Dear Santa, I made you cookies, please come by!

Christmas is upon us, and until few days ago, the holiday season really hasn't phased me. I carried on with my everyday life and didn't think much of it. But these past few days, I've been missing the Christmas spirit.

Here in Cameroon, people do celebrate Christmas, but nothing is really different until Christmas Eve, every other day are just your ordinary days. The holiday exists, but the holiday season does not.

Definitely no Christmas markets here in Cameroon
Market in Bath, England 2006

People often complain about the commercialization of the holidays and the consumer frenzy that accompanies this time of the year. I was always pretty indifferent. I did like the Christmas trees, lights, music, etc. But from time to time, I did find it a bit obnoxious. This is my second year away from all of that, and while the first year was interesting, this year, I really miss it. I suppose it's that old saying of you don't know how good it is until you don't have it anymore.

In an attempt to recreate the holiday spirit, I waited til the nightfall and put on some Christmas music, and baked a batch of white chocolate chip cranberry cookies. I tell you, the Peace Corps has turned me into the perfect housewife! Now I just need some milk and maybe, just maybe, Santa will make a quick stop?

Turkey Day!

Happy belated Thanksgiving to all!

At the very last minute, a friend coaxed me into attending a Thanksgiving dinner hosted by other PCVs. If you didn't know this about me, I am a very lazy person, socially. People like me in a crowd because I just follow whatever plans someone has made, no real objections, ever. I'm the dream of every social control freak. However, this means when there is no one telling me what the plans are, I am perfectly content to stay home and read a book.

For this Thanksgiving, I was perfectly content to go hang out with my Chinese family until someone more or less said, "you are coming to Thanksgiving, it's at this place, show up."

And, per my compliant self, I did. Boy was it a good time!

Besides the subsitution of chickens for Turkey, I think that Thanksgiving might have been more "American" than ones I would've had back in the U.S. As you know, with my Chinese family, we always had to add some Chinese flavor to our Thanksgiving dinner. Thanks to someone's family's generous care package, at our dinner, we had the works - stove top stuffing, gravy, chicken, mashed potatoes, mac n cheese, green beans, pumpkin pie, pecan pie, brownies, etc. It was legit!

For me, Thanksgiving is one of those rare occasions where it is really nice to be with Americans. In some ways, Thanksgiving is almost like the "American Christmas". Most Western cultures celebrate Christmas, but only Americans celebrate Thanksgiving. And when it comes down to it, the two holidays are similar - it's about being with family, and lots of food! :) I almost prefer Thanksgiving because it doesn't involve the whole present fuss.

I've spent more Thanksgiving abroad in recent years, but there has always been a made-up Thanksgiving upon my return. Next July, there will surely be a Thanksgiving meal at the Lee household! Holidays abroad isn't always easy, and I've had to endure many of them. This is the price you pay for a life of a wandering globetrotter. On the upside, with the right people, these occasions often make memories that last a lifetime.