Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas. Isn’t that how it works?
In my house, there have always been very season specific rules in the fall: Christmas only starts after Thanksgiving, preferably waiting until December 1st. Not until after the turkey has been digested can the Santa candles make their way into the living room; not until the fall leaves have officially fallen can the burgundy candles be replaced with green ones; and not until the pumpkins have molded can there be room to carry a tree up the patio and into the living room. There is no way around it, I have always been trained to wait, thus preserving the magical whirl of Christmas and cherishing it for 25 joyous days. However, it has come to my attention that in Europe, the Christmas bug bites long before Thanksgiving, because here, there is no such thing.
I found myself walking down Oxford Street in London, a hub of shoppers and commuters, and noticed that overhanging the streets were lights – the windows were filled with fans blowing about white snow – and the sale and clearance signs were already boasting “holiday steals.” This was even a few days before Halloween – and now that it is officially November, there is no turning back. Christmas has come, and no one is holding out for stuffing. Except when it comes to stockings.
So how can I be expected to be the lone dim star amidst a city of celebration? It is not easy, let me tell you. I anticipated that the absence of Thanksgiving would be an adjustment, but the folks on the BU program already made it clear that we would make our own feast and celebrate in the dorms. I did not, however, think that Christmas in turn would last for 2 entire months. As much as I would love to enjoy that, I have my mother’s voice ringing in my mind: the voice that told me “I don’t know where Frosty is” when I would beg her to watch it in July as a child. Some say deprivation, I say dedication.
What to do? Well, I will appreciate the look of London at Christmastime, even if it has come a bit early for my liking. I will be very tempted by the lights, the music, and the décor, but I am still rooted in my beliefs, and do not want to dispose of Thanksgiving: therefore, I will look, just look, until the 25th of November, and after that, it is Christmas ‘til I can no longer look at a jingle bell. Andwhat a treat it will be, with activities lined up such as Dickens’ house at Christmas, ice skating in Hyde Park, and going to the “Christmas World” section of the posh department store, Harrods. I’ll be going big before I fly home.I would say I was doing it for my mother, but I know that this experience has confirmed it for me: I have adopted this mindset, and will never let it go. But hurry up, Thanksgiving: I’m itching to go caroling.