We arrived in Hoi An by about noon on Christmas Eve and checked into a hotel. This is a beautiful tourist town that is very influenced by the French roots of Vietnam (Vietnam was controlled by France for many years in the 1800's and 1900's and the traditions are still heavily influenced by food and architecture). The small town is known for it's cheap tailor shops where everyone gets clothing made in a day (a three piece woman's suit cost $50), French and Vietnamese cafes, and the beach area along the coast. We spent the day shopping and walking through the streets and markets. That night Lindsey and I went to a Catholic Christmas Eve Mass that was filled to capacity in an outdoor plaza (Catholics make up about 10% of the population due to the French influence and makes for the 2nd largest Christian population in Asia). Although the mass was in Vietnamese the Priest read the Christmas story in English and French!! (NOTE: We sat next to a Vietnamese man who spoke English so he tried to interpret the service for us. At one point he leaned over and whispered in my ear that he spent Christmas in 1978 and 1979 in the war fields. That was the only comment that I received about the war from a Vietnamese person. We found that all the Vietnamese people were very nice and courteous towards us the entire trip.)
After the service we celebrated Christmas with a woman from England, a woman from Germany, and a man from Portugal (we had met them all on the Halong Bay trip), who also brought a Chinese woman they met on the bus, two guys from England that Lindsey and I met on the bus, a girl from Australia who I met at the guesthouse in Hanoi and a French guy she met at her hotel in Hoi An! It was like a celebration of Christmas all over the world!
On Christmas Day Lindsey and I rented bicycles for the day and rode all around town, out to the beaches, and through the countryside to a fishing village. It was a great way to spend Christmas day! AND I met the first people from Minnesota and Chicago! There was a family sitting next to us at lunch who saw that I was wearing my Twins hat and asked if I was from MN. I guess the parents had grown up in MN and he is now working for General Mills in Switzerland. Come to find out they also lived in St. Charles, IL, for a few years!! Small world!
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