It’s beginning to look a lot like…summer?

I’m not dreaming of white Christmas these days, nor am I looking to roast chestnuts on an open fire. In fact, I’m counting down the days ‘til the class I am currently teaching ends, and my friends and I pack up our things to head to the coast for some holiday, end of the year celebrations. No, this year I’m dreaming of a sandy, sunny Christmas and roasting on the endless beaches.

Christmas is by no means my favorite holiday. Sure, Christmas usually signifies a break from school and/or a job, a chance to see friends and family and a time to indulge in delicious food, but the heavily commercialized side of it overshadows all these great aspects. By the time December 25th actually rolls around, everyone is so sick of seeing tinsel and listening to Rudolph the Red-nosed Reindeer, which has been playing on repeat since about mid-September.

In Chile, it hardly feels like Christmas, though. Just this past week did I finally see hints that it is actually right around the corner. Much in contrast to the spectacle of the States, Christmas trees, ornaments, tinsel, and lights only recently appeared in storefront windows and along Alameda/Providencia/Apoquindo, the main thoroughfare in town, did they just put up little Christmas tree lights on the lamp posts. Furthermore, I have yet to hear a single Christmas song playing anywhere.

The weather especially adds to the surreal notion that Christmas is now officially less than a month away. 80 degrees and sunny does not a winter make.