Snow and all things Christmassy

Well, after much anticipation the snow finally came! This is the first time in three years that Matt and I have experienced the white stuff so it is a memorable occasion for us. I had forgotten how magical it makes everything look and how pristine. It is nice to be reminded about the bright white light that it sends in the windows and the funny sensation of hearing the ground crunch under your feet and the way it cushions the sound outside so that you feel you are wrapped in cotton wool.

It feels strange writing this as everyone in this country is very familiar with these sensations and experiences and has probably had enough of them by now! I know we have it easy at the moment as we just have a comparatively small amount and we don’t need to try to get anywhere (my commute being from the bedroom to the kitchen table currently and Matt’s being the grand distance of about 100 metres!). I am able to enjoy the snow, taking gentle walks just to appreciate the scenery and take photos, and am not trying to hike around Sheffield’s steep roads or drive the car on an icy and gridlocked motorway. It is interesting to me, however, how the snow provokes such contrasting emotions and reactions in people. Yesterday I read on Facebook of someone who ‘loves watching the snowflakes dance around and is stunned by the beauty of the snow’, whilst also seeing someone who ‘has had quite enough of the snow, thank you very much’ (to paraphrase quite a lot!)! I wonder why this is. Does is correlate to the amount of ‘inner child’ we still have left in us or does it relate more practically to how many miles we have to travel and how much we have to get done?! Or simply where we live in the country?!

Those musings aside, whichever way you look at it snow does add another dimension to our experience of life (good or bad!). I guess I would really like this reflection to be read by our colleagues in Tanzania who, having lived all their lives on the equator, have never experienced the unique thing that is snow!

This is just another element that shows the huge contrast between our lives as they were in Tanzania and our lives in the UK. It makes me think about how completely different our experience of Christmas will be this year to what it was for the last two years. I feel like this is a time where reverse culture shock, that has been lying somewhat dormant for the last few months, could rear its head again! It is a shock to me how Christmas is such big business in the west, such a marketing opportunity. In Mbeya last year you would hardly have known it was happening (as I’m sure we described at the time), with no Christmas music in the shops or decorations. This was a struggle when we first went to Africa but now (probably with those rose-tinted glasses on!) it seems like a blessing. I want to revolt somehow now I’m back and have Christmas without all the trappings but that seems like hard work to go against the flow. I’m kind of ashamed to say this (and even now am awaiting cries of ‘Bah Humbug’ and ‘Scrooge’!) but I’m not really that fussed about all that comes with Christmas here in the West. What is most important to me is spending time with my family and friends (cos that’s what I missed last year) and I could almost do without the fancy food and tons of presents and decorations (I said almost!). Or maybe it’s just that my expectation of Christmas isn’t that high as I was feeling so ill last year!

I know also that I do want to connect with the real meaning of Christmas for me, that the Son of God come to earth in baby-form to save us. In some ways here, with all the peripheral stuff, it will be easier to connect whilst in other ways it will be harder. I know it will take extra effort to engage with the real Christmas story and I have to be careful that when I’m trying to keep Christmas simple I don’t miss the message in it. I pray that I can learn something new this year and that I will enjoy Christmas for what it is, not throwing the (Christ) baby out with the bathwater!

p.s. the picture is the view from our kitchen.