As Christmas quickly approaches I do my best to try and avoid it. This is the not usual avoidance of not wanting to go to the mall during the holiday season since it's a madhouse (both back home and in PMB). Instead, this is a don't-even-think-about-it type of suppressed emotion. Christmas is not coming here. How can it be when songs like "I'm dreaming of a white Christmas" ring out in the hot December air or storefronts are decorated in snowflakes? It's summer here so how does that make sense?
Trying to forget what time of the year actually has been pretty easy since it is summer so of course it doesn't feel like Christmas time at all (unless, of course, it's raining and cloudy, which it has been lately). This is probably not healthy behavior, but I don't like to think about what my family and friends will be doing next week. It makes me feel really frustrated that I am here, in South Africa, doing nothing.
Despite all of these things, we have done some "Christmas-like" things. For instance, last Friday we went to Andrew and Karen Suderman's house for the evening. (Andrew and Karen are Mennonite people here from Canada). Since Karen is very crafty we females spent the evening baking cookies, decorating them (and eating them too of course) and crocheting/knitting. (The boys played xbox with Andrew). It was awesome listening to Christmas music and rolling out cookie dough, though it was still rather weird especially since we ate hamburgers on the grill for supper (which is my favorite summer activity). Christmas and summer – so the best of both worlds.
Also, sitting in our living room now is a baby Christmas tree. It's the most pathetic thing next to Charlie Brown's. We are too cheap to waste our money on Christmas decorations so the only thing we used to decorate it is popcorn. Actually, we didn't even buy our own tree, we are borrowing it from Andrew and Karen. Pretty ridiculous. But I guess it is in to at least have something in the manse.
What can I say? I'm very excited for Christmas 2010
I think my comments on Connie's post might be helpful for you too. :)
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