6 Cringey Vietnamese Christmas Songs

Me in my first grade classrooms last year, playing the Jolly Old Elf himself.

Vietnamese loooooove Christmas. And, while I didn't get/have to dress up this year for my job, I still got my fill of the regional holiday music.

Endless techno Jingle Bell remixes. Cloying, sugary, soaring ballads. Mariah Carey covers every hour, on the hour (...actually not so bad. What is it about that song?? Will we be collectively singing it forever? Is it - gasp - traditional now?? OMG please say it is). Feliz Navidad, inexplicably, and quite a bit of it.

Last year I kept meaning to document this visit to another aural dimension, where a driving synth beat is practically mandatory on the uptempo hits, but things got hectic.

This year, however, I'm on my game. Armed with cafe time, Shazaam, and fair-to-middling doses of ibuprofen to pair with my coffee, I took the plunge.

Lucky you. Oh, lucky, lucky you!

Click on, brave souls with a few minutes to spare... I dug out the youtube recordz for you, and I've got a few tracks to spin! Listen and marvel as Vietnam attempts to give you diabetes over the internet...

Tropical Santa Cosplay Time

Every year my dad dresses up to play Santa in his Illinois town. This year, to my general dismay, I joined his taste in santa-wear and dressed up as the jolly man himself (Santa, although my dad's pretty jolly, too!) to bring guava and yoghurt flavored candy to the children of Song Lo Primary School.

Let's just say that it was real, real hot, and that they should wash that santa suit after I sweat all over it. This is not a forgiving climate for wearing fur!

Also, check out my ridiculous sandals. Santa went tropical this year. Forget that boots nonsense: when Santa is in Rome...!

At left is a picture of me with my cooperating teacher (the regular English teacher, who magically becomes my TA when I'm there). She's really great, and we have good first grade classrooms together. They're sometimes so smart it's scary!

Click through for a photo album of Santa's trip to Phu Nhuan District...

Oh Nothing, Just My 1st Graders Singing Christmas Songs and Dancing

It's Christmastime in Vietnam!

Despite being a primarily Buddhist/Atheistic country, it's been a great surprise to learn and see first hand how much Vietnamese people TOTALLY DIG Christmas.

It's the lights. The tree. The songs. Santa. Decorations are everywhere, and people flock from all over the region to the area around the Notre Dame Cathedral in downtown District 1 to take dozens of facebook profile pictures in front of the decoration displays.

I anticipated a week like any other week, but from the traffic to the atmosphere, it's been a pleasant surprise.

To get into the spirit of the season, I've been singing Christmas songs with my first graders for several weeks. Although I'm pretty sure my ears will bleed if I ever hear Jingle Bell (sic) again, it was still pretty darn adorable.

A Roommate Christmas in Vietnam!

Last Monday, my four roommates and I held our first ever tropical Christmas BBQ and House Decorating Bonanza! This should be a tradition everywhere. There's nothing like fire-crisped meat and vegetables, Christmas tunes, and strands of lights.

We each prepared or brought something, and ended up with a huge feast. Beers were enjoyed, ice water was had, and over the course of two hours we laughed, talked, drank, and ate.

While food was being prepared and the BBQ was being (painfully slowly) fired up, we also got out the scotch tape and set out holiday-ifying our place! It just wasn't the season without some crazy cheap ornaments, tinsel, and holiday lights, right?

Click on for pictures of our house, food, and the fun we had celebrating a Christmas far from our homes!