Christmas Eve was kind of depressing as I was work…
Christmas Eve was kind of depressing as I was working overtime until past 8pm, after which I was tired so I just went home and ate some pamlets while watching Episode IV on videotape. Experience the Pathetic Yet Still True Lifestyle Details of Poagao! I know.
Christmas turned out considerably better, though. Harry and James came over, and we took a hike around the area across the river, up on the hill next to Bitan where the amusement park used to be. All that’s left are some concrete pavillions, some rusted out bumber cars and a few pieces of merry-go-round. Someone had set up a little shrine for the people who died on the ferris wheel in the accident that no doubt led to the park’s abandonment over a decade ago.
I was really tired after the hike as my tonsils simply refuse to get better, so I took a nap before heading over to Darrell’s and Judy’s for their Christmas dinner party. I was in a black mood at first, but the combination of sparkling conversation, excellent food and an almost frightening array of candles cheered me up considerably. The turkey and dressing, combined with cranberry sauce, green beans and mashed potatoes with gravy were all every bit as good as I remember from Christmas meals growing up in the States.
At one point everyone started to sing Happy Birthday and I wondered briefly whose birthday it was before remembering that it was mine. Judy made a chocolate cheesecake so rich it could have fed a small third-world nation for a year. I counted the candles I had just blown out: 13. “Wow, 13 already,” I said.
“Soon you’ll start to take an interest in girls,” Darrell said.
“I was wondering when that would happen,” I replied.
We sat around and chatted about this and that, the Gallant Dogs alternating between looking desperate for the slices of apple pie in our laps and curling up on the sofa. Judy served cranberry tea, and Darrell put in “25th Hour”, a Spike Lee film, but I had to leave in order to catch the last train to Xindian.
It was a nice Christmas after all, and not a bad birthday, either.
