November came and I did not feel like Christmas at all. You would be amazed what decorations and songs in the mall will do for your holiday spirit. But I waited and soon enough our little mini mall near the house was decorated for the expat community that does celebrate Christmas. I was so appreciative. As much as we all grump about how the machine of capitalism pushes us each year to shop earlier and decorate before Thanksgiving, I missed it. We don't get the bombardment of ads like in the states that drive you nuts. I too used to complain when I was there but when we didn't have the ads, I kind of felt I had to remind myself that Christmas was coming. When I saw that decorations were going up in the city, I smiled and was pretty happy. Yes, they are not high end, classy decorations but the Chinese are kind to do this when a huge majority of them are not Christian and do not celebrate Christmas. The gold and black gift wrapped gifts going up the side of the building did make me laugh but I can't say enough how much I appreciate the effort made. The Santa inside the mall is made of sculpted styrofoam but we all get the idea, don't we? I did hear Christmas songs in the stores too from time to time. Christmas in Dallas was wonderful! We celebrated with friends and family and having this new perspective made me that much more grateful. Happy New Year to you all.
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