1. Christmas is for couples.
Christmas falls more in line with Valentine's Day than anything else. It's a day where couples are supposed to go on romantic dates and go look at "Christmas Illuminations" (ie Christmas lights) while holding hands.
People who don't have significant others bond together to celebrate while professing they don't need (wo)men and are happier with friends anyways.
Outside of couples, there is no real exchange of gifts, and outside of English classes, no real forum for celebration. In fact...
2. Most people don't know what Christmas is.
I polled my students to find out what they knew about Christmas. A majority of them thought it was a day to celebrate the birthday of....Santa Claus.
Also, Santa Claus apparently lives in America and prefers to eat KFC to cookies. Bet you never knew that!
Devoid of any meaning whatsoever, Christmas is an entirely commercial holiday, just like the US.
Where the romance aspect got added on, I don't know. In my mind, celebrating the birthday of a rotund old man doesn't lend itself to romance very well.
3. In Japan, Christmas food is usually KFC and Christmas cake.
While in America we prefer turkey, ham, potatoes, and my cousin's really awesome dessert, Japanese people tend to eat Kentucky Fried Chicken and Christmas cake.
Why do they eat this? For the simple reason that it's what you Americans eat, of course! Wait...you don't eat KFC? What??
It seems that the transformation of KFC from simple fast food to classic Christmas fare is a commercial victory. KFC literally sells out the days surrounding Christmas.
Christmas cake is the second big food. Christmas cake is just like any other cake, except that it has Santa on top. Even so, it is an indispensable part of celebrating Christmas.
Merry Christmas!
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