In my family, as in many American families, the holiday season between Thanksgiving in November and New Year's in January brings a little necessary color to dreary winter months. From colorful decorations and good food to time devoted to family and friends, the holidays are a wonderful time to ground yourself in tradition and good cheer.
For as long as I can remember, my family has celebrated Thanksgiving by having a big feast with three other families. The parents of these other families are all scientists, which results in wonderful stories about things like trips to Antarctica and the smelly penguins they encountered there. Although Thanksgiving is traditionally a family event, my grandparents and aunts live too far away to visit for such a short holiday, so we spend it with friends eating pie and turkey and not watching football. This Thanksgiving dinner is the cornerstone that marks the beginning of my holiday season. This year, my first year away from home over the holidays, I had my Thanksgiving dinner with new friends and new foods here on Kinmen. Fortunately, we still ate delicious pies.
Christmas comes a month after Thanksgiving, the largest and most decorative event of my family's holiday season. What I consider the most unique and the most essential part of my family's Christmas celebration is our Santa Claus collection. The collection started long before I was born.
When my parents were 20 years old and had just started dating, my dad, who is not an artistic man, made my mother a jazz singer Santa ornament. They both liked it so much that they started buying more and more Santas. Some of them are location-specific: Santa climbing the Eiffel Tower, Santa dressed as the Statue of Liberty, and Santa on a gondola. Others are activity or employment based, such as Santa on a bicycle, Santa snowboarding, Santa riding an owl, and of course, Santa the Elvis impersonator. Every year, we line up our bizarre collection of Santas, which now number over 50, on top of the fireplace. Located near the front door, the first things that our visitors every winter are Santas.
Christmas has a religious origin, but my family's approach is a more modern and secular interpretation of Christmas. We focus on the family and the pageantry aspects. I usually attend Christmas Eve service with my father at his church, but for the rest of my family, the holiday is for family, presents, and decorating, rather than religion. We make it a goal to be thankful for and kind to one another while opening presents, watching "It's a Wonderful life," and eating Christmas dinner together.
I wasn't home for Christmas either, a sad fact made easier by modern technology. I called my parents on Christmas day and talked to them both on a webcam-the closest alternative to seeing them in person. But I have celebrated the Christmas spirit on Kinmen by attending National Quemoy University's English Department's Christmas carol competition, and I exchanged gifts and attended small celebrations with my friends. Christmas and Thanksgiving are both times to remember and celebrate your family and the good things in your life. This year, I am celebrating being here on Kinmen with the many new people whom I have met and the wonderful community which I have found in Jincheng, at NQU, and at the primary school where I work.