On Christmas Eve Day all my family on my mamah's side was home. Early in the day I went to the market with my mamah, aunt, and two cousins (including my adorable little girl cousin :) ). After my mamah and buday bought some krudungs, we went to the bakery and my mamah bought a Christmas cake for the family; The day before I'd bought some snacks and a stocking for my family with the intention of playing santa clause for them. When we got back home I put out the stocking and explained the concept of Santa Clause, that there was a stocking out for my family, and that later that night Santa Clause would come--but they had to believe. The whole night my family kept teasing me and challenging me that Santa Clause would not come; playfully I repeated what my mother (when I say mamah that means host mom; mother means biological mom) used to say to me when I was little, that if they didn't believe then Santa wouldn't come. Later I was hanging out in my mamah's room when Andrew showed up at the house and gave me a batik fan for Christmas; he is so sweet! Then he joined my family and I in eating a yummy soup-noodle dish. He and I took some photos together and then he took a picture of me with all my family--that's the attached photo. I will cherish it forever. <3 I love how close my mom's side of the family is, my grandmother frequently comes to say at our house and she likes to teach me bahasa jawa--which I really enjoy (especially because when my whole family is together they don't really speak bahasa Indonesia, but rather a mix of bahasa Indonesia and bahasa jawa or just all bahasa jawa... [even though Karawang is a little more Sunda land, my my mom's side of the family all lives in Tegal--a Javanese city in the province of Cental Java] so the more of the language I learn, the less confused I am). Before Andrew left we made sure to give him some of the Christmas cake to share with his family; he went home and my whole family talked and hung out for a long time. A little while before the family went to sleep, I realized they were under the impression that I had put out the stocking for myself and was expecting Santa Clause to bring me gifts! I explained that Santa Clause was coming to visit my family, but not me because he "didn't know I was in Indonesia." We had a laugh about it and I began to worry what they thought of me that they had believed I put out a stocking out for myself and kept talking about how excited I was for Santa Clause to come and bring presents... XP That night it was so crowded that I slept in the front living room on a foam mattress; also sleeping in the front room were five of my cousins and two of my sisters. The sense of community was so comforting and enjoyable. :)
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