Christmas is NOT in paradise


 

Ok, so Christmas is over, thank goodness. I lived. This morning, in one of my Christmas phone calls home to Canada, my sister, Teresa, was chiding me that I didn't hold the monopoly on crying at Christmas, just because I was far away from home in Sri Lanka. She smartly advised me that she only has to put on Christmas Carols and do some Christmas baking and she is "waaing" all about the house. "We Nordicks, we are all the same when it comes to Christmas," she said. It is true.

I am the same. At home, I put play the carols and, as I decorate our banister, our tree and the manger, I am weeping all over the place, my voice raggedly accompanying the carols. My sister is right, but just the same I am glad Christmas is over.

Although people attempt to hold Christmas here, Christmas, in my opinion, is sullied due to poor substitutions. Take Christmas trees, for example: styrofoam and shell creations; palapa draped over tall wooden cone shaped frame and strung with lights; wispy fern like branches, tied up to a pole and decorated with lights. No, I prefer evergreen, pine, cedar and spruce, in artificial.

Santy Claus is also sullied. I remember when I was about 4 years old, still living in Sturgis, Saskatchewan, my parents took my brother Glenn and I to a children's Christmas party. Santa appeared. However, he did not look like Santa. His beard was yellow! He scared the pants off me and I began crying and carrying on, declaring he was not the real Santa. Now, had I seen the Santa Clauses of Sri Lanka as a child, my trauma would have included a deep seated fear of Santa and lifelong dread of Christmas.

In my view, the carols, are, well, different here as well. One night, as we were dining on our friend Gerd's deck, and a gaggle of young people in red hats traipsed by the gate. I thought they might be carollers, so I hollered at them to come back, so we could see why they were wearing red hats. Well, the gate flew open and about 15 people set up stage on the deck and we were entertained by carols, drummers, dancers and the frightening versions of Santa Claus, as earlier mentioned. Just the same, it brightened our mood, tremendously.

I made a small movie, so you too, can experience the horror of Santa. For a Sri Lankan Christmas, go to utube link:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=glu0OX77ROQ

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