Foreigner's Christmas

some of the food

Sunday evenings at 6 I have bible study with several foreigners who live here. There are a group that I can say I’m a part of that are here permanently, or at least long term, and then in the time I’ve been here we’ve had several who were here for a few weeks, a month, or a few months who also joined us while they were here. It is a wonderful way to be connected with foreigners, have a break from speaking Thai, and to study the bible together in English, instead of Thai as I do the rest of the week at school and church. I’ve been very blessed to have this group of people to spend time with and to have as a support system while I’m here. Some have been here 35+ years while others have been here a year or a few years. I’ve learned a lot from them, and they have helped me to understand the area and how things are run here.

they even had Christmas napkins on the plates :)

So, to celebrate Christmas we had a special get together tonight. The host made stuffed pork and roasted chicken as well as some other traditional Christmas dishes. One couple brought mashed potatoes, and gravy, and we also had peas and carrots. For the Christmas party the invitation was extended to any foreigners in the area, if they are Christian or not, anyone who would appreciate a traditional Christmas dinner was invited. It was not only a dinner for ourselves, but an outreach to others in the area if they accepted the invitation. It was a delicious meal and I’m sure as we do at home, everyone ate too much. However, we then had a table full of desserts to eat as well with brownies, a salted caramel sauce, fruit, cakes, etc… The only thing missing was Christmas cookies. Maybe that can be a goal for next year…

My Christmas meal

the desserts

After we finished eating our desserts we sang a few Christmas carols accompanied by someone who played the keyboard. They read a story about Christmas, and a poem and then we went around the circle and each shared a Christmas tradition from our family, or something we did at home, and a special Christmas memory. It was very interesting to hear everyone’s responses as there was a wide variety of nationalities with a wide variety of Christmas traditions and things that make Christmas special to them. After we finished sharing, we had a gift exchange in which everyone brought a present for 100 Baht or less. We then drew numbers and they started with the highest and worked their way down. Each person in turn chose a present from under the tree to take home with them.

The Christmas tree complete with our exchange
presents

It was a wonderful night and I came home with a belly full of Christmas foods, a mindful of my own Christmas memories and those of others, and a present that someone brought just for me, ok, they brought it for someone, but I was the lucky one to get it JHow blessed I am to have a small community of foreigners I can get together with once a week to encourage each other, and also to share special holidays and moments with such as tonight.