Holidays in the new land...

I love the holiday season! As much as I used to be a humbug (such a moody teenager was I), I now love everything about the celebrations running from Thanksgiving through New Year's Day! Not working in retail anymore, I don't spend the height of my holiday excitement too early and that makes the season even better!

It's a little strange to live in a country that barely blinks at Thanksgiving and doesn't revolve around the glitz, trees, and sacredness OR commercialism of Christmas-- even New Year's day isn't as big as the lunar New Year celebration (February, I think). BUT there is one thing that is wonderful about being here: I won't have to hear that overplayed, cheesy song Christmas in the Northwest!

Today it snowed during first period and melted by second period, the workers are beginning to deck the halls around school and the Christmas socks found their way to the front of my drawer. This is all encouraging after battling the flu on Thanksgiving and some kind of parasite earlier this week. It's good to be alive and listening to holiday music streaming online!

click on the carolers to see the stations I found

We'll celebrate around here, but a little differently than the all-encompassing way that the holiday season takes over in the states. The PTA will give us a Christmas party and dinner, I'll ship gifts home to put under the tree (or maybe they will get there in time for New Year's Eve), and Sylvia will be with me in Thailand to deck the beach and hang stockings from a palm tree

May you all re-discover the joy of Christmas in surprising ways this year!

... and to all a good night!