This year didn't, at all, feel like Christmas. There is no limit during the festive period to the amount of times one plays 'Last Christmas' or 'Carol of Bells' but there is the sense of understanding that once they are played over and over, it may still not seem like Christmas Day.
I came over to Dubai for Christmas this year and so when I told everyone at Uni that I was "going home for Christmas", the fact that I was home meant that I had already reached Christmas a week and a bit before the 25th of December.
Nevertheless, the presents, mood and food could only be counted as a Christmas Day.
Unlike every other year, this time we went out for lunch at an Italian buffet restaurant complete with a white-bearded "ho-ho-ho"-ing Father Christmas. Despite my initial reaction of "I'll try it out" to mask the gravity of the chane, the meal was absolutely delicious.
Crackers were laid about the table ready to pull. Silver trays of vegetables, potatoes, pastas, alternative Christmas dinners and then the authentic version were plated up. Starters were offered as crab salad, tiger prawn and mango salad, cold meats, shellfish and beef and bean mix. Desserts, reserved in a room of their own, included Christmas pudding, cheesecake, chocolate pots, crème caramel, chocolate fudge cake and small tarts.
It wasn't as traditional as our family meal but a welcome change I'd like to do once more :D
After eating, Christmas films are always a must. There's our favourites; Home Alone, which we watch repeatedly every year, and Elf. But with an array if differing tastes in the household, we chose something different. Browsing Netflix we found a film with a cute, animated bunny wrapped in multi-coloured lights and rated 'U'.
I thought it would be a quick film; light-hearted and cartoon. Instead it was the most depressing Christmas pick of ALL TIME! It was called: the Christmas Bunny - cute right? No. No, no, no, no, no.
The story line was good; commendable and undeniably emotive, but it wasn't right for the 8-12 year old target market to which it was broadcasting. It was about a psychologically disturbed girl who was fostered and was looking after the bunny which her brother shot with a BB gun.
It had the desired effect of the script - moving and thought-provoking - but it wasn't exactly the light-hearted Christmas themed film we needed to watch at the end of our Christmas Day.
But it didn't over-shadow it at all. It provided a balance, a way to act against the elation of being with family to be centred in a world where your family doesn't love you or doesn't exist.
It played the part of the Church at Christmas time and put all the meaning back in!
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