Strictly Stephanie: Happy Holidays!

Yesterday was busy. We hardly did anything in classes due to the excitement for the holidays. There was gift-giving in the hallways, and almost everyone had a candy cane in their mouth. You could tell the teachers were ready for a break as well. The bell finally rang at 3:48, dismissing us from our educational prison. I was glad to make a quick escape, and later join my best friend on her bus. We rode to her house together, with plans later in the evening to go caroling. It’s become a tradition, actually. We started it two years ago. Andrea, Maddie and I’d go caroling around the neighborhood. At first it was just for fun, but when people started giving us treats like chocolate and money for our efforts, we decided to donate anything we received to a good cause. Last year we made a donation to the Ronald McDonald house. It was fun walking into a local McDonalds and dumping a giant bag of money into the collection container (: This year, Maddie couldn't come as she would be in Florida visiting family and whatnot. However we decided to go ahead anyways. We huddled around her piano for a little while and rehearsed some songs while we waited for the sun to go down. Due to it being December, we didn’t have to wait very long. We compiled a songbook of a couple songs:
Deck the Halls, It’s Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas, Jingle Bells, Silent Night, and Let It Snow. We tried to shy away from religious songs, though we had a really pretty arrangement for Silent Night, so we kept it.

Personally, I don’t really know why people find Christmas songs offensive, that is, if they’re of a different religion. On Thursday I went on a brief field trip to another high school in my county. They had what looked to be a Christmas tree in their front lobby. A giant, lit-up, colourful Christmas tree. I wondered aloud, “I wonder what the people at our school would say if we tried to pull a stunt like that.” The fact is, our school is incredibly diverse. And I’m not saying diversity is bad. Diversity is a wonderful thing, and I love embracing cultures outside my own. I do, however, hate the fact that we almost have to censor ourselves…”Merry Christmas” is no longer the “safe” thing to say, and for some, I’ve heard that even “happy holidays” is offensive. That I absolutely do not get. I guess it could be “offensive” to people who don’t celebrate anything… but… Seriously? Why are people so crazy? My friend has Muslim cousins who visit and they “celebrate” Christmas with their non-Muslim relatives without any uproar. And if you think about it, this country was basically founded on Christianity. I respect the religions of other people, but I wish people wouldn’t hate so much on the songs and traditions that have become such a part of American culture. Another thing I didn’t like: For the past couple I don’t know how many years, our school has had a combined choral/band/orchestra “holiday” concert. At the end of the show, all of the choirs would get up on stage (talk about a fire hazard) and sing the Hallelujah Chorus. It wasn’t perfect—it’s a hard piece to learn and it’s incredibly impressive for a high school choir to pull off. The choir director of past years would invite any alumni in the audience to come up and join in, and it became a tradition. This year, however, our new choir director who had put up with the tradition for a couple years, decided it was “inappropriate”. What?! It’s a classical piece!! We’re not trying to convert anyone to Christianity, for goodness sake, we’re simply trying to sing the masterpiece of a musical genius. I could see the slight confusion/disappointment on the alumni’s faces when they were expecting to go up on stage, but the moment never came. I know some of them came almost primarily for that fun tradition. Sigh… I guess I just wish people wouldn’t spend so much time being picky and critical. And that they could just enjoy the season for what it is: a time for family and friends and kindness, no matter what you celebrate.

ANYWAYS. That was a rather long tangent…. So Andrea and I gathered our hand-made songbooks and a little bag to collect donations in. We decided beforehand that we would donate to Salvation Army this year. We went out, and probably hit around 15-20 houses. We sang a carol, and many people without any verbal explanation from us offered us a treat/monetary gift. We thanked residents profusely for their contribution if they gave one, but also if they just gave us an audience. Many older people were pleased to see this seemingly lost tradition come alive again through two teen girls dressed in green and red with santa/elf hats. It was a feel-good night, and the weather was fantastic—it was 50 some odd degrees! We came back to Andrea’s house with $112 in monetary donations, plus chocolate and drum set. Yes, a drum set! One lady said she was going to donate to the Salvation Army anyways, and gave it to us, because we were going to be donating anyways (: It was awesome. I’m glad we got to do something we loved for a good cause.

For example--tomorrow will be filled with church and pageant rehearsal (it’s so cute… the little ones as sheep and cows and angels!) and later in the evening, a sort of caroling extravaganza at my church, and a lot of baking for J’s family Christmas party that they have every year (I’ll be making some peppermint bark :D Recipe creds go to Andrea!!). Monday will be filled with seeing my dad’s mother at the nursing home and wishing her a merry Christmas. Later that night I’ll be with J and his family at their Christmas party. The next day will be Christmas eve… Pageant, church, looking at Christmas lights, and of course putting various presents under the tree. (The ones Santa doesn't bring, that is) (;
And then boom! It’s Christmas. We’ll have my mom’s traditional French toast and awesomesausage for breakfast. We’ll probably spend the rest of the day chilling around, enjoying Christmas in our own home. (I’ll probably be in pjs all day! (; ) The next day we go to see my mom’s parents in Maryland. There we’ll exchange gifts and be with family, and then later that day we’ll drive to Williamsburg, as we have seasonal passes that my mom doesn’t want to expire before the new year. We’ll spend a few days there, and then we’ll come back home in time for New Year’s eve, I believe. And then before you know it, we’ve got school again on the 2^nd of January. Unless it SNOWS…. Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm…… (;