Dreaming of a White Christmas: The Awkwardness of European notions of Christmas in a Nigerian Setting

I remember when I was about 14, sitting around with some American friends (in school in the Netherlands) discussing Christmas, one of them asked another at what age they stopped believing in Santa Claus. I was taken aback, was this some kind of joke, did people actually believe in Santa Claus. Did kids grow up thinking that a fat guy actually could fit into their chimney unnoticed and leave gifts? I found it unbelievable that at any age, someone would believe such a fantastical story, but I guess I had no idea about the cult of Santa Claus in the west, particularly in America.

See, I grew up in Nigeria, and Santa Claus, or Father Christmas as we call him is well known there, he adorns Christmas cards and Christmas decorations and can be seen all over TV adverts during Christmas time. But as a child I knew of no one like me who actually believed Father Christmas was real, real in the sense that it was he not your parents who delivered your gifts on Christmas day.

Although during Christmas time we were saturated with images of this foreign benevolent gift distributor we just could not identify with him on many levels. Not only is the idea of a white man dressed in winter clothes in the sweltering heat of Nigeria quite strange, but all the iconic apparatus that supported the myth of Santa Claus were very unfamiliar to us, we had no concept of what a chimney was, or mistletoe, or snow, sleighs or even reindeers. All these things were apparently common in Europe and America but they were and are alien to us, and it happened that during Christmas we threw out our cultures and traditions and adopted this strange fitting idea of a ‘White Christmas’ with mistletoe, pine trees, snow and eggnog, for a brief period in the year we were European, we were like those people on the TV with their knitted cardigans around the fireplace. The feeling I have is that we as a culture felt it was impossible to have an authentic Nigerian Christmas.

And this feeling of ‘White is Right’ was subconsciously ingrained into my little-head when I was young. My dad worked at an international agricultural agency, and so he had many colleagues from Europe and North America. At the annual Christmas party, one of his white colleagues was the Santa Claus for the day, and it felt right as a kid, for this white costumed man corresponded with the white Santa Claus from the Coca-Cola adverts and Christmas cards. I remember quite clearly as a kid feeling some sort of superiority over my friends who did not enjoy this ‘white privilege’ and thus had to endure a counterfeit ‘Black Santa Claus’, through a complex media and commercial machinery I had been indoctrinated that Santa Claus could only be white, and any other depiction was vulgar and illegitimate.

And I think to a large extent, these things are still true in Nigeria and other parts of the non-white Christian world today. It’s beautiful to see how other cultures have adapted and adjusted Christian practices to fit their respective cultures. There was once a point when exuberant singing and dancing was frowned upon in Anglican churches in West Africa, now you’d be hard pressed to walk into any Anglican church where dancing and jubilant singing is not part of the service.

This ownership of the Christian religion should also apply to Christian festivals that now have a larger secular meaning; we can create a genuinely Nigerian Christmas without having to borrow strange customs from the west. It’s about time we put our own unique stamp on Christmas.

Fade to Black

With the semester done, it was only right to celebrate in style. My good friend Titi was celebrating her birthday, so we headed down to Chase, all dressed in black and white (celebrant had to stand out in red of course) and partied the night away. Here are some select shots.

L-R- Alina, Ada, Anastasia, Marta

Me and Alina

Titi and Michelle

Ada and Alina

Natasha, Dominik and Katie

L-R- Natasha, Ada, Michelle, Titi, Alina, Marta

Dominik and Marta

Judith, Graeme, Spanish girl (I don't know her name) and Rachel

Me and Marlene

L-R- Titi, Ada, Marlene and Marta

Anastasia, Me and Kaori

Michelle, Titi and Marlene

Marta and Moi

L-R- Kelvin, Marta, Daniel and Anastasia

Marlene, Me and Katie

Katie and Marta

L-R- Gloria, Ariel, Titi, Marlene and Me

Titi and Moi

Titi and Dominik

Me and Titi

L-R- Gloria, Pooja, Mengqing , Titi, Judith and Spanish Twins (don't know their names)

Titi cutting her cake!

Retrospection & Introspection

Some of my fellow post-grads

So, my first semester at Newcastle University has pretty much come to an end. It's been a pretty interesting few months, it's great to be amongst people with a real zeal to learn, as an undergrad you feel that some people are there just because they had nothing better to do after college, university for them was 80% alcohol and 20% studying. With post-graduates, I certainly feel that I'm amongst people who are passionate about what they are studying.

The last few months have also taught me a great deal about myself, about aspects of my character that I need to develop and show, and other aspects that I need to get rid of.

I don't really like labeling myself, but I've always considered myself to be an introvert, my closest friends would probably disagree, as they are probably used to me being loud, boisterous, polemical and humorous. And, yes I am all these things to a certain degree, but I find that it is when one is in unfamiliar company that the distinction between introvert and extrovert is best displayed, and when in unfamiliar company, I am the opposite of all those adjectives listed above. Especially in a social gathering, I just don't know what to say, and that's also when the stammering kicks in, so I may know what to say, but I'm just unable to say it. Oftentimes I'm just on the periphery, nodding my head at an ongoing conversation and appearing deeply interested.

In a social setting, I find that I work best if I'm with someone I know very well, someone to bounce my thoughts and jokes off on, with the presence of a familiar face I feel very much at ease. Being able to socialize effectively (solo) is definitely something I'm working on, and it's something I sort of have to do now that I'm a member of a new church and Christian community, I can't always run to Marlene for help.

Which brings me to the second aspect of my behaviour that I need to work on, and that's being 'warm' to everyone around me. More than once this year, I've heard through the grapevine that certain people like my character, but I seemingly don't give them the time of day; when they try engaging me, I'm either distant or brief. It's certainly not something I do on purpose, and it is flattering that some people genuinely want to make my acquaintance, but I think I may be rubbing off the wrong way, as being aloof or arrogant, and these are words that no one would like associated with them. I am partially aware of this 'fault' in my character, and I am very aware of certain individuals I feel want to know me better, and it hurts me when they sing my praises (based on their observations of my interactions with close friends) and I cannot honestly repay them in kind, because I have not made the effort to get to know them.

Well, they say the first step in solving a problem is identifying it, and I have definitely identified this one, and over the next few months I'll be doing my best to rectify it.