A Very Saigon Christmas

Christmas is fast approaching, and I would venture to guess that the wide majority of expats in Saigon would say this is the holiday that they try their hardest to visit home for. In the U.S., this is easily the biggest holiday of the year, and nearly everyone gathers with their family to celebrate. Most businesses close for at least one day, and schools at every level shut down for at least four or five days. You could say it is the equivalent to Tet here in Vietnam.

Even though I went to college over 1,000 miles from my hometown of New Orleans, I never failed to miss spending Christmas with my family during my four years of schooling. Last year, I wasn’t home for Christmas for the first time ever. I went on a trip to Malaysia and Singapore, and I won’t be going home this year, either: I’ll be staying right here in Saigon.

I have to give the good people of this metropolis credit for doing their best to bring some Christmas cheer to town, even if it’s still hot enough to grill an egg on the street every day. Decorations abound: from the simple displays at numerous businesses and houses featuring generous amounts of aluminum foil and fake snow; to the elaborate lighting systems going up on Dong Khoi and Le Duan. One of the more entertaining aspects of Christmastime here is the prevalence of well-intentioned, but totally bizarre, decorations.

Probably the strangest Christmas display I’ve ever seen was set up at Van Thanh park last year: a huge snowman’s head was placed on top of an igloo, next to which sat an imposing aluminum-foil cannon that had little Santa-gnomes climbing all over it. Throw in a few evil-looking snowmen, and I was totally confused, although very amused, by the whole thing. Normally, Christmas decorations back home don’t feature heavy weaponry. I also remember seeing a couple of plastic giraffes in a display on Ky Dong. Nothing says ‘winter wonderland’ like animals best known for living in Africa. This can probably be put down to the fact that not everyone here grows up on the imagery of Christmas, as is so common in the West.

I’m curious to see how my first Christmas in Saigon goes this year. I’ll be having lunch on the day itself at the recently opened KOTO restaurant, but I don’t have any other holiday-related plans yet. To be sure, this festive season just doesn’t feel the same as it does back home; where Christmas songs are played on the radio as soon as Thanksgiving is over, my house is always decked out in decorations, and cold weather (though it never snows in New Orleans) makes it feel like it is actually time for Christmas. It’s hard to believe that the day is approaching when it’s sunny and over 80 F (27 degrees C) every day, and the only chance of snow would occur if a horrible new ice age began.

Therefore, I guess I’ll have to try harder than normal to remind myself that my favorite holiday is just around the corner. Download some songs on my computer, do a bunch of Christmas-related activities in my classes, and try to find a Christmas movie or two at the DVD shops on Bui Vien. (Why isn’t there a 24-hour marathon of ‘A Christmas Story’ on TV?!?!) And, of course, Skype with my family on the 25th.

So, I wish a Merry Christmas to everyone; and to you expats who are lucky enough to be visiting home for the holiday – I plan on being in your shoes next year.