PASKO | The Christmas I Miss
PASKO | The Christmas I Miss
If you ask any Filipino, I'm sure we'll all agree about this; a Filipino Christmas is like no other! Christmas is in 10 days and I still feel like it's not near at all. I'll be celebrating Christmas in Canada for the third time now this year and I feel like it has gotten sadder and sadder each year. I don't know if it's just me, or Whitehorse has become so boring to me, but maybe, I just really miss my home country. We may not have a white christmas in the Philippines but I can definitely say that our Christmas is the best! My co-workers are going home to the Philippines for the holidays and I badly want to pack myself inside their luggages!
I miss:
- My family! The endless Christmas parties and house hopping (because BIG FAMILY) were one of the things I enjoyed a lot. Also because I was younger then, the grownups would give us gifts and money all the time! I loved counting and smelling my very crispy pesos inside those little red ampao envelopes! I'm not a very sociable person, even around family members when I was growing up, but the last few Christmases I had before moving to Canada were amazing because I'm in my not so young age anymore and I was able to actually talk to my uncles and aunts and enjoy some drinks with them. FUN TIMES!
- The food! 'Nuff said! If you are to celebrate Noche Buena with Pinoys, be ready to stretch your stomach out! You're definitely going home with a full and bigger 'bondat' tummy!
- The rush and the holiday spirit! Christmas in the Philippines starts at the beginning of the 'BER' months; meaning SeptemBER, OctoBER, NovemBER, and finally, DecemBER! Manila starts looking so Christmas-y as early as September; Christmas lanterns, stars, parols will be hung at every corner of the city, LIGHTS, lights and more lights will be lit up, and man, the giant Christmas trees, they go all out on those! Filipino families start putting up their own trees and they start writing down their Noche Buena menu. The malls start to play Christmas music and sales happen everywhere so yes, the Christmas rush there is CRAZY! Not to mention, the traffic! It's awful, but it's the kind of rush that makes people happy because it only means that Christmas is just around the corner and it puts everyone in the cheerful holiday spirit!
Here, we only celebrate at one house, and this year, I feel like Jorge and I won't get invited to celebrate Christmas there. (See things happen) So my sisters and I decided to just have a small gathering here at our tiny but cozy apartment, eat home cooked meals and have our little First Frost gift-giving. I feel like Christmas this year will be way better than last year because this will be the first time I celebrate it with ONLY my immediate family, my husband and my sisters. Christmas is my favorite holiday and I don't want to feel less cheerful just because I'm living in a different country.
Hopefully, in the next years to come, Christmas will be the same Christmas I grew up knowing to be, no matter where I go. I should be reminded that Christmas is not about all these earthly celebrations, it's about remembering and acknowledging our Savior's birth. Christmas is all about Jesus. It's all about LOVE, and that's something to be always HAPPY about.
I found this video clip on YouTube and it made me miss the Philippines even more!
Here's a question for you, where do you live and how do Christmas celebrations go there? I'd love to read your Christmas stories! Please leave a comment below or send me a message through my CONTACT page. - CS
