My 60th birthday on January 12 is a day away but I’ve already gone decadently overboard in my celebrations.
Yes, I’ve been “sinning” away.
By that I mean I’ve been ordering numerous sihn (pronounced “sin”) which are traditional Laos skirts.
I fell in love with the Laos skirt as soon as I saw its popularity among both young and old alike. So many were wearing it throughout the country. The gorgeous colors and patterns in which it came in were another selling point for me.
Originally, I thought the sihn was a restrictive pencil skirt. That’s certainly what it looked like in photos I saw. In actuality, I found out the sihn was an ingenious 3-fold cloth design that allowed for extremely comfortable daily activities, from walking or jogging to squatting or sitting to leg-splitting motorbike or animal riding. (Laos, if you didn’t know, is known as The Land of a Million Elephants.).
As you can see below, the sihn is quite an accommodating piece of clothing.
My Favorite Laos Tailor
There are hundreds of sihn shops in the city. Some are very fancy with high prices and distinguished signage. But I have chosen a very different shop to patron. It’s located in my open-air, fresh vegetable and meat market, in one of the many stalls crammed together among other small mom-and-pop sellers.
I found this stall by chance several months ago. When Seamstress Noy saw me pause to look at her creations, she hustled from her sewing machine to greet me. Slippers came out for me to enter her clean tile floors, materials pulled from racks, a skirt show-and-tell of her skills and I was hooked.
Whenever Noy sees me approaching her shop, she immediately points out numerous material patterns and colors waiting to be created into a masterful Laos skirt. She knows I have a weakness for such things, thus recently sent me a photo of her newly purchased selections, ordered for the year 2025.
Didn’t take me long to arrive at her shop a week ago to give her my picks for my upcoming 60th birthday. She did a speed order for me and had them ready for pick-up just a few days ago. (Slideshow below) I am still deciding what color tops I should choose to go with my colors: red, green, dark purple and golden yellow.
My plan is to wear in church tomorrow, which just happens to be January 12, the birthday itself. Which color to choose?! Or should I take all 4 and do a pre-service fashion show for my Laos congregation ladies to decide? Somewhat of a humorous joke but I have considered it.
More 60th Celebrations to Follow with Students
This past week and next, we at the language center are registering both old and new students. Our standard 3-month term begins on Monday, January 20th. At present, we have only 3 teachers (myself, Shaloom and Laos teacher, Santi) which means we have limited space. Our classrooms are small, with most holding only 8 students comfortably. The class times are also limited to after school hours only since most of our students are elementary, junior high and high school. We only have 4:30 – 6:30 open as most parents don’t want their children staying out too late every night, with a full day of public school the next day. Thus we reserve evenings for adults, not the younger crowds.
Our growing reputation, however, has had me interviewing more and more young people to place them in the proper level. I’ve interviewed 7 in the past 2 days to evaluate and place them in the correct level. This has led me to take Shaloom shopping to set up 3 more classrooms.
What fun!
And what will be happening that first week of classes?
You guessed it: More Connie birthday celebrations! What better way to learn English than by having a unit on birthdays and birthday celebrations? And whose birthday is better to celebrate than mine, turning 60?
I’m making this 60-year milestone the highlight of my first year anniversary of life in Laos. I’m finding great joy in sharing with all those I know in this amazing country filled with amazing people.
(Oh, yes. That likewise includes Winnie, my adopted companion.)
Here’s signing off at age 59; next time signing in at age 60.
connie's space 