This Christmas will be a totally new one for Paul Gamboa, a former teacher at Ateneo junior high school. In August this year, he moved to Kobe in Japan to start work as a JET Programme assistant language teacher.
Early on at his new job, he was able to make a lot of new friends, both Japanese and foreigners alike.
“I am planning to host a little potluck in my apartment on Christmas Day, since most of us won’t have any relatives in town to celebrate with this year,” he told Lifestyle.
Although he claimed he doesn’t normally get homesick, he said it will be an interesting experience for him, since it will be his very first Christmas away from his family.
Gamboa, who hails from Batangas City, then recalled past Christmases at home. “I just love how festive the entire season is and how everyone has a reason to go out and be together with family and various groups of friends to celebrate, enjoy good food, have parties, dress up, give gifts, and just revel in the holiday spirit.”
Curious students
For the upcoming potluck, he said he plans to include a few classic Filipino Christmas party games to make the celebration even more fun. “Also, as an assistant language teacher in a Japanese junior high school, I made sure to feature what Christmas is like in the Philippines for our November-December bulletin board. My students have been very curious about why we celebrate Christmas for four months.”
One of the pieces of trivia Gamboa included in the display was how the Christmas season in the Philippines “starts on Sept. 1 and ends on Jan. 6.” There is a snippet on Simbang Gabi and how “some Filipinos believe their wishes will come true if they complete all nine days of the evening masses,” and brief descriptions of bibingka and puto bumbong, two types of glutinous rice cakes often sold outside churches.
“There is a Catholic church here in Kobe and I plan to hear mass on Christmas Eve, like I would with my family yearly. I also intend to give personalized gifts to my friends even if it isn’t one of my strongest love languages,” he said.
It’s unlikely there will be bibingka or puto bumbong available after the mass, but Gamboa is excited to be where he is now at this point in his life.
“I honestly don’t know yet what new traditions I’ll be having. But I would really want to eventually travel during the holidays and experience winter in northern Japan.”