Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas! We hope everyone is happy and healthy.  Thought we would share our holiday experiences with you all, since it was definitely an experience...

For some reason, Thai people love Christmas.  The country is over 90% Buddhist, but I think they just like any excuse to celebrate so they embrace the "holiday spirit". Although, they don't have it all quite down yet...I was playing Jeopardy with my kids, and for the Christmas category I asked where Santa lives.  They shouted out England, Canada, Alaska, and everywhere in between, but only 1 student knew it was the north pole.

Our school had a big assembly in the morning, and they made us wear santa hats and sing "Jingle Bells" and "We Wish You a Merry Christmas" in front of everyone (because that's obviously what they thought we would want to do on Christmas!).  It turned out to be really fun, and we got to walk around the courtyard and throw out candy to all the kids.

We also go to see a special performance by Santa's elves, at least I think that's what they were supposed be. See the picture below.  It was hilarious, and we couldn't stop laughing.  They went out into the middle of the courtyard and did a little choreographed dance.  We loved it.

For Christmas Eve, Cyrus and I just had our own little celebration in our apartments. First, we started out with a gourmet appetizer plate made up of oreos and multi-grain sour cream and onion pringles.  If that doesn't say the holiday season, then I don't know what does! Yummmm.

 

Then we opened presents.  Guess which one Cyrus wrapped....

For dinner, we attempted to cook a home style meal, which actually turned out pretty legitimate.  We made pasta in our rice cooker, with salad, rolls, and baked potatoes.  

It definitely wasn't the Christmas we were used to, but it was fun and something that we probably won't ever do again!  Next week we are heading to Bangkok for New Year's Eve, which should be a fun time.

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays,
Paige and Cyrus