Day 10 - Christmas

Day 10 - Christmas



Christmas was rather anticlimactic after going out and having the family dinner on Christmas Eve. We hung out until about 1pm and then went to see The Golden Compass which, I'm surprised to say is actually pretty good. It was pretty much panned by the critics, and after reading the reviews which refer to it mostly as a Harry Potter or Narnia rip off, I honestly wasn't expecting too much. Imagine my surprise when it turns out that although the story is a little rushed the characters are actually pretty good and it left off with a cliff hanger that actually has me wondering what happens in next installment. I don't think the movie was either great or awful, it was simply a mediocre execution of a very interesting concept. Maybe I'll check out the books when I have a chance to start reading again.



The one thing that I really noticed about Christmas here, while we were out at the mall, is that it seems to be a much more low key holiday than in the States. They don't have Santa Clauses and Reindeers gracing every store, you hardly ever hear Christmas music of any sort here, and you can actually turn on the tv and watch for a half hour without seeing commercials insisting that you buy every random thing anyone on your list could possibly want for Christmas. In fact, the exchange of gifts seems to be limited to small tokens between close family members rather than an all-out orgy of gift giving to anyone you run across on Christmas. I felt a lot more weird not giving out any gifts than not getting any and no one is more surprised than I am. I'm doing Christmas with my family after I get back to Massachusetts, so hopefully I'll get to recapture a little bit of what I missed out on during the holiday season.