For us the problems of Christmas are particularly strange. We have little money to buy each other gifts, and no room in our packs to haul things. Our answer to this was to each make a solemn vow to not get into the buying frenzy, and instead to make a gift or provide a service to each other. Somehow, once we'd made this promise, the spirit of Christmas seemed more reallike it's supposed to be we each thought.
Christmas Eve we dressed in our best, went to Sorn's for a nice dinner, exchanged gifts with he and Da, asked the only other two farangs to join us (Eric was from the Netherlands, and he told us how he and his family had always left their shoes outside the door for St. Nicholas to fill with candy and treats, and a young Australian traveler whose experiences were more like our ownbuying frenzies).
After dinner we four returned to our hotel room. Selecting one of each of our own cleanest socks, we hung these from the metal grating of our window. Cassidy's gift to all of us was to do a dramatic reading of O Henry's classic short story, "The Gift," and then it was off to bed.
In the morning we awoke, wishing each other Merry Christmas and wondering about the weirdness of an outside temperature in the 80s. We each looked in our socks, and indeed, Santa had been here too, coming in the early morning hours and leaving candy, toothbrushes and for each a small and special gift of love.
Christmas in Bangkok may be strange and lacking the snow, the carols, the parades and steaming turkey. But it certainly wasn't lacking in love and the spirit of the season.
Merry Christmas to All....
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