Christmas Festivities in Malaysia

In describing the festive ways in which I spent the last few days, you might get a sense of some of the essence of Malaysia. 

On Christmas Eve I went caroling with a group of about 15 youths which consisted of visiting seven houses, singing a few songs, and proceeding to eat at every single one of them.  Never a lack of food (or drink) in Malaysia, even if you are a vegetarian.  This is why I have gained considerable weight since I’ve been here, and am happy to have a gym in our new apartment building that I’ve been using to try and negate the damage!  Dishes ranged from spare ribs, to all kinds of curries and rice, to roasted pumpkin, to pizza. 

On Christmas day, Tomoko and I attended a bi-lingual Chinese-English Christian church service which we were invited to by an Indian family.  Some songs were sung in Chinese, and some were sung in Chinese and English simultaneously!  The service ended with a very endearing boy band-esque performance by the church’s youth group to a musical menagerie which started with LMFAO’s Party Rock Anthem, and ended with Joy to the World.

For dinner we were invited to the home of an Indian-Portuguese family in which we feasted on dhal, potato salad, and, what I am pretty much craving all the time, cheese!  One of my favorite parts of my time here is being invited to people’s homes, even if they are complete strangers.  They are always excited to host foreigners and seem to like to share their perceptions of what is wrong and right with Malaysia, so I feel comfortable asking matter of fact questions about topics I am not clear about. 

Today (Boxing Day) we visited a children’s home/shelter with the Rotaract Club of Kuala Lumpur.  It was great to spend four hours with the kids playing organized games, and also just hanging out.  We also gave some educational Christmas gifts to each of the children.  The shelter we were at was for boys and girls 4-10 years old and then teenagers from two other shelters joined in the festivities.  There were about 15 Rotaractors that participated, so it was also a great way to meet new people in my same age group. 

"This Sponge Bob puzzle is....puzzling!"

Rudolph giving out presents.

I hope everyone had a very peaceful holiday!  I definitely am missing the “white” part of Christmas, but the spirit of the holidays is alive in Malaysia.  I noticed today that the shops are already switching from Christmas to Chinese New Year (end of January) goodies.