Guest Writer Karen Kaiser returns with this Christmas story from Saigon. Her memoir is titled Gardens in the Midst of War, 1973-1975.
Santa in Saigon
It was 1973 and I was working at the Nguyen Noch Linh International English School in Saigon. I had to come up with something for the Christmas assembly, which was a tremendous stress for me, not having much experience with such things.
Okay, think! I told myself. Can I involve all the children somehow?
Looking around the room, I spotted it. The whole class had created an art project we could use. Our packing box house.
It reminded me of a children’s song:
In a cabin in the woods,
A little boy by the window stood.
Saw a rabbit hopping by,
Knocking at the door.
‘Help me, help me, help me,’ he said,
‘Or the hunter will shoot me dead!’
‘Little rabbit, come inside,
Safely, we’ll abide.’
Hand movements accompanied the words, and the whole class could be involved.
Their language skills weren’t entirely up to understanding what the words meant, but that simply presented a learning opportunity:
I drew pictures on the blackboard to illustrate words like cabin and woods.
I knocked on the blackboard to demonstrate what knock meant.
For “help me,” I threw my hands into the air, made my eyes very wide as if I were astonished to see a rabbit, and raised my voice a few octaves.
The children loved it and got right into mimicking me. My co-worker Janet and I designed costumes for the children to make—large cutout flowers, duck masks, and rabbit-ear headbands.
On the day of the performance, I stood on stage with the class as we sang and acted out our song. Although it was not strictly a Christmas theme, the performance did show compassion for the rabbit.
The audience applauded!
After the performance, one of Mrs. Nguyen’s American male friends dressed up as Santa Claus and handed out gifts. I thought the children would be excited to receive a present, but the fake beard and strange costume puzzled them.
They had participated willingly in the play, but their hesitancy in accepting the brightly wrapped parcels made me wonder: Do they understand the tradition?
Merry Christmas, one and all!