Ok, now that's out of the way, today is the 24th of December, 2011, a.k.a Christmas eve and I am in Glasgow. I cannot believe for the very first time in my life, I'm spending Christmas away from my home and family in Ghana. Perhaps this is one of the many signs that my life is changing and I am growing. I cannot say that I like this particular change but you never know where change will lead you so I have accepted this. I must say though, up till this point I have not really felt that it is the Christmas season. Could it be because there is no goat bleating outside my window in the mornings? That the weather is cold and white not dry and hazy? That I've found myself shopping on Princes street in Edinburgh and Buchanan street in Glasgow and not in Makola, Accra? Could it be because there aren't crates of Malta Guiness, bags of flour chips and cakes in the kitchen instead there are half empty packs of Chinese takeaway and plastic bottles of 7up and Pepsi? Or even more importantly is it because all I'm hearing is Santa Claus bringing gifts and not the story of how Mary and Joseph travelled to Bethlehem to have baby Jesus? Yes, these are all the reasons why I still don't feel it's Christmas. Because my memories of Christmas in Ghana are quite different to what I'm experiencing in Scotland. As an aspiring anthropologist however, I shall not turn up my nose at this different Christmas, rather I shall observe and try to find the joy in this very Scottish Christmas of 2011.
I am thankful to God for this Christmas, and for the new experiences it brings with it. Come tomorrow, I hope I will finally feel like it's Christmas. Even if it's away from most of all I hold dear.
