Christmas 2006

mongolians generally do not celebrate Christmas since they are buddhists by faith/religion. but even so, one can still see Christmas trees, lights and decors on display in the stores, restaurants and even residential places at this time of the year. only they are not as spectacular as those we have in the philippines. a festive atmosphere is lacking. and so judging from what one sees around, it does not give you the same feeling as what you usually have back home. (and at that time, there was not even enough snow to make up for that!)

i spent my Christmas eve with other foreign volunteers. we gathered at a british couple's flat. i cooked some rice noodles (pancit a la filipino). others brought pizza, couscous, eggplant salad, bread and dip. beers and wine were also present. the host prepared some mulled wine. it was actually my first time to taste it and i liked it.

we sang some Christmas carols. one guy had new lyrics for the 12 days of Christmas, and we had great fun singing the new version - "on the first day of Christmas my true love gave to me, a trip down to the Gobi..."

we had agreed to bring something for kris kringle that night. all the gifts were placed in two big bags and everyone took turn to get his surprise. there were ankle bones, vodkas, chocolates, etc. i got a ceramic potholder. it was very reminiscent of childhood to see everyone got excited over opening the gifts.

i compiled some disco music for the night because i know we cannot just be chatting and drinking until midnight (plus the fact that i know most people loved dancing too!). everyone got on their feet when 'dancing queen' started playing. since one can see the list of the MP3 music on the tv screen, everybody started to request which music is to be played next. i was in charge of this and it was just so hard to please everyone.

a few minutes before midnight we went back to more singing of some solemn and joyful carols. at 12 o'clock, we kissed and hugged together with our Christmas wishes. it was a different sense of belonging, being in a country very far from home and family. but it was all that we can have at the moment, aside from our memories and letters from our own countries.