Journey to Peace Village

Thefamiliar things are still here. Santas and Trees. Lights strung and glittering. Even the carols: We wish you a Merry Christmas, The First Noel (and a newer one We will live forevermore because of Christmas Day). But the shops, schools and offices go on. It's a decoration, not a reason to come home.

Most people don't exchange presents on Christmas, as Tet is the big holiday here. Some songs such as the ones above and "Jingle Bells" are familiar, and even have Vietnamese versions. Other customs such as Christmas stockings and reindeer, Wisemen and Angels, are totally unfamiliar. It's a weird thing to experience Christmas here!

But it was not an empty Christmas!

I went to St. Joseph's and that was the most familiar. I bought a creche at the book shop there and a few days later attended a packed mass on Christmas morning. This really again got me in contact with my spiritual roots. Just as enriching was going to the Christmas party at Lang Hoa Binh on Christmas Eve. The children just lit up at the presents I gave them. The joy they felt really was the best gift you can get! Then I went to Huy's house on Christmas Eve. I passed on a tradition that I rreceived from my friend Barb of pizza and scrabble on Christmas Eve! It was a blast! People from the neighborhood came and it was a great party! I received a coat, ornaments and a cute coffee cup from Huy, his family and Huong, a neighbor who I also teach! It was just a super day!

You can see more about my Christmas on my you tube and my space websites.

www.myspace.com
(look for lawalsh)

www.youtube.com
(look for maryecroy)

Labels: Catholic Church, Christmas, Viet Nam and the West

Sunday I had a very interesting experience attending a Catholic Church in Phuket. My motobike driver had trouble finding it, and I actually had to hire a second driver who took me to the Church of the Assumption.

It is a very nice little church of adobe white brick. I came in time to catch the end of the mass in Thai. The church is run by the Stigmatine Fathers, which is an order that I had never heard of before. It turns out they are an order that was founded in 1816 in Verona, Italy by St. Gaspar Bertoni. For more information, see their website:

http://www.estigmatinos.com.br/

At the end of the Thai mass, I received a Chinese New Year's blessing from the Director General of the order,who happened to be in town as part of a worldwide tour of the provinces. He gave me an orange (traditional during Chinese New Year) and I said "grazi." So here I am an American in a Thai Church receiving a blessing from an Italian priest. The English mass which followed was a tremendous multicultural experience. Assumption Church has a great choir which performed a beautiful guitar mass. The people attending included Thais, Filipinos, Koreans, Italians, Germans and English speaking people from Australia and, of course, the USA. A wonderful experience!

Labels: Catholic Church, Christianity, religion and culture, Thailand