Adventures in Francophonia: Deck Ha Tinh with strings of gaudy Christmas lights- fa la la la la, la la la la.

My family has never celebrated Christmas. I've never had a Christmas tree, never (graciously) accepted the greeting of "Merry Christmas," and never did anything besides eat Chinese food and watch movies on Christmas Day.

I always interpreted this as us being one of those stubborn Jewish families who holds so firmly to our traditions that we do not want to dilute our holiday spirit with the festivities of another religion. And I have been totally fine with this, especially because Chanukah is such a legit holiday that I never felt a lack of holiday spirit, and I never felt like I was missing out. (Although I will admit that I absolutely adore Christmas music, so perhaps I do have a complex about not celebrating Christmas afterall)

But here in Vietnam, I am realizing that "Merry Christmas!" is more of an "I recognize that you are American and celebrate different holidays than we do, so happy-American-holiday. I respect you and your culture so I hope that you have a wonderful day that seems to be very important to you crazy Americans!" than a statement of religious polarization.

I have made the conscious decision not to teach my students about Chanukah (or about my Judaism in general) because I think, in all honesty, it is not the most important English-speaking skill-set that they will need. One time when they asked me if American houses had ancestor altars, I told them that the closest similarity that I could think of would be in Jewish households that have mezuzahs on the doorposts. When they asked me to spell "mezuzah" so that they could write it down in their vocabulary lists, I told them not to bother because I could not anticipate any possible event where they would need to use the word mezuzah in conversation.

Similarly, I think my students are at such a beginners' level of learning English that knowledge of Chanukah, mezuzahs, and the laws of keeping kosher are so over-their-heads and will just fill up unnecessary space in the English-learning sections of their brains. Or maybe I am simply uncomfortable broaching the subject of religion in class, and am using this complex intellectual rationalization as an excuse for why I don't want to introduce my students to Chanukah.

In any case, my students have all been wishing me a "Merry Christmas," and writing me Christmas cards, and the Christmas decorations are up all over Ha Tinh and making me feel very patriotic and nostalgic, and for some reason I feel a stubborn emotional attachment to the idea of being with loved ones for Christmas and not being alone on Christmas, which was the motivating factor for all of the stress and hard work in making sure that I get to Nha Trang this weekend.

What I am realizing is that while I am here, Christmas is just one more link to my American culture. And while I am here, the more things that connect me to America and home, the better. So for this year only, I am rejoicing in the Christmas spirit and truly enjoying every single Christmas blessing that is wished my way.