Christmas is in fact celebrated in Cambodia, although I am learning bit by bit about what that actually looks like. Christmas trees appeared at the beginning of December in some of the shops and restaurants, complete with blinking lights, tinsel garlands, and big "Merry Christmas!" signs hanging under the stars at the top of the tree. I've also seen some lovely little Santa outfits for babies and toddlers--if you've been looking for one, now you know where to find it :) And advertisers and stores have partially adopted the idea of getting people to shop for gifts. I don't know if Cambodia's Buddhists (the majority of the population) do much beyond these examples to celebrate. For the Christians, however, families and churches enjoy celebrating, although it is not important to actually celebrate on Christmas Day. The Christmas celebration at the Khmer church I've been attending was on Sunday the 14th. It was a full-morning event, complete with visitors from local political leadership (a very big deal), lots of song and dance presentations, a guest preacher, and a big shared lunch. Many people stayed for an afternoon of singing and games as well. This video is from a few days after the celebration--a group of kids from the church who went caroling around the neighborhood and stopped by our house. It's a little dark and quiet, but turn up your volume and squint a bit and enjoy!
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