We downloaded some Christmas songs and have listened to a Christmas radio station online. We've gone to a couple concerts, one of which featured Christmas songs. We've made cider and cookies. We decorated our building a little bit with some Santas and a "Merry Christmas" banner we found. The little kids at our church did a pageant last week.
But for some reason it still doesn't feel right... We think it's the commercialism we miss. There have been no commercials about presents we need to buy. There are no displays in stores, no ridiculous songs about reindeer. No one ringing a bell outside the grocery store. Our Arabic tutoring place has a (fake) Christmas tree, but they're rare. They actually do sell them here, though -- imported from Holland! -- for several hundred dollars. Yes, $300. Fake ones are significantly less, at around $10, but they're horribly ugly. I saw one with cotton balls on it. "Snow," I suppose.
All this to say, we will be happy to spend Christmas in the States next year. Besides the obvious up-side of being with family, we'll have all the media bombardment we've apparently come to expect. We hate it, certainly. But we also love it.
18 December 2007
Christmastime?
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2 comments:
When you do not see the commercial aspect of the holiday you miss it, but living in it right now I feel the opposite. For some reason I find that the stores and media want you to spend more this year. They promise that the economy will get better if you spend. I was taught if you saved and invested your money in the market it would improve the economy. I think more jobs and investing money in educating the youth is a better solution too. What does everybody else feel about it?
What a funny thing to miss... but I guess I can understand it. Certainly not a problem in England- I was surprised to find that in some ways it was worse than I'd experienced in the states (not in every way... but the amount of pre-packaged gifts/gift baskets is absurd).
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