The kids’ first day of school back in Chiang Mai was pretty insane. After wondering the school campus searching for the kids’ classrooms, we finally found the right places. This is no small feat in a school with 200+ classrooms.
We finally found Asia’s 4th grade room and she was stoked to see old friends from her 2nd grade class. They all ran up to her shouting her name and asking where she was last year. Meanwhile, Eliyas was excited the night before. But when we finally walked up to his 1st grade room, and were about to go in, his eyes turned red with tears and he refused to go inside. I felt terrible to make him attend a school so foreign and new, but we had to go through with it. He was finally consoled when he saw that the kids in his new class were watching cartoons waiting for the class to start.
One of the bonuses of this school is that they have their own pool and swimming lessons as a class activity. So I took Eliyas to the school store to buy his uniform…including a school swimsuit. They lady in the store sized Eliyas up, reached into a box, and pulled out a tiny little pair of Speedo-style bikini briefs.
And the very second he saw what she was holding he turned to me, and with a mix of fear and astonishment said, “I’m not wearing that.”