It's Christmas!!! (apparently)

5 "days" until Christmas apparently (notice that the phrase "shopping days" has not really entered common usage in the UAE).

Not feeling at all festive though. Probably due to the fact that today we have had bright blue cloudless sky and sunshine all day. It's not fair (but sympathy will be unforthcoming I know). We get sunshine all through the rest of the year. The recent rain was admittedly getting me more "in the spirit" but that has all dried up (both rain and spirit) in the last few days, so we're back to pretending that it's Christmas when the only thing to confirm it is the many over the top commercial Christmas "displays" that have appeared on shop fronts and in shopping malls.

Admittedly, the Christmas trees in the shopping malls are far and away better than any I've ever seen in the UK, but with so many people breezing past them in shorts and T-shirts, with not a "woolly" in sight, nor the sense of panic and urgency that is usually evident in UK shops by now, something is just missing.

To say nothing of the fact that the Arabic kids must be wondering what all that artificial white stuff is that has been sprayed everywhere (ingeniously made of shredded carrier bags by the way!).

Very much looking forward to a bit of traditional Christmas cold/rain/fog/turkey/more turkey/beer/cheer/more beer and cheer/carols/sausage rolls/mince pies/decent TV/ no taxes..... oh... no, that's here isn't it. Maybe it's not so bad....