It’s more that it doesn’t feel any different from any other day.
Yes, yesterday was Xmas. Kind of hard to tell here in Korea, though. I had the day off from work since it’s a national holiday here – but I’m really not sure why that is. According to the CIA World Factbook, South Korea is 49% Christian, and there are a lot of churches here, and annoying door-to-door religious assholes – but I don’t get that “JESUSJESUSJESUS!!!” vibe that’s oh-so-common in America. (Not that I miss it, mind you.)
All I did with my day off was cruise over to my old neighborhood and hang out with a friend, playing videogames, eating pizza and watching downloaded South Park episodes all day. Not a bad way to spend a free day off.
I’m sure part of my attitude towards holidays comes from not being in America. There’s no insane over-commercialization of holidays here, at least not that I can see. I suppose if I watched TV I’d see something, but it wouldn’t be nearly on the scale of what it’s like in the U.S. Even if I were in the U.S. and not watching TV, it’d be impossible to not get clubbed over the head with the fact that it’s Xmas/ Hannukah/Kwanzaa/Solstice season.
Another factor is that my school only has one other foreign teacher besides myself. Neither of us had any kind of a “oh YAY! It’s Christmas!!!” thing going on, so I never got the “holiday bug.” Last year was different since there were a lot of other teachers at my school and you couldn’t go 5 minutes without hearing about what somebody had bought, was going to buy or wished they could buy for themselves or somebody else. I also had to walk past a huge display of Christmas cards outside the bookstore next to my school several times a day, and ended up getting a batch from there. The only things I walk past now (on the way from my motorcycle to the building door) are a bike rack and a Domino’s Pizza. Hardly the things to put one in a festive mood. (Though I do like the new “double crust” pizza Domino’s has here.)I guess without cultural context or people “keeping the spirit alive” holidays tend to lose some meaning. And I’m okay with that. My day-to-day life is interesting enough that I don’t need any “special occasions” to give it extra meaning. In fact, the most special occasions are often the ones you’re not expecting. I mean, where’s the fun in knowing exactly when all the “good days” are going to be? You know?
^.^