Not So Much Like Christmas

This year doesn’t feel like Christmas. This is my third Christmas here and this one seems to be the least like a holiday- it just seems empty. So I have been thinking why, why do I feel this way-well, there’s no snow, the weather is more like early spring than late December; the ‘holiday spirit’ which is usually everywhere back home isn’t really in existence here; the week of Christmas was the busiest week ever and I pretty much just wanted to make it through it all to be able to rest and relax. Every event went well, and I enjoyed them, but I feel like I’ve been running a marathon for an entire week. My home is decorated, little tree up and decorated, and Christmas cards from past years all hung on my kitchen cabinets. Maybe it’s the factor- I haven’t heard from people back home- no cards yet, no packages from home, just a couple email greetings. When you don’t hear from people, the distance between you seems allthemore evident, the expanse is so far, and you know people didn’t forget about you, but that’s how you feel. I know that none of the fore mentioned is what Christmas is about, I guess it’s good to have everything else stripped away leaving you with just the core of Christmas- the miracle of Christ’s birth.