Christmas? Where are you?

December 25th is less than a week away, but I'm hesitant to say Christmas is less than a week away.  This holiday can be quite the source of confusion for newcomers into the village.  While the majority of the Christian world celebrates the birth of Christ on December 25th, the Russian Orthodox church celebrates it on January 7th.  This date difference doesn't bother me at all since I doubt Jesus was born on either day anyway (I know that's a brazen statement - please don't send me hate mail or stone me).  This is actually quite handy for us since we wish to travel back home for the two week break.  We'll get much cheaper plane tickets in January than we will around "American Christmas" as it's called in the village.  Many in the village can also get great prices on Christmas gifts since stores hold awesome sales to clear out their Christmas items while the village hasn't yet celebrated Jesus' birthday so the January date definitely has some advantages.

The date difference does make things a little difficult as well.  The majority of the school district is currently out of school right now while we are beginning second semester.  This means our students taking online courses through the district are currently unable to begin classes, but will start two weeks behind because classes will begin as we start our Christmas break.  There are several little quirks like this that must be worked around, but all is doable.  With this double Christmas and extended holiday one could assume we'll grow tired of Christmas and be eager for the season to end.  What I find, however, is quite the opposite.  On December 25th we will be in the village, a location where no one will be celebrating Christmas.  When everyone in the village is celebrating Christmas, we'll be in Missouri where Christmas will be well over and forgotten.  Somehow in the mess of two Christmases, I'm going to manage to miss them both!  I think I've been bahumbugged and there is only one appropriate response:  grrrrr!