Just over a week to go...

...until Christmas Break! We get an entire 3 weeks off of school here, which is amazing. I don't even know what I'm going to do with all that time off yet.

That said, I feel like I ought to talk a little about Christmas in Singapore as compared to Christmas in Wisconsin. For one thing, it's HOT here. If it's not hot, then it's rainy. No snow, no icicles, no chilly breeze to make you wish you'd worn an extra layer of clothes. Sometimes, I'm incredibly thankful for the warm weather and other times I really miss peeking out a window late at night and seeing the sparkle of moonlight (or, well, artificial lighting...) on a blanket of snow.

Another thing is that there aren't tons and tons of Christmas decorations: if I walk around my neighborhood, I might see a Christmas tree in a window and the Fairprice (grocery store) has decorations up. To see lots of decor, you need to go to a mall. The malls are decked out with trees, garland, lights, and other totally random decorations in every color of the rainbow. Orchard Road also has plenty of decorations. If I was a really awesome blogger, I'd show you all pictures - but I'm only a mediocre blogger. : )

A few things that have stayed the same:

Kids' Christmas plays. Here at school, the elementary kids are putting on two presentations complete with music and costumes. There are posters up around the school and sometimes I get to hear them singing Christmas songs. So fun! I'm excited to see their big shows!

Christmas at church. The church I go to observes Advent, which I really love. If you're not familiar with it, it's basically a period of waiting for Christ's birth and Christmas. Every Sunday during the four weeks leading up to Christmas, a family from the church lights a candle in the Advent wreath. The church is also getting ready for a children's Christmas presentation and some other activities. Two weeks ago they had carolers standing on the steps leading up to the sanctuary - I loved it!

Coffee shops. Walk into any Coffee Bean or Starbucks and they have the Christmas-themed cups and drinks just like in the U.S. (You can make mean faces at me, but I really like Coffee Bean better - as a non-coffee drinker, I'm loving the tea lattes...)

So, those are just a few observations. I've been trying to get into a Christmas-y mood and hung lights in the First Aid Office - they haven't caused any seizures yet, so I think it's okay. :)