So this is Christmas…

And what have you done?

Another year over

A new one just begun

Well, not quite yet but… I just wanted to start with a John Lennon quote this Christmas day. It is always a nice time of the year and seeing decorated trees with strings of lights never fails to put me in a good mood no matter how many times I have seen these kinds of things before.

So what are we doing for Xmas?… We went to see an ice skating ballet called ‘The Nutcracker on Ice’ last night at the Teatro at Montecasino. It was very pretty, colourful and wonderfully done with extremely talented ice skaters but there seemed to be a little too much repetition. Also, since we did not read up on the story beforehand it was quite hard to follow exactly what was going on from one scene to the next. Nevertheless, the stunts were awesome! Seeing the cast effortlessly glide from one end of the stage to the other, spin around in the air and land without making a single mistake was very nice. There were some acrobats as well who I thought really stole the show. But somehow the whole event did not carry the same excitement as say, Riverdance, which we had seen sometime back. Maybe it’s a personal thing. Anyway, I absolutely loved Tchaikovsky’s musical score though.

Later, after getting back home we set up our tree (finally just before midnight!) and plugged in the lights. There were plenty of decorations left over from last year, so we did not buy any new ones this year. Still I have to say that it looks happily well-decked. It is something that I always enjoyed doing growing up despite coming from a traditional Hindu family. Christmas just has that feel like it is for everyone, no matter what religion. Of course, it could be due to the fact that it has been thrust in our faces through satellite television for years and years. But I digress.

I wish Christmas was more happening in Joburg though. Except for malls and casinos where there are plenty of decorations and cheer, I haven’t seen the whole town light up like say, in NYC. You should not have to go into a closed building or entertainment complex to enjoy the Christmas spirit. I miss seeing decorated lampposts and lit-up trees. There needs to be more open shopping areas and street-facing stores here. Not that we don’t have them in areas like Melville and Parktown but there are way more complexes and enclosed spaces. I suppose it is a security thing.

As for any other plans, we might go check out a beautiful Russian orthodox church in our neighbourhood which we have been thinking of visiting. And as soon as my wife is done with the baking, we will have Christmas cake, some white wine and hopefully a good movie like ‘A Christmas Story’ to watch in the evening. Merry Christmas, everyone!