Christmas season is here, and although the stock markets aren't giving us a Santa Clause rally (Santa Clause caught in customs, Christmas is cancelled, Red Christmas, whatever analogy you want to use for the markets not doing that well), Christmas is certainly in the air here in downtown Los Angeles. Almost everywhere I go, I can see a Christmas tree, Christmas wreaths, etc., (seriously, it's like every office building has a huge Christmas tree out in front to greet their guests, every shopping mall is has lights galore, and even our apartment building has residents putting up their own Christmas decorations), giving evidence that despite all the different types of religions and types of people in the world, Christmas is still the most popular holiday of the year.
Christmas is also a time for romance, especially in Asian cultures, where Christmas is not that much celebrated as a religious holiday or a chance for family gathering but a couples holiday, taking opportunity of the aforementioned lights and celebratory atmosphere to take strolls in the park, see the Christmas lights, and snuggle up in the cold weather. Just writing that sentence would have made me kind of nauseous and sick to my stomach back in my single days and inspire me to move on to another fantasy baseball or dodgeball post, but now I see what all the hype is about: it's romantic. Japanese people even have a word for this: "Icha-icha" which means flirting and making out, usually used by single people who are jealous of the couples who have someone to flirt out and make out with, or older people who are just kind of sick of the young love. I used to be in that exact position! Trying to elbow my way through the crowds of couples who are holding each other, thus causing one less open space to pass through, the couple is usually oblivious of other people as they gaze dreamily into each other's eyes, as if there's not a care in the world. That moment is so perfect for them! Meanwhile, I'm just trying to find out the score of the football game, check traffic to see if the highway is still clogged, etc., etc. There's a lot of jealousy towards those icha-icha couples, and I'm just glad I'm one of them now!
Another chance to expand our icha-icha horizons will be next week, when MJ and I travel across the pond to London to enjoy all the sights and sounds of a winter in Britain (sounds wet and cold). But I've never been to London before, and if everything from the movie "Love, Actually" is true, Christmas will also be very romantic over there! Should be fun! I'm really looking forward to doing a lot of new activities, even if it's just in one city; (we considered doing a quick stop in Paris from London riding the Eurostar, but Paris really came under a little bit of turmoil due to the riots against President Macron, so we're opting to get away from all of that this time). And I was hoping to put that very basic French language knowledge to good use. C'est la vie!
Fantasize on,
Robert Yan
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