Noodle Change: Its beginning to look a lot like Christmas....well, not really but we are trying !!

So I have been staling for some reason on this next instalment. There is SO much to write about but Im struggling to really find that ONE thing that inspires me to tell you all about it, so lets just start with the ‘right here right now'

Today is the 1st of Decmber ! SERIOUSLY - the FIRST of FREAKIN December, I swear my brain is still somewhere back in March - where are all the Easter Eggs ??? Oh yeh Christmas is around the corner.

Its a funny thing knowing that Christmas is so very very near and just a few hop skips and jumps away in another country is retail madness on steroids with society being fed Christmas cheer everywhere you turn. Here in Hoi An its an entirely different matter all together - Vietnam I have just discovered thanks to Wikipedia is one of the least religious countries in the world with almost half of the population practising ‘folk religion’ and the rest a mash up of Confucianism, Taoism with strong traditions of Buddhism thrown into the mix. Even amongst the ex-pat community there are many many races and religions, a lot of which don’t follow our Western idea of Christmas commercialism.

Don’t get me wrong - I LOVE CHRISTMAS ! I LOVE everything about Christmas, the decorations the carols, the parties and events, the gifts, the celebration and the time of reflection with family and friends. I am a living breathing example of the person that the Christmas money sleigh markets too ! If I had the means, the money and the storage (much to my husbands horror) I would no doubt have a house to challenge the Griswolds. But here’s my problem. Apart from some garlands of tinsel there is not a lot of Christmas going on around these parts - but thats commercial Christmas anyway, so I guess maybe this is a good chance to really show my kids what the ‘true’ spirit of Christmas is...right?

In a world that seems, has gone mad. We are killing each other and turning our backs on those in need. We are racking up enormous debit on credit cards to pay for things that we will have to work all year to pay off. Can we make real change ? Sometimes I really wonder.

At my eldest school they have dedicated December to ‘act of kindness’ month. As I said the ex-pat community here is a virtual melting pot of customs and cultures and not all follow the same traditions that we do. To cater to everyone with the effort to avoid December passing without being special, magical and well remarkable as it is in our culture, the kids have been encourage to offer random acts of kindness. They are encourage to spread this joy across their friends, teacher and school staff as well as the larger community on a whole. What a GREAT concept - RIGHT ?!? What if we ALL followed a pattern like this ? Hey guy with the religion that’s different to us - you know I don’t necessarily believe what you do but why don’t I take the opportunity to tag onto the end of your festivities by being kind ! Such a beautiful way of acknowledging others beliefs and the true sentiment behind it all. Lets face it , the majority of the world that celebrates Christmas does so with Santa and presents and elves and reindeer with little or no thought or reflection of the true meaning behind Christmas - the religious meaning, does that make us all hyprocites ? No - not really ! So act of kindness month it is !

I have, however just come out of the Christmas closet and admitted to being a Christmas freak, right here in a public place, and lets face seriously who doesn’t love a bit of Christmas cheer ? The lack of festive opportunities here have resulted in a desperate times called for desperate measures scenario ! We can’t toddle on down to the local Westfields and line up to have our annual Santa photo, cause, well, there is no such thing as a Westfields here. I am pretty hard pressed finding the basic groceries I need in the mini marts that are on offer scattered around town! So, being a photographer and not wanting a ‘gap’ in the chronological order of Santa photos I plan on presenting to my kids as a story board of their childhood when they are older (but, being boys they will probably think Im a total freak) I decided to hold my own Santa photos in the rice paddies ! Why not - right ?!?

So I picked the location I, selected a date, I produced a flyer, I received bookings, I picked a local charity to donate all the proceeds to BUT I had no Santa ! So the other morning I headed to the local coffee shop (and if you are a follower of this blog you already know the the benefits of trailing spouses drinking coffee) and was introduced to a man, who kinda had that sparkle in his eye. We had a bit of chat, then it was "ok nice to meet you see you around". I sat down and opened my computer to work and next on my to-do list was ‘Find a Santa’ sitting there scratching my head, tapping my foot thinking. Ok I’m new in town, don’t know many people (don’t even have an emergency contact yet) where on EARTH do I get a Santa from in Vietnam. Several heads scratches and foot taps later it HIT me like a big red sack full of presents in the face ! That guy I just met, he would be PERFECT, older guy (sorry Peter you are totally young at heart) afor mentioned cheeky Santa sparkle in his eye, white hair, bit skinny but we can fix that we some cushions - I think I found my man ! So I had my friend message him to say hey guy I just met you - how do you feel about playing Santa for a photo shoot ? When the return text came back saying YES I would love to, I was a very happy photographer.

So Saturday afternoon we set up in the paddies. It was less than ideal conditions, with beating glaring sun in one direction and a wind that messed with my lantern set up and blew conical hats into the muddy surrounds. But we did it, we held our very own Vietnamese Santa photo shoot. The looks from the locals as Santa, myself and the boys set up a bench with lanterns in the middle of the Rice paddy was pretty priceless ! In addition to the challenging conditions, we also had to share the access path where we set up with the locals, and by locals I also mean cows ! We had to the move our set up on many occasion to allow the passing traffic of motorbikes, bicycles and said cows to get by but we made the best of what we had and in the end it was all a bit of fun and exactly what I had hoped for. A little Christmas cheer, and chance for some Westerners to not miss the opportunity to have Santa photos for their kids, something a little social and raising some money for a GREAT charity at the same time !

The charity that I chose is the Children’s Education Fund and they do some amazing work offering an education to young girls in pretty desperate circumstances. Please PLEASE have a look at their page, like and follow it and if you really want to follow the spirit of Christmas forgo a few presents or even give up the cost of a bottle of bubbles or a case of beer each amongst a group of friends and put that money towards this great charity - its doesn’t take a lot and the gift you can give of an education for a young girl in very challenging situations, last not just a lifetime but can make real changes in peoples lives for generations.

www.facebook.com/childrenseducationfoundation
www.childrenseducationfoundation.org.au

**Props for the shoot were VERY kindly lent to me by: www.hoianevents.com