栗子 Roasting on an Open Fire

"Do not waste your life" -The Buddha

It's Christmas in Taipei.

Thursday, I walk along Jilong Rd., and a bus passes me. The skinny, dark-skinned driver, a youngish dark-skinned Taiwanese guy with large metal-rimmed glasses, is dressed in a full Santa Claus costume. Today, I walk past a beef noodle stand and see an old Taiwanese guy with one of those red Christmas hats.

In most of the chain cafes, department stores, and some of the retail chains, Christmas songs play. Today, as I walked home over the bridge on Zhinan Rd., I heard some familiar words in my head: "So be good for goodness sake."

My Taiwanese friend tells me that she likes Christmas better than Chinese New Year. On Chinese New Year, everyone stays home, eats, and plays mahjong 'til the wee hours of the night. What a waste of time, she tells me. But on Christmas, everyone goes out, eats, drinks, and is merry. Taipei is hustling and bustling.

Not many people here are Christian, and people aren't really buying gifts for each other. But people like it and get into the spirit. My friend says that she likes the spirit of love.

I tell her that Christmas is different in the States. My sense is that Christmas in the States is all about buying and giving gifts. Retail stores do a third of their business during Christmas season. In other words, Christmas is just a part of the big capitalist wheel. There are probably lots of fundementalist Christians who would agree with me. They want Santa out of Christmas. They want that guy who talked about love and forgiveness back in the picture. I think if I were Christian, I would feel the same.

What does giving lots of gifts have to do with love? I think a better gift for children is to give them more time, more love, to have more patience with them, and to teach them about how to become good people. I don't see how giving your kid a transformer is going to teach him about love. (Actually, give kids love, and watch them transform. That's more like it.)

I tell my Taiwanese friend that in the States, all year long, people are working hard. They have no time to think about their lives. Then Christmas arrives, and they can take a week or two off to be with family and friends. Do they take this time to examine their lives? Am I living the life that I want to be living? What do I need to change? How are my relationships? What about my job?

My impression is that not many people are doing this. My impression, however, is that lots of people are eating a lot, drinking a lot, and watching a hell of lot of TV. I don't blame people for this. You're part of a big fucking capitalist machine, and you need a break.

But after all that food, drink, and TV, we all go back to work for another year. The capitalist machine keeps turning, and if you're not careful, your life goes by, just like that.