Christmas - Vietnamese style

Jlgarbutt wrote:

Why does every local think december 24th is christmas day?, i have guven up trying to explain that in the west where christmas is most commonly celebrated is the 25th... only to be told I am wrong and in the west we celebrate the wrong day

Suppose it's the only occasion when the Vietnamese do something early.

I don't know but we have a big seafood spread tonight in hometown.   Fish and crab legs are done, octopus on the grill now, huge lot of snails in coconut milk is being grazed on.  I'm done eating, just drinking.

Jlgarbutt wrote:

Why does every local think december 24th is christmas day?

Vietnamese do not think Christmas Day is on the 24th, they know it's the 25th, but since they're Roman Catholic, they celebrate Christmas as the Church dictates: from the evening of the 24th until the end of the 25th.  The ceremony on the 24th is the Observance (Lễ Vọng) and the one on the 25th is the Main celebration (Lễ Chính Ngày).  That's how Christmas is celebrated in Italy too, not just at the Vatican.

In Saigon during the years I grew up, réveillon was before or after Midnight Mass which started at 11:50 or 11:55PM on the 24th.  I don't know about Saigon now but in Vung Tau, there's only Evening Mass this year so we're having Christmas dinner at 6PM, then my niece will head to church at 10PM.  Tomorrow, she'll go back to Saigon for Christmas Mass at her own church.

SteinNebraska wrote:

I don't know but we have a big seafood spread tonight in hometown.   Fish and crab legs are done, octopus on the grill now, huge lot of snails in coconut milk is being grazed on.  I'm done eating, just drinking.

1 kg beef, 1 kg pork, 1 kg chicken marinated 6hrs, 1 kg shrimp, 2 onions, 1 capsicum, 1/2 kg ocra, 6 corn, basket greens, sausages, 8 adults, 6 kids i'm totally stuffed now just drinkin rest of them still eating how the heck they do it when they are 45kg wet through who knows,,,,

Just another excuse to get pisssed and sing karaoke

Jlgarbutt wrote:

Why does every local think december 24th is christmas day?, i have guven up trying to explain that in the west where christmas is most commonly celebrated is the 25th... only to be told I am wrong and in the west we celebrate the wrong day

The majority of Christians here are Roman Catholic.

Both the Roman Catholic Church and Eastern Orthodox Christian Churches recognize that a new day starts at sundown when the priest calls the faithful to vespers prayers.

So in those most-ancient traditions there is agreement that Christmas begins on Christmas eve and ends with the setting of the sun on Christmas Day.

Certainly Vietnamese Catholics would have been taught this.

Ive cancelled christmas here... early celebrations are bad enough, but when you try to explain what its about, the birth of jesus they dont want to know

Aame with christmas dinner, ah we never have traditional christmas dinner and i expkained, turkey, roast potatoes, veggies, stuffing etc they just say no rice or noodles? We dont like turkey... arrrrggghhh

Jlgarbutt wrote:

Aame with christmas dinner, ah we never have traditional christmas dinner and i expkained, turkey, roast potatoes, veggies, stuffing etc they just say no rice or noodles? We dont like turkey... arrrrggghhh

Not everyone shares the belief that turkey is the main Christmas dish.  This is what I know firsthand:

- In Italy where at least 82% of the population are Roman Catholic and where the Vatican is literally within walking distance of many homes, the traditional Christmas dinner has 7 kinds of fish but not one kind of meat. 

- Poland and Lithuania do not have meat amongst the 12 dishes on the Christmas table.

- Montenegro and Czech also do not serve meat for Christmas meal although they don't have 12 dishes nor do they serve 7 fish dishes.

- The last Christmas dinner I had in the Philippine had the same things you mentioned: rice and noodles, without meat. 

The Vietnamese Christmas dinner in our family here in VT last night, however, had neither rice nor noodles.  Instead, there were beef stew to eat with baguettes, two different kinds of seafood to dip in vinaigrette, and bûche de Noël to end the meal.

Jlgarbutt wrote:

Ive cancelled christmas here... early celebrations are bad enough, but when you try to explain what its about, the birth of jesus they dont want to know

They must not be Roman Catholic.  Every Roman Catholic who attends church on Christmas Eve or Christmas Day has to listen to the story of Jesus’ birth, the same way s/he has to listen for six weeks from pre-Lent to Easter the story of Jesus died on the cross to save our souls.

If they "don't want to know", it might be because they've heard the same story too many times already.

In Australia shrimp/prawns crab lobster is the main thing maybe some ham,, but with high temps and surf beconing not many want to slave over a hot stove,, so its shrimp on the bbq and surfs up dude.

There are at least two traditions in the US -- getting together to celebrate on Christmas Eve or getting together on Christmas Day.   My wife's family, of German descent, celebrated on Christmas Eve, with the lighting of candles on the tree, singing of carols, sometimes in German, a play put on by the children and a big meal that sometimes included turkey, but more often beef roast. 

My family celebrated on Christmas Day, with either turkey, beef or pork roast or any combination of the three, depending on the size of the gathering.  We always had mashed potatoes and always had macaroni and cheese, for some reason.