• packed malls full of neurotic parents
• eating dinner after dinner of turkey and tryptophan
• Christmas CDs on infinite repeat
• bitter winter weather with -20C windchill

And I propose one more: Christmas cantatas and the pain of out-of-tune choruses.

So this past Sunday I went to People’s Church to watch their Christmas concert. Dread. That’s all I felt leading up to it. And a bit of sleepiness. To my surprise it was thoroughly entertaining. A bit slow at parts, but fun. It wasn’t just singing (yawn), but they did choreographed dance along with a full live band. Too bad something like this would be too “revolutionary” in our Chinese church circles. I think the grannies and gramps would have heart attacks.

I’m just looking into the realm of possibilities. It’s still a ways away, but maybe I won’t sleep at my next Christmas concert when I return home.

This week has been so much about birthdays and birthday celebrations. Of course, part of that is because of mine and now Joeie’s. But November is the birthday month. I’m not biased: just off the top of my head I count twelve. And that’s from a relatively small circle of friends and acquaintances. I blame whomever that Valentine guy is (or according to Wikipedia, numerous Valentines). Funny thing is that most non-November babies don’t realize: February 14 + 9 months = November! We joke about Valentine’s Day conceptions, and it’s likely exactly true.

So November is now super packed with dinners and parties for either my birthday or hers. I should have planned ahead because the week before I had sushi buffet (excellent), Korean BBQ (too much food), and prime rib steak. So having birthdays back-to-back is going to be hectic each year. But it’ll also be a super fun week of just having a good time!

Unfortunately, anybody having a birthday in these two weeks doesn’t get much time to even say “Happy Birthday” to themselves. First, you don’t have any say in when you pop out of the womb. And second, you don’t have any more say in when exams are scheduled. I pity some friends who’ve received exams as birthday presents.

So Joeie: Happy Birthday. Just remember that your birthday present from York is Christmas break starting on Tuesday. And also all things pretty and shiny!