A Long Christmas Season - Welcome to the Philippines!!

Happy Saturday Hivers!

Twinkling Christmas lights hanging from houses, Christmas songs playing in malls, and Christmas decorations displayed in different stores, these are some of the things you’ll start seeing when September arrives here in the Philippines.

While people in some other countries may start decorating their homes around November, we Filipinos start decorating much earlier. I guess it has simply become part of our Christmas tradition.

And do you know when we usually take down our Christmas decorations? We usually take them down in January, after Epiphany, which marks the end of the traditional Twelve Days of Christmas.

I remember when I was a child, we didn’t buy a Christmas tree or other Christmas decorations. We made them ourselves! Do you know what we used as our Christmas tree? We used mangrove trees. In our local dialect, we called them “bakhaw.”

It was actually so much fun back then because there were many of us who would go out together to collect mangrove trees/ branches. It became part of the excitement of preparing for Christmas.

These days, though, we just buy our Christmas decorations. Things are different when you get older, you don't have the same energy to go to the mangrove swamp anymore. I'm also not sure if collecting mangrove trees is still allowed by the government nowadays.

Last month, my mom already bought some Christmas decorations and Christmas lights. She put Christmas decorations on each door of the house, while the Christmas lights were hung in our garden. Although our decorations are not complete yet, we haven't even put up our Christmas tree, the Christmas spirit is already noticeable around our home.

Our neighbors have also started hanging Christmas lights around their houses, while some put them on the trees near their homes. You can already hear Christmas songs playing everywhere. This is what it’s like here in the Philippines when the “ber” months arrive.

For us Filipinos, Christmas doesn’t simply begin in December. The Christmas spirit starts as early as September and slowly grows until the holiday season arrives.

If you’re from another country, what month do you usually put up your Christmas decorations? I’d love to know how early or late Christmas starts where you live!

Thank you for reading and see you on my next blog. Cheers!

Connect With Me:
Facebook Account
Tiktok Account

---

Watch with glittering eyes the whole world around you because the greatest secrets are always hidden in the most unlikely places.

---