So...Christmas is coming. Normally I'd be happy about it, but I'm not. This year is the first time in my life I haven't been home for the holidays. Thanksgiving..eh. That came and went, and that was all right. I called my family early that morning, got to speak with my grandmother, and then went out that afternoon for a potluck with a few friends and had our own feast. Thanksgiving was never really that big of a holiday for me. But Christmas, that's a whole other story. Every year we follow the same pattern: get a tree, decorate it, roasted chestnuts almost every week, tease each other about what gifts we're getting for one another. Then, Christmas Eve we make this big pot of sauce, add in pork meatballs, Italian sausage, pork chops, and let it simmer in the crock pot all day until we get home from Christmas Eve mass with my grandmother. The next day, we do the presents, goof off, have fun, then visit relatives in the evening, which is always fun since we're such a big clan. But that's not happening this year. I don't get Christmas off here, for one thing. For another, things aren't the same. I'm way out here, and my uncle passed away back in the spring, and he was always at the center of our family gatherings, so all of us feel scattered. We wanted to exchange gifts but they wouldn't arrive in time and postage could cost almost three times as much as the gifts (prime example; Mom had to mail me a new debit card after my current one got compromised somehow, and it cost her $60 to send it over, still in it's mailer, sealed in a bubble envelope). She still either wants to send me something and just eat the cost, or send me money to go to Hong Kong (which I've talked her out of doing). I told her we'll just make up for it when I go back to the states next year but it won't be the same. My coworkers want to do a secret santa, and there's talk amongst the circle we had at Thanksgiving about doing one, but I know that's not the same either. I guess I'm having a hard time finding holiday cheer when the things and people that make this time of year so special are a 14-hour flight away.
If you think you're going to celebrate Christmas by yourself--don't think the negative and think the positive. You could always invite your friends to party rock with you if they would travel all the way to Hong Kong for a party. XD
