Finding that perfect Tree

Marty tends to be very picky about getting the right tree for our family because he is from the foothills of NC (where you can choose ‘n cut your own tree at a nearby Christmas tree farm).

But this year, things were a little different. As you can imagine, it’s not that easy to find a Christmas tree here in East Asia.

The process began when our friend, Daniel, talked Marty into trying to find this place that supposedly sold trees. Since we don’t have a car to strap the tree on the top, they hired a driver to take them to the outskirts of town (about a 45 min drive in traffic). There they found an entire street of greenhouses selling just about every type of potted plant imaginable. This place also had some trees planted “out back” -a bunch of scraggly Palm Trees, vines, and weeds. After two hours of looking through 4 or 5 blocks full of plants and trees, the boys finally found two trees that would do.

Here’s the catch: apparently in East Asia you don’t cut down trees, you DIG THEM UP roots and all! So a little old lady, probably in her 60’s, came out with a hoe and proceeded to dig up the tree for us.

If Marty would have taken the camera we could have gotten some great pictures of that lady and the 3 grown men (Marty, Daniel, and the Driver) w/ two 7 ft cedar trees and two huge pots full of dirt squished into a little Asian mini-van about the size of a 60’s-style VW van. Marty and the driver sat in the front seats, with the trees touching the back of their heads, forcing them to lean up against the dashboard. Meanwhile, Daniel sat in the back seat with a tree resting on each shoulder!

We’re very proud of our BIG tree and the adventure that it took to find it. Now we have a potted cedar tree growing in our living room! It’s a little skinny, and with the huge pot of dirt they gave us, it’s nearly 8 ft tall. Of course there are some benefits to have a live tree- We didn’t have to fight with the tree stand, it does not shed little needles all over the floor, and when we’re done we can just give it to someone.

We were fortunate to have some friends lend us several boxes of decorations (Thanks Smiths!). So we put on the Christmas music and started decorating. Brennan loved decorating the tree! Although our tree is a bit strange, it’s like a little piece of home to remind us how much we love and miss our friends and family back in the US.

Merry Christmas everybody!