Let Your Hearts Be Light

Christmas is here again..

That time of the year where peace, family and togetherness comes into mind.

This year I'm celebrating Christmas at a new place. A foreign land. Yes, I've celebrated Christmas away from family and loved ones numerous times in the past but this time it does feel a bit different because of the culture and environment that is rather unfamiliar and sometimes unsettling. Nevertheless, I had a Christmas celebration, which I enjoyed. Simple it was but to be able to share the joy of Christmas with some friends, no matter how small the number, was a blessing I am thankful for.

On Christmas eve, my friends and I hired a cab to go for the midnight Christmas mass. There were only 5 of us (Nicky, Glean, Joyce, Pat and I). We initially didn't think we could make it but we did. The church was beautifully decorated with lights and there were beautiful cribs reminding us of the reason we started to celebrate Christmas.


There is a different intensity in the aura of Christmas in a land that has experienced the shock of terror. Christmas brings a deeper meaning as the people struggles to understand and some wondering if they could ever really appreciate the feeling of joy and calm that is familiar with Christmas. To the eyes of a foreign observer like me, there seem to be a certain degree of conservativeness and solemness that I, in view of maintaining appropriateness, refrained myself from overly clapping and moving freely along with the Christmas carols. How I missed singing carols like I did back home. However, I was really happy I could attend the mass. It ended around 1.30am and the night was cold. Joyce was all wrapped up with her shawl and I took out my pashmina as well. We were lucky because a local parishioner had offered to drive us home so transport wasn't a problem for us. It was a lovely experience to spend the short journey back home with a family whose friendliness and gaiety is contagious. They somehow lifted my Christmas spirit as they remind me of how the people are back home.

My friends: after mass in the cold Christmas night

Christmas morning - well, I woke up late that morning hehe. I've never woke up later than 8am on a Christmas morning since..well I couldn't remember when. Today was an exception though, since we arrived home around 2am (2 of my friends slept over at my place) and slept around 3am. We had a Christmas meal planned for that day (which was quite a last minute plan too), which turned out to be a late lunch (or early dinner?) at 5pm.

Our Simple Christmas meal

So I prepared pasta while Glean made her macaroni salad specialty with a little twist heheh. She kept on saying how it could be a disaster but in the end it turned out quite ok. We spent the rest of the day getting sugar high with the Black Forest cake Nicky brought; my chocolates; and all the sweets, ice cream and mango juice bought by Pat and Joyce. All these intertwined with chats, laughter and a movie session (Nicky brought a movie titled "Amazing Grace") made our first Christmas in this foreign land quite eventful and may I say not so lonely (^_^) Of course, we all spent an hour or so each talking to our family and loved ones on the phone but none of us seem to be that homesick because we were having fun together in our own simple way.


We end the day by packing some cakes (including some plum cake which seem to be the traditional Christmas cake here) to give to our friends - our way of sharing the Christmas joy and blessings. It does not matter who, what and where you are; have yourselves a merry little Christmas, and let all your hearts delight.