Few days before Christmas

Wednesday, December 19th, 2007

 Now that I’ve accepted the fact that only a miracle can make me fly over to Manila to spend my Christmas with my family, I get this sickening feeling in my stomach everytime I go to Orchard Road. Standing amidst people doing their holiday shopping makes me even more lonely. The lowest of all lows would be today, when I was walking along the pedestrian tunnel of Scotts Road. There was a string quartet playing Christmas carols! And though they are English songs and not the ever famous Ang Pasko Ay Sumapit, I still felt so homesick! In a movie-like trance, the ghost of Christmas Past appeared before me, making me remember those Christmas activities when I was still back home.

 

 

… attending endless Christmas parties… gift-giving AND gift-cramming… tiangge, tiangge and more tiangges (Greenhills, BF Ruins, Alabang, etc)… setting up your home’s Christmas tree (in our family’s case, we would have a Belen too)… going to a friend’s place after noche buena to drink the night away… wish lists sa office… exchange gifts and monito-monitas… office christmas parties, sometime with matching dance or song presentation hahaha…

Over the past years, I (unintentionally) alternated spending the holidays here and in Manila. One time, my flight was Christmas day itself. It was such a nice feeling to be going home on Christmas day! For us Pinoys, Christmas means coming home and being with your family, celebrating inspite of life’s hardships.

Here, they also have their gift-giving. Actually, sometimes it seems that it’s all what Christmas is supposed to be for them. Sometimes I wonder if they know that Christmas is the day we celebrate Jesus Christ’s birth, that it’s not only the “holiday of Christians”. Even non-Catholics here practice the tradition of gift-giving, which I find amusing and thoughtful at the same time. And the most common gift is… chocolates!!! And yes, they do have their own version of “Simbang Gabi”. Most Cathollic churches here, especially those that are frequented by Pinoys, have mass starting on the 15th of December at 8pm. The sad part is, we have work on the 24th of December. Luckily, I get to work only half-day on Christmas Eve. Unlike back home, we start preparing for Christmas Eve dinner as early as the 23rd.

 

 

 

Merry Christmas, y’all!!!