Christmas in Thailand

Happy Boxing Day! It's been a while since our last post, so I think it's obvious that the novelty of 'blogging' has worn off and we would much rather spend time exploring this part of the world than writing about it. I'll still try my best to keep up with what we've been doing.
Yesterday , we woke up to Christmas morning in our tent on the beach in Phuket. Most of Phuket is over-developed and crowded with foreigners, but we camped at a little beach near the north of the island where it was still very quiet. For Christmas morning, we skipped the gift exchange (neither of us had remembered to buy gifts) and instead went for a walk on the beach. We walked about 1km down the perfect-sandy beach, and saw only 3 other white couples. We also saw a huge jellyfish while we were swimming, a stingray hanging out right near the shore, a baby turtle and tons of those little crabs that scurry along the beach. There were also a few Thai people fishing and collecting crabs. I think it has been my most memorable Christmas morning so far. I think the whole month of December I was so glad not to have cheesy Christmas carols playing, and Santas and Christmas trees at every corner. But on Christmas Eve, I was starting to miss the 'real' part of Christmas- being home with all the family and friends, and hanging out with the people that are most important to me. But I think it was very cool to have such a different Christmas, and to realize that December 25th is a day just like the other 364 days of the year. We shouldn't save our love for family for one day of the year, and you don't need a Christmas tree to celebreate the birth of our saviour. I think its nice to have a time of year where everyone is able to (usually) go home and spend time with family, but if that doesn't happen, it makes no sense to cry about it, but instead make the time that you do spend together in March or August count.