i coulda been Santa
Korean Christmas seems pretty low-key, and i like it that way. i think i became a Christmas grinch when i stopped getting lots of presents at around the age of 14 or 15, or more precisely, when i started spending my own money to buy gifts.
i get caught up thinking a sell, sell, sell machine hi-jacks a month of the year instead of enjoying that month for what it could be, such as an excuse to buy the stuff i want and spending time with people i love. instead, i find myself moaning, buying stuff i DON'T want and sapping energy from parties i go to.
i enjoy seeking out presents for people, and this year was especially cool, doing so in markets of Seoul. it's when i buy something that ads say are perfect for my great-uncle Joe that i get disappointed in myself. that sense of effort and thought makes gift hunting a much more enjoyable endeavour.
i do like Christmas songs, but when i hear them everywhere i go for a month, continuously, it drives me insane. they're often associated with shopping rather than good cheer. a gratuitous display of this when i was in Dandong (China) in August, 2004. a big screen and speakers by the train station played 'Holy Night' (in English) as a backdrop to an ad for vacuum cleaners.
Koreans seem to think loop-playing Christmas songs in department stores and restaurants inspires holiday cheer. one restaurant i ate at had a collection of covers of 'Feliz Navidad (I wanna wish you a merry Christmas)', and played them back-to-back for 20 minutes! it was a favourite of mine until that very night, you may not be surprised to know.
on thursday, i was told that due to my weight, height and overall overallness, i'd be Santa at school on the friday. i spent thursday night fretting as i'm no fan of Santa crap. surely it's more magical to tell kids the toys they're recieving are due to people (parents or whoever) wanting them to play and enjoy life. using a mystical being, whom they'll never meet, to let kids know they're great and being themselves is awesome seems to reduce the importance of those they see every day.
when my Santa suit didn't arrive on friday, i was a little gutted. no Santa for the kids this year. that night, Fish (a teacher at another school) said he'd been Santa at his school and it was incredible. a little girl who didn't know him was mesmirised and wouldn't let go of his hand while she stared up at him with wide eyes and a gaping smile from ear to ear. when i heard that, i was pissed off the Santa suit HADN'T arrived and our school hadn't done anything special for the kids at Christmas!
so there you go, i really haven't got a clue what i think. i'd say it's a dualism. there's positives and negatives of offering kids a magical/mythical view of the world. having spent time with kids, i think they'd be able to apply that mesmirised condition to someone/thing real quite easily. they were mesmerised by me when i first arrived, so it doesn't take much (unless they know something i don't).
jeez, use a public toilet in a central Chinese city with a blonde mohawk on your head and you'll see grown men, women, or both, mesmerised in a similar way. maybe it's just that kids are allowed to be mesmerised and adults aren't.
mesmirised
i get caught up thinking a sell, sell, sell machine hi-jacks a month of the year instead of enjoying that month for what it could be, such as an excuse to buy the stuff i want and spending time with people i love. instead, i find myself moaning, buying stuff i DON'T want and sapping energy from parties i go to.
i enjoy seeking out presents for people, and this year was especially cool, doing so in markets of Seoul. it's when i buy something that ads say are perfect for my great-uncle Joe that i get disappointed in myself. that sense of effort and thought makes gift hunting a much more enjoyable endeavour.
i do like Christmas songs, but when i hear them everywhere i go for a month, continuously, it drives me insane. they're often associated with shopping rather than good cheer. a gratuitous display of this when i was in Dandong (China) in August, 2004. a big screen and speakers by the train station played 'Holy Night' (in English) as a backdrop to an ad for vacuum cleaners.
Koreans seem to think loop-playing Christmas songs in department stores and restaurants inspires holiday cheer. one restaurant i ate at had a collection of covers of 'Feliz Navidad (I wanna wish you a merry Christmas)', and played them back-to-back for 20 minutes! it was a favourite of mine until that very night, you may not be surprised to know.
on thursday, i was told that due to my weight, height and overall overallness, i'd be Santa at school on the friday. i spent thursday night fretting as i'm no fan of Santa crap. surely it's more magical to tell kids the toys they're recieving are due to people (parents or whoever) wanting them to play and enjoy life. using a mystical being, whom they'll never meet, to let kids know they're great and being themselves is awesome seems to reduce the importance of those they see every day.
when my Santa suit didn't arrive on friday, i was a little gutted. no Santa for the kids this year. that night, Fish (a teacher at another school) said he'd been Santa at his school and it was incredible. a little girl who didn't know him was mesmirised and wouldn't let go of his hand while she stared up at him with wide eyes and a gaping smile from ear to ear. when i heard that, i was pissed off the Santa suit HADN'T arrived and our school hadn't done anything special for the kids at Christmas!
so there you go, i really haven't got a clue what i think. i'd say it's a dualism. there's positives and negatives of offering kids a magical/mythical view of the world. having spent time with kids, i think they'd be able to apply that mesmirised condition to someone/thing real quite easily. they were mesmerised by me when i first arrived, so it doesn't take much (unless they know something i don't).
jeez, use a public toilet in a central Chinese city with a blonde mohawk on your head and you'll see grown men, women, or both, mesmerised in a similar way. maybe it's just that kids are allowed to be mesmerised and adults aren't.
mesmirised
posted by the Emperor Fabulous at 8:57 AM
1 Comments:
I was Santa once for family and the cousins were mesmerized, until one of them looked really close... wait a second! That's-- I put my hand over his mouth until he fainted to save the rest of the kids the trauma; at least until they're older.
Merry Xmas!
otto
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