Taiwanese Christmas, Part I: Be Careful What You Wish For

For a few weeks now, I've been whining to whomever has the misfortune of being in my company about having to work on Christmas day. While the Taiwanese love Christmas, and some will even engage in gift and greeting card exchanges, it is still just another working day.

Having grown up in a Christian country, I have grown accustomed to looking forward to the holidays with rapt anticipation driven primarily by the lure of precious days off from school and work. I have never, ever, ever worked on Christmas day. This is the time of year when hordes of expats and English teachers fly back home to be with their families, advertising months in advance for someone to sub for their classes. Having no such elaborate repatriation plans this year, I did not make arrangements for a sub, and so it was that I reluctantly resigned myself to the fact that Christmas Day will be just another working day for me this year. It will be yet another very Taiwanese "first" for me.

So yesterday (Christmas Eve), I woke up in the morning feeling weak, achy, and coughing up a storm, the way I've felt every morning for almost a week now, having caught a bad cold two weeks ago. I've been coughing so much that the muscles on the sides of my abdominals are sore, and I feel a pinch of pain with every cough and every breath. Some days, I wish I could crawl into a hole and curl up into a fetal position, and this was one of them. I like to start these days off with a hot bath, it helps with the muscle aches and puts me in a much better mood. This illness has tested my dedication to the limits, the deep coughing and bodily discomfort has been creeping in gradually for the last two weeks now, and it is miraculous that I haven't called in sick yet. Still, there's something to be said about going to work, it gets me out of the house and forces me to interact with other human beings instead of being locked up in my room feeling anti-social.

When I went into my classroom, I discovered that my students had arrived early and transformed the white markerboard into a holiday mural with colorful stars, Santa in his sleigh, presents, even a Christmas tree with a real candy cane hanging on it! These are some of the sweetest, most creative kids I've had the pleasure to teach, and it put a big smile on my face. Then at the end of my classes, my boss came up to me and told me that he's approved my request to take tomorrow (Christmas Day) off, and that he's arranged for a substitute for me, now go see a doctor and take care of myself. Yay!!! I get my wish after all, but I sure wish it was under better circumstances.