Merry Christmas

HANOI, VIETNAM — Yesterday marked my first Christmas away from home. The day before yesterday marked the first Christmas Eve spent on an 18 hour sleeping bus capped off by a Benedryl-induced haze.

What is Christmas like in Vietnam, you ask?

For the most part, it is decidedly un-Christmasy. In fact, our experiences with anything Christmas-like were pretty minimal. Sure, the odd restaurant strings lights atop it’s balcony, and attaches a santa or two to the sign in front but nothing too extravagant. We heard our first Christmas carol blaring from some old speakers as we sat down to enjoy our fancy Christmas dinner of Pho (Vietnamese noodle soup) and C’om Chay (rice and veggies). Perhaps the most exciting encounter we had took place while we waited for our bus. We all looked up just in time to see a man dressed as Santa, toting a large bag of what we assumed to be gifts walking down the street before quickly hopping on a motorbike and speeding past us. A real, live Santa! How fun!

But, let me tell you about our unconventional Christmas day. At 2:00pm on Christmas Eve we boarded a bus in Hoi An, bound for the small city of Ninh Binh (that was a mere 18 hours away). We secured the most prized piece of real estate on any sleeping bus — the back — where three or four seats/beds are clustered together perfectly. This unique arrangement makes a perfect staging ground for group snacks, watching movies on the laptops, or chatting. In an effort to avoid spending money we came armed with snacks — Pringles, baguettes, jam, chocolate, dried fruit, water, ah the makings of a Christmas Eve dinner. We were told that we were to arrive in Ninh Binh around 7 or 8am, so you can imagine our surprise when we were abruptly awoken from our fitful sleep and ushered off the bus, onto the dark sidewalk at not 8, but 5:00am. And so our Christmas morning began with a long, slow trudge through the dusty streets of Ninh Binh, and ended with our arrival at a very questionable guest house. Our room looked more like a train car than a hotel room, complete with plastic walls and ceiling inhabited with rats (that at times seemed to be competing in some sort of Olympic games). We ended up sleeping until around 1:00 with each of us waking up for brief family Skype dates before collapsing back into bed.

As much as it would have been wonderful to be with my family, I think sometimes the most unconventional Christmases can be the most exciting. Happy Holidays from ‘Nam! More soon!