My Christmas party is tomorrow night. The good news is I do not need a bigger house to hold the twenty guests that originally accepted my invitation. One by one most of them contacted me with mainly weak excuses on why they wouldn't be able to make it. This is the problem with having few real friends and many acquaintances. Real friends show up and acquaintances say they will, but if they are presented with a better offer will almost always opt out.
My guest list went from twenty to six in a matter of a week. I also have six who are still on standby probably waiting to see if they get a better offer. I'm sure it sounds like I'm angry by the result, but I'm really not. I'm just telling it like it is. I moved here eight years ago, well into adulthood. When you move to a foreign country at any stage, it is always hard to find friends, but when you do it at a time in life when friendships are already formed and social circles are well defined, it makes it even harder to come by friends. I sometimes wonder if I will ever feel like this place is my home when I never feel truly settled.
Don't get me wrong, I have a husband I adore and a son that makes this house a home, but outside these walls I am a stranger in a strange land - even after eight years.
I am still looking forward to the party because I enjoy the people who are coming and I know it will be a good time. I am having the party to try to avoid feeling homesick during the holiday season and although it will help, I doubt very much it will cure me completely of the holiday blues. I will thoroughly enjoy watching my son's eyes light up when he sees his gifts on Christmas morning and love every second of him tearing into them. But come dinner time at my in-law's house, I know I will be wishing I was at surrounded by my own family instead of my husband's family who I only see a few times a year and feel no attachment to (besides my mother in law who I really do love).
At least this year I am trying to not let it get me down. I'm doing everything I can to distract myself and to try to ensure I have a good time. I guess only time will tell.
With Christmas only days away and things getting busy, if I don't get a chance to blog again, I wish you all a Merry Christmas and all the best in the coming year.
My guest list went from twenty to six in a matter of a week. I also have six who are still on standby probably waiting to see if they get a better offer. I'm sure it sounds like I'm angry by the result, but I'm really not. I'm just telling it like it is. I moved here eight years ago, well into adulthood. When you move to a foreign country at any stage, it is always hard to find friends, but when you do it at a time in life when friendships are already formed and social circles are well defined, it makes it even harder to come by friends. I sometimes wonder if I will ever feel like this place is my home when I never feel truly settled.
Don't get me wrong, I have a husband I adore and a son that makes this house a home, but outside these walls I am a stranger in a strange land - even after eight years.
I am still looking forward to the party because I enjoy the people who are coming and I know it will be a good time. I am having the party to try to avoid feeling homesick during the holiday season and although it will help, I doubt very much it will cure me completely of the holiday blues. I will thoroughly enjoy watching my son's eyes light up when he sees his gifts on Christmas morning and love every second of him tearing into them. But come dinner time at my in-law's house, I know I will be wishing I was at surrounded by my own family instead of my husband's family who I only see a few times a year and feel no attachment to (besides my mother in law who I really do love).
At least this year I am trying to not let it get me down. I'm doing everything I can to distract myself and to try to ensure I have a good time. I guess only time will tell.
With Christmas only days away and things getting busy, if I don't get a chance to blog again, I wish you all a Merry Christmas and all the best in the coming year.
Comments