Christmas Holiday

Christmas Holiday

Yes, this is my fifth Christmas holiday without my family. So sad!!! Christmas to me is a celebration, which includes spending time with my family, decorating the entire house inside and out, and shopping for the people I love. Doing this with the people I love is what means the most to me.

Spending Christmas with my family is very important to me. We usually gather and celebrate at our house, in Dili-East Timor. A week before the Christmas celebration, we spend the day baking cookies, making cakes and preparing a big Christmas dinner, with all the trimmings. Doing those activities for Christmas are so much fun. I remember when I was little I loved to see my cousins and friends the same age as me. We played game, ate cakes, and watched fireworks.

But, since I stay away from my parents going study abroad in another country, I started to feel a different Christmas culture. I feel totally different. No Christmas songs around the place I live and the weird thing is people always get busy with other things despite of busying preparing for Christmas. Another funny thing yet surprising is when it comes to Christmas, it seems like Valentine’s Day. Whenever I go out on Christmas day for dinner with my boyfriend, it is hard for me to see Korean people spending time with their family. What I see are couples everywhere. And me and my boyfriend look each other and say “Are they serious???” I mean I don’t want to judge them or such, but you know, Christmas supposed to be with family. It is important. OMG!!! It is just strange. I just hate to see it, because they got me so jelly, how bad I want to spend my Christmas with my family, but I just can’t because I we are not together now, but they have their family around. Super crazy I think when I see this.

Anyway, Christmas here was not that fun, but I tried hard to make my Christmas become a special day. On 24^th night I, my boyfriend, and one of my friends went to church. After that we then went for dinner nearby. We planned to spend the whole night playing around,  eating cakes, singing in karaoke, and other things, but it didn't work out because the weather wasn't kind. It was so cold and I just don’t know how to describe. But, I actually enjoyed the Christmas with those two beautiful people though.

I rarely go into department stores, but during the Christmas season, I love doing shop because the stores are so beautifully decorated and very festive. I can easily get carried away, with spending so much money. I must admit the thought of spending too much money hardly comes to mind.

Although I am not with my family during the Christmas holiday or another special holiday such as thanks giving day, but I feel so fortunate to have my boyfriend and my friends throughout the year, especially at Christmas time. When showing, my friends just how much I love them and what exactly they mean to me. That is so very important to me. Christmas, for me is about being with family, loving each other and showing each other just exactly how we all feel.