The first Thamuang Christmas - Farang style
This time last year on the forum at Geoff and Amy's website which is dedicated to farang Thai relationships I submitted a question asking what my fellow forum members would be doing to celebrate Christmas with their partner. I remember I was totally under whelmed with the responses and decided then that if I got the chance I would make a real effort to bring Christmas to life in the village just as Thai traditions are brought to life for me.
So I announced that we were going to have the first ever Christmas party farang style in Thamuang. The guests were limited to family but the festivities would be as close to the real thing as I could organise. What could be more difficult to preparing a meal of chicken, seasonal vegetables with stuffing and red currant jelly? Read on and you will find out!
The plan was simple. Go to Big C and buy ready cooked BBQ chickens from the meat stall and potatoes, broccoli, cauliflower and carrots from the vegetable department. Hats, decorations and lights and a present for everyone and wrapping paper could be bought from various stores in the town. This latter was easily dealt with and in no time at all the dining room was resplendent with flashing LED coloured lights and silvery 'seasons greetings' posters.
However Paxo stuffing and cranberry jelly do not exist in Ubon so I had to improvise with Campbell's condensed chicken and sweet corn soup to brighten up the food. But overall everything was going OK including a last minute addition of a starter consisting of fish balls and chili sauce. I know this isn't a traditional Christmas offering but at least it would keep the guests quiet whilst the main course was being prepared.
I thought the secret ingredient would be good resources and I had an abundance of expert cooks and countless pots and pans to cook with. Sadly I failed to realise that the cooks had a shortage of experience preparing farang food, particularly peeling and cutting up and timing everything to finish at the same time. I read the signs that progress was going to be inhibited when Pel asked how to cut up the broccoli, so I did my Gordon Ramsey impression and ordered everybody out of the kitchen except Khamma. Although harsh it was a smart move and we soon had pans of boiling water ready for the potatoes and veg and the micro wave on standby for heating up the chickens. Towards the end I was dismayed that the carrots had been sitting next to the pan of boling water for about ten minutes after I had requested they be put in it, but it could have been worse.
Eventually we plated up the food and served our guests to a mixed reception of disbelief from the more 'picky' relatives to the starving hungry appetite of the young tigers Yo and Tao. A glass of Thai red wine encouraged the reluctant and a couple of bowls of chili dip assisted the Thai traditionalists. The chicken was devoured but the veg was picked over because it was presumably too bland. However the overall response was favourable and I was pleased that whilst the presentation was not perfect the atmosphere created was 'Christmasy' and different from the usual Thai supper.
Following the meal I gave a small present to each guest and was gratified that I had judged it right with perfume for the ladies, games for the boys and a bottle of Thai whiskey for Khamma's brother. I then followed this with a series of games starting with the hilarious passing the ping pong ball from spoon to spoon, which is held in the mouth, without dropping the ball. Everyone joined in and were soon laughing and queuing for another turn. We then played 'pin the tail on the donkey' to more hoots of laughter. The final game was the famous levitation trick. If you don't know this follow this link and give it go.
The result was brilliant with everyone open mouthed and amazed at the farang's supernatural powers.
Tao and Ging with the ping pong game
Mama aiming to pin the tail on the donkeyA good time was had by all and the first Thamuang Farang Christmas party - ever - came to an end. It was very refreshing to be in the company of people who really enjoyed the simple games and had fun and went home happy.
What a great evening this was and I was so pleased that with a bit of effort I had brought a new experience for Sroikham family. After the hype of the premier league of commercial Christmas shopping in Singapore and the relatively low key Yuletide marketing effort in Ubon, I felt that the humbug had not been allowed to enter Thamuang and the spirit was alive and well.
Merry Christmas to everybody - wherever you are.
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