Boxing Day reflections

Yesterday felt like a very normal Christmas to me. That is because it began in a very similar way to the Christmases I grew up with. We got up, ate breakfast and went to church. When we came home we had some Christmas cake (British-style home-made fruit cake) and then opened presents. 


Differences? 

• It was 1.5 degrees Celcius outside when we got up and hence we put on quite a lot of clothes before hopping on our bikes to ride to church. Note to self: buy better ear muffs to avoid frost bite.
• Riding to church was of course different. Who does that in Australia? 
• Church was at 9.15, not 8am like it was growing up. 
• Church was in Japanese, with carols that were familiar, but translated into Japanese.
• We ate a hot roast turkey dinner with home-made cranberry sauce. I cannot remember having a hot Christmas dinner as a child. Neither did we eat turkey or cranberry sauce.
• We spent time talking to family on Skype. Growing up we usually had a very nuclear family Christmas on Christmas Day. So Christmas here being "just us" isn't so strange to me. (Maybe that shouldn't be in a "differences" list?)
• Somehow I have more of a melancholic streak over Christmas than I ever had as a kid. Back then it was mostly pleasure. These days I usually have a mixture of feelings, including sadness and disappointment (and no, it isn't because some people continue to give me pink presents).
• Oh and of course I'm the mum now, not the kid. That means I get the pleasure of giving the presents and seeing their joy. I'm also the one who, at the end of the day, gets to make them stop playing, clean their teeth, and go to bed.

And today, Boxing Day (non Commonwealth readers see here for an explanation)? That feels strange. No cricket on TV, no travelling to see other family (a feature of Christmases since I've been married). And if I venture out to do some grocery shopping, I'll see it is a normal work day in Japan. All the Christmas decorations would be gone and Japanese New Year preparations are in full swing. No Boxing Day sales either (not that I usually patronise those, I hate shopping in crowds).

So I guess, in the absence of much else going on, I'll pull out a couple of projects that have been waiting on some spare time. A pair of pants to sew and a small-but-important cross-stitch to frame.