Embassy Adoption Program

On Friday, December 12th, 2008, officials of the Royal Thai Embassy in Washington D.C., headed by Minister-Counselor Pattrawan Vechasart, paid a visit to Thomson Elementary School as part of what is known as “Embassy Adoption Program”. The team was cheerfully greeted by about 25 5th grade boys and girls anxious to learn about history and culture of Thailand. The officials were impressed when they saw each student already had a classic Thai textbook for elementary level (Mana-Manee) on their desks. Minister-Counselor Pattrawan opened with a brief introduction into Thailand, the Thai Embassy and introduced to the students how the Thai people greet one another with “Wai”. Each student then introduced him or herself by saying “Sawaddee krub” or Sawaddee ka” and said what they hoped to learn more about Thailand. Answers to many of their questions were then included in the presentation by the delegation, which covered history, culture, sports, food and annual festivals of Thailand.

“Loy Kratong” festival was made a high-light of the Thai culture presentation that morning. After the introduction of the festival, the students then had a chance to sing along the “Loy Kratong” song and “Ram Wong” traditional Thai dance. The song became a hit instantly amongst the students as they were able to sing along amusingly after a few times of playing and kept asking for a repeat. Following the singing and dance session, the students enjoyed “Pad Thai” and “Kanom Thom” (a Thai dessert) as a lunch feast from the Thai Embassy. At the end, students gave handcrafted cards and drawings to the delegation as mementos and were looking forward to their return visit to the Embassy for the wrap-up program in February 2009.
The Embassy Adoption Program, now in its 34th year, is held jointly by the District of Columbia Public Schools and Washington Performing Arts Society (WPAS). The Program aims to match embassies with 5th-6th grader classes in DC Public Schools to provide students with opportunity to broaden their perception and knowledge of other nations. It gives embassies opportunity to reach out to the local community and to share information about their countries with American children of diverse backgrounds. The paired embassies and schools will exchange their visits during the year.

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