January 3, 2007

Merry Christmas

My first Christmas in Dublin; it was very interesting. Christmas started a lot earlier here.
In mid October Christmas decoration was already competing heavily with the Halloween decoration in the shops. It looked rather funny: windows decorated with witches and spider webs and then in the entrance area of the shops the big gift packs of chocolate and shower gels all nicely decorated with golden ribbons, angels and of course Santa. It was a really amusing sight.
Things got even more exciting after Halloween. Friends had warned me that from now on most ATMs in the centre would always be out of cash and the city would be unbearably crowded. Did I believe them? Of course not; I thought it would be crowded alright, but not THAT crowded.
Well it was an experience and I surely learnt now where and when to shop for Christmas.
To be honest it almost feels a bit empty now. For months the ads on radio and TV were reminding us to get all this Christmas shopping done and the voices started to talk faster and faster coming closer to Christmas and now its all over. Of course there are the sales, but I am still recovering and won’t venture back into the centre just yet.
Otherwise Christmas was lovely. People send loads of cards here, even more than in Finland; they eat, drink and party like everywhere else! It was a great holiday!