# 23 Christmas is coming
My relation with Christmas has evolved during my life. When I was a child, It was a celebration, an expected moment in the year. It was the day I received presents and the whole family got together. But years after years, I received less presents, made some presents because you know, Santa Claus… Well, I tried to be my own Santa Claus and It was not the same. I was maybe not the child with the most presents but I was not to be pitied. And when I was an adult, I made myself some presents. Sometimes I think it was a mistake, sometimes I think it was good. It's the same for the presents that I made to others....And now I have a very different opinion on all that. Buying just for the act of buying, to show that you can, that's what motivates some people. Not me, though.
I went to USA and Vietnam to spend the Christmas period. It was very different and very similar in the same time. Very similar because of the decorations everywhere in the streets and the families bringing their children to see all that in the big city. It was very similar because of adds and sponsors everywhere. I don't forget that Christmas is not a religious celebration anymore (and quite everybody in the world is celebrating Christmas without thinking to the birth of Jesus or the paganism around that) but a marketing day since Coca Cola has found Santa Claus with red and white. But it was very different because of the difference of money, of wealth...In Vietnam, every decoration was handmade or handcrafted during very long days, each flower, each light, each shape, with fabric, metal , wood. It gives the impression that everyone is participating, or everyone can do a little piece of the celebration. And the atmosphere was much more happy. Is it the fact that the country is younger, that the population is
younger ? Perhaps. Sometimes in Europe or in the USA, everything seems too serious, as a routine with the the Christmas tree, the same decorations as last year, the official opening of the Christmas market, the illuminations with the sponsors, the protocol...And it's a rush for the gifts, with everyone thinking more about ticking a box than the real pleasure behind it. I didn't see that too. It is first and foremost a celebration.
Christmas lunch is often a ceremonial occasion, and in France you know that food is sacred. So sacred that it seems always the same : foie gras, oysters, capon… not for me, of course. I have found vegan alternatives and we try to do different choices each year, sometimes a new try. After several years with chocolates or macarons from Ladurée or Pierre Hermé, we changed to go back to our own «chocolate dessert» or «Bûche glacée». More funny to do. And that's important for me to have fun during this period. OK, I like to see again some films, not especially Christmas TV movies that makes me laugh in the 3rd or 4th degrees. Classic movies, from «It's a wonderful life» to «Home Alone» 1 and 2...We saw it so many times but it's like a guilty pleasure.
One of my favorite lunch and celebration in my life was when we were far from home, during a travel in Vietnam. We were in a town that is not in the tourist guides, more than 100 000 inhabitants. We had found a restaurant, run by an old Australian woman, with many backpackers like us. We were from all over the world and everyone around a big table, like a family. Dishes were simple and I don't really remember that. But the atmosphere was fun, discussions too. And in the city, it was a good moment. Not many decoration compared with HCMC or Hanoi but enough to bring fun for everyone. There was a church, a big white church with many colors and garlands every where. During the night of Christmas, it was full of people. The priest invited us to join to everyone to celebrate with songs. I remember nativity scene with the traditional animals and baby Jesus. Maybe not the most beautiful in the world but with so much passion and fun, with families and children that it's a moment that I remember well more than 10 year
s after. And in the same time, Christmas celebration in the church around us are boring. It's as if everyone was remembering it's all fake, it's commercial and that Santa Claus is an invention. We are not children anymore and if we are, it's for a very selfish reason : I want my gift.
I don't remember at what age I knew that Santa Claus didn't exist. But it was not just fun because of the new games, of the gifts. It was hollidays with everyone playing together and something like a carefree atmosphere in the air. We didn't think to the new year coming soon and work, school, etc. It was much more like the summer vacations with nothing in mind that the present, and the joy to be together. Now the family is different, some died, other are in an hospital or a retirement home but we are trying to keep that fun in mind and not those commercial stuffs. I don't like the commercial atmosphere that we have now, we everyone going mad about stuffs they don't care. I put some lights in the garden (solar charging...) and that's all. We will do our christmas our way, our vegan way and trying to keep the child inside us.
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