The Holidays

So our first holiday season in Cambodia is officially over now.  That would make this our first post of 2011.  Such milestones.  All in all, I would have to describe our first holiday season here with 2 words: different and wonderful. 

The kids opening their stockings.  Yes Santa did make it here, too, and no we do not have  fireplace to hang them over.



What will now be an annual Christmas event: Skyping with relatives.



Christmas cookie time.  We had to be fairly quick as the ants can find sugary substances in a flash.



An excited 6-year-old.  Cameron scored with Legos.



Abby and Calli helped Carolyn make a ton of cinnamon rolls for Christmas morning.  They were awesome.

• Different:  It was different because, well almost nothing was the same; hence the word different.  The weather felt more like we should be preparing for Independence Day not Christmas or New Years.  I think it was a high of 93 on Christmas.  It was also different because one of our traditions used to be driving around looking at Christmas lights and picking out our favorite.  It was easy this year.  There were maybe 3 houses to choose from and one was ours.  Also in years past, one thing I also enjoy is the festive mood of everyone in stores or on the street.  However, in a country where 95% of people are Buddhist, almost no one you meet even knows that it is Christmas.  We were also missing many of the foods that we enjoy over the holidays.  We were priced out of the Ham or Turkey Market so we settled on Mexican for our big meal (which was awesome by the way).  And there was no egg nog to be had.  I did try to make my own but it was about as popular as the fried crickets around these parts. It did not satisfy the craving for egg nog.

• Wonderful:  It was wonderful because we were celebrating with family.    With a lot of nothing to do, we were able to just enjoy being together, watching movies, playing games...etc.  We also made our house look and feel very Christmassy (if that is a word), complete with 2 trees, garland, ribbon, stockings, candles that made it smell like Christmas, fake snow and much more.   Something else that helped make it wonderful was that we had an opportunity to Skype with our family as they celebrated back in the States.  We spent several hours with them, which was a lot of fun.  It was not the same as it used to be but it was fun to be a part of the festivities from many miles away.  We also participated in a couple outreaches here to many of our Buddhist neighbors.  One night we went Christmas caroling.  We went to about a dozen or more homes in our neighborhood.  At each house we sang, gave out candy canes and gave a tract explaining why we celebrate Christmas.  On another occasion, we walked around the neighborhood of our school and passed gift baskets to about 80 families.  On both occasions, people were very grateful and listened intently to what we had to say.  We even had families come out and clap while we sang.  I am glad we had many there to sing to drown me out, otherwise the response may have been different.  We were also given the wonderful gift of a family trip to Bangkok over New Years.  It was not the same as spending time with loved ones but it was a great time for our family to experience something new and exciting together.  Most of all, it was wonderful because we were able to celebrate the birth Christ in a meaningful way despite the incredible distance from what we know as familiar.

Thank you again for taking time to share in a little part of our holiday experience.  Praying you and your family will be blessed in this New Year.