The Land of the Christmas Cards

I've never really been one for cards. Usually cause I forget. Presents are usually given without a card. I pretend it's because I'm being environmentally conscious...but I'm not. Just forgetful.

But this year I am spending Christmas in the land of the Christmas cards. I've never in my life seen such a big deal over Christmas cards. It's truly amazing! With 4 more days until Christmas I have already received about 15 cards.

This year the Royal Mail has had 7 million Christmas cards go through the postal system.

A Brief History:
"Official" Christmas cards began with Queen Victoria in the 1840s. The British royal family's cards are generally portraits reflecting significant personal events of the year. (www.wikipedia.com--Christmas Card)

And not wanting to miss out on the card mania, I too have started spreading the love through greeting cards. I can't help but think that it is slightly wasteful since most these cards will be thrown away come the new year. So I've tried my best to buy charity Christmas cards. One set was from GFNC the other from the British Heart Foundation. If I'm gong to contribute to the killing of trees, at least the money should go to a good cause, right?

But while searching for the perfect pack of cards to buy and send and reading cards given to me, I can't help but notice that the real greeting of this time of year is missing from a majority of the cards. Where did the Christ from Christmas go? All the greetings say "Happy Christmas", "Merry Christmas", or "Best Wishes for the Christmas Holidays".

I'm all for being multi-cultural and PC, but I thought the point was to be open-minded to all religions. I feel that the whole movement towards being more multi-cultural or PC has just given people an excuse to bash Christianity, rather than embracing our differences and moving on with life.

So in this season of Christmas cards remember that in fact the holiday started with a miracle baby in a manger.

The Cost of Globalization

This probably isn't exactly the lesson about globalization that I'm supposed to learn, but hey!

Subway club+Coke Cola+potato chips from Subway...$8
Grande Gingerbread Chai Tea Latte...$7
Book from Wal-Mart (Asda)...$7
Single serving of Lucky Charms...$3
Globalization...PRICELESS

Sometimes you just need a good American culture fix to handle the English culture.

***Please note the ridiculous price of these items that you would pay half the price for back home.The "American Section" at Selfridge's in Manchester