The Christmas parties continue this year. Most are smaller now that many people have gone for the holidays. Eric had a party for his 7th grade class and we had a party at Gabe's little preschool co-op. One of the other mothers organized a Christmas pageant for the party. Gabe, of course, played the angel Gabriel. I think he may be typecast in that role for the rest of his childhood.
Last night we and two other families sponsored a sort of block party. It was more of an intersection party as we invited the families around our intersection. On our block there is a mix of Thai, farang and Koreans. Even though all of us came from very different backgrounds and have different Christmas traditions (or none at all), we really had a great time. Toward the end of the party one of our neighbors, a Korean-American sixth-grader suggested that we Christmas carol around the neighborhood. I brought my guitar and we started making a round of the neighborhood. While we were walking on of my Korean neighbors told me that Koreans love to carol at Christmas time. She told me that in Korea when someone comes to your door to sing, you must provide them with a gift, usually food.
We made an interesting group. We were singing in three different languages, so it sometimes sounded a little strange. However it was really a lot of fun. We sang at any house that had lights on, but most of the time, Thai people wouldn't come out when we sang. Farangs usually came out to thank us for singing or to join us in singing. Koreans were definitely the most enthuiastic. They made their whole families come out to hear us and always gave us some gifts. One brought out a bunch of fruit, including whole pineapples and gave us each one. One gave me 300B for playing the guitar. Some joined us in our rounds around the neighborhood.
I was very thankful for the way the party brought us together with our neighbors. So often, people here tend to make friends from the same ethnic background, but I felt that at our party we truly enjoyed each others company in spite of the differences. I now know some neighbors that I'd never spoken with before.
4 comments:
So glad to hear that your block party went well. Dad forwarded your post to our Global Deacons as a way for them to learn more about your work and life in Thailand. All singing Christmas carols together must have been quite an experience. Do you think it will become an annual event?
We used to have block parties in our neighborhood in East Lansing when the boys were young. The highlight was a bike parade; the kids would dress up and decorate their bikes. People would eat in the street and play volleyball (since we had a PE teacher on the block). Although it was quite a diverse neighborhood,I'm sure our variety of dishes was not as interesting as at your party.
Gabe rode his bike at our block party too. I think that his favorite part of the party was being able to ride wherever he wanted to on the block since some of the street was closed off.
Thanks for sharing, Ang. This was so great to hear about...it really warmed our hearts to read it. We miss you, especially during this season. Does the craziness of many Christmas events remind you of "home" in the USA? :)
Amy,
Not much about Christmas here reminds me of being back home. In the States Christmas is a very family-centered time. Here, it's only observed in a small way by most Thais and it's observed in a lot of different ways by farangs and people from Christian backgrounds. I think a lot more people are much more inclusive of people outside their family here because they don't have family. Also, people don't always stick to their home traditions because it's often not possible.
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