Life

Christmas finally found me in China

By Sandra Lee (China Daily)
Updated: 2010-12-28 08:04

Some expats celebrate the holidays of their homeland. They find a buffet with turkey for Thanksgiving, exchange gifts for Christmas and try to stay awake and somewhat sober until midnight to bring in the New Year, but only a few do this.

For most of us it usually is just another work day. Christmas gifts were supposed to be sent in October and they weren't, so there's a nagging sense of guilt. The turkey is dry and tasteless, the gravy is only gravy-like, so why bother, especially since most of your colleagues don't give a hoot and have to be cajoled into joining you and spending so much money on such poor fare? Better to enjoy some delicious jaozi (dumplings) or mian (noodles) and call it a day. A day like any other.

2010 was different. Thanksgiving came and went on a work day but Christmas fell on a weekend. I didn't give it much thought until my Ozzie colleague, Robert, began to make plans.

As he contemplated where "we" could go and what "we" would be doing to celebrate, I realized that by "we" he meant anyone who cared to join him since he was going to have a grand old time with or without any of us. I found myself drawn to his enthusiasm to not let the holiday be just another day.

Soon I stopped being so negative about the holiday and was loudly giving my opinions about where we'd eat and how we'd celebrate. I'd gone full circle from being a Scrooge to being a holiday enthusiast. Caught up in a "festive fever" to really have fun, I became obsessive about making it all happen in a truly memorable way.

I vaguely remember this happening in those long-ago days when I lived where Christmas decorations go up mid-November and one is absolutely inundated with Santas and reindeers and snowmen, not to mention the ads that tell you to buy, buy, buy.

Christmas tunes relentlessly pound the ears and populate your brain so even if you are totally sick of them, you still find yourself humming them. At work, Christmas cookies and cakes appear and you gain a pound a week.

Christmas has you, you don't have it. Part of you is enjoying it and another part feels hooked and out of control about the whole thing. Giving the right gifts stops being fun and becomes a nerve-wracking guessing game.

While it all comes together and is wonderful on the big day, when family and friends gather and open gifts and share a feast, I hated all that went into it.

It was actually a big relief to live in China where the big deal about Christmas is that lots of money is made by all those people manufacturing the decorations and gifts.

However, childhood and culture run wide and deep. Pooh-pooh it as I did for so many years here, "festive fever" has found me again.

While my colleague and I didn't exchange gifts, we did each fund a round of drinks. We will go clubbing on New Year's Eve, put on funny hats and act like fools when the clock strikes 12.

Why pretend I'm not absolutely thrilled to be properly celebrating the holidays which are so important in my country?

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to you! Next stop on the Holiday Express? Chinese New Year. Cheers! Ganbei!