Merry Christmas

Happy Thanksgiving and Merry Christmas! Did you all get together with friends and family to celebrate these holidays?

Thanksgiving caught me by surprise. It is not celebrated here. My husband spent the day in the office and taught a class that evening. Because he had just returned from a trip, I spent the day getting caught up with laundry. Not a Norman Rockwell picture of Thanksgiving! We did have a wonderful worship service and dinner with many of our new friends later on Sunday evening, complete with turkey!

My disappointment with Thanksgiving really was all about my expectations. I wasn’t sure what to expect but I wasn’t expecting laundry. I also did not have a plan for what I did wanted from that time. The next traditional holiday, Christmas, needed a plan.

I have always enjoyed Advent time back in the US. I am realizing my family traditions are very European and not very Asian. It is hard to translate these to my new home. I have struggled to find daily necessities and much less success for the typical shopping trips I would have made back in the States. My first attempt at finding candy canes, I discovered that they were way too expensive for me to buy, but later found a more reasonable price! Oh how I longed for my familiar deals at WalMart. My traditional potato soup recipe requires summer sausage. This is nowhere to be found in Asia. I did find chicken apple sausages and substituted it for summer sausage. Not quite the same but still quite good. With no oven to bake there are no cookies or cakes or even roasted anything (veggies, chicken, etc.) during this season. I have been drooling over everyone’s posts on FaceBook of Christmas treats and family feasts!

Time for new traditions! It has been warm here. Perfect for getting outside. We hiked and took a couple of trips to some islands. Instead of driving around looking at all the Christmas lights we have been walking around our neighborhood in the evening and enjoying the light displays. We have noticed some odd color combinations and some strange figures as part of the celebrations. Instead of sending Christmas cards and letters we have emailed them (to save on postage). I guess I kind of miss going to the mailbox and finding cards and notes from everyone. (Now I just find advertisements in Chinese.)

Hong Kong does have Christmas and Boxing Day as official holidays but Mainland China does not have these days off. Of course they also have many holidays that the US does not have; “Happy Mid-Autumn Festival” just does not roll off my tongue. Many of the teachers that I work with are teaching on Christmas Day. It is a normal work day. They may get an apple or two from the students but generally the day is just a regular day except for Christians who will get together in their homes and celebrate the birth of their Savior. In the US, the focus is on family getting together for celebrations and in Hong Kong and China the focus is on the church and Christ’s birth.

We have spent some time on video with our family back in the States as part of our plan for the day. We will meet up with many other Americans later today for a Christmas meal and some fellowship. Overall our focus today and hopefully every day is on the Christ child who was born for us. He gives true meaning to our Christmas celebration no matter where we live.