HAPPY NEW YEAR TO ALL FROM VIETNAM

Dalat Sights

Off To Dalat We Go !!!

On Saturday we left HCMC at 8 AM by a limo bus, now you might wonder what a limo bus is. Well it is a bus that stops along its destination to pick up those who have reserved a seat. It has extra wide seats, which we like and they recline so you can sleep away the long 7 hour trip. The only problem is the horn. I was at several points ready to tare it out. You see in Vietnam they honk at everyone just to make sure they know you are coming and don't get in their way. Imagine you are all comfy, ready to fall asleep, with the music playing in the background when all of a sudden that blasted horn goes off not just once but it keeps going until everyone is out of the way. This goes on for the the entire 7 hour trip. If my ears could take the ear plugs I would keep them in but mine are very senstive. On the trip we made two stops, the first was a 10 minute bathroom, snack break and the second a 30 minute lunch break. We decided to fast during the lunch break as nothing really appealed to us at this truckstop type place. As we began climbing the mountains the view was awesome. So many trees and waterfalls and narrow roads that only one vehical at a time could pass through, they were still working on the roads. We were seated about 5 rows back so much of the oncoming view was blocked. Thank goodness. We finally arrived in the town of Dalat. It has a beautiful lake in the middle and a tower that was made to look like the Eifel tower since the French were the ones to build it. The first thing I noticed when we got off the bus was the cold, windy weather. Such a difference from HCMC. Since we had taken the limo bus part of the package was a van ride to our four star hotel. We had stayed there last year on our trip to Dalat and it was so nice we thought we would stay there again and then to help things out Mark found a great online deal. The first evening we met our friends who had come up at a different time, for dinner. They recommended a local eatery and it was very good. On Sunday we went to visit a home of some friends of our friends and Mark got to share about the meaning of Christmas. We were invited to stay for lunch and we had a meal of local food. Our hostess called it a fish steamboat. It reminded us of tomato soup with steamed fish. They also added noodles and veggies. It was wonderful and warming. Sunday night was a special event, for Christmas at a local coffee shop. They sang Christmas music and again Mark shared and then they had a drama of the Christmas story. The place was packed with local university students. We also were treated to some yummy drinks and ice cream. They asked five of us to sing in English so we sang O Come All Ye Faithful. It made me homesick. Monday was a tour day for us. We took a cable car, sky ride type thing which was about 12 minutes long through the mountains and into an area with a lake and temple. It had a beautiful view. We then went back, acutally we could not find a cab so we started to walk and after about a mile, as the street was starting uphill, a taxi stopped and asked if we wanted a ride. By that time my face was sunburned and I felt like I was back in HCMC. We then visited the local market where the farmers bring their goods to sell. We bought, avacados, they grow them really big and potatoes, which I have a hard time finding in the city and some of the yummiest strawberries ever. They also grow the most beautiful roses and other flowers. On Jan 1-4th they have an actual flower festival. Then as a Christmas present I went and got a body massage at our hotel. The cost for a one hour body massage was only $7.00. This tiny slip of a girl came in and she actually got up on the table and cracked my back and gave me a great massage. I enjoyed every minute of it. Our final night in Dalat Mark was hungary for what else, Pizza. We found a place and for $6.00 we got Pizza, two drinks and bread. You can't beat that. On Tuesday we again took the limo bus back to HCMC and arrived just in time for rush hour traffic. Oh to live outside the city would be great but not practical.

It is Christmas eve here and we want to wish you all a very Happy Christmas and blessings for the year 2010. We love and miss you all and wish we could celebrate our Lord's birth with you our family!

So This Is Christmas.....

So this is Christmas !!

Last Friday night we had a Christmas party for our English students. I baked all day on Thursday. Since I do not have an oven I had to use my toaster oven. It took me forever to bake my sugar cookies and then my Russian tea cookies. I could only get about 7 on a pan at one time. I then decided since my friend Mary likes my brownies I would make them and also banana bread. I served fruit punch and hot chocolate with marshmellows that I had found in the store. They were all impressed with these treats but they do not indulge like we Americans do. Some even thought they were too sweet. We decided to play charades and it was great fun watching them try to act out some bible stories. One young man even tried to use my Christmas tree to describe Moses and the burning bush, he actually went to the gas stove and lit it to show the fire and then he wanted to bring the fire to the tree but I just shook my head!! I could see my little tree blazing away. We then sang some carols and I must say they did extremly well. They love to sing and have great voices. I love our little group. They seem to enjoy their time with us and we love teaching them.

Pictures from The Sunday Party

2 Christmas Events

On Friday night the people here in Vietnam were able to come together for a Christmas celebration. We arrived early which turned out to be late, there were already thousands of people seated. They had invited the various embassy staffs and it seems like most excepted. There were many foreigners there. They say around 30,000 people attended. The location was changed several times and the last being two days before the event. They were finally allowed to have this event in an open field, at the end of a runway by the airport. On our way in we had to walk down this little slope. Well it was dark even with all the lighting and Mark did not see this huge hole that was covered with bushes. He fell in and this thing was up to his knees. All these tiny Vietnamese men were looking on at this big American guy trying to get himself out of this hole. We always draw a crowd. Well back to the event. As we entered we were shown up to the front, a privilege of being a foreigner. They had 4 huge screens set up and a stage that at the end held around several thousand people who came forward to accept Christ. An American family from Ohio, the Jackson's, all six of them, had been invited to sing. They sang many songs about family and are going to be allowed into China to sing and share there also. They even sang Silent Night in Vietnamese which thrilled the crowd. We had the honor of meeting them and having lunch before the concert. They were great fellowship for me as I am really missing my family this Christmas season. The event also had many Vietnamese singers and even one Vietnamese gentleman who sang Feliz Navidad in both English and Vietnamese. Then about a 1,000 youth got on stage to sing and dance. They were awesome and their love for Jesus really shined through. It was an amazing night, even with all of the airplanes flying so low above our heads. I could actually read their names. A little scary but hey this is Vietnam !! It was even streamed live on the Internet. If you care to view it you can go to hoithanh.com.

The second Christmas party was on Sunday afternoon at a restaurant that was rented by our friends and the Jackson's again performed. There were about 130 people at this and again the spirit of the season was there. We have been blessed to be able to celebrate the reason for this season even though most in this country do not have a clue as to the real reason behind the decorations and giving. But that my friends is one reason we are here and the results are more than we could ever have hoped for.

Mark and I want to wish all of our family and friends a very Blessed Christmas and may the New Year bring you into a closer love relationship with the one who created you and sustains your life. There is a plan for your lives and a purpose to be accomplished through you that no one else can do. Don't believe the lie that you are not important, because you are more important to the one who created you than you can ever imagine. Blessings to you all.

CHRIS AND JEANETTE

 

********MAJOR NEWSFLASH ***********

We are pleased to announce to you our family and friends that our son Chris is now engaged to Ms. Jeanette Gonzales. We introduced these two 1 1/2 years ago when we lead a team to Thailand. They were both on the team and it was exciting to watch them experience Thailand with us. Jeanette is a graduate of USC and is an engineer. She lives in Pasadena, Ca. In the last year plus that they have been dating we have seen not only her outer beauty but also the inner beauty that God has so gifted her with. I am also very excited because without knowing it they have chosen our 34th wedding anniversary to get married. The wedding will be on June 19,2010. Our prayer is that the two of them will be as happy and blessed as Mark and I have been. We love you guys and can't wait for June.

Boys and Santa at Disneyland

 

The Green's at Disneyland for Christmas

 

It's That Time Of Year Again

I was in the market this week and all of a sudden I heard playing over the loud speaker, Jingle Bell Rock !! Yes even in Vietnam they are playing Christmas music. It got me in the mood so I wondered over to the aisle that had a few and I mean very few Christmas decorations. I have never seen a real live tree here but I thought I would at least find something green. My choices were purple or silver. I almost went for the purple one but just could not. They are just small table top trees. I think I will wait and see what they put out next week. I continued my shopping and as I was looking in the veggy section I could not find any onions. I looked in all six bins but no onions. I went over to inquire hoping that the girl would understand. I said onions and she smiled and said no !! Well what else do you make salsa with?? I went back three days later and still no onions. I guess the boat with the onions is stuck in some port somewhere along with those paper towels that I can never find.

I was able to skype my grandsons this week and they were so excited about what they had done for Thanksgiving and Ethan's sixth birthday party but best of all was the trip to Disneyland, they have season passes and they were able to see Santa. I am posting a picture, thanks Jen I miss them so much especially this time of year. They even have their Christmas lights up and have a firetruck with a dog in a Santa hat, where can I get one of those? It might look good with a purple tree?