Another great aspect about not being in the U.S., especially this time of year, is not being forced to endure a holiday I don't celebrate: Christmas.
When I was a child, even though Jewish, I always loved the holiday season. This included Christmas. (This was probably spurned on by the fact that my father, who was raised an Orthodox Jew, would take me to see Santa Claus.) Stores would be decorated, fake snowflakes would hang from ceilings or be stuck to windows, we'd make decorations for the holiday in school, Christmas music (how many songs are there??) would play on the radio and in stores, and the Salvation Army bell ringer would be stationed in front of stores - the only Christmas tradition which is truly American.
Now, Christmas in America is much, much more commercialized and much more so than in other countries. You haven't experienced commercialization until you've experienced an American Christmas. But don't go to the U.S. in December for it - you'll have to arrive in September to get the whole picture. For 4 months, from September until December 26th, I'm forced to see and listen to a holiday which isn't even in my religion. Chanukah is ignored. Kwanzaa is ignored. And so are the Muslims, the Buddhists, the Hindus and every other religion/faith which exists. Without even knowing if you're a practicing Christian, the cashier will say to you, "Merry Christmas". Without caring about the sanity of employees and regular non-holiday shoppers, store owners and CEOs require Christmas music to be played in their stores from the middle of November until the end of Christmas day. (If you think this isn't something to complain about, try listening to your favorite songs for 6 weeks, 8 hours a day.) Buy, buy, buy is the message and the CEOs, the banks and your credit card companies don't care how much debt you put yourself into while being brainwashed to believe that you need, not want. (In fact, there are so many people disgusted by what Christmas has become, that there's an unofficial holiday called, "Buy Nothing Day". You can read more about it here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buy_Nothing_Day) And thus, every Christmas season which I'm not in the U.S., I cherish.
A couple of weeks ago, during the last week of November, Christmas began to visually appear in Bien Hoa. Earlier than Europe, which surprised me. Because the majority of people here aren't Christians, it's been a subtle arrival. I've seen a few businesses (including my school) put up a decorated tree, hang Merry Christmas signs, decorate windows with snowflakes (do they know that in 30 degree weather and high humidity, it doesn't really make me feel any more wintery?) and now that we're in December, the supermarkets have brought out the trees, decorations and special Santa Claus suites. Today, while shopping in a supermarket, Christmas music played (but only from a floor speaker - the rest of the store had it's normal music). It was nice. I was even singing along to the song. It's nice to remember how Christmas used to be... and should be.
