Jen in China: An Expat Christmas

Since I’ve been living abroad for a while, I sometimes get asked about holidays abroad. Specifically, most people want to know about celebrating Christmas outside of the West. I’ve thought about this and the only thing I can come up with is this: Christmas in Asia is sorta like how your birthday is for other people. It’s a special day for you but, not really for anyone else.

See, on your birthday, you want to celebrate and do something fun. But, people still have to work, go to school, etc. So, you celebrate with your friends and family and the rest of the world gets on with their lives. Only a real narcissist would expect the world to stop for their birthday. After all, every day is somebody’s birthday.

Christmas in Asia is like this. You want to find something fun to do but, most of the people around you will be having a regular day. You might even have to work that day. So, you do your best and come up with something. It probably won’t be like what you did back home but, if you wanted everything to be just like back home, you should have stayed there.

This Christmas, I happen to be off from work. However, my students will still be at school. My Chinese co-teacher will just handle the English lesson for the day. My husband, however, will be working. So, our Christmas will have to be adjusted to accommodate his schedule. It’s not like back home but, it’s the norm for here.

Merry Christmas!