My Two Former Students Got Married - My Favourite Real Life Love Story
When I used to teach in Thailand a few years ago I separately taught two students, who then went to the same university completely by chance and subsequently fell in love.
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Last week they got married, and I was fortunate enough to have been invited to the wedding even though I literally knew no one else there other than the bride and groom. Of course, there was no way on earth I was going to miss this occasion, especially as I am now based in Thailand again for the time being.
I turned up by myself at a very luxurious golf club and resort and realised very quickly that as the only white guy there is wasn't exactly going to be easy to mingle. Undeterred I did a few laps of the wedding area and took some photos before it got dark.
I'm not sure if this is normal for Thai weddings, but the food came out first. So I annihilated the buffet with all its posh finger food. It felt great pretending to be rich! The plates were also quite small so I had to keep going back for more. I strategically alternated between the two buffet tables to make it look like I wasn't taking advantage, but yeah, I was destroying the food like Pac-Man...
Then everyone went quiet. "Ooh, something's happening!" I thought to myself excitedly. The bride and groom stood together and an army of people started taking photos of them. The Super Rich Band (The band hired for the wedding) then sang a rendition of Ed Sheeran's 'Perfect' as they walked towards the aisle. The aisle itself consisted of the groom's army buddies who had made a guard of honour with their swords, and slowly raised them with the kind of precision you would expect from an army so the bride and groom could walk underneath.
It was at this point I was feeling really emotional. The two of them never would have met in England if it wasn't for me helping them to pass their complex English tests. And their love would never have blossomed if it wasn't for that. This whole event - and this expression of love - was an indirect result and knock on effect of me pushing them hard enough so they passed their respective tests. Who knows, with another teacher one of them may have failed and this whole scenario may never have happened. I felt so proud of them as they shared their first kiss as husband and wife while everyone cheered.
Then came the speeches: They were all in Thai so I kept shuffling towards one of the buffet tables while they were happening. Being the only English person there I assumed I couldn't mingle so I kept eating, smiling, then going for seconds. Then as I was eyeing up more of those mini chocolate trifles I heard Amm (The bride) shout something;
"Lewis...? Lewis...? Where are you?" She said in English as I was mid-bite in the first of admittedly many trifles. "Can you come up and give a speech please?"
I waddled over in shock, realising I was about to give a speech to around 250 Thai people who up until now must have assumed I was a wedding crasher. "Lewis was our teacher and without him we wouldn't have met." She said to the crowd. I took the microphone wondering what specifically I was going to do to embarrass myself.
"Kawtaught, mai dai put pasaa Thai ging. Ton gan put pasaa Angrit..." I said nervously, thankfully everyone laughed. (Which roughly translates as 'Sorry, I don't speak very good Thai, so I'm going to have to speak in English.')
From left: Amm, me and Prai
I then gave an impromptu speech about how we met, kept in touch and how honoured I was to be invited to the wedding. I got a courtesy clap and soon people realised that I wasn't just some guy off the street who fancied free food, and the ones that spoke English came over to me and chatted. Everyone was really friendly and it was fun knowing that I didn't have to silently and awkwardly walk from one buffet table to another anymore...
At around 9 o clock it was time for the after party on a rooftop bar. It was a traffic light theme where you would wear different shades of glow sticks on your wrist depending on your relationship status. Good idea in theory, but I'm colourblind so I gave up looking at the ladies' wrists pretty quickly in the end.
I'd had a few drinks but I needed to go to work the next day, so at around ten I decided it was time to head home. Prai (the groom) insisted I do a shot with him before I went, and after that I headed downstairs ready to summon a taxi to get back home. However as I was leaving I bumped into my old bosses, who insisted we go back upstairs to consume more alcoholic beverages. I'd like to say I put up a fight, but we both know that is a lie...
More drinking, pictures, speeches and... generally having fun followed, and I said my goodbyes for a second time at around midnight. In the taxi back I sat there deep in thought, thinking how amazing it was that this situation existed. They were thankful I helped them find each other, but I was far more thankful that I was a part of their love story. Two people that clearly love each other, and I helped them find each other. It felt so nice to have helped contribute some good in the world. I don't know what the future has planned for me, whether it is good, bad, or a combination of both. But I can always look back on that wedding and think to myself, "You did good this time..."
The wedding song
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