Job Discussion Forums

[Will.]

Hi Scot,
I believe the original was a team effort too and they couldn't agree either.....

I was wondering if we couldn't start a new version of greeting for this time of year.
I suggest we just say;


"Enjoy your days off school, work!" etc
"Happy days off!"
"Merry days off and a Happy New day off!"
"Best wishes and a happy day without work!"
"Wishing you the best, across the miles, on this your day off!"
"Happy Pig out day!"
"Enjoy your sit around and do nothing day!" ..... dangerous ground here.... for husbands only!!!!
And one from Those who pay for all this.
"You'd better enjoy your day off It cost you enough!"

Anyone care to add to the list?

[struelle]

I'm also a Christian and that's a big reason to celebrate Christmas. I agree with the posts about the commercialism taking away from the meaning, etc. Also I agree that it's silly for people in other cultures who normally don't celebrate this holiday to 'put on a show' for foreign guests (for example Wolf's story about turning down a Japanese Christmas party)

The gesture is nice for our hosts to offer, but culturally it just doesn't fit. For a non-Westerner to host such a holiday it is silly. It would be like me hosting a Ramadan fast for my Iranian friends in Canada, or hosting a Spring Festival for my Chinese friends. I can't claim to 'know' another culture so well as to *host* one of their customs!

Aside from all the traditional reasons to celebrate Christmas, this is my favorite time of year because it's a real, genuine *holiday*. That's right, time off to relax, and just enjoy life. After working hard in school and university, it was nice to end the term with 2 weeks of break. I totally forgot about school and work, and just enjoyed the holidays. Time with family and friends, lazy days sleeping in, trips to visit relatives, and more.

For that holiday it felt like the clock slowed down and people dropped their usual busyness to enjoy life.

In Shanghai at least, the clock never slows down. This time of year is especially difficult as people go about their work and school pressures, and the usual time of year for a break doesn't happen. Even during Spring Festival, it seldom feels like a holiday here. Maybe people enjoy life for one or two days, but even before the week is up, it's business as usual.

Steve

[george61]

Well, sorry about that, Roger.....I can understand not wanting to play Santa....everybody has different experiences, I guess. I get the opposite reaction...everybody wants to make sure I have a good time. I even get to play myself in a school play,at our forthcoming Xmas party..I can handle that!

[johnslat]

I'm back in the States for Christmas for the first time in many years.

Is there a lot of "commercialization" of the holiday/holyday?
There certainly is.
Does it bother me at all?
Nope.

The only thing that should matter is how YOU feel about Christmas. There's no way you can control or change what others do. Businesses and individuals are always going to use/abuse any significant event to make a buck. That's unfortunate but that's THEIR problem, not mine. And what they do doesn't affect how I feel or act in the slightest. Nobody can take what I think is "the spirit of the season" away from me. Just last night I was standing outside looking at the decorations so many people have already put up on and around their houses here. Sure, for at least some of them, it's an "ego thing": my Christmas display is bigger/better than yours. But I believe that for most, the true meaning of Christmas remains untarnished, despite all the hoopla. So "Bah, Humbug!" will never be my response - and it might not hurt to recall what transpired to the one (Scrooge) who originally uttered those words.
Regards,
John

[yaramaz]

I am happily agnostic, raised in a relaxed, vaguely buddhist/wiccan/ex anglican household. I like Christmas because I like the lights, the music, the food, the friends, the family, the decorations... it's a really lovely thing, at its best. I dont get stressed by the commercialism because I'm not sucked in by it. I just enjoy the pageantry.

Here in Turkey, well, it doesn't exist, and even though I've been here for a few Christmases, it still makes me feel like I'm missing out on something important. I get a 9 day holiday over the christmas week (2 weekends, 1 work week) and tend to jet off to a Christmassy place for my dose of whatever it is Christmas gives me. Happily, because Turkey is Muslim, cheap flights abound at this time of year because it isnt considered high season. Will be in Paris and London this year. Can't wait. I am dreaming of the lights twinkling and of christmas puddings bathed in brandy....mmmm

BTW, inexplicably, at my school, the Turks think of New Years Day as Christmas. For example, when I got back on the 29th from New York last year, they asked what I was going to do for Christmas. I thought they had made an error in tenses but no, they were referring to the 31st/1st....

[Lucy Snow]

Then there's the probably apocryphal story from Japan's bubble economy years. A department store manager in Tokyo told his assistants to put up a Christmas display at the entrance of the store. They came up with a crucifixtion scene. "No, no," said the manager, "Christmas is all about Santa Claus. Fix it!"

The next day, the assistants showed the manager the new display: Santa Claus nailed to a cross.

[biffinbridge]

Any excuse to 'large it' should be grasped with both hands and fully embraced.It's a bummer when you can't see your own kid though.

[dmb]

Biff, can you give directions to Bigshot's diner so I can 'large it' too after work on Xmas day

[Steiner]

I'm a Christian, too, so Christmas is an important holiday. I also like it. I sympathize with those who feel that it's too commercialized. I lost the lovin' feeling for Christmas the last couple years I was in the States. What usually happens is that I really get into the Christmas spirit at the beginning of October and listen to a lot of Christmas music so that by the time November rolls around I'm tired of it already. Then I have a little break, then December comes and Christmas is everywhere or at least people telling you what to buy for Christmas, and then by the 25th I'm back in the spirit. Here in China I like it all over again.

We keep telling the students that we're not having a big party at our house on the 25th, but they won't believe us. We'll disconnect the doorbell and put up a nice sign saying "We're celebrating Christmas. Peace to you and please leave us alone until tomorrow." Or something to that effect.

I don't necessarily like the commercial aspect that has so taken over the holiday in the West and I work to keep the spiritual and commercial sides of the holiday separate in my mind, but I understand people trying to make a buck out of Christmas, especially if they're not Christians. Why not profit from it if it's not a holy day to you?

Okay, on to the other reasons I love Christmas.
I love winter and the snow and the cold.
I love Christmas music. Most of it, anyway, especially if it was written 50 or more years ago.
I love Christmas movies and specials--"A Christmas Carol," "It's A Wonderful Life" (showing that one to our English Clubs right now), "A Christmas Story," "How the Grinch Stole Christmas," "A Charlie Brown Christmas." Okay, maybe it's succumbing to commercialism a bit but I still like it.
I love the traditions I grew up with--advent calendars, finding and cutting the perfect tree, Christmas cookies, getting together with family, decorating the house, eggnog, Christmas dinner, driving to my grandparents' house 4 hours away on Christmas morning.
I love the religious aspect (separate from the spiritual significance--I'm talking about the religious customs--the things we do). I love candlelight services and the Sundays of advent leading up to Christmas and reading the Christmas story before opening gifts, remembering just why there's all this hubbub in the first place and what it means now.
I love Christmas because it's when my wife and I fell in love.

Okay, enough! That's it. I debated between the first and second choices in the poll. I chose the first even though I like Thanksgiving almost as much as Christmas.

[Steiner]

Oh, and Lucy Snow, that's a funny story!