A Christmas Carol

Pattaya is home to a large orphanage - it was founded in the 1970s by Father Ray Brennan, a Redemptorist priest, when an abandoned infant was left at the steps of St. Nikolaus Church.  During the Vietnam war, Pattaya was a popular place for American servicemen to take their R & R.  This resulted in a large number of abandoned children.  The bishop at the time agreed to the establishment of an orphanage, and asked the American servicemen to provide the initial capital.  Today the orphanage cares for approximately 160 children, ranging in age from infants to university students.

The last Sunday before Christmas, at the end of mass, we were treated to a little Christmas concert by the children from the orphanage.  I was amazed at the range of ages, and charmed by their beautiful smiles and their enthusiastic caroling.  Some of the girls were dressed in traditional Thai costumes (right side middle row).  The children began with a very upbeat rendition of "Jingle Bells," and ended with a peppy "We Wish You a Merry Christmas."  It was very heart-warming.

The church's nativity - complete with blinking lights and Santa Claus

Although many people here don't celebrate Christmas, they definitely get into the costumes of the holiday - nearly every clerk in every store, every waitress in every restaurant, and people zipping by on their scooters were wearing santa hats, reindeer antlers or various other whimsical attire.  The grocery stores have displays of gift baskets and boxes of Christmas cookies (they just don't have them out the day after Halloween like Americans).  Most of the cards I saw were "Happy New Year" cards, with wishes for prosperity and good fortune in the coming year (either 2015 or 2558, depending on which calendar you follow!)

Our Christmas activities were blessedly simple this year - a string of lights around our "tree," (which I quickly unplugged when half the lights suddenly went out), a few Christmas knickknacks in the front hall, and not a single gift was wrapped.  On Christmas morning, our doorbell rang, and Mick, our faithful driver, appeared with a gift basket for us.  I had seen these baskets in the store, and wondered what exactly was inside, as the labels are all in Thai.  So I was glad to have the chance to explore the contents.  Here's a picture - can you guess what's inside?*

We went to mass Christmas morning (I enjoyed the repeated greeting of the priest wishing us a Merry Kiss-mas), then to our new favorite, the Coffee Club, for Christmas breakfast.  It was odd to see the children on their way to school and people going about their daily routines, because for them it was just another day.  I thought about how different the day would be at home, but I can honestly say I didn't feel blue about missing all the festivities.  I did regret the missed opportunity to spend time with our families.  And I was a little sorry to miss decorating the tree with our boys while watching "White Christmas."  Thanks to my awesome sister, Barb, I didn't have to miss our favorite holiday cookies, Hello Dollies (some of you might know these as "seven-layer cookies").

We enjoyed talking to family members over the phone, and skyping with our boys.  I was so pleased to see that they went out and got a tree, put up some decorations, and filled the stockings.  Nice to know the traditions are meaningful for them.  And they were able to enjoy a traditional Christmas feast, thanks to their awesome Aunt Peggy in Michigan, and their awesome cousin, Liz, in California.  In fact, the boys had several offers for dinner from their various aunts and uncles.  It makes me so happy that our families are looking out for our boys - love you, family!  Tim and I are blessed with the best families anyone could ever have.

Had a fine Christmas dinner at Casa Pascal.  They offered a special Christmas set menu - five courses, including a surprisingly delicious pumpkin soup and roast turkey with cranberry sauce. While we dined alfresco on the front terrace of the restaurant, we saw an elephant go by in the back of a truck.  (No, alcohol was not involved).  An elephant crossing your path?  Sounds like a good omen to me.

*Answer: What was in the gift basket?  Twelve little bottles of "Brand's Essence of Chicken."  Really!  Is that what you guessed??  Apparently this is a common health supplement in Asian cultures - supposed to help with mental fatigue.  From the website:

What exactly is BRAND'S® Essence of Chicken?

• BRAND'S® Essence of Chicken is an all natural health food supplements that is made from extracts of fine quality chicken in an easily digestible form. It is hygienically processed in high temperature to give it a unique flavour and vacuum sealed to preserve its freshness. It's aready-to-drink product, free of fats and cholesterol and does not contain any preservatives.

 Ummm, Honey, you go first...God bless us, every one!