MCreates

I come from a country where Christmas starts in September. You will see malls and streets decorated with Christmas ornaments and hear Christmas songs playing on the radio. Hearing those songs and seeing those decors cheer us up. It brings that happy feeling. It makes me think of family. It brings me to that evening when we patiently and excitedly wait for midnight to eat that special food that my mother cooks only during such occasions.

I am often in charge of our Christmas menu. I would prepare my list from October and plan my day closer to Christmas to shop and prepare my ingredients. The food has to be something that we have not tried before or at least something different from the normal menudo and shanghai that we eat at family gatherings. I would often try food that takes time to prepare or cook. One time, we tried making the Greek Moussaka which took us the entire day to prepare. Other times just homemade gnocchi or stuffed roast chicken. Some were just experiments that turned out well, and some turned out to be a bit of a disaster. Still edible but not as appetizing as we anticipated.

Those were more than just food preparation but the rare moments that we cooked as a family. Normally, only my mother or brother cooks and they cook really well. Ah, I miss their cooking. Anyway, each of us is assigned a dish, and we all work together in the kitchen. Chaotic at times. We fight at times but at the end of the day, we just laugh about it and make up. Maybe out of fear that we won’t be getting our gift if we don’t make up before Christmas Eve. Or maybe we realize that there’s really no point fighting. We are supposed to be cooking for each other so why fight with the person that you’re supposed to be cooking for? That makes the effort worthless.

Married life brought me far from my family and though I am happy where I am, there are times when those moments flashes and I begin to miss them. The anticipation and the excitement of the season is different in another country. I guess nothing really beats Christmas in the Philippines – the vibe is just everywhere which we don’t get in other countries.

This is my second Christmas away from home and though it’s not the same, I try to bring family traditions into my new home. My husband has been supportive though I know that he is not a fan of celebrations. Two different cultures and views, but he always tells me that he will do whatever makes me happy, and he does, most of the time, or at least he tries. They don’t celebrate Christmas Eve here like we do in the Philippines. Not a lot of houses are decorated with Christmas lights and I don’t hear Christmas songs played anywhere. It is like Christmas is just another holiday that we remember. We do have lunch with his family on Christmas day and it’s always nice. His family has always been warm and I know they also love me, but I hope we can celebrate Christmas at home soon, but for now, we can start making our own traditions.