All I want for Christmas...

Enjoy your Indian “Christmas.” The quotations are not my own but rather those of a friend of mine in a recent Facebook message. I have to agree with that. After all, celebrating Christmas in India is kind of like someone in the US telling you about their pilgrimage to Mecca. We’re all familiar with it, understand it’s a big deal, but don’t quite get the details or the whole picture. In fact, I’ve had Muslim and Hindu students ask me if Santa Claus is actually a real figure that only distributes gifts to American children. I wasn’t sure if I should keep the mystery alive but decided I would just confuse them so I spilled the beans. First time I’ve seen a child told there is no Santa Claus and I haven’t seen them cry.

Anyway, this doesn’t mean that it is impossible to find Christmas here. Alongside of the palm trees and the ever present sunshine (like all Oregonians, I reveled in this for about a week before assimilating to the Indian preference to avoid the sun whenever possible) there are pockets of evergreen. I mean, a small, fake Christmas tree must count, right? And of course most bakeries in town have Santa cut outs in the window and a few of the western-style coffee houses play Christmas carols and offer Christmas cake.

I think that here I should insert a note about Christmas cake. Apparently Christmas cake is a big deal here. All Indians expect me to know how to make it and to offer to make them some myself. I guess this must be a legacy of their British heritage. But they fail to realize Americans aren’t so big on this tradition. I’ve hardly ever eaten Christmas cake before, let alone made it. Something like fruitcake that can possibly survive a nuclear holocaust doesn’t quite appeal to me like a gingerbread house. Yet in India, people travel for miles, regardless of their religious beliefs, to grab a loaf of Christmas cake at Karachi Bakery. They also have never heard of a sugar cookie or a candy cane.

While being home for the holidays is of course atop my list of things I want for Christmas, don’t worry too much. Fist of all, on Christmas Eve day, I am attending a teacher’s picnic at Oceanfront park, wherever and whatever that is… Seeing as we are smack dab in the middle of the country, I’m thinking it can’t be that great. But still, it’s better than being in school. Then, as any good Ex-pat group, we have arranged our own celebration away from home which entails going to a nice classy hotel restaurant and drowning our holiday blues with turkey, all the trimmings, unlimited wine and eggnog. Should make for an interesting IDEX Christmas. Not to mention our haphazard Secret Santa. I can’t wait to see what I get.

But perhaps one of the best Christmas gifts I got was a bit of a reminder of why I’m here. Without waxing too cliché, life is series of ups and downs here. The ups are just as euphoric as the downs are depressing. But one major bright spot in the last few weeks has been the success of my penpal program at school. Shamelessly exploiting my mom’s employment at a local Oregon elementary school means that I have a classroom of fifth graders back home who are exchanging letters with sixth and seventh graders here. We recently received the first batch of letters from the US and the students were so excited. They were pouring over the letters, marveling at the blonde and red hair of most of their penpals, and couldn’t wait to write back. Definitely a major win.

And so, here's my Christmas list this year... hope it makes for good reading:

1. World Peace: Yes the old standby. I've already been cliche so what the hell.

2. A good job that utilizing my skills and passions next year: Be that back in the US or wherever, I'm sure something will turn up.

3. To make the most of my time left in India: I'm already over the halfway point and time is flying by!

4. To never be sick again: Oh India, you've had your fun with me so just leave me alone!

5. A new computer and Iphone for when I get home: Just because I'm in India doesn't mean I've shunned the material world!

6. To figure out who the heck I am/ what I should be doing/ and who I should be doing it with: Job, life... I have no idea what's in store. But if you can't do a little soul searching in India, then where can you?

7. To never take for granted my friends and family again: You don't realize what you have until it's not there anymore.

So I will sign off here and let you all get back to your festive celebrations. Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to everyone. I hope that the season finds you well! Peace and love, Jenny.