Countdown to Christmas
The Philippines is into Christmas far more than we in America or Europe, can imagine.
Christmas season does not start in December, the way it does in most of the world. In America, we grouse that stores have Christmas stuff for sale starting in early October. Part of our complaint is that they simultaneously want us to buy lots of gifts and decorations, but they also don’t want to acknowledge that Christmas even exists. Instead, they call it “holiday.”
Of course, part of that is due to the fact that we also have Jewish people who celebrate Hanukkah. We have other religions that don’t celebrate Christmas at all, or the commercial side of it. We also have Kwanza, which is a made-up holiday for people who don’t want to acknowledge religion at all, but worship their racial heritage (if you get upset at that, then rage over there in the corner. I can’t hear you anyway).
But Philippines has none of that. It is officially a Catholic country, and they lean in heavy on that most of the time. I’m not Protestant, not Catholic but then again, I don’t get offended by other people’s expressions of their own faith. I recognize that people have a right to do things somewhat different than I do.
Protestants definitely do celebrate Christmas, and there is actually far more that Catholics and Protestants have in common with Protestants, and I’m learning that more and more every day.
Back to Christmas…Here, the stores decorate for Christmas, and people start to celebrate the season, starting on September 1st. Yes, you read that right, almost a full 3 months in advance.
I started seeing automated billboards, similar to the header picture above saying, “Only 85 days till Christmas.” The stores were all decorated, etc. Here are some pictures that I’ve taken over the last few months.
I plan to have a Thanksgiving party (maybe pot-luck if I can). That would make my American-ness feel better served, I suppose. I’m not sure where I can get a turkey. That might make it seem more “normal” to me.
However, I can’t get over hearing “Let it snow…let it snow…let it snow” in the mall, while being in a country that has never seen snow, and my Christmas attire will consist of shorts. But I can still celebrate festively in sand instead of snow.