Things I love and hate about the Christmas holidays

Christmas is almost here. Two more sleeps and it will be the magical day when dreams come true, for kids that is. For the most part of us, it's the day we open presents and enjoy time with family.
My family never really celebrated in big during the holiday season. The most we did was having a big dinner (and by big dinner I mean extra two plates of food than normal, most of the times involving roasted duck) and putting up a few Christmas lights on the window.  Some years they give me presents. Some years they don't. We never really had a lot of family members enough to have a get together, and the very few we had, they probably have other plans. Plus, Chinese people don't really celebrate Christmas, generally speaking.

The other day me and Jacob drove around a very rich residential area, predominantly white people. Most houses had tons of decorations and a pair had crazy light decorations. Driving through the area I live in, which is predomingly Chinese, there are only one or two houses with Christmas lights, and they weren't even that impressive.
When I have my own house, I would pretty much like to fill it with Christmas decorations. Lots of lights, reindeers, snowmans, and a big Christmas tree.

I have a love/hate relationship with Christmas. There are few things I like, and a few things I don't like. Here is my list:

Things I like about Christmas:
1. Baking!! From cupcakes, to cookies, to cakepops, cakes, etc.

2. Presents!! I just like the feeling when someone buys something for me. It's a nice feeling.

3. Candy canes. The first thing I think about when I hear the word 'Christmas'

4. Family gatherings. For the rest of the year, people are so busy with their lives that they barely have time for the family. I like when families gather together to spend quality time. I especially like when I go to Jacob's family gatherings because they are so heart-warming and so nice. So many people, so much joy, so much food. I never really had that growing up.

5. Decorations. I like driving around to look at house light decorations at night. Some people get really creative. I love lights. I also enjoy mall decorations, when they have big trees, santa's workshop, Christmas tree balls hanging around, and Christmas songs everywhere. Everything is so colourful and jolly.

Things I don't like about Christmas:
1. People rush. Places get too crowded, lines ups eveywhere that take forever, people running around everywhere, things get sold out....just too many people. I don't even want to think about Boxing Day.

2. Cold. I don't like going to many different places in the cold. Once you get to a mall, for example, it gets too warm, then you have to carry all your sweaters, jackets, scarves, mittens.... The worst right now is the cold rain, cuz apparently it's not even cold enough to snow.

3. No snow. I don't like snow, but I don't like that this year we are getting a green Christmas. I just want it to snow for one day. That means, for me, that winter is gonna last longer next year =/

4. Business run slower. Everyone is excited for the holidays, and that means that people are starting to slack on their jobs. Things take longer to process and people aren't really thrilled to do their jobs. I have been waiting for my paycheque in my mail for over a month. Their excuse: it's the holidays, mails are going to take longer to arrive. *facepalm* So that's that, I won't get my pay until after Christmas.

What are some of the things you like and don't like about Christmas?

 

Christmas baking and decorating with Jacob