Christmas 2010--Paris

 Christmas presents bought with my sister at the Marché de Noël des Champs Elysées

Christmas in Africa

Why is it that people say : “what did you get for Christmas”. I would much prefer to be asked what did I give for Christmas. I feel I obsess more over what I will get for others, that I don’t have time to think about what others are getting for me. As a result, Christmas in Africa, I miss it. The sun, the fun. I remember when I used to wish for snow at Christmas. I really had no idea what I was wishing for. Not that the idea is so bad. It’s just now that I have the snow, it doesn’t feel like Christmas any more.

I find myself in a country that doesn’t celebrate Christmas. At least, not in the way that I was used to. I grew up with Christmas being the focus of preparation and celebration for several months before, the decorations, the performances, the shows, the food, the gifts that I began to hand make. I loved Christmas. As I got older, of course Christmas somehow began to mean less and less. It was more work, more expectations. It never compared to the Christmases of my childhood, and now that I am away from family and friends for this year’s Christmas, it feels even less like it.

But there is something even sadder than the absence of grandiose Christmas celebrations. It’s when they seem never to have existed at all.

I was told that people wouldn’t celebrate Christmas because they didn’t have any money. Foie gras and oysters are traditional Christmas foods in France, and so those who can’t afford such luxuries, choose not to celebrate. Not have any money, I thought, but you don’t need money to celebrate Christmas.

My family was never rich, but we celebrated all the same, with carols, simple gifts, and many handmade decorations. With gifts, it’s the thought that is important, the act of giving something, regardless if it is a bar of chocolate. You don’t have to buy expensive gifts, or have an expensive feast in order to celebrate. It’s the sharing of the food that someone lovingly prepared, sharing in the labor of making a special batch of cookies. It’s the moments that we laugh and enjoy life.

What a sad mentality that people would choose to not share a joyous occasion to let their family know how much they mean to them, just because they can’t afford a Christmas with things the rich would buy. Christmas isn’t about how expensive your turkey is, or who got the Dior perfume, or diamond watch. It’s about love, and drawing families together, helping strangers just because they need it, doing a deed of kindness. Like a quote I read in a Christmas story “Loving someone is far more important than having something. Love is the gift that can never be taken away.”

Perhaps it is that no one is religious. After all, once you take out the element of Jesus that makes Christmas so all important, you are left with the commercialism of the winter solstice. Those who dislike commercialism (a common sentiment) choose to ignore it altogether except for the couple weeks off school.

 I fully intended to revive Christmas in my classroom this year. So ...

Dec 25^th: Finally my Christmas cakes...

fruit gala

merry christmas

"the whimsical tree in winter" or "winter fancy"

For my class Christmas party. Some liked it, some didn't, some loved it...and others were scared to even taste it. (They'd never heard of a cake that soaks in rum for over a month)

I also wanted to make one with only traditional marzipan fruits. As this was the 3rd cake (and I had a lot more time to decorate. The first ones were done in a rush following exams, as the Christmas party was the day after), I think it turned out the best. Enjoyed with Mémé and Pépé, my grandparents, for our Christmas lunch. 

A gift for my teachers at school. Thankfully they were some of the ones that loved the cake!

Presenting my cake to my teachers at Koronin

Merry Christmas!