Christmas 2008 review: The good, bad and ugly

So how was your Christmas? Did you eat too much? Got on with your family alright? Did you reminisce about the year gone by? Mine wasn’t too bad. I am not a big fan of Christmas, in fact, I do not really care much for most holidays.

The part I especially dislike about Christmas is that we are supposed to all have a good time and get along because it is Christmas. It is all so fake. I am not even religious, and neither is my family, so it is just an excuse to over spend and over eat.

Actually, I have to say I had a relatively healthy Christmas this year. I enjoyed some really great food and had some even greater wine. At least the latter was consumed in great amounts, which didn’t make the train ride home the next day very pleasant.

Speaking of train rides around Christmas, it is always a great phenomenon to watch. The psychologist in me loves it. Because the Netherlands is such a tiny country, most people take the train to go visit their families on Christmas day.

So this Christmas day I found myself sitting on the train among a great variety of people. Most dressed up a little nicer than usual, taking with them an overnight bag, a plastic bag filled with presents and/or an anxious new bf or gf.

It is so easy to spot those that love the holidays and have awesome parents and those that do not. Perhaps we could think up a secret sign all those that dread going home could show each other in support.

On the way to my sister’s, where quite a nice time was had by all I must say, I thought about my dad. I wondered if he was spending Christmas alone and I hoped I wasn’t the only person who was thinking about him that day.

On Boxing Day (or second Christmas day as we like to call it), I went to celebrate Christmas with my good friends. What usually is the better of the Christmas days turned this year into a bit of a bummer.

A good time was had, with lovely food and way too much alcohol, but there was a lot of personal drama going on. I won’t go into details, but I found myself listening to one of my best friends basically admitting everything that had bothered her about a mutual friend of ours for the last few years.

Good times.

All in all Christmas 2008 wasn’t all that bad, but I’m really glad that it is over.

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