It is December 26th, the day after Christmas. I am sitting in my living room in my pajamas with my very Thai Christmas tree lit up and blinking while watching movies that I received for Christmas: Bridget Jones 1 & 2, Pride and Prejudice, and maybe even a little Meet Me in St. Louis (which I already watched on Christmas Eve, but LOVE SO MUCH!!). You might be asking what makes a Thai Christmas tree...well, with the limited selection of decorations here, we have six totally varied colored and width and designed tinsels on the tree, brightly and randomly blinking red, yellow, green and blue lights, little presents wrapped in red, blue, green and gold shiny paper, and a dull gold star on the top. When there is little to choose from, you make do.
I have had a pretty good two days starting Christmas Eve day with having a friend, Cece, over for the day. We watched movies and ate popcorn, then got dressed for a fantastic dinner at the Ducit, a resort in town. It was a special buffet for the ferongs in Chiang Rai, and everyone was dressed up in their very best. We had a huge table of friends from the school I teach at, almost 25 people and many more from the community but we didn't get to sit with them all. As everyone got up to start getting food, many headed to the salad bar and to the fruit table. Cece, Jo (another girlfriend from school), and I headed smartly to the dessert table. I say if you are going to eat amazing food, start with what is best...dessert!! AND IT WAS AMAZING!!! There were 10 different cakes and dessert pies...an incredible and most wonderful chocolate fondue fountain with strawberries to dip in it...individual chocolate mousse servings in mini martini glasses...then I had some carrots and peas and pork braised in a strawberry chutney sauce which was like a beach party in your mouth!! While eating, a Thai Santa Claus walked through the crowd handing out presents to the kids. You've never seen Santa till you've seen the Thai version...shorter, not so fat, and no white beard...it was crazy!! For Christmas Eve, the food was divine and the fellowship was good too.
Woke up the morning of Christmas, called my sister and Mom, skyped friends spread all throughout the world from Colorado to Australia...then got dressed in my one Christmas t-shirt, jeans, and a green sweatshirt to take along in case it got cold. Quickly I prepared my stuff to take along to the Penningtons and Tubbs, who had invited me to come along to their family celebration. These were my friends from Texas, whom I love very much and am so glad to have here as family. I rode my bike over to their house and dinner began at like 2pm. We had more roasted pork in a barbecue sauce, sour cream and cream cheese mashed potatoes, a salad made with strawberries, mozzarella cheese, peanuts and a sweet homemade dressing, and so much more. IT WAS A SPLENDID DAY, considering I wasn't with my family or friends.
Overall, the holidays were alright...I think being away has changed me and changed the ways that I celebrate the holidays. It was a simple and peaceful time with not having so much to do in so little time. I want to be intentional about life in general as I don't want to ever fill up my schedule just out of obligation, but I want to choose carefully all that I do with time, money, etc. I've realized some very important parts of Christmas that are pertinent to any celebration - being with loved ones, spending quality time with those closest to you, being in the moment which allowed me to celebrate Jesus' birth and gift of life that has never been more a part of Christmas than this year when I've been seeking Him as the sole support of my daily moments. Though many tears (and I mean many) were shed throughout the past week, I wouldn't trade missing out the family and friends for meeting Jesus more intimately, in addition to the memories I have made here which are priceless and forever a part of me: the me right here, right now.
May this holiday season continue to reveal the peace of Christ to you and yours...
** The peace sign is an Asian thing, when taking pictures, the fingers go up...I'm working on it, because it doesn't look totally natural yet, but very soon...
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