Christmas in Taiwan…isn’t the same as home
Angela Cole
As Christmas time approaches, I often find myself reflecting on past holidays and the people who have made each year uniquely special.
For my entire life, the holidays had revolved around gatherings with family and friends. In fact, until a few years ago, I had never spent Christmas away from my family. However, when circumstances forced me to spend Christmas away from home for the first time, I was further away and more alone than I had ever imagined. I was working in Taiwan as an English teacher, which meant I would not be able to return home for an entire year. The enormity of that decision didn’t truly hit me until December arrived; it was 40 degrees – and there was no Christmas season!
As most of the Taiwanese population are Buddhists, they obviously have no Christmas holiday. There were no lights, no cards, no busy shoppers at the mall, and no line-up of children waiting to see Santa. I was stuck in a world where Christmas simply didn’t exist. December 25th would not even be a holiday! I would have to get up and go to work, just like it was any other old day of the year. It somehow felt sacrilegious. Although I had nowhere to go on the 25th and nobody to spend it with, I bargained to take the day off, working an extra day on the weekend to make up for it. At least it would be Christmas in my heart, if nowhere else. I grew more despondent as the holidays back home approached. I would imagine everyone back in Newfoundland, all busy buying gifts, decorating the tree, and planning for holiday parties. I had flown halfway across the world by myself back in August, full of bravado, feeling very proud and independent. However, there was little of my bravado left as December rolled in. I was running up enormous phone bills, crying on the phone every night as I called family and friends back home.
. I had never been so homesick in my life. I wanted to be home for Christmas more than anything else in the world. I had brought my holiday music with me and I listened to “I’ll Be Home for Christmas” a hundred times during those weeks. It never failed to bring tears to my eyes.
As I was riding my bicycle home one day the middle of December, lost in my own thoughts and feeling utterly alone, I took a wrong turn and found myself in an unfamiliar part of the city. This may not be a big deal in any English speaking place, as you can stop and get directions from anyone. However, this would prove rather difficult in the middle of a city in the middle of China, where only a scattered few have a working grasp of English. In desperation I finally got off the bike and walked up and down the street. Then I saw something astonishing… an English sign in an apartment window. It simply said “Church of Christ”. The sign was for a church! An English speaking, Christian church in that part of the world is certainly not very common, to say the least. I thought I must be imagining things, so I stood and stared up at the window for a few moments. To my surprise, an elderly Chinese man took my arm and pointed me towards a door on the side of the building. Feeling a little nervous and foolish, I entered the building and knocked timidly on the door. What would I find inside the apartment? Was this some sort of cult?
I was greeted at the door by a beaming man, with a deep Southern accent (which just added to the surreal feeling!) who ushered me inside… and I had found Christmas! There was an actual Christmas tree, wreaths on the walls, and tinsel draped from corner to corner. As it turned out, two American missionaries from Arkansas, who had been living in Taiwan for many years and had actually raised their family there, operated the little church. Without knowing anything about me, except I was alone and had nowhere to go to celebrate on the 25th, the MacAteers promptly invited me to their house to spend Christmas with them. They were so kind and insistent that I immediately accepted their invitation, feeling as though I was experiencing a true Christmas miracle. I had been “adopted” for Christmas!
Despite our very new acquaintance, they brought me to their house on Christmas Eve and made me feel like a long lost member of their own family. When I arrived at their home, I discovered I wasn’t the only lost soul that the missionaries had rescued for Christmas. There was also a young couple from Ontario who had also been lucky enough to have been discovered by the missionaries and taken in for the holidays. Although turkey was not available, it was the most incredible Christmas dinner I had ever eaten in my life. We had a huge barbeque of streak and chicken, complete with all the traditional fixings, sent by their family back in the US. We ate outside in our shorts, basking in the sunshine, and I imagined the snowflakes that were surely falling back in Newfoundland. After dinner, we put on some soft Christmas music, sat in front of the little artificial Christmas tree (also sent special delivery!), staring at the lights and each lost in our thoughts of our families back home. We were all strangers… but on that day, we became a family.
This was only the beginning of many kind acts offered to me by the MacAteers and they became my new family during the rest of my year in Taiwan. That Christmas Day will always remain a cherished memory in my heart. They truly showed me the deepest meanings of Christmas.
Angela Cole
As Christmas time approaches, I often find myself reflecting on past holidays and the people who have made each year uniquely special.
For my entire life, the holidays had revolved around gatherings with family and friends. In fact, until a few years ago, I had never spent Christmas away from my family. However, when circumstances forced me to spend Christmas away from home for the first time, I was further away and more alone than I had ever imagined. I was working in Taiwan as an English teacher, which meant I would not be able to return home for an entire year. The enormity of that decision didn’t truly hit me until December arrived; it was 40 degrees – and there was no Christmas season!
As most of the Taiwanese population are Buddhists, they obviously have no Christmas holiday. There were no lights, no cards, no busy shoppers at the mall, and no line-up of children waiting to see Santa. I was stuck in a world where Christmas simply didn’t exist. December 25th would not even be a holiday! I would have to get up and go to work, just like it was any other old day of the year. It somehow felt sacrilegious. Although I had nowhere to go on the 25th and nobody to spend it with, I bargained to take the day off, working an extra day on the weekend to make up for it. At least it would be Christmas in my heart, if nowhere else. I grew more despondent as the holidays back home approached. I would imagine everyone back in Newfoundland, all busy buying gifts, decorating the tree, and planning for holiday parties. I had flown halfway across the world by myself back in August, full of bravado, feeling very proud and independent. However, there was little of my bravado left as December rolled in. I was running up enormous phone bills, crying on the phone every night as I called family and friends back home.
. I had never been so homesick in my life. I wanted to be home for Christmas more than anything else in the world. I had brought my holiday music with me and I listened to “I’ll Be Home for Christmas” a hundred times during those weeks. It never failed to bring tears to my eyes.
As I was riding my bicycle home one day the middle of December, lost in my own thoughts and feeling utterly alone, I took a wrong turn and found myself in an unfamiliar part of the city. This may not be a big deal in any English speaking place, as you can stop and get directions from anyone. However, this would prove rather difficult in the middle of a city in the middle of China, where only a scattered few have a working grasp of English. In desperation I finally got off the bike and walked up and down the street. Then I saw something astonishing… an English sign in an apartment window. It simply said “Church of Christ”. The sign was for a church! An English speaking, Christian church in that part of the world is certainly not very common, to say the least. I thought I must be imagining things, so I stood and stared up at the window for a few moments. To my surprise, an elderly Chinese man took my arm and pointed me towards a door on the side of the building. Feeling a little nervous and foolish, I entered the building and knocked timidly on the door. What would I find inside the apartment? Was this some sort of cult?
I was greeted at the door by a beaming man, with a deep Southern accent (which just added to the surreal feeling!) who ushered me inside… and I had found Christmas! There was an actual Christmas tree, wreaths on the walls, and tinsel draped from corner to corner. As it turned out, two American missionaries from Arkansas, who had been living in Taiwan for many years and had actually raised their family there, operated the little church. Without knowing anything about me, except I was alone and had nowhere to go to celebrate on the 25th, the MacAteers promptly invited me to their house to spend Christmas with them. They were so kind and insistent that I immediately accepted their invitation, feeling as though I was experiencing a true Christmas miracle. I had been “adopted” for Christmas!
Despite our very new acquaintance, they brought me to their house on Christmas Eve and made me feel like a long lost member of their own family. When I arrived at their home, I discovered I wasn’t the only lost soul that the missionaries had rescued for Christmas. There was also a young couple from Ontario who had also been lucky enough to have been discovered by the missionaries and taken in for the holidays. Although turkey was not available, it was the most incredible Christmas dinner I had ever eaten in my life. We had a huge barbeque of streak and chicken, complete with all the traditional fixings, sent by their family back in the US. We ate outside in our shorts, basking in the sunshine, and I imagined the snowflakes that were surely falling back in Newfoundland. After dinner, we put on some soft Christmas music, sat in front of the little artificial Christmas tree (also sent special delivery!), staring at the lights and each lost in our thoughts of our families back home. We were all strangers… but on that day, we became a family.
This was only the beginning of many kind acts offered to me by the MacAteers and they became my new family during the rest of my year in Taiwan. That Christmas Day will always remain a cherished memory in my heart. They truly showed me the deepest meanings of Christmas.
Being away from home for my first Christmas, I have only now realized how strong and brave my sister was. She had none of the benefits that I had when I came to Germany and yet she thrived and succeeded in her work in Taiwan. I can only hope I will do her proud.
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