Episode 11: Happy Holidays To You

Lots of happy

little children

waiting for sunrise.

A stocking full of candy

and big surprise.

Look at the happiness

in their eyes.

They're glad it's Christmas.

— Mark Woods Jr., 1979

Happy holidays to you all. And despite the economic crisis in the States, I do hope that you are feeling happy and in good spirits this holiday season. For me, it's been a really difficult time finding The Christmas Spirit this year, living abroad and away from family and friends. It was also tough getting into Thanksgiving this year. But of course, folks here don't celebrate Thanksgiving so that was understandable. As for Christmas, they just don't do it up like they do in States. Sarah tells me that the lack of Christmas spirit in Sophia may date back to the days of communism. But on the other hand, It could also be contrast. The States can over-commercialize the holidays and I could just be used to everything being overwhelming with decorations and such. Nevertheless, the spirit for both holidays hit Sarah and I last minute. Let me tell you how it happened and recap some missed moments from November and December of my life and times in Bulgaria...

First off, there was Thanksgiving in Sophia. And although my good friend Joe stepped up to the plate to save the Day for us good ol' Americans, it still felt kind of weird when I woke up Thanksgiving morning. Coincidentally, I received a happy Thanksgiving wish from my Hyattsville homeboy Mike McCarthy asking me how the day felt. I guess he was curious because he had also experienced life over seas during the Thanksgiving holiday when he lived abroad in England. He told me that for him it felt like a regular old day. And he couldn't be more accurate. There was no anticipation for my Mama's cooking. No traditional Thanksgiving Day morning Hills That Kill run with my brothers. No Dallas Cowboy football game to look forward to. Damn! The world felt like it had come to an end. Nevertheless, I moped on over to Joe's place around 2 to help him prepared for what turned out to be a pretty awesome Thanksgiving Day celebration in Sophia, regardless of those absences.

Sarah met up with us around 6. And at 7 pm sharp, our friends, Stetso, Kami, Alex, Dani, Ellie, Addy, Jonas and his wife Ryna all showed up for the occasion. And my man Joe threw down, indeed. It wasn't like my Mama's of course, but it was pretty damn scrumptious.

Oh, and when I say I helped Joe, I just mean I handed him some seasons, cut potatoes and did the dishes as he single-handedly prepared everything from a traditional Thanksgiving Day turkey with stuffing and cranberry sauce, that he had been saving in his fridge for a year, as cranberries are tough to come by in Sophia, to a special macaroni and cheese dish from his very own late grandmother's recipe. And it was truly the bomb! I could tell it was also a big hit for everyone else — because as I glanced around the room, folks were licking their lips and pleading for seconds. Since I was Joe's assistance during the making of his secret mac and cheese dish, I did sneak a peak or two at how he done it. But there's no way I'd be able to repeat it. I'll just stick with my usual Kraft Macaroni & Cheese in a box. I'm pretty good at that, so don't challenge me, you will lose! Anyway, needless to say, Thanksgiving in Sophia turned out pretty well. Joe even gave me first choice to the leftovers.

Now on to Christmas in Sophia. That's been, surprisingly, the toughest for both Sarah and I to get into this year. I tried playing my new Three Degrees Christmas album that I got in Prague, Sarah got us stockings and a Christmas wreath for the door — but sadly, none of it got us into The Christmas Spirit. Then last Sunday it all happened for us. We rented our little black Volvo from Rotto Rental Car for the weekend to take a trip to Blagoevgrad to visit Sarah's host parents Alexander and Slaveika and their daughter Vanya and her son Slavi for the holidays. They graciously prepared a wonderful Christmas lunch with homemade wine. The Christmas Spirit was creeping its way near me. But that still didn't quite do it. On the way back, Sarah suggested we stop by Bansko, a ski resort near Blagoevgrad. It had the most wonderful little town center you could imagine. Covered in snow and decorated with Christmas trees all around, it reminded me of a scene from my Mom's all time favorite holiday film, It's A Wonderful Life!

We froze our butts off while romantically walking through the winter wonderland like scene with me bitching and whining the whole time. That's when Sarah suggested we go inside one of the little pubs and sit by the fireplace. We found a nice one and just sat and chatted about our childhood days, chillin' and enjoying the vibe. The Christmas Spirit was knocking on our door at this point. After the pub, we headed back home, feeling a sense that The Christmas Spirit was in the air. We could almost taste it, so I popped in that Three Degrees Christmas CD to see if it would sound anay better. It sounded good to our ears this time. The next morning we both just knew what would really get The Christmas Spirit going for us. That one thing that always does. A Christmas tree. It would have to do it. So we skipped breakfast and headed out for the market. Just as we got out of our front door, something unexpected happened. Snow drops started to fall. We looked at each other and smiled like one of those claymation characters from that Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer holiday special. We only had a little time to do this so we didn't savior the moment too long, we jumped in the car and speed off to the market.

When we got to the Christmas tree lot, I was a little surprised or taken back. You see, as the familiar holiday anthem, "Linus And Lucy," by the late great Vince Guaraldi, began to play inside my head, I looked around and noticed that all the trees looked like the scrawny little tree on A Charlie Brown Christmas. We just laughed about it and chose the biggest one of them all to compensate. The guys at the shop wrapped it up tight and drilled on a tree-stand, charged us 30 lev and then we were off. As I walked around the market with the tree, my celebrity status reached an all time level of highness. It was even higher than when I run! Folks just stared and even came up to me and politely asked, "where and how much the tree cost?" It was really interesting. Because in the States, if folks saw us walking around town with this Charlie Brown-looking tree, they'd laugh at us! But here in Sophia, our little ol' Charlie Brown tree was the cities latest attraction.

We finally got out of the market and onlookers and rushed to the store for decorations. We got home and unwrapped the tree and slapped the decorations on. making our Charlie Brown tree look gorgeous. We just sat around for a minute, giggling and looking at it like were little kids at Christmas. At night it was even more impressive. The Christmas tree did it. We finally found The Christmas Spirit.

The mood is right, the spirit's up,

We're here tonight and that's enough.

Simply having a wonderful Christmas time.

— Paul McCartney, 1979

That same evening, I'd promised Sarah that I'd attend a Christmas celebration at the British Embassy in Sophia where Sarah and others read scriptures from The Bible and sang Christmas carols. Yeah, I know, Mom...you would have been proud to see me in this kind of religious setting. I guess (clears throat) The Christmas Spirit came over me much harder than I expected. Besides, I did promised Sarah I'd go and I'm glad I did, because it was a lot of fun and cemented The Christmas Spirit inside of me.

Oh and before I forget, I had another week alone in Sophia. Sarah went to my home away from home, the lovely New York City, on business. Picture that, me in Bulgaria, and Sarah in the USA. Something's a little odd about that picture, right? Who would've thunk it? And I was jealous, too. But to sooth my jealousies, Sarah brought us back a ton of goodies from New York. I mean she literally filled up an empty suitcase with stuff! One of the items that she brought back instantly erupted my Happy Dance — an assortment of candy treats that you can't get in Sophia, like Reese's Peanut Butter Cups, Hershey bars and York Peppermint Patties, that I was surprised she found those in the States. I thought Patties disappeared with the 80s? Anyway, careful when you see me over the hoildays, I just might have a huge pimple or two with me waiting to say hello. She also shopped for cloths and gifts for others. But there was one item that she'd brought back from NY that I'd been waiting years to get. The Kraftwerk remasters! And if you don't know, you'd better ask somebody, because like the Beatles Remasters that came out in August, it was a crime that both groups waited so long to remaster their catalogs. Because just like the Beatles and other extremely important musicians such as Sly & The family Stone, Led Zeppelin, Aretha Franklin, The Jimi Hendrix Experience, Bob Dylan, Motown, etc. — Kraftwerk are in the same league in terms of their utmost importance and astounding influence on the music world and culture. They are considered the godfathers of modern music. So thank Kraftwerk for the over-use of computer generated crappy music you hear on the radio today!

Speaking of music, I can't end this story without telling you about the musical acts I've recently seen in Sophia. It seems that Sophia has been getting some good ones to perform this year, too. To add to the already superb list of artists who already came, such as, Madonna, Macy Gray and ZZ Top — Boney M. and Simple Minds are now added to the list. And next year the great Elton John, will grace the undiscovered gem of a country. A group of us are currently trying to hunt down some possible VIP tickets to The Captain's show, but it's been difficult trying to find them.

Okay, now on to a review of the concerts, and unfortunately, there's always one or two duds in a fireworks' box on the 4th of July, because Boney M. — the ABBA of Germany — sucked harder than a kid with an ice cream pop! It's a good thing I braved this one out alone while Sarah was in New York, because I would have been embarrassed had she or anyone else been with me. First off, they came on stage with a boombox and no band. Bad sign. Then I realized it was only Maize Williams up there. The other three were replacements. End of discussion. If they had advertised it that way I would have never purchased a ticket. Nevertheless, the energetic Bulgarian audience seem to have enjoyed it regardless of how I felt. I guess I am just a bit of a stickler for an original. Anyway, if you're reading my Blog-O-Daria, Miss Maize — please get the old band back together and do it up like '77. I'd even pay again to see a reunion.

You turn me on,

you lift me up

And like the

sweetest cup

I'd share with you

You lift me up,

don't you ever stop

I'm here with you

— Simple Minds, 1985

Anyway, Simple Minds — one of Scotland's greatest band of all time underneath Average White Band and right before Belle & Sebastian — made up for the awful Boney M. concert. Those dudes were smokin' hot! They trumped Madonna, Macy Gray, and — I hate to say it — they even trumped ZZ's spectacular kick ass concert in October! Me, Sarah, and Joe danced the night away as the spectacular Jim Kerr led his band to an awesome 3 hour performance of hits, B-sides and album classics, such as, "Glittering Prize," my favorite that I kept annoyingly yelling out until they finally did it, the very memorable "Don't You (Forget About Me)," and a heart warming encore of "Alive and Kicking". The original classic '84 line up was present, with the unfortunate exception of the female background singer. But they had a look-alike replacement that did the job well. Charlie Burchill and drummer Mel Gaynor still had the chops. And Kerr's voice was stronger than ever. I was quite impressed. And although Sarah and Joe were only familiar with the unforgettable "Don't You (forget About Me)", they seemed to have really enjoyed themselves, leaving me with no worries.

Will you recognize me?

Call my name or walk on by?

Rain keeps falling

Down, down, down, down.

— Keith Forsey & Steve Schiff, 1984

Okay, as I mentioned before, I'll be coming home for the holidays this year. I'm excited. But I have to admit, I'm a bit nervous, too. I'm a little afraid I might go into shock over what I've gotten used to living abroad. I do hope I'll get the chance to get together with you all. You know, hang out, catch up on both ends. Although, if you've been keeping up with my Blog-O-Daria, you'll pretty much know most of what's been going on with me. But I can still give you a bit more details and stuff. Anyway, what I'm really getting at is — if you do happen to see me, and I'm a bit out of sorts or disheveled looking — you know, acting in a different manner that you're not used to, please be patient. I mean, I don't think living abroad has changed me, but one can never tell. But if this does occur, just remember this — I'm still the same ol' Owen. I just need to get a little readjusted.

Be seeing you.

O