Even the supermarkets can barely get a bit of bunting together. Their displays are like two christmas selection boxes and some dodgy stuff they found down the back of the warehouse.
The trees you do see are straggly mini mes with branches.
I think the economy has gone really bad or something.
I know a lot of Taiwanese are not too bothered with Christmas but if they don’t even seem to think there’s any point in shopping or spending things GOTTA be bad round here!
I, for one, appreciate not being bombarded with Christmas songs and carols everywhere I go. Now when they start playing that Chinese New Year gongxi gongxi gongxi music…that’s when I start to lose it.
Christmas is or should be a christian cellebration: it’s about Jesus sent by his father to be killed by Jews. It’s not that bullshit you see on TV shows or in Taiwan. Or in USA.
I come from a very Catholic family and I’m myself very agnostic. I think Christmas in TW is an offense and a profanation of something sacred. Fuck that Christmas bullshit.
Eh. My building plays Christmas carols continuously. Has since the Sunday after Thanksgiving. In fact, everywhere I go in Hsinchu I hear Christmas music, like nonstop.
I spent a few days last week in Malaysia, and even there I heard Christmas music nearly continuously. In fact, I was about 90km south of Kota Kinabalu, in a river’s-edge restaurant way out in the boonies that was stuffed to the gills with Christmas decorations. Nothing like eating dinner with your back to the river, a river croc captured by locals in a pen not 10m away, while being regaled by Bing Crosby’s White Christmas.
I thanked the people at the pet shop because instead of Christmas fare, they had this mix of Disney soundtracks, from A whole new world, to My favorite things. Quite cute, eclectic and certainly not a bore. And I am not a Disney fan.
Otherwise, it is the same songs everywhere you go, glaring, gritting, teeth and patience grinding same old carols. It is like Easter TV in the old country: has not changed in the last 50 years since they had the first channels there, and it gone beyond boring to annoying.
Worse: here in Taiwan you can’t escape whether it is Christmas carols or New Year song. In the old country at least now you have satellites and cable TV. Here, you have to go out eventually, step into a store or supermarket…doom awaits you.
Gives one a chance to remind one that there is something more to our lives than what is , that we could all perhaps at least work towards a better life by being a better person
Maybe put a little love into our relationship with others and try at least to be more like Jesus
And maybe see beyond our failings as most of us have not attained all that we desire
Maybe we actually want happiness but our desires lead us on the wrong path
We should view our lives in a better light by generating happiness within more and see more of the glass half full rather than the glass half empty
And besides I do like to humm along to some of the carols
Oh and some say Christ was born in October but they decided to celebrate in December in view of an existing celebration
Celebrating Christmas keeps in mind the Son of God
