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.作者: xyy 时间: 2010-12-15 15:07 這Party翻譯成“爬梯”倒是新鮮，一般是說“派對”的。但是爬爬梯確實亦挺有趣。作者: 冬雪儿 时间: 2010-12-19 08:18 看来就是人多热气高啊，故国走到哪儿都是人山人海，热气腾腾。现在故国学校还是允许学生过圣诞节啊平安夜的。学生好玩得很，平安夜那天，还会给任课老师，每人送只包装得很精致的苹果。不知这是否有典故，或这典故从何而来。
