Sunday May 27, 2012

JAPAN NEWS AND DISCUSSION

What are some of your fondest Christmas memories?

Have Your Say Dec. 23, 2011 - 05:55AM JST ( 11 )

Order by Time Order by Popularity

11 Comments

1

smartacusDec. 23, 2011 - 09:17PM JST

When I was about 6 or 7, I remember going out into the backyard late on Christmas eve, looking up at the sky for Santa and his reindeers. I saw a shooting star and I was so thrilled because I believed it was Santa streaking across the sky. I wondered what city he was on his way to.
1

sensei258Dec. 24, 2011 - 06:29AM JST

We didn't have much growing up, but there was one Christmas when my two sisters and I all got new bicycles. The bikes are long gone, but not the memory of that day.
0

iceshoecreamDec. 24, 2011 - 04:44PM JST

Putting grass in a shoe box the night before the Three Kings Day.
3

SerranoDec. 25, 2011 - 10:20PM JST

Waking up on Christmas morning and seeing that Santa had drunk the hot cocoa and eaten the cookies I put out for him.
0

FoxieDec. 25, 2011 - 11:00PM JST

@Serrano: According to NORAD, Santa travels at a speed of 1,000km per second to get his job done. I think you can be really proud of yourself because Santa must have stopped at your house a bit longer to eat those cookies and drink the cocoa. Do you remember what brand it was?
2

yabitsDec. 25, 2011 - 11:19PM JST

Seriously, the best one from my childhood duplicates sensei258's experience. Getting my first bicycle is something I'll never forget.

As an adult, the best memory came from an event that happened around 15 years ago.

The event was a business trip during Christmas week that was going horribly wrong at every turn, and could have given Planes, Trains, and Automobiles a run for its money. I was supposed to go to Bettendorf, Iowa, and had to fly out from Atlanta to Moline, Illinois, via a connection in St. Louis on TWA.

The shuttle driver to the Atlanta airport was "inspired" to take a different route that ended up getting us stuck in traffic for over an hour. Running to the gate, I was confronted by the fact of the only TWA flight all year that left exactly on time. I got a later flight to St. Louis that arrived just as my scheduled flight to Moline was leaving. (Yeah, my flight was 30 minutes late -- more typical for TWA -- leaving Atlanta.)

The last flight to Moline could not leave because of an incoming winter storm that shut down everything, including St. Louis. Rental cars were not to be found, and I was able after an hour or so of searching to find a room in a cheap motel. I spent an awful night freezing and swearing that I would strangle that shuttle driver the next time I saw him -- his stupid decision setting in motion this awful chain of events.

After a lousy night with little sleep, I got back to the St. Louis airport in an ugly and foul mood. Think Steve Martin at the car rental counter times ten. However, while waiting in line at the ticket counter for the airline, I heard a group of carolers -- elementary school kids -- singing Away in a Manger. I turned around and saw them: all African-American kids, maybe a school or church group.

I turned back around again, with tears welling up in my eyes, as I listened to them recount the tale of another night of hardship so long ago. It was the young voices and the southern accent that was tearing away at me. When they came to the line that goes, *...but little Lord Jesus, no crying he makes," whatever anger I had completely melted away. I don't believe any of those kids could have realized that their earnest and tender voices saved a lost soul on that very day.
0

YongYangDec. 26, 2011 - 12:08AM JST

The first one with my daughter. Merry Festive Holidays everyone.
2

SerranoDec. 26, 2011 - 08:44AM JST

@Foxie

The cocoa was Hershey's of course. The cookies were probably baked by my mom.
1

globalwatcherDec. 29, 2011 - 09:51AM JST

When I received a personal Christmas card from Santa. He knew everything I wanted for Christmas. I thought he was very smart to keep everyone's address and the Christmas gift list.
1

The Truth MattersDec. 29, 2011 - 10:16AM JST

My best Christmas came in 1992. I was dating a girl in Odawara. Her family had never celebrated Christmas. I bought a 3' plastic tree, presents for her and her entire family, and loaded it on the Yokosuka-sen to take to her family for Christmas. Several people on the train stopped to wish me a Merry Christmas. When I got to my girlfriends house, I was told that her father hadn't been told about me and that I had to leave before he got home from work. I was really bummed. I had hoped to meet him. As me and my girlfriend enjoyed our day, we made the mistake of sitting under a kotatsu so naturally, we fell asleep. We awoke to her younger sister, clearly delighted over the carnage she was about to witness, her mother, and her father. All I could do at that point was offer them their presents. I had bought the old man a gallon bottle of Crown Royal and that was all he needed for me to be accepted into the family. He figured if I could afford that, I had to have a decent job at the very least. So we got drunk together and ended up all going out for karaoke. It was the first time my girlfriend had ever heard her father sing.
I ended up making their first Christmas a very special day for their family. I will never forget that.
0

ElvensilvanDec. 29, 2011 - 10:35AM JST

Mine is when I was still a kid, and cooking some barbecue and steak for Christmas dinner with my sister, both of us wearing hand-knitted santa hats.

How I miss the holidays with the family, so far from home.