Mr Xmas

Some of you have asked for details on what life is like over here in Taiwan. I’ve tried to fill in some blanks but everyday I wonder around this new home of mine and realise it’s the little inconsequential day to day things that make it really interesting so I decided to begin emailing my reflections. If you are not interested in receiving these, please let me know and I will be in no way offended...I’m just not sure who exactly would enjoy these. So... here goes...

When we first arrived here on 30 August, the air conditioners were never turned off. It continued that way until the last week of October and then they were intermittently used until early November. All of a sudden it turned cold. No Autumn...just Winter. Having said that, Winter isn’t so straight forward. Some days I’m shopping for puffy jackets and woollen undergarments to keep Xander and I warm then some days we’re in shorts and singlets. We literally have to walk out to our veranda each morning to work out what to wear that day!

Most days I draw back the bedroom curtains to receive the daily weather announcement...grey and polluted or crisp, clear and blue? Thankfully Winter is bringing more of the latter.

As Christmas draws near my focus is on the enormous, yet unexpected presence of this seasonal celebration. When I moved here to this heavily Buddhist country I expected the word ‘Christmas’ to draw blank looks from people. To my surprise, it is everywhere. It’s taken me three months to realise that whilst Buddhism might be the dominant spiritual path, Commercialism is the dominant religion and the Taiwanese are cashing in on this holiday season! One block away from us is the phenomenon known as ‘Mr Xmas’ - see photos attached. This store is open all year round and none of us expats can figure out how that works exactly. How does one base an entire business on a holiday celebrated once a year???? In true Asia style though, weeks before Christmas arrives, a healthy competitor has opened up...not in another suburb or even around the corner...but directly across the road. A bit unfair I think...he’s not toughing out the whole January – November downtime! But it wouldn’t be Asia if all the same businesses weren’t bunched up in the one place. Anyway, I had no idea how incredibly wide and varied Christmas trees could be until I found Mr Xmas. There are pink ones, green ones, blue ones, purple ones, black ones and white ones and they all look FABULOUS! My personal favourite (and I’ve been trying to convince Mick to buy this for our veranda) is the set of heavily lit up three coconut palm trees (you can just see them poking out above the others in the slightly blurry photo I took).

Meanwhile, we still have our 12 inch high tree from last year (that Mick bought to brighten our home when I was being bah humbug about the whole thing...thanks honey J) and we love it.

Happy silly season!


Sabrina
http://www.life-coach.net.au