圣诞杂感
方壶斋
圣诞节还没到，却感觉好像已经过去了一样。大凡单位里的圣诞爬梯都已经提前举行过了。先是有学校里的教工基督教团契会组织的一年一度的圣诞午餐会，12月2号就举行了。今年比往年似乎显得清淡了一些。后来偶然遇到学校里的圣诞树点灯仪式。刚过去的周末又是奥德基地教堂儿童唱诗班表演的圣诞故事音乐剧暨圣诞树点灯仪式。这个星期四，那里还有一次唱圣诞歌曲的活动。估计这个过后，就没有什么了，就只剩下圣诞节的弥撒了。
记得在加拿大的时候，跟圣诞节有关的庆祝活动，都是在11月就逐步完成了。
非宗教的活动，也过去了，比如选择医疗保险的open season，昨天12月13日星期一截止。我因为12月1号才回来，倒时差，倒心理差，倒文化差就倒了十来天，实在没有时间考虑换医疗保险的问题。昨天开始考虑，却被那些说明资料吓着了，干脆就不换了。
明天星期三，是学生的圣诞表演。之后学生就走人了。不过我们还得上班。为了稳定军心，培训部门照例安排了一大堆教师在岗培训节目。但愿有焙狗给我们吃，不然岂不是一点节日气氛都没有了？也但愿别老讲认知心理学里的schemata，耳朵都听出茧子来了。
总之，12月一到，便有“呼啦啦似大厦倾”的感觉。
记得在国内大学教书的时候，学校明令禁止庆祝耶诞，但是有个借口，就是可以以庆祝新年的名义在圣诞夜举行娱乐活动。所谓娱乐活动，一般都是学生们在自己班的教室里开爬梯跳舞。那可是在圣诞夜举行的，活动跟时间配套，因为中国的学生，在圣诞期间还得上课，所以人都在学校，不玩白不玩。而美国的学校，圣诞期间放假，所以才把各种活动，提前搞完。圣诞夜是留给家里人的。
所以，圣诞期间在中国更热闹一些。国内学校当然是不准庆祝圣诞的，否则就有违无神论的原则。其实他们稍微研究一下，就知道12月25日原来并非耶稣的生日。现在即便在美国，也只有对基督徒来说，圣诞节是耶稣的生日，而对非基督徒来说，圣诞节就是个假日。还有一些刻意反基人士，在圣诞节期间特别要出来闹闹，贴横幅宣传说圣诞节是基督教剽窃了欧洲民俗里的冬至节。在媒体里，为了表明中立立场，都不说“圣诞快乐”(Merry Christmas)而是说“节日快乐”（Happy Holiday）。
至于说基督是哪年哪月哪天出生的，不少人已经做过非常复杂的考证。这里就有一个例子：
http://biblelight.net/sukkoth.htm。显然这个课题需要专业人士 (也许得是有执照的)才可以去做的。关于12月25日到底庆祝什么，说法也是很纷纭的。我想信基督教出现以前，欧洲人早就庆祝过这个日期了。
现在的中国，庆祝圣诞的劲头比十几、二十年前热闹了。官方不再忌讳民间使用“圣诞”这个字眼。圣诞大餐得老早提前预订。各大商号都用圣诞装饰招揽顾客。但是国内的圣诞，除了教堂里的以外，都是世俗的：圣诞树、圣诞老人、圣诞礼物等
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PZfOG1B6ae8
。人们把“圣诞”挂在口头，却从来不想想这是何圣之诞。我看中国不如干脆给它改个名字，比如叫年底黄金周什么的。
年末从中国回到美国，从大城市回到蒙特雷，感觉那叫一个黑：夜晚街道的黑暗，虽然不时被私人家里的彩灯打破，却改变不了凄冷的格调。作息时间变了，下班不久天就黑了，使夜显得格外地长。现在唯一的可以享受一下的时段，就是周末，可以大白天去逛逛。蒙特雷的新年夜自然是要热闹一点，但是2007年我是12月31日回来的。跟国内相比，阿尔瓦多街就像一个阴森森的小胡同。今年也会一样，何况经济不好，定然会给新年罩上阴影。
回过头来再问一下那个“圣诞节你准备怎样过”的OPI的问题。我想回答应该是：各人好自为之吧。
Xmas hasn't arrived yet but I somehow feel that it has passed. Most Xmas parties in the work place have been held, such as the annual party of my school’s Christian Faculty and Staff Fellowship, held on Dec. 2nd. Then I bumped into the Xmas tree lighting ceremony on campus. This past Sunday, it was the tree lighting at Ord church. This Thursday, they are going to hold a caroling in the community. I reckon that after all these, only Xmas mass is left for the Xmas day.
I remember that when I was in Canada, all the celebrations of Xmas were done in November.
Non-religious events also have passed, such as the open season for changing medical insurance policy. The deadline was Dec. 13th. I came back from China on Dec. 1st and spent about ten days adjusting to the jet lag, psych lag and culture lag and had no time thinking about changing my policy. I started to consider it on Dec. 13th and was then scared off by the brochures. I kept my current one.
On this Wed., students will give their Xmas performance and then will start leaving for home. We teachers have to report for work after that. To fill up the vacancy o f having no students, the training department as usual designed many presentations for us to attend (we have to have a certain amount of training hours to qualify for passing the end of year evaluation). I wish they could give us some bagel, otherwise it would be less festive. I also wish no one should talk about schemata this time. I am tired of it.
Anyway, when December comes, it feels like what is said in the Red Chamber Dreams: the high rise is falling down.
I remember that when I was teaching in China, colleges and universities forbade the celebration of Xmas, but there was a loophole: students were allowed celebration on the Xmas eve on the pretext that they were celebrating the New Year. The celebration usually was dancing in the classrooms. It was held on Xmas eve, matching the right time. This is because Chinese students do not take leave around Xmas. They still have classes next day and since they are on campus, why not have some fun? In the U.S., however, people leave on Xams so any celebration has to be done ahead of time. The Xmas day is left for the family.
So Xmas day in China is more renao (lively, active). Of course schools there do not sanction the celebration of the birth of Jesus. It violates the principle of the country ruled by a party that does not believe in God. In fact, if they do some research, they will find that Dec. 25th is not the birthday of Jesus. Now, even in the west, the day is considered the birthday of Jesus only by Christians. Non Christians simply treat it as an off day. Moreover, some anti-Christ guys will deliberately put out banners accusing Christians of stealing the traditional European celebration of winter solstice. The media now, to be politically correct, says Happy Holiday, rather than Merry Christmas.
As for on which day, which month and which year Jesus was born, many have done very complicated research. This subject necessitates professional knowledge, maybe from a licensed one scholar. There are many opinions as to what is celebrated on Dec. 25th. I believe that well before the appearance of Christianity, the Europeans had already celebrated this season.
Now in China, the fervor and zest for celebrating Xmas are huge, much more so than two decades ago. The authority no longer minds the mentioning of Xmas in the civil world. At hotels, expensive Xmas banquet shave to be reserved months ahead. Xmas decorations are used by shopping centers to lure customers. But the Xmas in China, except in the church, is secular: Xmas tree, Xmas gifts, Santa Clause etc. People say Shengdan, Shengdan (Holy Birthday), but which holy one's birthday it is they do not know. Why bother calling it Xmas? Why not rename the season "Year-end Golden Week?", as China already has many “golden weeks”?
I returned to the U.S. as the year is phasing out, to a small town called Monterey from big cities and the most conspicuous thing to me here is darkness. Although the darkness of the streets is intercepted here and there by Xmas lights from private houses, the general melancholy feeling hangs on there. It gets dark soon after work, due to the winter time work schedule, and the night thus appears endlessly long. The only time span one can enjoy now is he weekend, when they can go shopping etc under broad daylight. The First Night will of course be livelier, but years ago I returned on Dec. 31st. and the streets where people crowded to welcome the New Year was like a dark alley compared with streets in Beijing. It will be the same this year, maybe even more shadowed by the poor economy.
Now if I were asked the question: What to do on Xmas? I would say: Let each find his/her own way to spend the day.
