The past 12 months have been strange ones for me, and for a number of reasons. Â It’s the first year in the past four where I’ve spent more time in my home country than overseas. Â It’s the first time since university where I’ve found myself living abroad in a country outside of Asia. Â And it’s the first time I’ve ever experienced Christmas in the summer. Â Odd as it sounds, that’s probably the strangest one of them all. Â I’m writing this Christmas letter while sitting outside in a T-shirt at 8:00 pm and the sun is still up!
But here at the end of this strange year, as much as my thoughts veer towards the future, I can’t help but dwell on the past.  This year, I managed to knock off two life goals I’ve been putting off for years: go on an extended road trip with a good friend and move to New Zealand on a working holiday visa.  I also managed to keep a promise to another good friend and make it back to Korea for an absolutely beautiful wedding.  I visited eight states and five countries, and even managed to squeeze in a few job promotions along the way.  It was a good year.
And yet…
There’s a cloud over my thoughts this Christmas, and it’s casting a shadow over my holiday season.  It comes from the realization that I don’t feel like I belong in my home country anymore.  I’m not talking about my family and friends — I’m blessed to always feel acceptance and warmth whenever I go home.  It’s my country which seems a stranger to me.
I try not to read the headlines coming out of the US, but they’re impossible to miss. Â Bouts of violence, blood spilled for no reason at all. Â Hate spewing from political podiums, echoed and chanted across the nation. Â People of one religion striking at those of another. Â Liberty tarnished, the gates to the Dream slammed shut.
This is not the America that I love. Â To reuse a line from a brilliant satire
Not that all the places I’ve been to have been perfect. Â They have their dark sides as well. Â I guess, what I’m saying, is that I find it hard to be proud of (and associate myself with) a country where bigotry, hate, and fear triumph over acceptance, love, and peace. Â To quote a song by the Lonely Forest
So this year, for my Christmas letter, I’m not posting a sappy message about what I’m grateful for or how much I miss home.  This year, I’m mixing up the whole ‘Christmas wish’ thing and issuing a challenge.  If you’re reading this and you feel hate or unease towards a certain group of people just because of their race, faith, or preferences… let it go.
The world is a beautiful place, and there is more love in it than hate. Â It is a wonderful place, and there is so much more to be in awe of than there is to fear. Â The world is as much yours as it is mine, and as much theirs as it is ours.
For 2016, let’s make a change.  Maybe, if we listen to what our mentors, prophets, and messiahs teach us about embracing love and forgiveness, we can make the next year just a little better than this one.
Merry Christmas, everyone!
- Hiking to Refugio Frey and Beyond - January 20, 2020
- Christmas Letter 2019 - December 18, 2019
- My Walk Out of the Woods - June 30, 2019
Getting Settled in New Zealand
Merry Christmas Nathan. What an amazing year you’ve had. I feel the same about England- with a conservative government and now invading Syria, I can’t associate myself with the general sway. It’s really scary the way that normal people’s opinions have adjusted against the imagined threat too. I think New Zealand is the place to be.
Merry Christmas to you as well, Katie! 🙂 How was your holiday?
Heh, I lived in South Africa for 25 years and never did get used to Christmas in summer! I do call it “home” though even though my formative years were spent in England. But I feel the same way you do about my home country – corruption, xenophobia and violence make me not want to live there or be part of it.
Love it Nathan. Thank you for the challenge.
Thanks Mike 😀
Yeah, I think the weirdest thing for me is the length of the days. The sun goes down around 10 o’clock here!