| CIR diary |
Christmas time in Japan for a foreigner 2011.12.7 Aurélie Noël
(from her November 2011 article in the Maiibaraki newspaper)
In many countries in the world, Christmas and New Years are very important
holidays. In France, people start to buy food, Christmas decorations and
of course presents during the three weeks before Christmas. To make things
simple, Christmas is everywhere. In Japan as well, Christmas is everywhere,
but in a different way. Some people would say Christmas in Japan is “commercial”,
but I think that Japanese people really appreciate Christmas. As a foreigner,
simply comparing Christmas in Japan and back home makes Japan’s Christmas
seem not as good because your family and friends are not with you. Living
abroad is full of experiences that remind you sometimes that you miss your
home country more than you expected. At the same time, being in Japan while
your family or best friends are sharing good times (parties, birthday,
Christmas, etc…) is also something that makes you stronger. Being able
to accept that life still goes on while you’re not there is something very
important and makes people more independent. Being stronger and independent
is really cool and a good life-lesson, but this year I decided to be a
little bit less “cool” and go back home for Christmas for the first time
in 3 years! I can’t wait to be there and realize how much I missed Christmas
in France! I can’t wait to be in France and then realize how much I miss
Japan as well! “Joyeux Noel” to everybody!
※this article was witten for the Maiibaraki newspaper