Ah, Christmas in the Americas - it is a vast difference from the typical Filipino Christmas. It comes, you eat, you open presents, it goes. There is a terrible lack of momentum, of preparation, of CELEBRATION. I don't mean department stores or malls - these selling machines on the other hand have it all planned out, from the day after Thanksgiving sale to the day after Christmas sale, they already know what the prices are going to look like. And this is how I feel about American Christmas - a huge shopping celebration and a plethora of gifts and a lot of talk about money and spending. How depressing. I don't care about the spending or the sales or the (sort of) gifts, I want the spirit, the festivities, the mood and atmosphere of Christmas. I want to see the streets lined with glittering stars and blinking lights, I want to hear the traditional songs (even if we NEVER experience a White Christmas, this doesn't stop Filipinos from playing the song), I want to eat the puto bungbung, the queso de bola, the morcon, the bibingka, and whatever assorted fare each home seems to be bursting at the seams with during the entire month of December. Let's take into consideration first of all, that preparation begins when the weather begins to cool down - or what is known as the "ber" months (September, October, etc. you get the picture). It begins with the decoration, then the shopping (oh yes, we aren't oblivioius to Capitalism), then the Simbang Gabi (the 5 a.m. mass for two weeks), then the best part of all - Christmas Eve evening and visiting all the different houses and sampling everything that is going to be served for the evening's Noche Beuna. Of course, the Grand Finale is opening the presents when the clock strikes midnight and calling everyone's friends and relatives to greet them a Merry Christmas. The festivities continue the next day at everyone's house yet again. But my ultimate favorite part is, getting the entire week off until New Year's Day; a rarity in America. Except if you work for Motorola in Phoenix, AZ, where my cousin DOES work, then you get the entire week off as the plant shuts down for Christmas. I am green with envy as I write this at work...
presents
Our little family has decided not to give each other presents. Well, at least it seems to have happened that way. We couldn't decide what to get Dylan as he really doesn't need anything right now, and well, any toy we get him would only be lavished about 5 minutes of attention before it will be at the bottom of the toy pile and forgotten forever. He's at the stage where attention span lasts all of 10 minutes or less, and all toys are alike (girls' toys, boys' toys = toys). I couldn't decide what I really needed first - new computer/spa day/better job? And Dino, well, I could give him a hundred different things because there are too many things he wants, so I opted not to get him anything because there were too many choices! We spent our Christmas in Gilbert, Arizona, at my cousin's new, barely furnished house. She has a 4-year old girl who is a very girly, mature young lady (into ballet, Barbie and ice skating), and a 3-year old boy (into ice hockey, trucks, Hot Wheels/Matchbox, and dinosaurs) who seemed to be at the "quite the bully" stage. The kids had a grand time though, running around and pushing and dropping toys and just creating a general mess all over the place. Dylan thought he was very much in the fray of things, and screamed with joy. But in reality, he was only "parallel" playing with the other two kids. We were just glad to see him have such fun.
6:09 PM | |
