-^-for posterity-^-

christmas eve.

we went out to a buffet in a large hotel. the large ball room was decked out in christmas glory. pillars were covered with red and green ribbons. gold trim was a must. the middle of the room was decorated with a small, pyramid made out of mirrors. to the back of the mirrored monument was a large ship made out of ice. it had three sails and was carefully constructed. there was a stage to the front of the pyramid. the back of the stage was covered with balloons. there were three balloons that said, “good luck”, one balloon with a picture of harry potter on it, one balloon with tweety bird on it and a large balloon shaped like a heart that said, “happy valentines day.”

the buffet was a combination of oriental and occidental. ribs, sweet and sour fried fish, rice, potatoes, turkey and stuffed tomatoes.

we sat down to eat and the music began. there were two men playing keyboards, one man on the drums, a lady in a tight red shirt singing and a tall, thick man with odd facial hair playing the bass. the music was loud enough to end any conversation. the songs were all christmas songs. “rudolph the red nosed reindeer”, “silent night” (quite a loud version), “santa clause is comin’ to town.” the singer left and the rest of the band continued to play. they played, “summertime.” fitting because it felt like summertime outside. they also played a rousing version of, “tequila.”

we left after eating because conversation was an impossibility.

the streets of ho chi minh city were packed with people. throngs and throngs of people moving slowly on motorbikes and walking. they threw confetti and carried large, red balloons. we moved up towards the cathedral and enjoyed a cup of coffee. the music was much quieter and we caught up on what was going on in our lives.

outside people were packed as i have only seen them in times square during new years. people were yelling and shouting. jack and i moved our bicycles against the flow of the crowd. people easily singled us out for a nice dousing of white confetti. our faces were damp with sweat and the confetti quickly stuck to them. i was particularly doused by a group of young highschool aged girls. they giggled and one shouted, “merry christmas.”

the sea of people laughed and shouted and had a wonderful time celebrating. we broke away from them and pedaled to our hotel covered with small bits of white plastic and paper. somehow it did turn out to be a white christmas.