Christmas is on the way...
Finally finished my batch of Christmas cards and will be posting those in the morning. My wrist hurts a little. I'd forgotten what it's like to write with a pen...
Been insanely busy these past few days. Had a few assignments that needed working on and have my mum coming over to us on Monday so been preparing the house for her arrival. Also haven't really had that much to write about and have been feeling a little under the weather so I've been a little quiet on the LJ front.
Have received a few Christmas cards already and have them up in the living room along with all our Chrimbo decorations. Am looking forward to a nice and relatively quiet Christmas this year as it'll just be my mum, Sander and I, although we might see if we can find somewhere nice for Christmas Day lunch as we don't have an oven (not sure the microwave can handle a roast dinner). Have no idea what we'll do for New Year's Eve yet but we'll be checking to see if any of the expat bars in the city have anything going. Would be a little sad to celebrate it in our apartment so hopefully we can find somewhere to hang out and be around other people. :P
One thing I've found interesting this year has been the stamps on cards coming from the UK. They feature an Indian version of the Nativity scene! I thought this was great as it was quite pretty to look at but I'll bet it's caused a few complaints in the UK, particularly from the PC brigade. I can't believe they don't allow Nativity plays or Christmas decorations in schools and other places. While I know there's a sizeable non-Christian population, the UK *is* a Christian country and people should have the right to celebrate their own faith in their homeland. I'm not a very religious person but I'm sure there are many people who do that must feel that their faith is being shunned. I'm also equally sure that many minority communities are not offended by Christmas trees and the like. Just a case of PC gone mad, I think. People looking for problems when there aren't any...
In light of that, it is quite refreshing to see such a Christmas feeling in a non-Christian country like Taiwan. Christmas trees, decorations and, unfortunately, muzak can be found all over the place here in Xinzhu. It's a little odd really but it's quite nice to see the Taiwanese getting in the spirit of things, even if it is just the commercial side of it. Nothing beats the mall decorations in Hong Kong though...those malls were absolutely beautifully decorated, better than anything I've seen in the UK or anywhere else for that matter.
Well, time to think about heading to bed. It's way past my bedtime....again.
Been insanely busy these past few days. Had a few assignments that needed working on and have my mum coming over to us on Monday so been preparing the house for her arrival. Also haven't really had that much to write about and have been feeling a little under the weather so I've been a little quiet on the LJ front.
Have received a few Christmas cards already and have them up in the living room along with all our Chrimbo decorations. Am looking forward to a nice and relatively quiet Christmas this year as it'll just be my mum, Sander and I, although we might see if we can find somewhere nice for Christmas Day lunch as we don't have an oven (not sure the microwave can handle a roast dinner). Have no idea what we'll do for New Year's Eve yet but we'll be checking to see if any of the expat bars in the city have anything going. Would be a little sad to celebrate it in our apartment so hopefully we can find somewhere to hang out and be around other people. :P
One thing I've found interesting this year has been the stamps on cards coming from the UK. They feature an Indian version of the Nativity scene! I thought this was great as it was quite pretty to look at but I'll bet it's caused a few complaints in the UK, particularly from the PC brigade. I can't believe they don't allow Nativity plays or Christmas decorations in schools and other places. While I know there's a sizeable non-Christian population, the UK *is* a Christian country and people should have the right to celebrate their own faith in their homeland. I'm not a very religious person but I'm sure there are many people who do that must feel that their faith is being shunned. I'm also equally sure that many minority communities are not offended by Christmas trees and the like. Just a case of PC gone mad, I think. People looking for problems when there aren't any...
In light of that, it is quite refreshing to see such a Christmas feeling in a non-Christian country like Taiwan. Christmas trees, decorations and, unfortunately, muzak can be found all over the place here in Xinzhu. It's a little odd really but it's quite nice to see the Taiwanese getting in the spirit of things, even if it is just the commercial side of it. Nothing beats the mall decorations in Hong Kong though...those malls were absolutely beautifully decorated, better than anything I've seen in the UK or anywhere else for that matter.
Well, time to think about heading to bed. It's way past my bedtime....again.