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What did you get for Giftmas?


XenoFish

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  • 2 weeks later...
 

Christmas here is a few Christmas carols on the radio and an item in the local Buddhist paper about respecting Christianity and the good and love to be found in it.  Vietnam decks itself out in holiday decor, and Christmas is part of the general holiday season ending with Tet.

The general attitude about gifts in SE Asia (and maybe elsewhere too) is to dispense with all the shopping and give the recipient some money, preferably in a small red envelope (which indicates it's a gift and not repayment of some debt or whatever).  The envelope is never opened in the presence of the giver but in private somewhere.  (This is also the standard arrangement for bribes, although then the recipient generally knows already how much is inside).

In Vietnam for a long time tips were denounced as capitalist corruption, so I kept a good supply of red envelopes around.  That dogma has gone away and tips are now encouraged, so the red envelopes are now mainly for children and police (although even for police they aren't much used except Tet and such things).

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