How I managed to get through a year without gingerbread
Hello everyone,
I know Christmas is actually long gone, and here in Mamasa the last festive events finished a month ago. Now preparations are well and truly focused on Easter. But I thought this part of my year abroad, which seemed so different from what I was used to, shouldn’t be left out of my report. So I hope you had a lovely Christmas and got off to a good start in the new year.
To be honest, I’d expected that – at the best time of the year – I’d be struck by homesickness, because spending time with my family and the usual traditions would be missing for me this year. But in fact, thoughts of home were kept to a minimum. It’s probably because I was very busy in December with preparations and taking part in countless Christmas activities, and I was surrounded by such kind-hearted people anyway.
But let’s start at the beginning of the Christmas season, even if that means going back well before December. By mid-October, the streets of Mamasa were already brightly lit, fairy lights were flashing in every colour, and both international and Indonesian Christmas hits were being played on repeat everywhere, impossible to miss. And mostly, of course, in combination with the ever-popular rhythm of the traditional musical style – ‘Dangdut’. At first glance, this struck me as more jarring than contemplative, but over time I came to understand the feeling of cheerful along-swinging and got used to it. We didn’t need to do much decorating in our house, as the Christmas trees (made of plastic or cardboard) and garlands were already up all year round anyway. We just changed the batteries in the fairy lights, dusted everything off and added a few electric candles for a cosy atmosphere. At least, that’s how it was with my host family. The church youth group went to much more trouble. In November, they met almost every afternoon and created Christmas trees from the simplest of materials, such as plastic bottles, old wooden slats, colourful plastic bags, crepe tape and much more. In the end, it looked very aesthetic and, incidentally, they had made good use of the major rubbish problem here.
So, by 1 December, I was in quite the festive mood, even if the blazing midday sun sometimes threw me off a bit. The Advent season was filled with countless events, as well as church services and devotions in the church, in public spaces and in people’s homes.
One of the biggest differences I noticed relates to the Advent season. My impression was that the actual meaning of Advent – the anticipation and waiting for the Saviour – wasn’t really the main focus. Instead, from 1 December onwards, the focus was immediately on the birth of Jesus and remained so until Christmas ended in February. Consequently, I’d certainly seen more nativity plays this Christmas than in my entire life before. On one occasion, a vicar even preached specifically on this topic, saying that it was not really in keeping with the spirit of the faith to neglect the waiting and the associated preparation for the coming of the Lord. After all, Christmas involves much more than just the celebration of the birth; one risks losing the true meaning of the festival.
As the children’s holidays began on 9 December, I was initially kept very busy at our nursery preparing everything for the Christmas end-of-term party. Since November, we had been rehearsing dances of varying complexity with the individual classes, as well as the exact running order of the event; we decorated the classrooms with homemade decorations and organised the party together with the parents. Then, at last, the day arrived when all the effort and patience over several weeks paid off for both the teachers and the children. And it was a resounding success: the children performed their dances, some took part in a nativity play once again, and others bravely sang a solo that moved us all to tears. At the end, of course, plenty of photos were taken of the exhausted teachers and their pupils, and there was plenty of food. Cheering happily, the children said goodbye to us and set off on their well-deserved four-week holidays.
But the TK, with its dedicated teachers, wasn’t about to part with its hard-working little bees so easily. Because on the first two days of the holidays, we teachers got together again to go on a tour with Father Christmas (who is also called ‘Santa’ here). On the back of a pick-up truck, loaded with sweet treats, we drove through Mamasa in high spirits and to the sound of blaring music, visiting the children at home. There, we usually sang and danced with the whole family; Santa handed out presents and the message to always be well-behaved and help their parents around the house instead of just sitting in front of their mobile phones or the television. The fact that every child – even the naughtiest ones – was completely intimidated and often even burst into tears was surely down to the terrifying costume and Santa’s voice; I’m absolutely certain of that. Not even the biggest present of all could be used as a lure for the group photo 😉 It was also an eye-opening experience to see just how vast the differences were between poorer and wealthier living conditions. From a single-room wooden house with eight people who couldn’t even offer us a biscuit, to modern, spacious detached houses with a buffet, we saw it all. But overall, it was a really positive and fun experience for all of us, even though we were absolutely knackered after two days of being out and about from 8 am to 6 pm. After this event, the teachers and I still had plenty to do in Sunday school (known as ‘sekolah minggu’) over the following weeks, though here too the ‘Bule’ seemed to be the biggest attraction. The children’s cute dance performances and even Santa were clearly overshadowed.
In any case, I didn’t have much free time left, as I was also busy with numerous choir performances at weddings and Christmas parties. I really enjoyed that, and it automatically gave me new energy for the next events.
And finally, 24 December arrived, which, to my surprise, didn’t seem to be the highlight of Christmas here at all. Instead of a festive church service followed by a cosy celebration with the family, as I was used to from Germany, everyone in the house was busy cooking for the upcoming festive days. In the evening, almost everyone in my host family went to bed early to recharge their batteries for the coming days. But we still managed to have a shared dinner of soto (a soup with chicken, egg, cabbage and thin noodles) and cinnamon buns I’d baked myself. Anyone who didn’t want to go to bed early stayed up until midnight and celebrated the start of 25 December with loud fireworks, just as I did with my friends. Still sleep-deprived, we went to church at 9 am the next morning. Afterwards, I joined the church youth group and together we went from house to house to stuff ourselves. It didn’t matter anymore whether we’d already helped ourselves to the buffet four times at different families’ homes within the space of four hours. When I got home in the evening and got ready for the evening service with my host family, I was glad I still fitted into my tailor-made batik dress. The service was the highlight of the day for me. There was lots of singing, children danced with colourful lights and candles were handed out, so that in no time at all we were standing in a sea of lights in a dark church, singing “Malam khudus” (Silent Night) at the top of our voices. As a similar tradition is also common in my church in Germany, I felt all the more at home. After the final song, a pop remix of “Feliz Navidad” and “We Wish You a Merry Christmas”, had played and everyone had shaken hands, I left the church with a contented smile.
The house visits and the offering of food continued until the end of January; the last Christmas service was held in February, and even now people still warmly embrace one another and wish each other “Selamat Natal” (= Merry Christmas) or “Selamat tahun baru” (= Happy New Year).
All in all, this Christmas here in Indonesia was definitely different for me in terms of certain traditions and celebrations. And of course, I didn’t have my family and friends around me (especially the much-loved gingerbread had to be left out this year). But in return, I had my warm host family and some new friends around me, who always made me feel at home – just in a different way. It was certainly an experience I’ll look back on fondly for a long time to come.
So, that’s it from me for now; who knows what there’ll be to report on in the coming months. I’m looking forward to it!
This text was automatically translated using an AI-powered translation system.
