Holiday in Cambodia

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Christmas in Cambodia was definitely weird.

We've celebrated Christmas away from home, before, but this is the first time we've celebrated Christmas in a non-Christian country. Plus, it was hot. (We dreamed plenty about White Christmases!)

Though we're in the minority of people celebrating Christmas in this country, we're still having an enjoyable holiday season. Highlights include:

- participating in a gift exchange at our office Christmas Party (Cambodians appreciate more "useful" gifts, so we gave a bottle of oyster sauce and received soap and toothpaste)
- attending a Cambodian church's Christmas service, complete with a Nativity Play (Our favorite part was that Herod's guards were ninjas)
- buying over $20-worth of butter to make Christmas cookies and other food items (butter is soooo expensive!)
- giving each other gifts of cheese (anything dairy is very expensive...!)
- waking up on Christmas Eve to our neighbors BLASTING "Jingle Bells" on their sound system
- singing Christmas carols on Christmas Eve at the Phnom Penh Catholic Church
- spending time with new friends
- Appreciating Skype, allowing us to talk to family on the other side of the world!
- Having a massage on Christmas Day (there is an advantage to living in a country where most businesses are still open on Christmas!)

Hope your Christmas was merry, wherever you celebrated! Merry Christmas and Happy New Year from your friends in Cambodia!

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Comments

[Theary Kem]

I feel the same way in the US
We're celebrating Christmas in Minnesota but we are not Christian. It is still in December and we have over three feet of snow already. We just returned from our Cambodia trip about a few weeks ago and it is very cold and snowy in Minnesota. If you want, you can go to my Facebook under Theary Kem and we'll add you so you can see the pictures from our trip and home in Minnesota. Happy Holidays! Theary Kem Minnesota, USA