers down and wai'd to us. A wai (pronounced why) is when people place their hands together in front of their chest or forehead and bow their heads to show respect. The placement of the hands shows varying degrees of respect. This special wai at the ceremony is the highest form of respect. Students sat on their bottoms with their feet splayed behind them, arranged their hands in the folded position and bowed forward, prostrate on the ground with their arms extended out in front of them. They stayed like this for a moment before getting back up on their knees and scooting forward to give us the flowers. This is one of the ways the young are taught humility in Thailand.

Needless to say, this gesture left an indelible impression on me.

The flowers used in the arrangements are symbolic. Dok Ma Khue (eggplant flower) stands for respect because when the tree is blooming its branches bend down in the same way a student pays respect to their teacher. Ya Praek (Bermuda grass) stands for patience or perseverance because although the grass looks wilted it is still very much alive. Khao Tok (popped rice) stands for discipline because the rice is placed in a pan together and heated up to become popped rice. The Dok Kem has the same name as the Thai word for needle. So it means the student will be sharp-witted and brainy.

I kinda like the symbolism.