By Harriote Lampe, Montreal Canada
Christmas in Quebec did not disappoint. From the Quebec government flip-flopping regulations to demanding retailers have employees greet customers with Bonjour-HO instead of the well known Bonjour-HI, it's been a fun distraction from the general disappointment of not seeing friends and family this time of year. Luckily, we did figure out a great way to celebrate with the family. Christmas dinner is my personal favorite part of this holiday. Every year we do a big Christmas feast with our friends, but this year is different. I can't do a big dinner with just my boyfriend and me so we utilized our friends' fabulous Christmas catering company! Christmas dinner with the family, at our own homes, to each person's specifications, without having to lift a finger, as well as supporting a friend's business in these trying times.
It. Was. Delicious.
Roast beef, mashed taters, stuffing, various veggies, Yorkshire pudding, homemade cranberry sauce all drowning in gravy, as well as chocolate, peanut butter truffles. Today we catch up on zoom, share what we gifted one another, and mourn over the distance. I did appreciate not having to run around shopping for people, gathering Christmas dinner, cooking it ourselves, and cleaning up the inevitable mess that is a Christmas party.
I woke up today not having to go out in the cold and lug gifts to the family through the snow. We get to stay in our pj's and watch classic Christmas movies under the covers. Even with cases being at an all-time high and the fear of the anti-masker, the holiday spirit is still going strong!!! Merry Christmas and happy holidays!
Beyond the holidays---I'm doing pretty all right. Montreal's not doing so great. The second wave is too real. Things are getting really slow working in restaurants, and people aren't super into venturing out into the cold for food nowadays. The restaurant doesn't do the delivery, and we had the dining room open for four days before cases rose above 1000, and they banned dining rooms again. Now Quebec might close schools. I hope they do. I miss my acupuncturist. My shoulder misses her more. I hope they're still in business once this gets under control. I miss the many restaurants that have closed.
Friends have lost their jobs or took this moment to completely change direction and are taking this countrywide slow down to figure things out. I'm just making it to work each week; public transportation is my only daily worry. Automatic doors and chip readers make it feel safer. Otherwise, I'm home or at my boyfriends' place. We're planning on moving in together in the spring; looking for apartments during this takes the joy away from enjoying the moving process. I love moving, I know, I'm weird. Just going into people's homes seems like a faraway dream, let alone asking all your friends to touch all your things and move it all into a place a complete stranger had just lived in. My current apartment is in need of many fixes, so I'm trying to move asap.
For now, I close my eyes and imagine my dream house, with a big garden and high ceilings, skylights, and a killer kitchen. Speaking of, I work in the am and must put myself to bed. Have a good night! Merry Christmas! I'll catch ya later!
Kai shares his diaries exclusively with iChongqing, and has been writing about the pandemic, along with his friends around the world, since his lockdown began in China on January 23, 2020.