Arriving in Indonesia and beginning work right before the holidays has been fun albeit much different than home.

Since Indonesia has a majority of Muslim worshippers, you don’t see Christmas lights and decorations unless you are in one of the malls.  No decorated palm trees, no candy canes, no fake snow in the windows of well-kept homes.  These are silly details I miss greatly.

However, the charm of the season is alive and well.  In the EF teachers lounge last week, holiday plans were arranged, Secret Santa gifts were exchanged and sincere well wishes were given to one and all.

On the Saturday before Christmas, those of us who remained in town were taken out to a Mexican restaurant.  There were only a few of us from Kalimalang (plus our support staff), but we were joining the teachers and staff from the Bekasi school as well, so we actually filled up most of the bottom floor.  It was nice to at least see the other teachers, even just briefly.  The food was great, the live music was really good and it was fun to be outside of our little town for a change.

In the days leading up to Christmas, I took advantage of the peace and quiet (so to speak) and worked on a list of things I wanted to accomplish.  First and foremost, I slept in every day.  Since I got to Indonesia I’ve been awake, functioning and working for about 12 or 13 hours a day.  This is totally of my own doing, for the purpose of being as prepared as humanly possible so I can worry a little less.  (I’m hoping to cut this down slightly as I get more comfortable with the schedule and routine.)  After sleeping in I would read a little in my book, go over my Bahasa Indonesian flashcards and then finally take a shower and maybe take a nap.  I also went to a few different malls in the area to do some shopping for my room…and Merry Christmas to me!  I was able to get pretty much everything I still needed to acquire.  I got a wall hanging to cover up a lot of missing paint on my wall, a fan to drown out the noise from the neighborhood, a new bedside table for some extra shelving and surface area, hooks for the wall, a fluffy new pillow, new curtains and a book bag. (I didn’t realize how often I’d be toting my laptop around and thus needed a larger bag to make carrying everything more comfortable.)

Also, after seven days of struggling, I was finally able to finally have a functioning cell phone, so I really enjoyed being in contact with everyone from the states.  It was truly a Christmas miracle.

However the experience of being here, now, simply doesn’t feel Christmasy.  And maybe that’s ok.  I definitely don’t miss sub-freezing temperatures, the treacherous task of getting myself safely from my bus stop to work/home, and the grumpy mood that the holidays sometimes put the general public in.  But that also means no parties, no “Christmas Story,” no “How the Grinch Stole Christmas,” no crisp evening walks or drives around the neighborhood to see sparkly decorations that warm the heart, and most disappointing…no homemade baked goods!  Normally my kitchen would be rocking!

But I’ve decided that it’s better this way.  I think I’d rather ease into my new life with fewer reminders of home.  This way it will feel as though Christmas just didn’t show up on the calendar this year.  So the next time I am home for the holidays, it will make the experience all the more magical.  Every twinkly light will be more memorable, baked goods will taste more delicious, presents for the tree will be wrapped with more care and precision and loved ones will warm the heart no matter the temperature outside.