12.03.2008
12.01.2008
A razão prà estação
Of the many blog/RSS feeds I follow is the online newspaper from my hometown during my year as an exchange student in Brazil. The city's name is Jundiaí ( here you can see its proximity to the 3rd largest city in the world).
One of the things that struck me about Christmastime in Brazil 14 years ago was its lack of commercialism. So I was saddened a bit to read an article with the headline that translates to "Downtown: Stores Open Until 10pm"
I was trying to figure out why all the downtown shops would be open until 10pm. When I read the article, it was all about the gear-up for the holidays. The article was filed under the "Rhythm of Christmas" section.
In 1994, I had to explain to my host family why my parents and loved ones were so interested in mailing down so many gifts for Christmas. Truthfully there weren't a large number of gifts being sent, but to them more than a couple of them seemed excessive. There were gifts for each person in the family in that care package, including the live-in maid. Our Christmas tree was a small potted tree (about waist-high) from outside that they brought in and put a few decorations on. Each family member received one gift, and they were token gifts at that.
So what a shock to see that Christmas spending is estimated to increase 25%-40% over November's. And that 14 downtown streets collaborated for a $200k-$300k Christmas lighting display.
This would be normal for an American store, but for years I have cherished the fact that not every place on the planet was like America this time of year.
Until now.
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