South East Asia, here we come!

Yayy! In 2 days I'll be heading to Malaysia, to heat and humidity, to snorkling and nice beaches, to good cheap food and interesting and new crafts to buy for xmas presents!! i cant wait! the suspense of sitting here in the office doing nothing and freezing my booty off is almost more than I can bear (or is it bare?)!

Anyway so weve been going to a couple xmas parties here and there which were fun. It also snowed a few times, and there are xmas trees and decorations up everywhere... and yet i still dont feel the christmassy mood.... i guess thats actually better cuz, if that had been the case, id be a whole lot more broken up about not being home for xmas. the funny thing is that there ARE xmas trees everywhere (im writing xmas cuz its shorter and my fingers are numb.... not to take the christ out of christmas..no worries...). People are buying gifts as if it was a major holiday here. I didnt get it so when I asked Chie, she said that christmas here is not in the least bit religious.. most people dont know its religious. and that its a day when families exchange presents and couples go out to dinner and have a romantic evening..... After more conversation about this, we discovered that this all happened during the american occupation after WWII. The japanese saw the americans exchanging gifts, putting up a tree, eating good food (although their version of a xmas turkey or ham is a bucket of KFC fried chicken... hmmmm), and singing xmas carols. They decided it was a cool enough holiday so they adopted it and japanified it a bit. The thing is, Liv and I were talking about this, it kind of offends us. It really bothers me that they dont know the purpose of christmas. I mean.. i know ive been talking about how im not really for christianity etc, but i think the part that bothers me is their lack of knowledge on the subject. their blind copying just really irritates me. the fact that its more grossly commercialised here is even more disturbing to me. its not their culture, its not their religion, nor their holiday and there arent enough christians here to justify it being a national holiday or a recognized holiday like hannukah in america or kwanzaa or something. At home we have so much more diversity that it seems more normal to advertise those holidays, i think. This is such a monocultural society that it almost seems as if theyre stealing it cuz it seems cool without knowing why... errg.... cant express myself well on this subject. I think its comparable to a younger sibling or a friend copying what you wear, what you do, what you say, just because they idolize you or think its cool. Ive been there so i know how irritating that is (and no, its not flattering.. its plain irritating). this feels almost the same. Anyway, please share your comments on this. Am I in the wrong for feeling like this? I keep asking myself, why should I care?? But i do. I guess im conflicted and not really sure why....

Ok on a happier note im leaving in 2 days!!! Our plans are to stay a couple days in KL (Kuala Lumpur), shopping, seeing the city, visiting with Yin Yee (friend from high school). Then were off to Penang, which is an island off the coast where well stay for a couple days, snorkeling and relaxing. Then we go to Lankawi, another tourist type island, but supposedly really nice. And then we have a few days free in case we decide to go somewhere else until new years which well spend in KL.

New years day will be spent on an airplane to vietnam (i know.. bad idea the day after... but its only about a 2 hour flight). Well spend a couple days in Ho Chi Minh City, hop a plane to Hue (the cultural, religious and ancient heart of the country) and then to......crap i forgot the name.. hold on while i google search it....ah hah! Nha Trang which is a "flashy" beach resort where we can snorkel, jet-ski, lay on the beach, eat loads of fresh seafood... yeah i know im rubbing it in for those of you guys back home but im soooooooo excited!! woohoo! this is by far the coolest vacation Adam and I have ever planned! And the best part is that is soooo cheap! The cab from the airport to our hotel in Vietnam is $7... can you beat that?? And most of our rooms which are in nice places never go above $20 per night. wow... hopefully next entry will include many cool pics of our travels!

Ok well Im off now to go play boggle for an hour or so... gettin paid to play boggle.. sigh....