Christmas...

December 24, 2008

"Chestnuts roasting over an open fire..Jack Frost nipping at your nose"

Standing in a high-end western grocery store along the Dong Nai River in Saigon, this familiar Christmas song begins. Without warning, I begin to cry. I am 12 years old again, at the "blue house" on 72nd Circle. Brown carpet, a fire in the stove, and the 20-foot tall tree extending from the family room up to the ceiling of the upstairs loft. I have no idea if the presents under the tree have been opened already or if we are about to open them. All I know is that I am with my family- my mom, my dad, my sister, and my brother. It is warm: warm air, warm lights, warm snuggly feeling in my heart.

On streetsides chestnuts are roasting in a wok full of sand over an open fire. They smell wonderful and remind me of China in the wintertime. In the afternoons carts would wait for the students outside the school gates. Jack Frost in nowhere to be found..Oh, he might be up in Cuc Phuong where we were quite chilly just a few weeks ago. But down here in the south, "cold" is not the word I would choose to describe the weather. The mornings in Cat Tien are cooler- I prefer a long-sleeve t-shirt then. The days are like warm spring days- savory and delicious, but you know it's going to get much hotter.

The city is spotted with decorations celebrating the season. On Dong Khoi street, just east of the main post office and the cathedral, a curtain of tiny white lights has been draped across the street. I am looking forward to wandering there tonight or tomorrow night to see what it looks like in all of its electric glory. Santa (usually playing a saxophone!) is everywhere: usually outside cute little houses with his reindeer and sleigh. Sparkly, styrofoam snowmen and snowflakes are almost as popular as Santa. Garland in the shape of pine trees, cut in half, are taped to the double-door entries of several small boutiques. Most of the larger, more elaborate displays are outside the larger department stores. As we walk by there is a gaggle of people peering through their cell phone cameras, taking pictures of their friends or family on this festive occasion.