Last winter I approached my first holiday season in the city with a bit of uncertainty. Would I find it refreshing to be away from the holiday hustle-and-bustle, or would I find myself descending into holiday homesickness?Of course all the Starbucks branches deck the halls and provide disposable seasonal merriment with every toffee nut latte. But soon after Starbucks declared the holiday season, I started seeing Christmas decorations pop up all over the city - advertisements, department stores, city decorations. One of the most prominent images in this decoration is the unlikely character of Santa Claus himself.
No, it isn't a nod to the small Christian minority of the country. Santa Claus has gained strong place in Turkish culture over the past 10 years - as Father New Years.
It doesn't stop there. Christmas trees are New Year trees, Father Christmas is Father New Years, Christmas Presents are New Years presents. Company Christmas parties are Company New Years Parties. In other words, a secular, consumer culture centered American "Happy Holidays" with all the green and red and tinsel but no nativity scene on the courthouse lawn. Less days off work, too.
When I was teaching English to 1st-3rd graders, the other foreign teachers and I always corresponded our lessons with major U.S. and U.K. holidays - Halloween, Valentine's Day, Thanksgiving. The lesson about Christmas was a bit confusing for the children - and not only because of the language barrier. They wanted to translate "Christmas" as "New Years," and couldn't understand why New Year's occurred in America on December 25th but in Turkey on January 1st. In the end, I just cranked up "We Wish You a Merry Christmas" and hoped no one would ask me what the hell "figgy pudding" was.
It is comforting in a way to have these echos of my own culture here during the holidays. But there is something slightly odd about the purely commercial nature of these "Christmas" images; I think few would argue that these images were not introduced specifically to fuel consumer spending around New Year, and this is not a cynical exaggeration. From "Treat yourself to a fine New Year's present at Kanyon Mall" to the advertisement at the bus stop with Santa exclaiming "Ho Ho Ho - buy a new cell phone," this cross-Atlantic importation of the modern "Christmas spirit" is a bit difficult to swallow - but then again, it is at home as well.
Last weekend I joined many of the city's residents doing some last minute "New Year" shopping at Cevahir Mall. While walking around the busy mall, shoppers everywhere buying presents for their loved ones, I saw this 5 -piece Santa Claus band, playing an off key jingle-bells outside of a Turkish department store. A bit tacky, of course. Have they gotten it all wrong? Repackaged our warm Christmas spirit only to encourage consumer spending spending among a growing population with disposable income? On the other hand, it is quite an interesting interpretation of the most visible aspects of a modern day American Christmas - hustle, bustle, and ho ho ho.
1 comment:
Haha. That's funny that you played "We Wish You a Merry Christmas" for your kids. *lol*
It's kind of disturbing that they make it into a commercial type of thing, but I suppose that's to be expected in a Christian minority country. Especially since they call it "New Year" though. That must be so confusing for almost everyone. ^ ^ Still looks like fun though.
In Australia, Santa can't say "ho, ho, ho" anymore while standing on the street and ringing bells and such. ^ ~ I can't imagine why. *lol*
Post a Comment