Tonight we went Christmas "carolling" with a large crowd from our Hanoi International Church. We did it in the centre courtyard of a new shopping centre near our apartment. We would probably not be allowed to do that in any Canadian shopping centre - it was too Christian. And of course we did it in the outside plaza where the temperature tonight was 23 degrees. Lovely.
After one church related appointment and on the way to another church appointment I accepted a ride offer from my co-worker at HIF. What that meant was hopping on the back of his motorbike and riding through rush hour traffic. And since he did not have a spare helmet, I went without one. I don't think I've been on the back of a motorcycle in Canada - and of course I would never do it in without a helmet. But here the traffic slows everyone down, and although riding without a helmet is against the law, it is a little flexible, kind of like the speed limit in Canada. I promise to rarely do this again.
We hosted two groups of young adult Vietnamese recently for informal Christmas party. Our two Vietnamese Christian friends promised that if we hosted they would bring people. So on on one night they brought three friends and on another night they brought six friends. We had a great time: Jan showed them how to make paper snowflakes; they decorated cupcakes Jan had baked and we played a game of opening a tightly wrapped present while wearing gloves. During the evening we discussed the history of Christian which was unknown to most.
Oh one other recent event we've never experienced in Canada. We were invited to dinner by an Asian family who are musically very, very gifted. After supper the family trio: father (piano with 2 masters degrees in music), grade ten daughter who is already a virtuoso on the violin and grade seven daughter on the cello (she only practices 90 minutes a day) provided a mini-concert for us.
They will also play for all of us on Christmas Eve.
Oh yes, in spite of all of the above - we'd love to be home for Christmas.
After one church related appointment and on the way to another church appointment I accepted a ride offer from my co-worker at HIF. What that meant was hopping on the back of his motorbike and riding through rush hour traffic. And since he did not have a spare helmet, I went without one. I don't think I've been on the back of a motorcycle in Canada - and of course I would never do it in without a helmet. But here the traffic slows everyone down, and although riding without a helmet is against the law, it is a little flexible, kind of like the speed limit in Canada. I promise to rarely do this again.
We hosted two groups of young adult Vietnamese recently for informal Christmas party. Our two Vietnamese Christian friends promised that if we hosted they would bring people. So on on one night they brought three friends and on another night they brought six friends. We had a great time: Jan showed them how to make paper snowflakes; they decorated cupcakes Jan had baked and we played a game of opening a tightly wrapped present while wearing gloves. During the evening we discussed the history of Christian which was unknown to most.
Oh one other recent event we've never experienced in Canada. We were invited to dinner by an Asian family who are musically very, very gifted. After supper the family trio: father (piano with 2 masters degrees in music), grade ten daughter who is already a virtuoso on the violin and grade seven daughter on the cello (she only practices 90 minutes a day) provided a mini-concert for us.
They will also play for all of us on Christmas Eve.
Oh yes, in spite of all of the above - we'd love to be home for Christmas.
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