As I've said a time or twenty, it's hard to get into the Christmas spirit in the land where there is no Christmas. Thankfully, over the past few years it has gotten better.
Our first year, the only place in the entire city that you could find anything remotely Christmasy was IKEA. They had a tiny bit of junky stuff. As it was the only thing you could find, we bought it! The outdoor mall area attached to IKEA was the only place you could see any type of Christmas decorations. In fact, we took a picture in front of the big tree because we were so excited to see it!
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| My babies have grown up! |
Slowly and surely the West has crept in, and now you can find Christmasy things in lots of shopping malls and more Western parts of town. The big difference is that everything is for New Year's, not Christmas. However, most Muslims do not know the difference between Christmas and New Year's. Because the Western calendar is based on Jesus's birth (BC and AD) they have been taught that New Year's is the celebration of Christ's birth. Think about that for a second. The things that are broadcast in the media as New Year's celebrations- drunken revelry, car accidents, kissing at midnight, skimpy clothing- are thought to be the celebration of our Savior's birth!
It's sad!
We have this patient conversation with all of our friends and lots of other people during this time. There is a lot of explaining to do when it comes to setting the record straight between Christmas and New Year's.
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