Above: Splashing water on the streets is part of the Songkran tradition.
Today is Songkran or Thai New Year. Despite the auspicious day, our Thai massage course and exam is proceeding normally. It was with some surprise that I got to school dry and not drenched by merry-makers as per the Songkran tradition.
Our instructional classes had finished on Wednesday and yesterday, Thursday, was dedicated to practicing the massage moves and sequence. We had this morning to do more practice before doing our exams in the afternoon before “graduating”.
So, us foreigners complete the course in five days, Monday to Friday. We were surprised that the locals in the broader class have two extra days. They had been instructed somewhat separately in Thai but we all practice on each other.
The exam was held in a different location nearby. I did my exam on a female Thai partner that I had practiced with before. She was good as she prompted me a little if I appear lost or likely to miss something. The examiner only had to correct me once, helping me to re-position the client’s leg better.
At the end of the day we received our certificates.
Foreigners in the class. The two on the right had moved on, on the penultimate day, doing their exam in Chiang Mai.