Christmas was yesterday. We saw some sad people, happy people, dog walking people, and not many snow people on our walks the past couple of days.
What are some Christmas traditions? Singing Christmas carols. Religious ones, like Silent Night, and secular versions, like the Twelve Days of Christmas. In the UK, there are pantomimes, where men dress up as women and act like villains. Or, pretend to be journalists.
On the first day of Christmas, my true love gave to me, broken broadband for the TV.
On the second day of Christmas, my true love gave to me, two palanets, and a broadband for the TV.
On the third day of Christmas, my true love gave to me, three cancelled dates, two palanets, and a broadband for the TV.
On the fourth day of Christmas, my true love gave to me, four mistranslations, three cancelled dates, two palanets, and a broadband for the TV.
On the fifth day of Christmas my true love gave to me, five –
Let’s not get ahead of ourselves. It is only the second day of Christmas. Many days to improve that song.
But the government did give a gift to small business owners. You no longer have to give receipts to clients who pay by card. They still have their rights, but as their proof of purchase is in their bank account, I suppose they don’t need to provide a piece of paper. Don’t take our word for it though, we saw this in an online newspaper which has been known to publish a few whoppers. We just hope it’s true.
Other news shocked us, the anniversary of tragedies, of deaths, were published in the papers as if they only happened today.
A walk through Cluj shows a peaceful town, a quiet town, a town very much as it has been for the past few years.
Professional Christmas carollers walk around in costume, making noise, collecting little bits of money. Children knock on their neighbours’ doors, nervously singing a carol they haven’t quite memorised yet. Old couples hold hands in walks through the snow, speaking so quietly it is hard to tell whether they are speaking in Romanian, Hungarian, or sometimes even Ukrainian. Friends help each other down stairs as the weather makes the sidewalks somewhat hazardous.
A few cars are in such a hurry, they seem they won’t stop at the lights, but sometimes they seem to notice at the last minute and try to back up from the crosswalk. Buses pass by stops where no one gets off, and it seems that without the students the town has fewer people, but not by that many. (A lot of others have come back home for the holiday, or have more time with a few days off.)
Not everyone has time off. Stores, restaurants, and delivery are still working in at least part time hours. The newspapers and bloggers are still typing. Udigrudi tries to take the winter off, but a few ideas wake us up as we plan the next year.