-^-for posterity-^-

the trip to da lat is terrible. first there are five hours on a bus from long xuyen to saigon. you roll along side branches of the mekong and have to slow every half-mile or so to go over a one laned bridge. you leave the green jungle only to find yourself trapped between concrete buildings and thousands of people all going in different directions. the trip from saigon to da lat is six hours on a buss that's about the same size as the original bus but that holds more people. the seats are miserable and there is no leg room. the drive from the city to the north is beautiful. the land changes color. it becomes reddish-brown. hills start to grow in the distance and soon enough you're winding your way up narrow mountain roads. the bus operates differently. there is a man that sits next to the door looking for people waiting by the road. the bus slows down and he asks them where they want to go. the bus keeps rolling slowly while they haggle a price. they hop on. at one point we had 25 people on a 18 seat bus. three people were piled up on top of one another by the door.

we arrived in da lat before supper. this is the perfect place to celebrate christmas because it's cold up here and there is a large ex-pat community. the weather is wonderful. you walk outside and your hands are cool. you have to wear a long-sleeved shirt and shoes. i got a cold and it's great because it really feels like it's winter. it feels somewhat like it's christmas.

i remember christmas when i was a child. we would sit around the living room and light the last advent candle. i would always play with the fire in the fireplace. i would add more and more logs until it raged out of control and someone had to tell me to stop. mom would read the christmas story from a gigantic bible that had to weigh at least 20 pounds. we would open presents and laugh and have fun. one time my great aunt sarah gave me a bottle of ketchup.

christmas here is different. we're going out to a western restaurant to eat a meal with a bunch of strangers. they say that there's going to be a santa there. they also say that we're going to get small gifts. i don't like christmas with strangers.

i bought presents for all of my friends here and they all bought me something. that will be the most special part of the holiday. we will celebrate together and show each other that, yes, in vietnam we all have someone who cares about us. i will like that part of christmas.

you never fully appreciate something until you don't have it.