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Published: December 25th 2011
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Merry Christmas 24 secs
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Merry Christmas!!!
I am so blessed to have such a wonderful family and circle of friends. Even from thousands of miles away I don't feel alone. Thank you so much for always being there for me. I didn't know what to expect from my first Christmas away from loved ones. I thought I'd be sad and that the holidays would make me homesick. There were moments when I did get sad that I couldn't be at home with my parents, drinking hot chocolate, wrapping presents to put under the tree, seeing everyone open their gifts, and just plain being with everyone i care about. I had to remind myself that even though I'm not there in person I can be there in spirit. Hope you felt it!
Christmas in Thailand is unique to say the least. I love my family's tradition of midnight mass so I sought out a Catholic Church in Bangkok (there are non in Mahachai nonetheless English speaking ones). I found one that has the architecture of a Buddist temple and thought that would be really neat! I've spent so much time here in Thailand visiting temples I thought it would be a whole new experience
Christmas party!
The only Christian church in my city! Such a wonderful little community! Made me feel so welcomed.to go to one where I could celebrate my faith. So in Thai Buddhist temples there are always massive golden statues of Buddha at the front. This catholic church had a massive golden Jesus with his arms raised up to the sky. I didn't catch the irony of it till mid service. You should google: holy redeemer church bangkok. You can see for yourself how this church looks like. I just thought it was such a creative thing to do. This Catholic church tried to keep it in the Thai traditions and style and did it so nicely. The priest gave a wonderful sermon and it felt so nice to be back in a church. I have been watching services online while here but being in person really is special. I relished the moments of singing the carols and connecting with the people around me. I can see myself going back on weekends I'm in Bangkok.
Today, Christmas, I woke up feeling strange. Here I was alone not able to run to my parents room to jump on their bed and demand that it was present opening time. It was in the high 80s today and I could go
out in a tshirt and shorts. The great thing about living in a Buddhist country is that everything was still open today and I could go get some last minute shopping done. There is a wonderful weekend market in Mahachai where they sell plants, various animals (takes a ton of will power to not buy the cute little bunnies or puppies), toys, clothing, and assecories. Erika and I bought our landlord a cute flower plant because not only is she amazing but tonight she threw us a bbq dinner for Christmas. Later, Ben, Lauren, Erika, and I went to a massage shop we discovered just last week and all got 1 hour $6 massages. It was heavenly. This massage shop is literally one block away from my school and open till 11 pm. Guess who's going to get massages every other day! (or more!)
Last week, I was invited by a student to come to his church service on Christmas. I was so touched that he went through the effort to ask me via another student who could speak English well enough to tell me, drew me a map, and wrote the directions in Thai so I could show
My student who invited me!
takes a lot of guts to ask the strange English teacher to come to your church! I am so thankful! a taxi driver where I needed to go. I asked if there would be any English and of course he said no. The service started at 5 pm and I had no idea what to expect. My town, Mahachai, has only one Christain church. It is a small simple building but you can feel the love pour out of it's doors. There are no pews just plastic chairs and a simple silver cross on the wall at the front. They were serving food and singing praise songs to celebrate Christmas. It was a Christmas party for the kids really. I rolled up on my moped taxi and my student spotted me right away (not hard to do when you are the only white person for a mile). He greeted me and showed me around. His english was wonderful and now I know! Funny how one on one really changes things with students. I watched the kids singing songs for about an hour. I was so touched with the whole scene. I even recognized some of the songs they were singing but it was all in Thai. Which I am glad for because it shows how God's word is reaching all
nations. I didn't feel like a stranger here. There weren't the typical stares but rather welcoming smiles.
When I returned home, we started our Christmas bbq. There were steamed prawns, kabobs, veggies, and the best salsa to dip it all in. I had so much fun hanging out outside our building eating food and enjoying everyone's company. We did it real Thai style, lots of sharing and hours of eating enjoyment. After our wonderful dinner, we headed upstairs for our Christmas gift exchange. We have only known each other for a mere three months but they all feel like family already. I am truly blessed. I thank God each and everyday for the people he has placed in my life.
Erika and I made a video for our friends and family for Christmas. It's a bit long but watch till the end, the bloopers are worth it! I hope you have a very merry Christmas and a happy and blessed New Year!
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