Holiday times are always busy!

Even here in Vietnam things get busy around the holidays. Part of it is trying to spend the holidays in a familiar way when you're so far from home. We did have a nice Thanksgiving with team mates and other American friends at the home of the Vietnam Country Director. Three of the teachers from Thai Ngyuen came down to join us. We are fortunate to have a large warehouse-type store here in Hanoi that carries some western goods, including Butterball frozen turkeys, so we had a very traditional dinner. One teammate brought packages of stuffing mix from home when she returned from summer leave, mashed potatoes, gravy, pumpkin pie - it was all there....except the football!

Part of it is school life, the semester is ending, final exams need to be prepared, students want more time to practice their English for their "speaking exams". We have been having lots of students coming to office hours on Tuesday nights, we both have individual students coming for tutoring and students want to socialize.

We enjoy our time with these young people, they are full of energy and eager to learn to speak in an easy going,
"American" way. As we prepare for Christmas, many conversations have turned to the reason why we celebrate - what is it really all about? Christmas is a reason to give gifts and have a party here in Vietnam, not much else. Santa Claus images are everywhere, but it's not easy to find a nativity set anywhere.
As we plan our times for next week, we want to include these reminders to them about why we celebrate. Tuesday evening we will have office hours with Christmas music and some goodies for them to enjoy, Christmas Eve we are going to the Candle Light service at HIF and we've invited a couple of students who meet regularly with us to join us, Christmas Day we will be joining our team mates for a brunch and gift swap. Christmas is in our hearts and so are many of you as we prepare to spend Christmas in a culture so different from home and all the holiday traditions that we've come to love - and for us that means the snow too!!