On 1 Sept 2011 and 2012, my friend Mike from The Philippines, posted on his Facebook status, "Do you hear what I hear? Christmas carols ..." And suddenly I realised that September has come, even though my brain was still somewhere in August.
In The Philippines, the Christmas mood begins as soon as "It's '-ber' already". The names of the last 4 months of the year all end with the suffic "-ber" i.e. SeptemBER, OctoBER, NovemBER and DecemBER. So a few years ago, when my Filipina friend living in Vietnam said that her boys helped her put up the Christmas tree in mid-November, I commented that she wasn't "Pinoy" (Filipino term for Filipinos) enough because she was 2 months late!
As our world becomes increasing global, Christmas has become less and less religious and more and more commercial. Do Cambodians and Vietnamese really know where Christmas came from and why the stores are decorated with cotton wool and spray foam posing as snow? Why the name "CHRISTmas" anyway? Why exchange gifts and go Christmas shopping? Who is the fat man in a red suit (aka Santa Claus)?
Many questions which I am not going to answer because all this can be found by doing a Google search. What I do want to point out is that different countries around the world celebrate Christmas differently. Each of us has our own traditions and customs passed down from generation to generation. Each custom and tradition must be appreciated differently and celebrated with joy and laughter. Children love Christmas because of gifts. Do they know how different people celebrate it? Since Christmas is about giving, consider giving the gift of learning this Christmas. A book will be treasured for many years to come.
Find pretty picture books on cultures of the world for children here.
Happy Christmas shopping!
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