So this is Christmas...

This morning I woke up and it was just another day. December 25th—nothing special, nothing happening.

I never thought I would say this but I'm missing Christmas. In America I was annoyed that Christmas music began playing earlier and earlier every year. (Mariah, I love you but all I want for Christmas is to never hear that song again.) The idea of kids going to sit on santa's lap creeps me out and the mad rush of people in the mall between thanksgiving and December 25th makes me insane.

But here there is none of that. And there are some things about Christmas I do miss. I miss my mom being "santa's elf", spreading Christmas spirit when she wears her Santa hat for the month of December. I miss seeing beautifully decorated trees in houses I visit, ornaments from the years their kids were in elementary school hanging as memories. I miss Christmas lights all over the streets lighting up the dark winter with something warm.

But alas, I moved to Israel and over 80% of the country could care less. December 25th is just another day here and so even the Jews aren't celebrating with their usual Chinese food and a movie. It's days like these that make me contemplate what my life will look like moving forward as an Israeli. Christmas was a wonderful part of my childhood (as an American and part of a mixed family) and I want my family to have a taste of that. So now comes the challenge of how will I do Christmas in Israel? I suppose I'll cross the bridge when I actually have a family to think about. But for now I'll miss Christmas.

Merry Christmas to my family and to everyone else in the world celebrating, religiously or not. I hope you all feel "the Christmas spirit".