Let there be Break!

Christmas Parade! 

And on the eighth day God said, “Let there be Christmas Break” and there was Break. And the joyous sounds and parties were the eighth day.

This last finals week we tried something different – having half days for four days and then the class Christmas parties on Friday. So with that schedule, we had two 1½ hour test blocks to give the students a few last minutes to study and then enough time to complete their exam. And… the entire afternoon off. So it was definitely a success in my book!

Friday was our high school Christmas party. Since their Accounting class didn’t really happen, and that was the only test they had on Thursday, I told my seniors that they didn’t have to come to school the next day unless they just wanted to come to decorate. So the next day the majority of them showed up and spent the morning blasting their music and taping various signs, ribbons, ornaments, and paper origami pieces around the room.

Some of the other participants

The party started around 9:00 the next day, but because of island time we really didn’t start until much later. When half of them were there I got them going with a game of Ninja, and then quickly figured out once again that these kids just really don’t seem to like games. They wanted to just ‘listen to music and talk to their friends.’ Fine. Not like I had games and other stuff planned that I was excited for! Oh well. So I put on Elf, and then we had lunch.

Santa throwing candy to the kids

The best part was when we started the gift exchange. Rosina acted as Santa, calling out ‘Merry Christmas Motoky, from Viki!’ But there was a tiny catch; Sharlyn was by the huge speaker they had brought in, and when somebody’s name was called, the music started (super loudly) and they were supposed to dance before they could receive their gift. I say ‘supposed to’ because some people didn’t dance. Fine. I hadn’t included myself in the gift exchange, and when I saw they were doing it that way I was kind of glad.

But I definitely thought that too soon… “Merry Christmas Miss Carissa, from Minako!” Rosina called out. Shoot. And since half of the kids had refused to dance, I decided I wouldn’t follow that crowd and got up, went to the middle of the room, and did my white Adventist two left-feet dance.

They clapped and howled with laughter.

I grinned.

And all was well.

After the parties we hurried off on our decorated truck to join the parade. Participating in a Christmas parade in Micronesia consists of decorating your vehicle, blasting holiday tunes, and throwing candy to the kids on the side of the road. The last part is the most important. Unfortunately, on our way to join the parade we hadn’t yet bought candy, and that didn’t make the parade-watchers very happy.

Especially the older ladies… we passed by a group of kids and an older lady who were all just anxious for candy, and we called out “Sorry! We don’t have candy yet! We will come back!” The kids just frowned and turned away, but the older lady’s face twisted and she ran a few steps after us, throwing dirt and yelling curses – I think – in Chuukese. I wasn’t going to be surprised if she pulled out a machete. Calm down, lady. The candy is for the kids.

Mary and Joseph

We finally met with the rest of the parade, bought the candy, and we followed the parade back the way we came. This time, we could throw candy and feel much better about ourselves. It was so entertaining to watch all the kids run screaming up to the truck as we tossed out the teeth-corroding goodies.

When we reached the school, we got more candy and handed it out to the locals, and by handed out I mean threw high into the air so that we wouldn’t get mobbed by the children who were crowding us… these kids are the best.

After a night’s stay at Blue Lagoon Resort with Mecha and Jules – complete with restaurant struggles, movie attempts (“You made me think”), all-night air conditioning, kayaking, and hot showers, I was off to Kosrae to spend Christmas with my family. It’s so good to be back and be reunited with friends and family. An early Christmas present, that’s for sure!