This morning I went down the inner alms round route across the dam with the twins although one was missing due to his sickness. That route requires walking on gravel and the rusty metal bridge so there’s some leniency in wearing sandals. On the outer route however I decided to it the right way walk barefoot like Tan N. It was incredibly painful. I’m not sure if I should do it tomorrow nor if I have a choice as I have a flight to catch.

During the morning chanting the shoulder cloth kept falling and dragging everything else with it. Then I decided to wash it in the back area facing the river. Doing laundry by hand facing the calm river was a peaceful existence that I could really get used to. I just hope that it dries by tomorrow because it’s such a large piece of cloth.

P. came and offered some dim sum for the 11am meal. He wasn’t feeling the best so I really appreciated him coming all the way. Had a good chat with him for a while as he was the only person I’ve spoken to since ordination other than my parents. The food was good as usual so it’s not surprising that monks can gain weight especially when they don’t really do much exercise.

The evening chanting went on a bit longer than usual today, not entirely sure why. I decided to wash the top and bottoms hoping that they will be dry for tomorrow so I can wear some fresh ones on the plane, not that it’s a long flight or anything. I will have to unload some things to my parents as I really can’t go above 7kg.

Today was the first proper alms round as a monk. To start off with I had to put on the robes for the first time myself. It was a win given the simple fact that it didn’t fall off on the alms round. However there were many times when it would start to slide off and I would have to try and push it back on. Juggling that with keeping lid of the alms bowl from slipping off was a challenge. I almost made a misstep on the narrow stairs getting onto the path on the dam. Falling into the river at 5am wouldn’t be the best way to kick off monk life.

I did the alms round with the twins and they seemed slightly anxious having me with them. They stopped at every person who offered food and gave the whole blessing but their route is relatively short. At the end of the route I got to meet my grandmother’s sister and she seemed very happy to see me. I was told by the twins that I should eat with the abbot and the other monk who I’ve walked with previously. I’ll do both routes tomorrow since they are at different times.

After the morning meal I went to the nearby monastery where my preceptor monk resided to get my monk certificate fixed. The monk himself wasn’t available so one of his disciples just gave us a new form to fill in ourselves. On return the deputy abbot helped to rewrite the certificate again and this time I made sure and to give him my Thai ID as reference. I then got told off for the first time because I did not wear my top walking around as I had seen another monk do it.

Mae texted and asked if anyone was bringing food and I said no, so she went and got some pizza and some bao for the monks. Tomorrow P will be coming and I wonder what he will be bringing. Pa also gave me my boarding pass for the flight on Thursday so it all looks good to go. He also gave me some socks and a monk sweater that covered only one side of the body and warned that it will be cold in Chiang Mai. I have no idea how I’m going to carry everything on the flight.

The rest of the afternoon was the same as before. I did some laundry again to have a new supply of clothes. I sweat a lot and don’t have that many pieces of clothing so I need to do them while I can. I’ve found a nice spot to do laundry in the kitchen and even though it looks like I shouldn’t be doing it there, the buckets there are big and fit my robes nicely.

Today is the big day. I took some time in the morning to shower and pack up. The bag that I will be taking to Chiang Mai with me is getting surprisingly heavy though. I hope it will be alright for the flight.

Many from the extended family turned up for the event. I really didn’t know that it was such an occasion for Thai people. A part of me wanted it to be a quiet and simple affair, follow some ceremonies, don the robes and say good bye to my parents for a while. The workers and people nearby got involved in walking around the sāla (a hall, usually used in the monastic context) later as well at the beginning of the event.

It started off simply enough, with breakfast at 7am followed by an event involving getting everyone in the family to snip a little bit of my hair. Then a monk shaved my hair completely, a task made simpler by the earlier proceedings. Unfortunately there were cuts but Pa (dad) had a spray which really helped with the bleeding. The monk also shaved my eyebrows and applied what I think was turmeric all over my head. Afterwards the whole family helped with the cleaning the stuff off my head and body.

I then got changed into Chud Nak which is clothing worn during the first half of the ceremony. My cousin K. helped with carrying an umbrella and Mae (mum) a big basket of offerings, we went around the various shrines around the monastery to pay respects with incense and lotus flowers.

Afterwards alongside the whole family plus a congregation of students playing traditional Thai musical instruments, we walked around the main monastery hall three times. Then I had to go up to the top of the stairs of the hall and throw Proy Tan (small gift bags containing small coins) down to everyone else gathered below to collect it. I felt a little bad because these bags were rather heavy and could’ve caused some real damage if they landed on someone’s head unexpectedly. I had no idea what this part of the ceremony was about. The whole thing was so bizarre at the time that I didn’t think much of it and carried on throwing the bags up in the air until I had none left.

When it came to the ceremony itself, it was just like how we practised the day before. However whenever the preceptor monk spoke, he spoke for a really long time. At the beginning he was also using his phone as well which was a little awkward. Also I was surrounded by other monks for the event and at the beginning, on hearing that I came from the UK one asked which football team I supported. These things really helped me to relax.

I remembered most of the lines and was only a little nervous at the beginning. But I did have to change pose multiple times as sitting on my knees and toes got painful throughout the ceremony. When a junior monk helped put on the robes for me, he noted that these were typical forest monk robes and they were twice as thick as the robes used by monks in the cities. I guess I probably won’t be able to survive this ordeal past March even if I wanted to.

Before, during and after the ordination there were lots and lots of photos. Photo taking seems to be a thing with Thai people but this time as the object of interest and as a monk, there wasn’t much that I could really do.

When everyone left, it was back to business as usual again. The only difference now was that I was a monk. It didn’t feel any different obviously, other than that I had no hair nor underwear. People seemed obliged now to pay respects to me because I’m in the ochre robe which is very awkward. I spent the rest of the afternoon messaging friends abroad and letting them know about the situation while I still had access to my phone.

What I also needed to get used to was cleaning the plates as soon as I finished with them during the meal. The other monks seemed to only use tissue and water and avoided eating oily foods as it would be harder to clean.

When it came to evening chanting it was the same as before, other than that as a monk I had to wear the full robes. It stayed together well at first but came apart as soon as I sat down. It will take some practice. For now I must practice the blessing to give to people on the alms round should they ask me. I also need to tell the abbot tomorrow that my name was spelt incorrectly on the monk certificate.

I will look to use initials instead of full names for people who aren’t my direct family in case of privacy concerns.

Only a short entry as I’m getting used to the routine now, although the sleep was terrible. I’m slowly getting used to the route for the alms round but nothing will prevent walking bare-foot from being excrutiating at first I’m sure. The handyman on the route was telling all the lay people that we came across that it will be an off day tomorrow. This is because it will be the ordination day and my parents will be providing the monks with the food for the morning so they won’t come on the alms round.

The day itself was completely dedicated to learning the Ukasa until the parents came. The hawker stores were so packed and parking hard to come by that we ended up going out. Somehow we decided on the Pizza Company as the last meal that I will be having for a while by choice. Their Korean style fried chicken wasn’t all that bad so I was glad for that. My uncle came to visit for a little while after.

After the evening chanting, the monks helped me with the rehersal for tomorrow. It went absolutely fine. The funny thing was the monks didn’t really know the exact ordering themselves either so it looks like we’ll all be playing it by ear. I’ve been reassured that the preceptor monk (the one in charge of the ordination procedure) is rather relaxed so I shouldn’t need to worry.

The day started early at 4:30am as usual and luckily the sleeping pills did its job. Managed to get some sleep from about 10pm-2am with a small interruption. Then I learnt that the long alms round path begins at 5:40am daily so I think I will wake up a bit later tomorrow. The alms round itself felt much faster this time, likely because I’ve memorised the route. I didn’t realise this yesterday but my surgery scar picks up a lot of dirt and dust because I apply oil to keep it moist. The bandage will have to go back on instead. We got back and the monks ate at 7:00am as usual.

I followed this by learning some more of the Ukasa and found out finally what to say when I have to give a blessing. The monk who I was with on the alms round said this is not a blessing but more of a teaching. It’s also only the shortened version because we don’t have time to give the whole blessing to everyone we meet otherwise we would out forever.

My parents came again but the hawker store nearby that we wanted to go to was closed so we just got some food from the market and ate at our relative’s house instead by the river. After they left, I practiced putting on the monk robes. It’s still difficult to roll the cloth up in a tidy way and I’m still not quite sure how to throw the rolled up part over the shoulder. Somehow that part becomes the tension that you hold with your left hand to keep everything from falling apart but it’s still happening anyway.

In the afternoon one of the monks asked for all the robes and bowl that I had to prepare for the approaching ceremony day. Another monk helped create a make-shift strap for the bowl so the lid wouldn’t fall off during the ceremony. I managed to ask for some page numbers so I can quickly flick to the right chants during the evening chanting session without looking like a useless idiot for ages.