Christmas, what’s in an idea?

Christmas as described in children’s storybooks is my ideal christmas atmosphere…definitely cold, lots of flickerring lights making the street such a lovely sight at night, people walking with their winter jackets on, scarfs on their necks, mittens keeping their hands warm and colorful bonnets on their head. A light snowfall makes the scene a lot more Christmassy.

Remember the movie “The Grinch” with Jim Carrey? To those book lovers, by Dr. Seuss – “How the Grinch Stole Christmas?” In the beginning of the story, the Who’s of Whoville where preparing for the Christmas season: buying gifts, putting up decorations…its such a delightful sight to me. It’s indeed a very joyful season when everyone remembers everyone.

Inside homes families come together and eat a lovely dinner feast…with all the christmas blooper stories coming back up from when you were a toddler running around with your cute little outfit. They still laugh at the time when you were two and drank a shot of advocaat hidding yourself behind the kitchen door drunk and dizzy…a little bit embarrassing moment but certainly a big hit story for the night.

Dinner tables are topped with the best silvers, shiniest crystal wine glasses and most expensive chinas. And in one special corner of every house lights a Christmas tree. Without a tree dressed up with balls of different diameters, bells, stars and angels, ribbons and candy canes, it does not feel Christmas at all. For children, an additional eye catcher for the night are the gifts underneath.

When I was a child in the warm Philippine atmosphere, we also had christmas trees, a plastic tree with a real spirit. My sister and I dressed it up with the usual christmas stuff. My father fixes the Nativity set outside with those cute Mary, Joseph, Three-Kings, sheep, cow, shepherd-boy, and baby Jesus figurines for everyone to see. My mother prepares a delicious traditional filipino menu. The children – me, my brother and my sister – have to sleep early and be waken up at midnight to have the Noche Buena. Out of bed, we were enchanted with the smell of warm sotanghon soup. On the table we see a juicy portion of lechong kawali, grilled giant prawns, and sweet sweet leche flan for dessert. We do not drink alcohol for Christmas but gulaman, it’s a sweet banana & vanilla flavored drink with jelly or tapioca.

Actually Philippine Christmas season starts from September and ends up in January after the Three Kings celebration. Lights are amazing in the Philippine streets. Christmas songs, english or native is heard everywhere…in buildings, shopping malls, busses. Every housefront has this big star lamp called Parol hanging and inviting carol singers to come and look upon it. Talking about carols, groups of children go around the streets singing carols. They stop at every single house, singing the same song everytime and asking for a gift…well, actually coins.

So when September comes in, christmas decorations come out of the closets. Every year it’s the same thing, but it keeps to be my favorite season of the year. It’s definitely not cold but the spirit of Christmas is there.

When I got to Belgium, the idea of christmas changed. It got closer to the children’s-storybook-Christmas-scene. Cold, people walking with their winter jackets on, scarfs on their necks, mittens keeping their hands warm and colorful bonnets on their head, etc…although snow is not a given.

Christmas market is a national happening. Every town has their own christmas market, selling christmas decorations, warm waffles, gluh wine, bonfire, donkeys, life size Nativity sets, everything. Its fun even to just stroll around the market at night.

Food is excellent during Christmas, the best of the best recipes are cooked at home. When you enter the kitchen, the smell is already mouth-watering! And for dessert…oh the dessert…delicious pies with chocolates and coffee…its heaven on earth!

I want to stop here describing to you how I think about Christmas. Now that Im here in Belgium with my husband and his family while my parents, brother and sister are in the Philippines, my idea of Christmas totally changed.

For me, it does not really matter if there are decorations or not, if there will be delicious food cooked, or if there would be a Christmas tree. As long as I celebrate Christmas with the people I love around me or hear their voices on Christmas eve…it will be the best Christmas I will ever have.

May you have a Merry Christmas filled with love and warmth in your heart.