"O Tannenbaum" is not a Channukah Song

Though my holiday spirit will be arriving a little late, I am listening to some Vince Guaraldi Trio to rekindle the sentiment. My sister is visiting me at the moment, so I will keep this brief. We are preparing for our flight to Shanghai, where we will spend the New Year's weekend.

A few weeks prior to Christmas, my coworkers asked if I was going to do anything special. I told them that I did not (and do not) celebrate Christmas--that I am Jewish. They seemed to understand as we had a conversation lasting a few minutes.

To my surprise (initially), two weeks later my coworkers bought me Christmas presents and had encouraged my students to write me Christmas cards. Upon reflection though, this misunderstanding or flagrant disregard for what I had previously conveyed are both entirely feasible scenarios--neither of which are in the least surprising.

I believe that Chinese people believe that "Christmas" may be an American holiday instead of a Christian one. I have also heard from some Chinese people that "Christmas" is a celebration of individuality. I am not 100% on how those dots connect, but it is an interesting interpretation. And the interpretation arises from Chinese school textbooks--in which there is an annual unit dedicated to "Christmas" and "Christmas" vocabulary. Maybe one-in-a-hundred Chinese people could explain a link between "Christmas" and Jesus. They celebrate "Christmas," not Christmas.

Anyways, I learned a lot about "Christmas" this year. It involves a lot of tinsel, few traditional foods, and a lot of Wham!. I loathe Wham!--though not George Michael. On this note, Wham! now makes it onto the short list of Chinese obsessions that irk me: Stinky Tofu, Durian, and Wham!.

I will stop "scrooging" on "Christmas." Here are some varieties of "Christmas" cards and gifts:

If you're into formality, mystery, and wizardry...

R-E-G-R-E-T, find out what it means to me.

I have been thinking a lot about decision making. The years immediately following undergraduate education have the potential to be a no-man's-land in a battle between embracing youth (and it's potential) and pursuing direction. This transitional space is rife with landmines and barbed wire that are otherwise referred to as "major life decisions." Some dodge the battlefield--blindly realizing that this, in and of itself, is a decision in regards to how to handle one's own life (i.e. procrastination and denial). I know others who look to maneuver around obstacles; and I know others who will do whatever it takes to steadfastly embrace youthful pursuits or to devotedly labor at the "next step."

Bear, motorcycle, high wire, laurel, streamers. This happens

As a friend asks me for my thoughts on applying to the Peace Corps and another asks me for my opinion about teaching in a struggling community, I relay the questions that I have had to ask myself in regards to both of these pursuits that have been passions at some point in my recent past.


As a friend asks me for my thoughts on moving in with his significant other and another friend asks me for my opinion about committing to a year abroad with her significant other, I obviously reflect on my decisions in regards to my former relationship with both those features.

And as I ask my friends for their thoughts on what their next steps will be or for their opinions about what they have learned from their own experiences in whatever they have done  in the past year, I find myself questioning how I make decisions and how I regard decisions I have made in the past year-or-so--which is a rather appropriate act for this resolution-making time of the year.