The Philippines reminds of the Spanish Caribbean Islands, and South and Central America. Which has gotten me used to the Christmas Season Starting in September or as it is referred to here in the Philippines as the “BER” months? The stores that are not yet NIS (Not in Stock) will start to put up Christmas decorations this month and will start the Christmas music also. I know of two stores that all year has displayed 2016 Christmas candy and never marked it down, it is now ready to sell in 2017.
For my Mayang, I have collected over 45 albums of Christmas music, and I’ll know when her Christmas begins by what she plays on the stereo downstairs, I have a ban Christmas music in the car.
In August she asked if I could download some more music for her this season, and yes, of course, I will I pay for it!!! Without explaining to her that there really was no more new Christmas music, just new singers, singing the same old songs. But she really doesn’t care!
My brother Dan said Christmas doesn’t start until after Thanksgiving. It was hard to explain to him that the rest of the world and here in the Philippines, don’t celebrate America’s Thanks Giving Holiday. That sent him going in circles and rapidly scratching his head and he’s never been right since.
Mayang loves to decorate her house, but I have noticed that over our years together a number of lights have dwindled, the power bill still goes up by an extra P1, 000.00 every month during the BER season. Now you might ask, why are decorations her job, and am I exempt from doing it? Not true! Actually, it is true, when I was on ships, I would be gone in November, and if I did get home for Christmas I tried to get home after the 15th of December. It just worked out that way. But now that I’m retired, I know my brother-in-laws need money so I hire them to work with my wife and string the lights. Mayang will play her Christmas music every morning, but, no decorations or tree until after All Saints Day, Fiesta Patay (Tagalog) Dia de Todos los Santos (Spanish) Lá na Naomh Uile (Gaelic) or other languages that are all listed on Google.
To her that is when Christmas starts I do the hiring, she goes out to buy new lights. I will pay extra for UL tested lights as no matter how much you save buying “Market Junk Lights” it won’t cover the cost of rebuilding your burning house on Christmas Eve.
But here is my confession, I really love the Christmas Season both here and Puerto Rico, America ruined it for me with “The Holiday Tree” they tried so hard in the past so not to offend others:
Hanukkah is a Jewish holiday at the same time of year, but a tree has nothing to do with it, they use a Menorah with eight candles. I grew up in Dorchester boarding a Jewish area and we had no problem respecting each other’s special day.
Then there is Kwanzaa which was invented by Dr. Maulana Karenga, professor and chairman of Black Studies at California State University, Long Beach, and created Kwanzaa in 1966. It is unknown in Africa. (Also no tree is involved in this holiday)
So it is and will always be a Christmas Tree, and as long as I can it breathe air, it will always be that.
BTW; Our US President Mr. Trump, and Sir Bob Martin, both said I could use the Word Christmas! But if someone does not want to say Merry Christmas, try these;
Tagalog: Maligayang Pasko or Pasko Na.,
Spanish: Feliz Navidad
Gaelic: Nollaig Shona (A language that the clergy doesn’t know)
So let me try and be the first to wish you a very Merry Christmas, and if Christmas is not your holiday; Then I will wish you a Happy Holiday Season to you and your family. I left out Happy New Year out of respect for both the Hebrews and Chinese who have different New Year, then we followers of the Gregorian calendar.
I didn’t realize that “BER” months was a Philippines wide thing. My Cebuana wife used to say it all the time and my dumb ass didn’t get it. “You know, like BRR…cold.”
Scott;
You are not the first to get confused over BER and BRR, It took an old-timer sitting drinking beer with me for the cloud to lift and I then knew what my wife was talking about. In Puerto Rico we had an extra month, Little Christmas in January where the kids put straw under their beds for the Wiseman’s three Camels and in the morning the straw is gone and a present appeared.
Yeah… as every year, my asawa knows it is soon Xmas, when she hears me curse in the car, as all stations begin to broadcast 24/24 and 7/7, sirupy crooners distillating their “special Xmas soporific medicine”… Beginning september…
And this time has come… Last week… Frenzy to browse radio stations and get something other than Xmas songs… Or pinoy ads, telling me that Dr Rene’s power capsule will make me feel like a young stud again… Or, like yesterday, Pagasa broadcasting an advisory that Pampanga was on alert for strong thunderstorms… Looking out, we had a wonderful blue sky and an even more wonderful blue sea…
At the end of the day, best to have some USB key with my own playlist… The Blues Brothers and Dr Feelgood 😉
Patrick;
25 years ago I found local radio to have too many commercials, too much yack-yacking in Taglish, so I assume that all Filipinos understand one half of English and one half of Tagalog. Next the music is played in an odd fashion, mellow rock then they cut in with the loudest RAP crap swearing for no reason. First I used cassettes, then CD’s now 79 Gig USB with music selected from my over 5,000 album collection stored on my commuter. So except for stores and my wife’s music (Downstairs) I seldom hear Christmas tunes at all. But it is still better than RAP crap.
Yeah… Probably most will say I am a die-hard jerk, but rap is such crap !!! Now, I won’t pollute your post with this 🙂 Have a great day, paul !
Patrick;
The worst day in the Philippines is still better than in most other places.
Rap was invented by people who could not play a musical instrument, and lacked any talent for singing! Wow that sounds just like KARIOKE!
I agree, but not only rap… In the last twenty years, music industry invented…. quite nothing ! Just “sampling” old success songs and calling it a “major musical breakthrough”, or thugs rhyming about their drug deals, whores’ scores and such in a monotonic voice… Very sad… And that doesn’t help local karaoke… they already mostly sing like old frying pans but on top, beer helping, you feel like being in a hysterical cats’ mad house ^_^ We had some nice time with Duterte’s curphew, but lately, I begin to hear again drunken meowings all the way through the night…
Now apart from these, it is true… I would not exchange a single day here for any time back in Europa !!!
Patrick;
Adding a loud one-two beat to a thirty year old former hit will not cause it to be original in 2017.
Paula Merry Christmas to u and ur family.
Luke;
Thank you; and a glorious Christmas to you and yours!
Debbie;
Here in the Philippines it is tradition, there in the states, it is greed!
Great post! Can I send the soon to be chilly US weather over that way?? That would be swell 🙂
Pete;
Send that cool weather over by LBC, we should get it by March when it would be quite enjoyable! (LOL)
Debbie;
Next year Amazon is starting Christmas on the 5th of July.
Paul, you forgot “Festivus for the rest of us”. Also my Pinoy relatives now look forward to Thanksgiving since they discovered it involved lots of food that was provided by yours truly!
Michael;
Twenty five years ago turkeys were as rare as…
Well “Turkey Teeth” So we never bothered with Thanks Giving, there are restaurants and Military Service Clubs that put on a good Thanks Giving Feed and we sneak off to them.
Oh (LOL) I didn’t forget festivus, I just ignored it!!!
Yup. Started hearing Christmas music in the mall a week ago. Stores have the trees up for sale. The part that annoys me are the horrible carolers at my front gate expecting money, but I don’t expect that to start for awhile yet… but I could be wrong.
Steve;
Our Barangay Kaptian hates the pan bangers also. Christmas week is the only time they are allowed, and it’s enforced. I’ll help him get reelected.
Carolers you say? You are so kind!
Paul,
You could breakdown this year and order a live Douglas Fir tree from S&R for 4200p. I bet Mayang would really like that lol. As far as the cheap market lights I can’t break Anne of getting them as she plans on going to Divisoria next month to stock up.
Sir Duck:
Her old artificial tree works fine, no messy fallout of pine needles, which is another fire hazard along with those cheap lights. They will not burn down my house! (LOL)
On the ship’s we had artificial trees because of fire regulations, and we had a new one every year. Because on New Year’s we dumped the entire tree decorations and all in to the sea.
It’s not too bad up here in the mountains…… yet. No malls to speak of, and the regular stores and shops haven’t yet lost their collective minds. I hear the occasional Christmas song in a commercial, but the relentless bombardment hasn’t yet begun. Another thing in my favor is that folks here love old style country and WESTERN music. Not unusual at all to hear Bob Wills or Ernest Tubb on the radio, or as dance music at a local fiesta. Even some of the Ilocano songs use steel guitar or a western swing style.
The current crop of residents at our boarding house boasts several Highlanders. Our housekeeper says of them, “They are all cowboys”. So mixed in with the pop music most of them play is a heavy sprinkling of George Strait, John Denver, and Garth Brooks
Take care,
Pete
If I may butt in, Mr. Cordillera Cowboy, please add Freddy Fender and
Country Roland Band to your collection. Thank you for letting me comment here. Gracias.
Jose
Come to think of it Jose, I have heard one of our tenants singing Freddy Fender. I’ll have to look up that Country Roland Band!
Take care,
Pete
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2uU8Js1DH3I Enjoy..there are more more both in English and Spanish.
Jose
Thank you Jose! It’s been a full 35 years since I lived in Texas. wonderful to hear Tejano music again!
Take care,
Pete
Pete;
To save myself ear pain I downloaded Christmas music by all the old crooners Frank, Tom Jones and alike, but also all the Country Singers! But then Hip-Hop and Rap talkers seldom make Christmas’s Albums. (LOL)
Mr. Paul T. I bet you kinda’ miss the “paranda” in and around Humacao, Fajardo and Ceiba. And thank you for mentioning Hannukah. Shalom.
Jose
Jose;
My Irish neighborhood bordered the Jewish neighborhood;in Dorchester we understood each other’s traditions.
When sixty people assault your door, then you give food and drink and next go with them? I was on one paranda that lasted from Friday Night until Sunday Morning but we were dropping like flies.
🙂 Now I know you enjoyed the “paranda”. Stay healthy and enjoy the ” ‘ber months” there . Salud.
Jose
Jose;
I believe the Christmas drink buried in the back yard for a year was called tubo or something like that. I made some one year but I lived in a Condo so I had to use the field behind the commissary to bury it. But I had a one gallon bottle spiced just right, and the Navy never found it!
Hi Paul,
Enjoyed your article! My wife has told me about the Ber months in the Philippines, but I have yet to experience it. I think to an extent the USA is actually catching up to the Philippines in starting the Christmas season early. Only in the USA that means trying to sell stuff. Merry Christmas! Not much caroling going on here.
Peace
Paul
Jay;
As I said before, here in the Philippines it is a tradition to start Christmas in September, in the states it is pure corporate greed! But Pasko Na to you and your family!
Hilarious! So relatable! My personal Christmas Tree tradition when I was stationed at Clark AB ’82-’85, was the buying and the burning. To get it from the Commissary parking lot, I would carry the 5-6 foot evergreen on my shoulder, riding my 10-speed 7 miles (or more) to my house in the Clarkview subdivision, a feat of accomplishment I’m still mighty proud of. After the holiday, when it was good and dry, I’d set it on fire in the backyard, flames leaping 3-4 times its height, freaking everyone in the Family out, including me, never an incident or neighbor’s complaint. Only 3 times, or else, I’d probably burned the house down or gone to jail (or both!) My pyromania is long gone (I hope) because we are returning and retiring next month — Bay Bay City, here we come! Maayong Pasko everyone!
Jay Alexander;
Welcome home and Pasko Na. My buddy Papaduck was telling me about real trees at S&R, I have been away from the states so long I forget the smell of a real tree. The neighborhood grouch where I grew up won a 25 year supply of Christmas Trees. We collected all the old trees after New Years and piled them in his yard. But then moved them to the Garvey Park, with hundreds more and the Boston Fire Dept, did a controlled burn for us. Try that in 2017! (LOL)
THE FUNNY THING IS CHRISTMAS IS SERIOUS TO THE PILIPINO’S. I AM NEW TO HE PHILIPPINES.. ONLY 4 YEARS ANDD I AM STILL GOING BACK AND FORTH TO THE STATES FOR THGINGS LIKE DOCTORS AND TO SEE FRIENDS FOR A MONTH OR 2. OUT OF THE YEAR.. MAINLY BECAUSE I HAVE FREE HEALTH CARE THERE AND NO MATTER WHAT AMERICA IS SECOND TO NONE IN DOCTORS. BUT I REMEMBER MY FIRST CHRISTMAS THERE.. WE HAD (AT THE TIME) A CONDO IN MAKATI AND AN ENOURMOUS HOUSE IN BATANGAS THAT MY FIANCEE’S SON AND MAID STAYED IN…WE HAD CHRISTMAS IN BATANGAS THAT YEAR AND HER MOTHER AND HER DAUGHTER WHO ATTENDS STILLIMAN HIGH SCHOOL IN DUMAGHETTI BOTH FLEW IN. AND WHEN I BOUGHT THEM CHRISTMAS GIFTS AND THEY OPENED THEIR LAPTOPS JEWELRY BOXES AND TRIED EVERYTHING ON THEY WERE SHOCKED I BOUGFHT THEM SOMETHING. THIS IS FROM A WELL OFF EDUCATED FILIPINO FAMILY AND I JUST ASSUMED THAT THIS WAS PART OF THE FILIPINO TRADITION LIKE AMERICA… AND I AM SURE SOME EXPECT GIFTS BUT IT IS A FAR CRY FROM A MATERIALISTIC CHRISTMAS SEASON LIKE AMERICA. I LOOK FORWARD TO MANY MORE CHRISTMAS HERE AND A LIFE TIME OF MEMORIES
Randy;
As I mentioned I spent time living in the Caribbean and Latin America (the United States is now considered Latin America too) and celebrated the purest Christmas Seasons, now I include the Philippines within that group. But over my time here I see the materialism creeping in as it has worldwide, so enjoy it while it’s still here! BTW you wrote in all caps, thank you, how did you know I was hard of hearing? (LOL)
I see that you said Dorchester in your post, I’ve only known of one Dorchester in my life and it is located in Massachusetts. If by some strange chance that it is the one you refer too, I have been there many times, I call Boston my home but I’m really from Brockton,Ma.the home of two world title boxers. It’s great reading your post, keep up the good work.
Joe;
I grew up in the Dorchester section of Boston, in the Neponset area, until I joined the Navy in 1964. Brockton, I know it well.