Live in the Philippines

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The Christmas Season is in Full Swing

Holidays / by

Every year it gets easier to live in the Philippines as long as you can keep being creative. This year as Christmas is approaching I’ve tallied up was owed to me by some members of the family. And I’ve decided to forgive the debt vice giving a present to them. (Don’t go all ballistic on me; the kid’s still will all receive their presents as usual.) I’ll buy a few Christmas cards with a note enclosed to that effect, and see what happens.

Christmas is arriving a little late this year because of Typhoon Yolanda; Mayang has not fully gotten into that Christmas Spirit but it is slowly starting, all the Christmas curtains and table cloths are hung and ready to go. The tree is up and the inside is almost done but the outside only had the Saint’s “blinking light” sleigh on the second floor roof to the joy of all the neighborhood kids. They sit for hours watching it.

But here is the odd part, every year in January the decorations come down and are packed into their original boxes and are put away. Then they are taken out in November and tested and repaired for the coming season. Last year we had a fifty foot running light set up along the railing on the roof patio. They were put up with plastic electrical ties (Which cost about a buck a bag.) But my Brother-in-law Jhun suggested last January that they be left up all year. We all know that catastrophic failure is preordained when anything electrical is left to the sun and rain for tem months. It was a former light never to work again.

I had almost pointed that out to Mayang and her brother, then thought better of it, opened a beer and said nothing. The running lights will be replaced this November as they of course failed. I’ll bet they come down this January.

But here’s the part that I don’t understand. With enough lights already in her inventory to be seen from the International Space Station,why would she need to buy more? Has she purchased the empty lot beside our house, or possibly bought shares in the electric company?

But not wanting to be a Scrooge and my Grandson the Little Dude being at the age that he is starting to understand the holidays and his excitement levels are peaking, I once more mind my tongue, and open a nice cold refreshing SMB and say to the sky; “This is what you signed up for Paul.”

Another sign of the season is the frequency of Mayang’s trips to our two malls in Olongapo, plus the obligatory trip to the huge SM Mall 45 miles away in San Fernando Pampanga (Lord, please poke that stick in my eye and get it over with.) But with the addition of “SMB Beer Stations, placed conveniently around the mall I’ll make the best of that trip.

Thanksgiving is this week, and I’ll be eating turkey dinner at Sit-in-Bull restaurant in the Barrio as they put on a great feed, this is the one concession Mayang gives to me, so the family and friends will get together and enjoy the day. We tried years ago to cook the turkey at home, but found it was just too much work. Oh how I miss my sainted grandmother Molly and her cooking.

So in the spirit of remaining Politically Correct, I close with my new Christmas Greeting:

To All My Liberal Friends:
Please accept with no obligation, implied or explicit, my best wishes for an environmentally conscious, socially responsible, low-stress, non-addictive, gender-neutral celebration of the summer/winter solstice holiday, practiced within the most enjoyable traditions of the religious persuasion of your choice, or secular practices of your choice, with respect for the religious/secular persuasion and/or traditions of others, or their choice not to practice religious or secular traditions at all. I also wish you a fiscally successful, personally fulfilling and medically uncomplicated recognition of the onset of the generally accepted calendar year 2014, but not without due respect for the calendars of choice of other cultures whose contributions to society have helped make Canada and the United States great nations. Not to imply that these two countries are necessarily greater than any other country in the world. Also, this wish is made without regard to the race, creed, color, age, physical ability, religious faith or sexual preference of the wisher.

To My Conservative Friends:

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. And have a merry and happy turkey day to you aswell paul. and from me and my family to you and yours HAVE A MERRY CHRISTMAS AND A HAPPY NEW YEAR.

  2. Craig;
    Am looking forward to the turkey, but more that that here on Li{ we are still allowed to say Merry Christmas, isn’t that refreshing!

  3. Hello Paul: Have a great Thanksgiving! I’m going to put up the Christmas tree while the turkey is cooking. My husband and I will share all the chores. As far as Christmas presents, Christmas cards with stocking tree ornaments (filled with candy) will do for everyone. I need a hassle-free Thanksgiving and Christmas. My idea of celebrating Thanksgiving and Christmas is to turn my alarm off. Thanks for the post.

    • Roselyn;
      I like Christmas here, it reminds me of Puerto Rico, one very long celebration with presents not being the major theme. Family being the number one item on every ones list.

    • Gerald;
      Not much college ball here on Thanksgiving, we’ll just watch the Pacman Rios fight again. But I hope your teams wins.

  8. Paul you may want to rethink “I’ve decided to forgive the debt vice giving a present to them.” With the debt forgiven they may interpret that as loan paid off–now we can hit him up for another loan. Ha Ha.

    And here is wishing you and the family a very Merry Christmas also. And a very Merry Christmas to the LIP community as well. AS for the political correct I leave it up to the higher powers to wish them anything as my moma told me if you can’t say any thing good, keep your trap shut.

    • Loren;
      And my Dad told me if you can’t say something nice, find their weak spot and chip away at them..
      As you depart the Philippines to head back to Colorado (IN THE WINTER?) here is wishing you and Mercer a safe trip and a speedy return. It’s been great this year hanging around with you guys this year.

  9. Happy Thanksgiving to you and your family Paul. I’ll save the Christmas Greetings til we get closer to the day.

    Your Liberal message still has my brain spinning around inside of my skull. Got any headache reliever to go with that ?

    Time to take out my acumilation of Christmas 45’s and give them a few spins. Paul I am sure you probably remember a Christmas Hit Single by Augie Rios, Donde Esta Santa Claus ? It has me thinking :

    Donde Esta MINDA -CLAUS ?

  10. Paul,
    Have a Happy Thanksgiving. We will be spending Thanksgiving in Guimaras with friends, but I don’t know yet what we will be eating lol. Did you have your usual party for the Pacman fight?

    • Randy;
      Yes neighbors food and the fight, but due to the early hours it was a beer / cocktail free party. Quite shocking! Enjoy Thanksgiving no matter what you eat.

  11. Hi Paul, I always enjoy reading your articles, but sometimes wince at your comments about liberals. Still, allow me to extend my greetings from California, where we are looking out for the rest of the country. Just wanted to express my thanks, during this time of Thanksgiving, that California is taking the lead to ensure that our citizens of the USA receive the medical care deserved by citizens of the richest country in the world. I have included (excerpted) an LA Times quote below, by our Honorable Governor Jerry Brown, that pretty much sums it up.

    Gov. Jerry Brown signs bills to aid Obamacare implementation/By Anthony York and Patrick McGreevy

    As the state’s health insurance marketplace began enrolling thousands of newly qualified Californians for health coverage, Gov. Jerry Brown signed 10 healthcare-related bills on Tuesday. “While extreme radicals in Washington shut down our government, here in California we’re taking action to extend decent healthcare to millions of families,” Brown said in a statement.

    • Jamie;
      As Obamacare canceled the health Insurance for millions of Californians, I’m pleased that the state and Jerry stepped in to try and fix the mess for you guys.
      Remember the promise from the Head Unicorn Wrangler in Washington: “If you like the insurance and doctor you have. You can keep it”.
      But a most Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to you and yours!

      • Hi Paul,

        Yeah I got to agree with you on this one. President Obama told that whopper over and over, “If you like your healthcare plan you can keep it!” What he really meant is “If I like your healthcare plan you can keep it!”

      • Hi AJ,

        Paul is correct about us liberals needing to be PC. Sorry about that, but it is how I have been trained. Happy Holidays includes Hannukah and Kwanzaa. It is all-inclusive, culturally sensitive, and therefore politically correct. I guess it would be OK for atheists/agnostics too, as well as those who worship the mother (earth) goddess. When is Winter Solstice? That being said, allow me to wish everybody una Feliz Navidad y Prospero Ano Nuevo:-)

      • IBecause America is an ethnically-diverse country of immigrants from all parts of the world practicing different religions, “Happy Holidays” is an all-encompassing generic greeting intended for ALL Americans with malice to no one, and irrespective of race, ethnicity or religious persuasion. IT HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH POLITICAL CORRECTNESS, nor is an attempt to appease the Muslims, the Jews, the Hindus, the Buddhists, the atheists, the liberals, the conservatives, or what have you.

        If you are the Mayor of New York City, for example, and you wish to impart your holiday greetings to New Yorkers, ask yourself what is the more appropriate greeting for the people of perhaps the most ethnically-diverse city in America. Common sense will tell you that wishing a Jew a “Merry Christmas” will simply fall on deaf ears. It is common sense, not an issue of political correctness.

        • John;
          For over 230 years Washington has shut down for two weeks during the time that the majority of its citizens celebrate Christmas and still call it the “Christmas Break”.
          If what they say is true, go to work on Christmas Day, and stay home on Hanukah and Kwanzaa or the day they worship Moon Rocks. Let others separate themselves from the Christian Holiday of Christmas and celebrate their own on the proper day. It is political correctness gone over the edge, so Merry Christmas to you all. It was Congress that made CHRISTMAS a National Paid holiday not the Christians. Vote to change it, don’t try to change me.

          • Paul – It;s a natural evolution of all things human. The world is changing. The world has come a long way since Bing Crosby’s picture-perfect White Christmas. People nowadays are more assertive of their rights and intensely prideful of their ethnic roots; thus, the Kwanzaa, for example. I don’t see anything wrong with that, and neither do I see the generic greeting, “Happy Holidays”, necessarily a smack on the Christian tradition of Christmas. No one is denying anyone his right to express his greeting according to his beliefs and the way he sees fit. It is simply a recognition of the fact that we are not all Christians. With that in mind, I could not imagine former New York City Ed Koch campaigning in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, wishing Hasidic Jews a very Merry Christmas, could you?

            • John;
              First and foremost what in the name of all that is Holy is Kwanzaa, and how old were you when you first heard of whatever it is? I’m saying that like Ramadan enjoy it if it’s yours but don’t try to lump it and the other holidays into the celebration of Christmas., Pick a day, celebrate whatever you want but leave 25 December alone, make it a workday, take away it National Holiday Status but allow us Christians OUR right to worship OUR way, as they demand of us to do the same.
              Worship a pile of rocks on the side of a road, and I promise I’ll respect it, I’ll not try to change it or lump it into any holiday of mine. But then they must also respect that, that is mine!.
              John, we must agree to disagree, and I will respect you point of view.

              • Paul – it all boils down to a changing world. The Kwanzaa came into being fairly recently along with the evolution of how people think and the emergence of a heightened awareness and pride of one’s roots and ethnicity among African Americans in the late 60s perhaps following the civil rights movement in the American South. That the date of the celebration according to African Americans happens to be in December, as does the Hanukah, although Hanukah is a thousand year tradition, is a coincidence in history. You are entitled to your opinion, but, personally I seriously doubtI that those non-Christmas celebrations observed by certain folks in December had any intention of lumping with, or even preempting the Christian tradition on December 25. The months of November beginning on Thanksgiving for Americans, throughout December and New Year’s are replete with holiday observance involving a great number of the world;’s population observing different religions. During these months, exchange of holiday greetings among millions of people the world over are endless. To ignore that not everyone is Christian is arrogance, in my opinion. It is just plain common sense to address people of different faiths accordingly. To fellow Christians, it’s “Merry Christmas”. As for the rest of the world, the appropriate greeting is “Happy Holidays”. With that said, I wish you a Merry Christmas, Paul – from a fellow Christian.

              • John;
                And a very Merry Christmas to you to you and yours, all I ever wanted was for the bleeding hearts to stop trying to take away the Christmas that for 66 years I’ve grown up with. The others my greet each other in any manner they desire and that is their God given right as a fellow traveler on planet earth, I’ll respect their holiday as long as they respect mine has been my point from the beginning. It’s a small thing to ask.

      • AJ;
        The majority of American’s say Merry Christmas, except the ones that sit under trees praising the glory of Obamacare and singing KUM-By-Yah with Piers Morgan..
        As one group assumes power and the other group secedes free will to them,, political correctness sets in to undue 2000 years of tradition.
        As we are waiting for Ramadan to be a National Holiday in Great Britain to be the best example of that..

        • Blimey, almost sorry I asked that now LOL.

          Some of us Brits are waiting for the Ramadan bit as well!!! It’s part of the reason that I no longer live there and The Philippines my home.

          I once worked in Melbourne, Australia for a 6 month period that encompassed Christmas. The thing that upset me was that there were no Christmas decorations put up in a predominantly Christian city. The reason I was given was that the mayor, of Chinese decent, didn’t want to upset the Chinese community. There were many decorations up for Chinese New Year though!

          Anyway, Merry Christmas or Feliz Navidad to you all.

          • AJ UK;
            It boils down to them insulting you so they don’t insult someone else. That’s a double standard of massive proportions. I for one am insulted, but living here in the Philippines I can say Merry Christmas and receive a smile from everyone. Political Correctness has not polluted the country yet.
            I’m guessing that Blimey is on the approved list of words. (LOL)

  15. Political correct happy holiday crap is like I give you a ride in my car because I don’t want to see you have to walk, so now you are sitting back in air conditioned confort resting your legs on the way to your destination and suddenly it occurs to you that as an occupant of the car you should be able to determine where and how it should go and start with the crap that I know longer have any choice in the matter. You taking over my car is crap; you taking over Christmas is crap and it is only because of the Christian desire to turn the other cheek that LPCs have been able to take this as far as they have. I am tired of turning the other cheek and am more tempted to stop the car, kick the LPC passenger out and go over to the pile of rocks he worships and water them with this mornings SMBs.

  16. Loren;
    A lot of people have had the process of freethought removed from their life by liberal teachers, and others seeking to control them. Then as new trainees they’ll attempt to have you follow their KUM-by-yah beliefs.
    Many even MSNBC are waking up to see that they have been hoodwinked, but have no fear something shiny will distract them and they’ll become Sheeple once more. If for any reason you doubt their teachings they will assign derogatory names to you, never realizing that as a man of independent thought those names will just make you smile, as would a 2nd grader calling you a Poo-poo head. It’s kinda’ cute in way.