How Do You Like to Spend Christmas?

Christmas was never that big of a deal for my family growing up. I guess as children we were excited about it, as we would get presents and eat lots of delicious food, but it was never that special. I would see my grandparents, but I saw my grandparents all the time, so it wasn’t really that much different from any other summer day. That’s right, summer; I grew up in Australia, where Christmas day is in the middle of summer. Often raising the mercury to 40 degrees plus, Christmas was always sweltering. As a result, we do things very differently in Australia from the rest of the world. We often get summer toys for Christmas, so Christmas afternoon is often spent outside, in the pool or at the beach with our new toys. However, we still were very much in tune with how Christmas is spent overseas, as most Christmas holiday movies and traditions come from Europe and the United States where the traditions are very different due to the different weather conditions. Many Australians grow up appreciating and enjoying that Christmas is in summer, but many long for a White Christmas, where we can see snowfall, and meet Santa.

I didn’t see snowfall until I was 21 years old. I traveled to Canada at the end of the year to experience the Canadian snow season. It was the time I experienced my first White Christmas, however it was not a very good memory for me. My grandfather had passed away only a few days before, and I was far away from my family. I didn’t have many friends, but thankfully there were many young travelers where I was, who were also far from home and family. They were in a similar position so we spent Christmas Day together trying to make it the best we could. There was plenty of snow, and I think it even snowed that day. It turned out to be pretty special, all things considered.

As I got older, Christmas became less special. I stopped getting gifts and buying gifts for friends and family. I was always traveling and sometimes I was in countries where they don’t celebrate Christmas the same way or at all. Living in Japan for the last few years, this has certainly been the case. The Japanese don’t care so much about Christmas, so many people work. It is hard to make it a special day with loved ones. As a father of two, I really want my children to experience Christmas the way I did as a child, with wonderment and excitement. I am not sure how they will feel as they grow older, but I really want to start the traditions anew here in Japan. However, my wife’s side of the family is not so accepting of change, and it has been difficult for my wife and I to adjust to life in Japan because of that. I hope as my boys get older, their excitement and joy will become infectious and spread throughout my family. Then we can create a new Christmas tradition here in Japan, with smiling children, good food, presents and quality time with the people we hold dear.

Vocabulary

raising the mercury (idiom) – expression for saying something is very

sweltering (adjective) – extremely hot and sweaty; uncomfortably hot

be in tune with (idiom) – to have a good understanding (of someone or something)

turn out (phrasal verb) – to become or end up as; to have a particular result

wonderment (noun) – great excitement and surprise

hold (something) dear (phrasal verb) – to care about; to show love or kindness to something or someone