4ever Discovering
Searching for Some Christmas Spirit in Taiwan
It’s not always easy to find bright lights, big trees, and Santa Claus!
Living in a country where Christmas is not an official holiday is tough. I love the holidays and all of my family traditions we do leading up to Christmas. This is my first Christmas away from home and my family, and let me tell you, I’m not a fan! Because this is our first Christmas abroad, Emily and I decided to find as much holiday cheer as possible, even if we don’t have any snow.
Believe it or not, there were quite a few Christmas decorations available in Taipei. Most of the younger generation families celebrate Christmas, so it was surprisingly easy to find a little Christmas tree to decorate our apartment. As much as our students celebrate the holiday, unfortunately we still have to work. Christmas is here, but not considered a vacation (sorry teachers). Along with the tree, some snowflake stickers, and some little lights to hang around my room, we ventured around the city in search for some Christmas festivities. We still wanted to feel the holiday spirit, and maybe even find a Christmas miracle! Here is a little list of how Emily and I spent our holiday abroad (it still doesn’t compare to Christmas at home!).
1. Buying an Advent Calendar: Of course this is one tradition I had to keep. The advent calendars are the best part of December, even if you only have the cheap, dollar store ones. Chocolate is chocolate, and it is still exciting no matter how old you are. Emily and I bought ours at Costco! Believe it or not, they are Smarties brand (a Canadian company). Even away from home, we were able to treat ourselves with a little sugar and make waking up early a tad more bearable.
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2. Dinner at the Regent Hotel: Being one of the more fancier hotels in the city, The Regent, has quite the restaurant available for anyone who is willing to pay. Emily and I went here for dinner one night after school with one of our local friends. We were able to get a table right around the giant Christmas tree in the middle of the room, and right beside the grand piano. Talk about classy. Before we had dinner, we made sure to get a picture with the tree. We even opted to pay a little extra to take a picture with Asian Santa Claus. We thought it was worth every penny! After we finished dinner, we were lucky to enjoy some live Christmas music performed right beside our table. These men sang everything from Rudolph, to I’ll Be Home for Christmas (tearjerker). Emily and I even got to play the tambourine for some of the songs! It was a great way to fall into the Christmas spirit and enjoy a delicious dinner.
3. Christmas Market in Hsinchu: When we first heard of a Christmas Market outside of Taipei, Emily and I decided, without hesitation, we would be spending our Saturday afternoon there. I was picturing it to be similar to the Toronto Christmas Market, and boy was I off. This market was in a field, with about 30 stalls selling different food, drinks, and gifts. It was a beautiful, sunny afternoon, so we were able to catch a little sun while we sat and ate our lunch. As much as I would have loved a hot chocolate with Baileys, it was just a little too hot for me. I opted for the margarita at the Spanish stand instead ( it was a lot more refreshing). The market itself had a choir singing Christmas carols, and Santa sitting by his white Christmas tree, ready for a photoshoot. We tried to enjoy the atmosphere, but it was hard to feel any holiday spirit when it was 30 degrees with no snow! We ate some samosas, tacos, and empanadas (heavy on the Mexican food for us), and enjoyed the relaxing afternoon. I even brought home some banana bread for dessert! It wasn’t your traditional Christmas Market, but it was still a great place to go to try new food and meet new friends. There were lots of foreigners who had the same idea as us and were searching for some Christmas spirit!
4. Christmasland in Banqiao: I know what you’re thinking, but this is not Santa’s village! Hearing the word ‘Christmasland’ instantly made me think of elves working at the North Pole. Unfortunately, there was no Santa in sight. Instead, Christmasland was filled with festive lights, a large metal cone Christmas tree, and thousands of people. Emily and I explored Christmasland on a Saturday night, and were we in for a treat when we learned there was a concert there that night. We just wanted to check out the lights, not listen to music we can’t understand which hoards of people pushing us. Just a friendly reminder to myself that I am in Asia! Expect lots of people and no ounce of personal space.
5. Strasbourg Christmas Market at Taipei 101: Having travelled to Strasbourg before, I was expecting this Christmas Market to look just like the French city. Although there wasn’t any French food or merchandise to be found, the setup of the market reminded me more of the Toronto Christmas Market. There were two rows of wooden booths where the locals could sell their products. The catch was you had to buy tickets to buy anything from the vendors. You are more than welcome to walk the strip (like us), but if you want to buy something, you need to pay in tickets. Emily and I went here during the day, so we didn’t get to see any of the lights lit up, but we did see a group of young children singing in a choir. With the big tree, bright lights, and many vendors selling goods, this was a great place to find some Christmas cheer. It helped that it was located right under Taipei 101! If you looked directly above you, you could see a great view of the iconic landmark of the city.
6. Dinner at the Grand Hotel: As Christmas weekend quickly approached, our company treated all of the teachers and staff to a holiday dinner at the Grand Hotel. This buffet restaurant is exclusive to members only, so lucky for us, the owner of Foresight is a part of the right club. Along with the delicious meal, we were treated with wine, champagne, and lots of fun games to play to win door prizes. We even had a secret santa to exchange gifts with one another. After a meal fit for a king (and me wanting to roll on the floor after eating so much), we called it a night. We headed to the lobby of the hotel to see the giant Christmas tree, lighting up the entire room. The best part about the view of the tree was all of the lanterns hanging around it. I could really see the two cultures mixing together, making it a truly unique Christmas experience.
7. Christmas Dinner at Whalen’s: To end our Christmas festivities off right, we headed to our favourite Canadian restaurant, Whalen’s. For a set price, we paid for a traditional four-course, Christmas meal. After a well-spent day at the beach, we were pretty hungry when we arrived, ready to finally eat our turkey dinner. For starters, we were served with a seafood soup and walnut salad. The main course was turkey, ham, mashed potatoes, carrots, broccoli, and of course STUFFING. It wasn’t as good as grandma’s stuffing, but it was a close second! We ended our meal with a brownie and vanilla ice cream. Of course I added a caesar to my meal to really enjoy the holidays! I was served so much food, I wanted to lay on the floor to stretch my stomach. Whether it’s at home, or across the world, when I eat too much, I will always choose to lie down on the floor. Dinner at Whalen’s was the perfect way to end our ‘holiday’ (cough cough, our weekend). It felt great to eat a home-cooked, traditional Christmas dinner. Just by the smell of the food, I felt as if I was sitting at home, enjoying my turkey dinner with my family!
Christmas abroad was definitely something surreal to experience. I still hasn’t really hit me it is the holiday season; it is so hard to feel festive when the weather is hot and there isn’t any Christmas music playing. I even listened to a Christmas playlist on YouTube to help me find some holiday cheer! As much as I enjoyed the different Christmas activities we found around the city, I think it’s safe to say Christmas is best spent at home, with our family. I wouldn’t want to miss watching Christmas Vacation and playing beer pong with grandma too many times! Merry Christmas, Joyeux Noel, and Sheng dan kuai le!
