Dear Moka Girls High School Staff and Students,

How are you? I hope this diary entry finds you all well. December is coming up soon and I’m already about to explode because of the excitement I feel for the upcoming Christmas season! As the song goes, ‘It’s the most wonderful time of the year’. At least in a Western sense, Christmas is the most wonderful time of the year. For me, the time leading up to Christmas on December 25^th, starting on December 1^st is when I am the most happy. Perhaps the one thing I love more than Christmas is actually waiting for Christmas. I love decorating our house and filling it with the spirit of the season. I love going shopping for Christmas presents at the busy shopping malls and shopping streets in Toronto and fighting with other shoppers for the perfect gifts for my friends and family. Finally, I love cooking meals and sweets, such as turkey, ham, cheesecake, and cookies all with a Christmas theme.  

In my family, because we all love Christmas, our celebrations start traditionally on December 1^st when we put up all our Christmas decorations outside and inside the house. Outside the house, we hang multi-coloured lights and put up our Snoopy Christmas decorations that light up at night. On our front door, we hang a big Christmas wreath, which is a ring of green pine branches decorated with shiny Christmas ornaments, bells, and balls. The Christmas wreath is a sign of our welcoming the Christmas season, but also that our house is welcome to all of our guests. Inside the house, we hang red, green, and gold garland and tinsel to make our house festive, light up red coloured candles and play cheerful Christmas music all through the house. The most important part of the Christmas decorations however, is our Christmas Tree. In my house, I was always responsible for decorating and the most important job in decorating was the trimming of the Christmas tree. ‘Trimming’ in this sense does not mean ‘cutting’ but rather ‘decorating’ the tree with pretty Christmas lights and ornaments and last but not least, putting the star up on the top of the tree. When the Christmas tree is light up, the whole house transforms into a Christmas wonderland. It is as if your house becomes something else, something magical and mesmerizing.

Christmas time, although originally intended for the Christian celebration of Jesus’ birth, it is now celebrated, especially in Canada because we are less religious, by Christians and non-Christians alike because it is a time for family. The most important part of Christmas is spending that time with the ones you love. In a way, Christmas is just like Oshougatsu お正月 in Japan. Oshougatsu is about spending time at home with family and eating special types of food. In Canada, Christmas is also about spending time with family and eating special types of food. During shougatsu, Japanese people eat お節料理and for Christmas in Canada, we eat Christmas feasts. Just like how osechi varies between families and places, so too does Christmas feasts. Some people eat Turkey with stuffing, other people eat glazed and roasted ham; some people even eat both! In addition to turkey or ham, families usually also eat mashed potatoes with gravy, chestnut pudding, and fruitcake. In my family, we don’t eat fruitcake but rather I make a Christmas cheesecake for us to share. I would like to thank all the students who taught me about Shougatsu. I hope one day I will be able to experience Shougatsu, but I also hope all of you can experience a Western Christmas, especially a White Christmas – when there is snow outside on Christmas Day. There is no better feeling than being inside a house with your family surrounded by Christmas decorations, music, and a feast of food when it is cold and snowing outside.

In the year 1918, at the 11^th hour of the 11^th day of the 11^th month, World War I finally came to an end. To memorialize all those people who lost their lives in the war and also as a sign of respect to those who survived fighting in World War I (and all other wars Canadians fought in after WWI), known as veterans, Canadians and people in all Commonwealth countries (former colonies of Great Britain) participate in solemn ceremonies called Remembrance Day. At 11:00am on November 11^th, every year, Canadians across the country stop whatever they are doing in order to participate in one minute of silence to remember the dead. Canadians also wear red poppies on their coats starting at the beginning of November until November 11th which are bought from veterans and volunteers with peoples’ donations which go to help take care of veterans.

There are three reasons why Canadians wear red poppies (a type of flower) for Remembrance Day. First, it is because the flowers grew everywhere on the battlefields where soldiers fought. They were one of the only flowers that grew in such harsh wartime conditions. Second, their deep red colour also symbolizes the bloodshed during the war from all the soldiers. The graveyards of the soldiers in Europe are also filled with wild red poppies that grow everywhere, almost like they were feeding off the dead. However, the main reason why Canadians wear poppies to remember the soldiers is because of a poem written by a Canadian Doctor who was killed while trying to save the lives of soldiers in WWI. This Canadian Doctor’s name was John McCrae and the poem he wrote was called In Flanders Fields.

Below, I will write out the poem for you all to read. I would like you all, on this day, to remember all the sacrifices of soldiers made by all soldiers on everyone’s behalf. Everyone, in every country, should give respect to the people who fought for their country. Although  Japan does not have a military now, and because Canada is a peaceful country, both our countries can recognize the sacrifices made by those who fought a long time ago in order to protect our futures. Both Japan and Canada also have ‘peacekeepers’ stationed around the world in places like Iraq, Iran, and Afghanistan. So please, I ask you all to take some time out of your day to remember those who died in the line of battle and hope that never again do we ever have to face any other wars. I hope we never again have to sacrifice innocent lives in the name of war. Please, read the poem and hope that peace will continue forever, that is the true meaning of Remembrance Day!

In Flanders Fields

In Flanders fields the poppies blow
      Between the crosses, row on row,
   That mark our place; and in the sky
   The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.

We are the Dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
   Loved and were loved, and now we lie,
         In Flanders fields.

Take up our quarrel with the foe:
To you from failing hands we throw
   The torch; be yours to hold it high.
   If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
         In Flanders fields.