Annual Holiday Hang-Ups Have Begun

What is it about Christians that makes them want to suck the fun out of everything?

The Thanksgiving leftovers are barely in the fridge and more than one of my theologically educated friends have already self-righteously declared that one mustn't celebrate Christmas until December 25. Or is it December 24? In case you are about to let me know which of these it is, let me assure you with utmost emphasis, that I don't care.

This is arguably the most celebrated time of year. Families gather, houses are festively decorated, we bring out our favorite traditional recipes, and we give each other gifts to express our love. 

We should be attending parties and enjoying concerts and watching TV specials. So why are so many determined to stamp the fun out of the holidays by shoving their particular hang-ups down everyone else's throat?

The one that is particularly bothering me this year is the idea from religiously correct, Christian purists that we shouldn't enjoy Christmas until it is officially, liturgically Christmas - that is, until tradition says Baby Jesus is actually born. Up until then, it's only Advent, a time of expectation and waiting. God forbid we should enjoy a little Christmas caroling or set up our manger set too early.

Don't worry, the hangups of past years continue to bother me. There are many other ways people are determined to take the joy out of the holidays this year as well:

- The war on Christmas. Whether you say an innocent "Merry Christmas" to a coworker or wish your neighbor a casual, "Happy Holidays," it's the same as declaring whether you vote Republican or Democrat. I'd prefer not to be attacked for they way I sincerely wish a fellow human being a happy season. Can we just express friendly tidings to each other without getting into a "war" about it?

- Don't take the Christ out of Christmas. The people who make this plea are particularly galling. Whether you like it or not, there is a lot more to the holiday season than the traditional story of the birth of Christ.  Winter Solstice celebrations long predate Christmas. It's the darkest time of the year and we need something to lighten things up. If someone wants to go to the holiday parade and decorate a tree, drink eggnog, or take their kid to see Santa at the mall, why isn't that ok? If you want to go to Christmas mass and worship Baby Jesus and all that stuff, by all means go ahead and do so. But leave everyone else alone. I believe the story of Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer has moral relevance even though it isn't from the Bible. What is it about Christians that makes them want to suck the fun out of everything?

- Christmas is too commercial. Yes, yes, yes, this complaint is as old as Christmas itself. Can I make a suggestion? Get over it. That is something which is simply not going to change. If the commercialism bothers you, don't participate in it. If gift giving is too much of a greed-fest for you, give non-commercialized gifts such as donations to a charity, or give time to a cause that's important to you. Your loved ones will appreciate the effort to help others, and they don't have to lug a bunch of junk home that they may not really want.

I realize my rantings are very Christmas/Christian centered. That's because I'm a Christian (who happens to enjoy secular Christmas as well). I'm perfectly ok with it if you disagree with me or have a different point of view, or would rather talk about Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, New Years, or another holiday. Celebrate this season however you want. I plan to do the same. I'll leave you alone if you will do me the same courtesy. Just don't suck all the fun out of my December because of your hang ups.

PostBlog: Taking in Tokyo

The biggest metropolitan area in the world at 40 million people is amazing and exhausting. I can't write anything coherent today, so I'm resorting to some random observations in no particular order.

• Tokyo is huge. Huge. No kidding. This is a big city.
• There is no "Tokyo skyline." There are several of them. They are scattered all over the endless 360 degree horizon. Tokyo is sprawling.
• This is an old city. It was not built on a grid. There is no logic to the way the streets are organized. If you were given an address, I don't know how you'd find it.
• Subways: there are at least two separate but overlapping subway systems and never do the two meet. When I tried to use a ticket for one on the other one, I was quickly corrected by a very helpful transit official.
• I was nervous about the language barrier. Unlike other places I've visited, I can't even sound out the words on signs. I needn't have worried. Without understanding a word, a lady who saw us undecided which train to take pointed out the nearby tourist information center. Without saying anything but the place we wanted to go, a police officer showed us on a map how to get there. The officious subway official smiled as he took the correct amount of money out of my hand when I struggled with a mess of unfamiliar currency. An older woman on a crowded subway car pointed with concern at my foot. I looked down and my shoestring was untied. A younger woman traded seats with me so I could sit by Clyde on the crowded train. What language barrier?
• You think Londoners like lining up? They have nothing on the Japanese. Everywhere else in the world, boarding a subway is a free for all. In Tokyo, hundreds of people line up single file, even at rush hour, and wait their turn.
• No one jaywalks here. It doesn't matter if there is any traffic. You do not cross the street until the signal indicates that you may do so. 
• There are very few fat people in Tokyo. 
• Most people talk quietly here. For a huge city, it's a very quiet place. The loudest people in Tokyo are either American or Australian. You can tell the second they open their stupid mouths. 
• Back to the subway - we spent a lot of time on the subway. No one talks on the subway, and if they do, they do it quietly. It is considered very rude to talk on your phone in public, especially on the subway. Everyone, however, is using their phones for other things like texting or playing games. Quietly.
• Lest you think I'm idealizing Tokyo, let me share another observation. I watched a "salary man" eat his lunch today. We were also eating lunch so it wasn't too weird. He looked like he was in his 20s, wore a business suit like millions of others, and he looked absolutely exhausted. There are hundreds and hundreds of these men. They are everywhere. They all wear the same suit. I like the quiet, but I'm a little uncomfortable with the conformity. I hear that these men often work from 8:00 in the morning until 11:00 at night, miss the last train home, and start all over the next day.  How many of those guys are miserable their whole lives? And yes, it's men. Japanese women have other problems. 

Tomorrow we leave the city to see another part of Japan. Tune in next time for another PostBlog from Asia.

On Pushy Mainlanders and Other Random Notes from Hong Kong

• I love the J.W. Marriott in Hong Kong. We could stay in the hotel and have a perfectly lovely vacation without ever going out. Just be careful to follow the rules. We got in trouble once for not taking our shoes off before putting our feet up on the folding recliners by the pool.
• The passion fruit tea at Starbucks tastes the same here, but instead of an iced tea, it's more of a crushed ice smoothie. I'm going to suggest it to the Starbucks at home.
• We've eaten at two French restaurants on this trip to Hong Kong. 
• Food figures prominently in these bullet points.
• There are a lot of "pointers" in Hong Kong that we didn't notice before. These are people who, no matter where you are, politely point where you should go. The museum was full of them. Though the next exhibit was clearly marked, a person in a uniform would be standing there pointing to it. When we bought our octopus cards in the subway station (the card that allows you to use transit), we encountered an official pointer. As we came to the front of the line, she pointed to the counter so we'd know when and where to go though it couldn't have been more obvious. Clyde and I theorized that this may be a response to all the mainlanders. Which brings me to the next bullet.
• Chinese mainlanders have a reputation for being pushy and rude. Hong Kongers are especially annoyed at their bad manners. Clyde and I have noticed it in other places as well, such as in Yellowstone National Park and at the Louvre museum in  Paris. Busloads of Chinese descend en mass. They talk loudly no matter where they are. They sometimes cut in line. Occasionally they're just clueless. I'll never forget the Chinese lady who took a picture of a picture of the Mona Lisa. Though it was in the next room, she took a photo of the directions to the real thing. Perhaps a pointer would have been helpful. I've heard one theory by way of explanation. It might be that the Chinese were so isolated and broken down by the cultural revolution, that the entire population never traveled or saw the rest of the world. A couple of generations went by where survival was the only goal. No one visited museums or national parks. Now they have the money and freedom to go to places, but having money doesn't automatically mean you know social etiquette. 
• The best thing about the J.W. Marriott in Hong Kong is the breakfast buffet. They're usually good at Marriotts, but this one is over the top. Everything from traditional Chinese noodles and dumplings (see photo below) to fresh pastries, salmon, fruit, French toast, omelettes to order, and everything else you could possibly want. Yes, I even found the "frosties flakes."





• Clyde is very good at spotting the difference between local Hong Kongers and mainlanders. Of course, he can hear the difference between Cantonese, the language of Hong Kong, and Mandarin, what most mainlanders speak. My husband is very smart. (In case you haven't noticed, I didn't bother to put these in any particular order.)
• The coffee at the J.W. Marriott is the best in the world. I don't know why. It just is. Last time we were here we asked what they use and they told us it was Starbucks Pikes blend. So we started using it at home. But it's not the same. I don't know what they do to it here, but it's so smooth, rich, dark, and non-bitter at the same time. It's almost worth the entire visit. 
• This blog is brought to you by J.W. Marriott (just kidding - I wish). 
• Hotel sex is always better. I don't know why. It just is.
• There are some large shopping malls here in Hong Kong. You'd think a vertical city with no extra room wouldn't have malls, which we Americans associate with vast parking lots and suburban sprawl. There are, however, large, multi-level malls with giant atriums in Hong Kong, complete with nice restaurants and gigantic Christmas  decorations hanging from the ceiling. They are underground. They often connect one subway line to another. We're talking high end stuff too, like Versace and  Yves Saint Laurent - not a Walmart or Sears in sight.
• Speaking of Christmas, they advertise for it here, complete with snow scenes and reindeer. It's odd to see kids throwing snowballs and sledding on a billboard in a place where I'm sure most people never see snow.
• The subway is great: clean, modern, fast ... I love a good subway.
• Tomorrow we are off to Japan for a quick visit. Stay tuned.

Another PostBlog from Hong Kong

From the formation of the earth to the People's Republic taking control of a chaotic British ward, Hong Kong has a rich and varied history.

Today was educational. We took the Star Ferry across Victoria Harbor to go to the Hong Kong Museum of History.

The most interesting thing that I'd never known anything about was the Japanese occupation during World War II.

It's no secret that Japan invaded China and subjected its people to the most terrible occupation. Hong Kong was no exception. Britain put up a fight but was no match for the formidable Japanese who attacked on December 8, 1941, the day after Pearl Harbor.

Not only did the people of Hong Kong suffer the humiliation of being occupied, they were subject to conditions which resulted in shortages, dissolution of institutions like the educational system, cholera, and starvation.

While the Brits seemed like the good guys at that point, it wasn't always so. The way they got Hong Kong in the first place is arguably as disgraceful and underhanded as probably anything they ever did during their sketchy empirical past. Basically, the Chinese wouldn't do international trade with Britain, so those wily Brits flooded the area with opium, getting the population so addicted that the locals would agree to anything.

On a side note, because it was a weekday, we were surrounded by school groups. Most of the children looked to be in kindergarten or first grade. Clyde pointed out in contrast to what you might see at home, the adults supervising these groups weren't engaged in crisis management, yelling at the kids to pay attention or stay together. They were, instead, interacting with the children about the exhibits. All of the children were writing on worksheets presumably answering questions about what they were seeing. And though there were hundreds of them, I at no point felt stressed or inconvenienced by their presence. In fact, they were just cute as could be.

So back to the exhibits ...

Fortunately, according to the museum, Hong Kong is no longer ruled by Britain. You see, during the second half of the 20th century, after WWII, Hong Kong was a chaotic place of floods, fires, and riots. Thanks to the wise negotiations of the People's leaders with the rulers of the UK, Hong Kong was ceded back to China in 1997.  The very last exhibit in the museum is a movie describing all of this, ending with a great show of celebratory fireworks.

I had no quibble with any of the history presented up through WWII. In fact, it reminded me of how much I don't know about the world. Even the point of view describing the post war years was important to see. This is why it's important to travel. Seeing first hand how others see the world, learning what they value, and learning what they're taught, helps us understand each other better. When you get right down to it, it's harder to go to war  (or justify a stupid, unnecessary, counterproductive trade war, which yes, is affecting Hong Kong) with people that you've met in person.

Post Blog from Hong Kong

Today we took the subway out to Tung Chung, on an island out in the boonies, basically in the South China Sea. From the town center, we took a bus up to one of the largest Buddas in the world, the Tian Tan Budda at the Po Lin monastery. To be accurate, the bus took us nearly to the top of a mountain. We had to climb approximately 1 million steps to get to the actual Budda.

The Budda itself is very spiritual and very ancient, having been constructed in the late 20th century - 1990-1993 to be exact.

Although I suffered terrible motion sickness, the bus trip up was interesting. I always thought of Hong Kong as just this big city. But there's a rural part too - complete with water buffalo hanging out. And cattle of course. Free ranging it on the road. There are signs that say, "Don't feed the animals."

The mountains are lush and beautiful. There are houses, not particularly fancy, with large gardens and I imagine they have something to do with the cattle. I wanted to take pictures of the scenery but the bus (and on the way down, the taxi) was going too fast - and I was concentrating on not tossing my cookies.

This is my second trip to Hong Kong. Clyde has been here many times. It's a a hard working city. It's truly one of a kind, world class in the truest sense. It's one those cities I want to require provincial New Yorkers to visit when they act like New York is the only city in the world. I remember how small Denver seemed after my last trip here. Imagine the organization and engineering it takes to cram 7 million people on this little island much of which, by the way, is made up of mountains to steep to build on.

I wonder what the future will be like here as the People's Republic continues to gradually tighten the noose. Can I write that? "Someone" is probably reading this. No joke. I've heard that no one, not even tourists, can take privacy for granted anymore.

It has occurred to me that the British turned Hong Kong over to the People's Republic in 1997. That was 21 years ago. The agreement was that they'd let Hong Kong remain autonomous for 50 years. We're almost half way there already.

As the subway made an appearance above ground, we passed one of the largest ports in the world. Noting thousands of of those freight containers that they pile onto those large container ships, I couldn't help but wonder: is our new washer over there? It's supposed to be delivered in December.

Random Thoughts on Travel to Hong Kong

• Time is a fluid concept. We had breakfast on the plane (it was Central Time on board I guess) and an hour later we were on the ground at 7:30 p.m. local time. I asked Clyde about dinner, naturally.
• The Arctic Ocean. It's the only way Chicago could conceivably be on the way to Hong Kong. San Francisco seems like it's on the way to Hong Kong but not Chicago. United Airlines had suggested we change our connection from San Francisco to avoid delays due to the terrible California wildfires. So instead of flying over the Pacific Ocean, we flew over the Arctic Ocean. And by going through Chicago, we actually got there an hour earlier. It makes my head spin.
• Hong Kong is a tiny little city by Chinese standards. A mere 7 million inhabitants, it is dwarfed by many other Chinese cities that are home to 25 to 40 million. 
• The Arctic for a second bullet point. Does anyone else think it's mind blowing to be  going on a flight that goes inside the Arctic Circle? I understand in my head that the Earth is round and this is the most direct route. But my mind still can't quite grasp it. 
• It is yesterday at home. 
• In the taxi from the airport train to the hotel, I freaked a little because the driver drove on the left side of the road. I'd temporarily forgotten that in this former British colony, people drive on the left. I thought for sure we were going to crash into oncoming traffic.
• Back to the Arctic, people aren't meant to travel so far north. It isn't natural. Nor is it natural to fly at 30,000 feet. The only natural way to go to China is to travel for several months on foot to the ocean, the Pacific Ocean, take a ship for several more months, and never return. It only took us 15 hours to get here from Chicago. And that's a long travel day by 21st century standards.
• 18th century pioneers went great distances and never returned, but they also never had to make a connection at O'Hare.

The Best and the Worst of the US of A

If you want to see America at our best and at our worst, go to Costco.

Clyde got a household membership through work so he took advantage.

"Do you want to go on Saturday?" he asked.

"Let's go before lunch," I said naively, "we have to meet L___ at 11:00 so why don't we leave here at 9:30."

Now I always allow for way too much time. We both realized that we would be puttering around the store for a whole hour if we did that, so we agreed to leave at 10:00. 30 minutes would be plenty of time to see what this new store was all about.

We couldn't have been more wrong. 30 minutes didn't even cover the food section. If you've never been to Costco before, allow a good two hours to get acquainted. The new member orientation takes 15 minutes, and that's just to get your card with photo ID and to understand all the benefits and discounts.

USA: land of abundance, where there is plenty of everything, much of it affordable and available immediately. At Costco, you can buy a pretty good apple pie and a new washing machine in the same trip.

I'll never forget years ago when a friend visited from Eastern Europe. I had no idea what he'd want to eat, so I waited until he arrived and we went to the supermarket together. His reaction to King Soopers was one of amazement. First of all, it was huge. Not only were there millions of products, but several brands of each product to choose from. In his country, there might be one brand of everything, if it was there at all. And I was worried about how to entertain this guy.

USA: land of unfettered waste and addictive consumerism. We take convenience and immediate gratification so for granted that we're angry when we don't get it.

I recently ordered a washer through another big box retailer and found out I'd have to wait nearly two months for the exact model we wanted. I was livid. When I stop to think about it now, I realize that it's an unusual model that fits in our weird kitchen.  They don't sell that many. It's probably shipped from China on one of those gigantic container ships. It's amazing that it only takes two months.

We completely disregard the resources used and the people whose labor it takes to get those products here. Our biggest worry is where to park the Range Rover on Saturday morning because have you seen that Costco parking lot? I give little thought to where that apple pie is made, where the apples come from, who trucks it in. 

At Costco four pounds of chicken costs the same as one pound at King Soopers. Granted, at King Soopers, I buy the free range organic kind. At Costco, I am so blinded by low prices, I temporarily forget about my free range organic principles.

For all our worldliness, Clyde and I are about as American as you can get. Now we go to Costco. Is a Range Rover in our future? I don't think so. You have to draw the line somewhere.