Just Another Christmas...
Christmas (12 December 2005) in Thailand...
A year ago today, during Christmas, I was engaged in a shouting match with a spoiled little mama's boy from Southern England.
Today I woke up next to my loving Thai wife as we began our day together, oblivious of the fact it was Christmas, until we turned on the T.V.
Christmas hasn't had much meaning to me for a long time and the times I celebrated the holiday in the last twenty years, can be counted on one hand.
I recall reading an article in the Bangkok Post lately, telling of a statement Pope Benedict XVI recently made regarding this holiday season, something to the effect of, "Christmas is a time of joy and happiness, not a time of giving expensive gifts."
The Pope's comment rattled my memory of Christmas' past, and of stress, worry and quilt over pleasing everyone without going into bankruptcy.
The Christmas holiday, like old simple values, penny candy, traditional family units and other wholesome things, has gone south, never to gain it's true ground again.
Even here in primarily Buddhist and Muslim southesast Asia, the commercialism of Christmas can be seen creeping in from the democratic West. But, for me and my lovely counterpart, our highlight for today was a brief visit by a small black squirrel on our back patio.
Such joy is much better than the stress of a commercialized holiday.
-Jeeem_
A year ago today, during Christmas, I was engaged in a shouting match with a spoiled little mama's boy from Southern England.
Today I woke up next to my loving Thai wife as we began our day together, oblivious of the fact it was Christmas, until we turned on the T.V.
Christmas hasn't had much meaning to me for a long time and the times I celebrated the holiday in the last twenty years, can be counted on one hand.
I recall reading an article in the Bangkok Post lately, telling of a statement Pope Benedict XVI recently made regarding this holiday season, something to the effect of, "Christmas is a time of joy and happiness, not a time of giving expensive gifts."
The Pope's comment rattled my memory of Christmas' past, and of stress, worry and quilt over pleasing everyone without going into bankruptcy.
The Christmas holiday, like old simple values, penny candy, traditional family units and other wholesome things, has gone south, never to gain it's true ground again.
Even here in primarily Buddhist and Muslim southesast Asia, the commercialism of Christmas can be seen creeping in from the democratic West. But, for me and my lovely counterpart, our highlight for today was a brief visit by a small black squirrel on our back patio.
Such joy is much better than the stress of a commercialized holiday.
-Jeeem_
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