‘Merry Christmas’ 100 times

It’s said there are three stages of man: He who believes in Santa Claus. He who doesn’t believe in Santa Claus. And he who is Santa Claus! Unfortunately, as a Chinese, I only got to know Christmas at the second stage, and then in a country where even Santa himself wouldn’t believe in his existence.

It doesn’t necessarily follow however that I’ve got no experience of this prestigious religious festival, because in fact one of my terrible childhood memories in China is linked to Christmas.

I always knew when Christmas was just around the corner, because at my school our English teacher always gave us a surprise quiz about Christmas: Among the ten questions was one in the form of a dialogue about exchanging Christmas greetings. To answer that question, I relied on my common sense and knowledge of other well-known greetings, like ‘Happy Birthday’ and ‘Happy New Year’, and therefore answered, ‘Happy Christmas!’

Well, this turned out to be a catastrophic answer: “Not happy…MERRY Christmas!” bellowed my English teacher, who, upon such occasions, shared the same philosophy as all his fellow teachers in China – namely, that students can never learn their lessons without punishments being inflicted on them! Thus, my teacher made me write these two words . Merry Christmas . one hundred times! No, it was not such a Merry Christmas after all.

Later, I spent four years studying on China’s so-called fashion frontier, Shanghai, where Western festivals are more popular than ever before. There, I once witnessed my friends fall for an April Fool’s Day trick and also knew a guy who made a bucket of gold selling Valentine’s Day roses. And one university community even sponsored a card-sending scheme on Mother’s Day in 2003, when SARS (Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome) was raging throughout China and all mothers were worried about their sons and daughters at university. These festivals are now undeniably involved in our Chinese lives, but compared to Christmas, they’re still out in the cold.

It took a while, but the day finally came when I failed to resist the Shanghai merchants’ Christmas advertising temptations and went downtown with my friends on Christmas Eve. Crowds thronged around the People’s Square, our destination. What impressed us most was the spectacular Christmas tree in front of Starbuck’s coffee bar, with its ornaments, lights, fake snow and plastic tinsel all around it. Suddenly I was reminded of a question my old English teacher once asked: what exactly is the spirit of Christmas, besides the starlight on the skyline and galaxy of glamorous goods?

The correct answer, my English teacher said, is ‘Generosity’. And should I go aboard where Christmas originates, my teacher had said, because then I’d fully appreciate Christmas’ meaning. He was right, if all that I received last Christmas in Holland is regarded as one part of generosity: a piece of P-shaped chocolate from ‘anonymous’, three free dinners offered by the TU, IHE and one of my teachers respectively, and a long relaxed holiday.

Me and my fellow Chinese students in Delft also decided to organize our own dinner, or rather party, to celebrate our first Christmas aboard. Chinese guys never hesitate to show their amazing, inborn talent for cooking, especially on special party occasions, when the act of cooking becomes like a grand orchestra performance, with all performing in the same rhythm : Some preparing the ingredients, some stir-frying the tender meat and some stewing beef, while others acted as conductors or criticizers. Once the food was ready, this concert immediately became a competition, with all players rushing to their favorite dish! From then on, the only thing going on was eating everything on the table and chatting and playing games.

Near the end I realized that this ‘Christmas’ party was exactly like the Chinese Moon Festival party we had a few months previously! But then I heard the worst suggestion I’ve ever heard for Christmas Eve. One guy generously donated the firecrackers he was saving for the upcoming Spring Festival, and said excitedly, “Let’s set off some firecrackers to celebrate this Christmas with a bang!” To which someone replied, “No way, man, it’s Silent Night now!” The tears of laughter rolling down our cheeks was the perfect conclusion to our first-ever Christmas party abroad.

Now though it’s once again time to warmly welcome the upcoming Christmas. So to all Delta’s readers, and especially to my old English teacher, I wish you a Happy Christmas and Merry New Year!

Guodong (Fred) Zhong is a Chinese student studying MSc Offshore Engineering. He can be contacted at: zhongguodong@gmail.com

It’s said there are three stages of man: He who believes in Santa Claus. He who doesn’t believe in Santa Claus. And he who is Santa Claus! Unfortunately, as a Chinese, I only got to know Christmas at the second stage, and then in a country where even Santa himself wouldn’t believe in his existence.

It doesn’t necessarily follow however that I’ve got no experience of this prestigious religious festival, because in fact one of my terrible childhood memories in China is linked to Christmas.

I always knew when Christmas was just around the corner, because at my school our English teacher always gave us a surprise quiz about Christmas: Among the ten questions was one in the form of a dialogue about exchanging Christmas greetings. To answer that question, I relied on my common sense and knowledge of other well-known greetings, like ‘Happy Birthday’ and ‘Happy New Year’, and therefore answered, ‘Happy Christmas!’

Well, this turned out to be a catastrophic answer: “Not happy…MERRY Christmas!” bellowed my English teacher, who, upon such occasions, shared the same philosophy as all his fellow teachers in China – namely, that students can never learn their lessons without punishments being inflicted on them! Thus, my teacher made me write these two words . Merry Christmas . one hundred times! No, it was not such a Merry Christmas after all.

Later, I spent four years studying on China’s so-called fashion frontier, Shanghai, where Western festivals are more popular than ever before. There, I once witnessed my friends fall for an April Fool’s Day trick and also knew a guy who made a bucket of gold selling Valentine’s Day roses. And one university community even sponsored a card-sending scheme on Mother’s Day in 2003, when SARS (Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome) was raging throughout China and all mothers were worried about their sons and daughters at university. These festivals are now undeniably involved in our Chinese lives, but compared to Christmas, they’re still out in the cold.

It took a while, but the day finally came when I failed to resist the Shanghai merchants’ Christmas advertising temptations and went downtown with my friends on Christmas Eve. Crowds thronged around the People’s Square, our destination. What impressed us most was the spectacular Christmas tree in front of Starbuck’s coffee bar, with its ornaments, lights, fake snow and plastic tinsel all around it. Suddenly I was reminded of a question my old English teacher once asked: what exactly is the spirit of Christmas, besides the starlight on the skyline and galaxy of glamorous goods?

The correct answer, my English teacher said, is ‘Generosity’. And should I go aboard where Christmas originates, my teacher had said, because then I’d fully appreciate Christmas’ meaning. He was right, if all that I received last Christmas in Holland is regarded as one part of generosity: a piece of P-shaped chocolate from ‘anonymous’, three free dinners offered by the TU, IHE and one of my teachers respectively, and a long relaxed holiday.

Me and my fellow Chinese students in Delft also decided to organize our own dinner, or rather party, to celebrate our first Christmas aboard. Chinese guys never hesitate to show their amazing, inborn talent for cooking, especially on special party occasions, when the act of cooking becomes like a grand orchestra performance, with all performing in the same rhythm : Some preparing the ingredients, some stir-frying the tender meat and some stewing beef, while others acted as conductors or criticizers. Once the food was ready, this concert immediately became a competition, with all players rushing to their favorite dish! From then on, the only thing going on was eating everything on the table and chatting and playing games.

Near the end I realized that this ‘Christmas’ party was exactly like the Chinese Moon Festival party we had a few months previously! But then I heard the worst suggestion I’ve ever heard for Christmas Eve. One guy generously donated the firecrackers he was saving for the upcoming Spring Festival, and said excitedly, “Let’s set off some firecrackers to celebrate this Christmas with a bang!” To which someone replied, “No way, man, it’s Silent Night now!” The tears of laughter rolling down our cheeks was the perfect conclusion to our first-ever Christmas party abroad.

Now though it’s once again time to warmly welcome the upcoming Christmas. So to all Delta’s readers, and especially to my old English teacher, I wish you a Happy Christmas and Merry New Year!

Guodong (Fred) Zhong is a Chinese student studying MSc Offshore Engineering. He can be contacted at: zhongguodong@gmail.com