Happy Merry Christmas!

Season's Greetings and Merry Christmas! Or, as I heard several times over the past week, Happy Merry Christmas!

New friends at Christmas

My time working in Cambodia over Christmas got some coverage lately in the Post City Magazine. As it turns out, I did indeed
attend a Cambodian Catholic Christmas concert with some other volunteers on the Saturday before Christmas. It was a children and youth pageant, with Khmer consumes and traditional dances. They did their own version of the Christmas Story and did a couple of carols in English as well. It was quite cute.

On Christmas Eve there was a musical performance by some of the Japanese volunteers (JICA) but I missed it because I didn't want to cancel my Khmer class. I made some eggplant curry and watched Out of Africa instead. Somehow it was comforting to watch Meryl Streep and Robert Redford's relationship blossom in colonialist Africa. I'm glad I didn't opt for the classic National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation. Maybe it's best to watch only when there's snow on the ground.

On Christmas Day it was a regular work day. I went by the office to drop off some documents and said "It's Christmas!" (it's call 'Noel' here because of the French colonialist influence). Only one person took any mind. The 25th passes without much recognition in the provinces. I left the office to work from home so that I could blast Tchaikovsky's The Nutcracker and some carols by Bob Dylan. I chatted with people from home over Facebook and didn't end up getting all that much work done - it was Christmas, after all! 

In the evening, a few expats and Cambodians got together for a goose dinner prepared by an American woman running a restaurant and kayaking business in Kratie. She had planned to serve the more traditional turkey for dinner, but it had a run-in with a pack of dogs. At least we know that the bird was locally sourced!

Christmas dinner!

After a filling meal, I returned to my house and the landlady's daughter said 'Wait here.' She brought out a pink hello kitty type of air freshener and said 'Happy Merry Christmas!'. How sweet of them! It was the only physical Christmas present that I received this year. Well...other than the two 'presents' (aka rats) that I caught: one on Christmas eve and one on Christmas morning. Lucky me...

After receiving my only welcomed present, I headed upstairs and had a nap so that I could stay awake at 11pm to talk to my parents at home in Canada. There's a 12 hour time difference, so usually someone's sleepy and this time it was me. It was a good ending to a quiet Christmas. Maybe next year I will find a beach to lay on. Anyone want to join me?