The second after Thanksgiving dinner is the official time of death for the holiday. What follows the sad passing of my favorite holiday is the official countdown for Christmas.
Over Thanksgiving break, giant tubs are taken out of the attic or garage. Taking off the lids, tinsel, garland, ornaments, stockings and tinsel overflow out of the containers. These eye-catching decorations instantly light up any sour mood.
In my family, we start preparing for Christmas during Thanksgiving break. My father and brother set out to find the perfect Christmas tree, finding the right height and fullness, then come back to our house to set up.
The tree stands tall and proudly in our front hallway near the entrance of our house by the spiraling stairs. Naked and new, my mother and I drag all the jewelry over to dress our model. We string lights and garland, circling the tree multiple times and hang matching gold ornaments and bows. And on top of the tree is our traditional angel, one that my brother and I put on together since we were little.
After the main attraction is decorated, the rest of the house is decorated with gold ribbon and tinsel looped around our bannisters, bows tied by windows, wreaths hung and stockings latched over the fireplace.
When the decorating is finally complete inside the house, my father and brother light the outside of our house. White lights frame the entry way and pathway. A small Santa and a few reindeer are placed on the front lawn.
Once everything is complete, the family gathers around to watch holiday specials and drink hot chocolate. The warm and joyous aura travels throughout the house. The holiday season excites our family and brings us closer together for the short time we are able to.
This will be the first time in a long time our family is together and participating in a traditional Christmas.
Years prior we have lived in Singapore, a tropical island country that has a steady climate of heat, humidity and seasonal rain. And let’s just say that Christmas was vastly different from how it is in America.
While there are Christmas lights strung around the city in Singapore, the lights are nothing like the traditional white or multi-colored strings of lights you can find at your local Home Depot.
These over-the-top, hot pink, ice blue and sometimes blinding white spectacles are strung throughout the most busy and central part of the city, Orchard Road. Singapore has managed to twist the American classic holiday into an art piece that is admired by its million of populates.
Since Singapore has an average climate about 80-85 degrees Fahrenheit year-round, it’s necessary for snow and ice machines to be stationed outside local malls and other attractions for children to play in.
Due to the country’s “inconvenient location” (one degree north of the equator), it is impossible for the country to be cold enough to produce snow.
Thus, genius technology has allowed us to have fake snow from ice machines that blast fake snow from the tops of malls and blasted from cannons so local children can experience a “white Christmas” (until it melts, that is).
While I appreciated the experience and memories that I made whilst living in Singapore, I always knew that despite its avant-garde take on Christmas, it would never truly feel like so unless I was at home with my family cozying up by the fireplace near our Christmas tree.
In fact, after all the different “Christmas” I’ve got to experience traveling abroad during the holidays, there is no greater feeling than spending it at the place you call home (wherever that may be).
