When I was a little girl, September always marked the countdown to that part of the year where it was just a magical bonanza of festivities: watching the mechanical puppet show at C.O.D. while propped on my dad’s shoulders, driving down the Christmas-light-studded avenues of cosmopolitan Makati, post-bedtime visits to the carnival (it was Big Bang, Fiesta Carnival, and Star City during my days of yore), dessert coma during Noche Buena, and, the morning after, opening gifts from Santa and Superman (which, if I had looked closer, all bore torn Landmark price tags).
But the problem with 28 years’ worth of Christmas hype (or hype of any kind, for that matter) is that it gets old. I think my holiday spark started losing luster when I graduated from college and started working: when I no longer had weeks’ worth of Christmas break, when the fury caused by shoppers’ traffic became hell’s best recruitment tactic, and when I had my own salary to actually buy gifts with.
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Only in the Philippines are the “Ber” months given this kind of attention—I am fascinated that even Femalenetwork.com is anticipating them!
But actually, this topic gave me a jolt and made me realize what madness there is to be expected very soon.
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Ber months are very convenient for parents. This is when we can pull-out the effective: “You better be a good boy/girl! Santa’s watching you!” warning and have our kids immediately sit down and behave. My son, Mateo, immediately sits down after this warning, but quickly responds with: “Tell Santa I want Optimus Prime Head for Christmas ha Mommy?”. A Transformer’s head in exchange for good behavior. Fair enough.
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…and I’m lovin’ it!
Cynics and Scrooges will retch when I say that Christmas is my absolute favorite time of the year. Of course it helps that I celebrate a bunch of other things during that time (my birthday, anniversary, my boyfriend’s birthday…it’s what we call our fourth-quarter storm. Haha), so I’m extra happy, but even if there were nothing but Christmas to celebrate, I’d still be happy, happy, happy! (Ebenezers of the world, unite and gag!)
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Last night while walking around Greenbelt, I smiled as I felt the first chilly breeze signaling the start of the ‘ber months, meaning December would be upon us before we knew it. I couldn’t help but be transported into the mood and spirit of Christmases past.
Oh all right, I was pressured by this week’s topic, so I forced myself to feel the holiday spirit. While racking my brains to come up with something to write, it occurred to me that the Christmas season always means a yearly influx of balikbayans. And in the light of all the OFW brouhaha (no, this is not yet another entry about you-know-who), I remembered something I wrote for my CW241 class in non-fiction in UP in 2003 under Jing Hidalgo, a piece about one of my most memorable Christmases ever. Here’s an excerpt:
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The -ber months are here and I guess the countdown to the bafflingly long Filipino Christmas season has begun.
I’m a fan of the Christmas season. But I’m not a rabid one. I like Christmas colors and carols but I can’t stand fruitcake. For some reason, Santa Claus has always creeped me out. I just can’t bring myself to trust an old man with a sack whose hobby is to let kids to sit on his lap. (But that’s just me, kids. Santa is real.)
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Can somebody tell me where the year went? It’s already September, then it’s going to be Halloween, then Christmas, then a brand spanking new year, 2008! Then it’ll be Holy Week, then summer, then my birthday in June, then it’s Halloween again, then Christmas, then again the year is over! Just like that! Get back here, dammit! AAAGH!!!
Ehem. Excuse that please. It just goes by so fast >sob<. Okay. Breathe. Take it one month at a time. Where were we? Ah, yes. September. The first of the berrrr months. And yes, it does seem to be getting cooler at night. And yes, I am starting to smell Christmas, just the barest tinge of it, in the air.
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