July 4, 2010
Fourth Fulbright Article
Holiday Malaise
To begin this fourth article, as usual, I want to welcome back my regular readers! To those who are new to my articles, this is Moscow Kitty, and I’m back for the fourth go-‘round with, “Expat Student Publishing!” Today’s article comes to you, inspired by the on-going occurrence for me, today, of being outside of one’s home country, during a major holiday.
It’s the Fourth of July! The United States of America’s Independence Day! There should be hamburgers, hot dogs, deviled eggs, more cookies than you can shake a sheet at [Get it? As in, a cookie sheet? … No? Oh well…], maybe a swimming pool, and certainly some fireworks!! Actually, for me, there really should be all of those above! I should be at my Aunt Becky and Uncle Bob’s house, living it up with my Mutti’s side of the family! (And if Aunt DJ is in town, I should be trading her my Deviled Eggs’ yolks for the whites of hers. It’s tradition!) If that’s not going on, or perchance, in the days preceding today, I should have been with the “Clan Davis,” watching some of their brilliant fireworks displays!! Maybe there would be S’mores. Certainly, at any of these occasions, there would be a sense of family, joy, laughter, and celebration. And explosions. Lots, and lots, of explosions. After all, what’s more fun than having a designated day devoted to blowing things up? – I kid, I kid!! Really, what’s better than being able to have a wonderful day where one can spend time with family and friends you don’t often see; have great food; and where one can be thankful for the service and sacrifice of so many, who have worked so hard to ensure that we not only had a country to celebrate, but that we should continue to have one to this day? (The answer, for the purpose of this article, is nothing. Just clarifying… Ha ha ha!)
Alas, I am in Moscow, Russia. No Clan Davis, or B&B parties for me. It is true, that we were apprised of a celebration going on yesterday (but one had to buy tickets for that…), and perchance, I could still find something going on tonight – but to have to pay for the chance to celebrate my country’s independence, or to be celebrating without my closest friends and family, just feels wrong. It seems that today, my plans will mostly revolve around finally doing some homework, and trying to rest up a bit, from all the running around I have been doing since my return to Moscow. The day hasn’t been *entirely* lazy, however. Earlier this afternoon, I had a lovely walk around Moscow with a Russian friend – which led to the most “American” part of my day: I bought a 4-pack of Cinnabon cinnamon rolls. Seems rather anti-climactic for a day that should be full of explosions, huh?
I had often thought, before today, about what it would be like for me to be celebrating the “major” holidays – rather, the “Feast Days” – abroad. For clarification purposes, by the “major,” or, “feast,” holidays, I am referring to our US Heavy Hitters: Fourth of July, Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Years, and Easter. [Christmas and Easter are obviously heavy-hitters if you: a. are a follower of one of the many Christian denominations in the world, or b. you believe in Santa Claus and/or the Easter Bunny.] Namely, any holiday where we have a huge get together with our loved ones, feast like there’s no tomorrow, and generally have a grand time of things, I’ve thought about what it would be like to miss out on it while studying abroad. Now, I was here for Easter – which left me with a charming story about how I finally got a chocolate Easter Bunny – but Fourth of July seems to just really have that charm of the entire day about it, that I am missing. Maybe I also feel that I’m missing out today, because the brunt of my close, American friends in town are otherwise occupied today, and are completely unable to celebrate with me. Speculations aside, the bottom line is that, for any of these holidays, I’m not in the US, and I’m not going to be.
And that’s ok. That’s right, I said it: that’s ok.
Just because I’m not in the US to celebrate during the Holidays, doesn’t mean that I loose the right to talk to my family and friends. As far as I know, none of our arms, hands, or fingers are broken, so we are all still perfectly capable of writing emails and making phone calls. I will, in fact, be making the rounds as soon as I finish writing this article!
Just because I’m not in the US doesn’t mean that the Holidays stop existing! Or that my current country of residence doesn’t have its own Holidays to enjoy! Will I miss being at home and celebrating when our Holidays come around? Of course! But being a little nostalgic for “Home for the Holidays” should never get in the way of experiencing what you have right in front of you! To that effect, I’ve already experienced Russia’s “Maslenitsa” (Fat Tuesday) and “Den’ Pobedy” (VE Day) – and both of those were quite the experience!!
Just because I’m not in the US doesn’t mean I can’t find a way to celebrate! There is no law dictating that I can’t run out and find a place to have some ice cream, have a burger for dinner, or buy a candle to light, as my personal, though little, firework. (It’s still combustion, even if it is “small scale!!!”) If I can find a chocolate Easter bunny on Easter, halfway around the world, I’m pretty sure I can find a way to celebrate the rest of the Holidays in my own fashion!
My point here is, is that even though I am not at home, and even though I won’t be seeing my nearest and dearest on the Holidays, it doesn’t mean that I can’t find a way to stay connected with them, it doesn’t mean that I can’t look for new holidays to enjoy while I’m abroad, and it doesn’t mean that I am completely incapable of finding some way to do honor to my US holiday traditions! I have certainly been able to do all of the above so far, and I definitely intend to continue doing so. But *my* how missing the Fourth of July makes an Expat think about Home!
Until next time, then, my loyal and beloved readers! In the meantime, however, have a burger and light up a sparkler for me! Please?
