“Okay, thank you all for coming. Let’s begin our meeting to plan our international event based on the theme of ‘festive’ for the new interactive attraction.”
“We wish you a merry Christmas~ We wish a merry Chri-”
“It’s bloody August! Can we actually enjoy the summer and autumn season before then?! And besides, don’t be disrespecting Halloween like that!”
“Halloween? Festive?! Only because Americans have reduced it to a diabetes death party, so they will actually allow you to celebrate dressing up as such while wrecking your pancreas. In , it’s a 3-day event mourning and remembering those who’ve passed away. It isn’t a time for ‘happy’ Halloween as is often shoved down our throats.”
“I’ll have you know, that’s only the ‘Christian’ version known as ‘All Hallow’s Eve’, but like all the main religious events, it’s just a rip off from the Celtic Pagan festival of Samhain, which dates back to the 9th century in and ! Indeed though, it isn’t a happy event has American commercialism has bastardised it to be.”
“Well excuse me for just enjoying the aesthetic of the spooky, macabre and sombre in a fun and more positive light that anyone regardless of religion can enjoy!”
“Ah! Then you know how us Mexicans feel with Dia de los Muertos! We celebrate death and believe our loved one’s come back to visit us.”
“Really?! That’s like ’s Buddhist Obon festival which is in July and August over the summer. We also believe that our ancestors come to visit us for 3 days and we enjoy haunted house attractions and scary stories to help us “chill” and feel cooler over the hot summers.”
“Yeah… nooo… Having a parade with rainbow skulls all over like that is just in bad taste…”
“I’d take Mexican’s take on grieving their loved ones via genuine “spooky” festivities than your soulless celebration of aesthetic-“
“You got a vendetta on me or what?!”
“Now, now, can we all just please bloody calm ourselves down! Goodness. 5 minutes into the meeting and you’re already out for blood. What is this?! Festive battle royale?!”
A knock on the door pulled everyone out of their frenzied debate and reminded them that they were in a semi public space in an office meeting room that wasn’t even affiliated with their own companies.
A meek but friendly lady in her early 60s or so came in with a small trolley carrying various hot drinks that they had confirmed with the receptionist upon arrival to the company. The lady severed them quietly and swiftly, smiling at all the members warmly and said,
“Meetings are can be very difficult things, can’t they? I hope you all come to an agreeable resolution at the end of it.”
The chairwoman not having missed he fact that she most likely had heard the raised voices earlier shelved her momentarily embarrassment and forced joviality into her voice.
“Indeed, they can be. We’ll do our best. Thank you for the drinks.”
The chairwoman waited until the lady left the room for a few seconds before exhaling slowly and readdressing the members of the room with a sterner tone.
“Now, I’ve called you all here because you are incredibly respected anthropologists and all have an immerse wealth of knowledge to share with each other. I understand that you may be… passionate about your respective demographics and styles of celebrating similar or the same cultural events but please. Remember that you have been hired to collaborate and be representatives of intercultural and international cooperation, which is what the event will reflect via us all.”
After observing the silence in the room and semi abashed faces of some of the members, the chairwoman took a long sip of the hot drink that had been served near her and continued. The others subconsciously followed suit and pacified themselves with their respective drinks while listening.
“The attraction will span 5 areas of the world as follows;
North America but primarily the focus will be on America. Just for this attraction, Mexico will be part of Latin (South) America, as there is an immense wealth of culture and historical traditions to tap into. The third will be Europe, primarily from a Christian influence. Paganism or nature spirituality will cover , and and seasonal events will be tied to the Asian demographic. Our job is to find those common threads and create a fun and innovative experience for the visitors at the attraction…”
The chairwoman stopped speaking as she not only noticed the noise of rowdy celebration coming from the door but also that everyone had turned their attention towards it too.
“I wasn’t informed of any celebrations in the company, one moment please.”
As she walked to the end of the room to open the door, she turned her head back at the sound of gasps.
“The hell?!”
“My clothes! Where have they gone?!”
She blinked several times, unable to take in what she was seeing.
All 5 members were staring at each other in a mix of shock and embarrassment as they were suddenly dressed in various styles of beach wear from sarongs and bikinis to T-shirts and shorts, flip-flops and sunhats. The chairwoman turned back to the door as the noise increased by the second and pulled it open to be hit with burning sunlight and the salty smell of the ocean. She then looked at herself, suddenly in her own beachwear and almost collapsed in shock, but not before a topless beach lifeguard wearing a Santa hat burst into the room, smiles aplenty.
“Glad you could all make it! We’re about to start the Christmas beach barbie, you’ll not want to miss it! Come on, let’s go!” He added to their shocked faces, mouths agape.
“Hey Christie, we’ve got a really good roast waiting for ya on the grill, come join us!”
The chairwoman looked out onto the beach filled with Australians, she assumed, wearing various Christmas and beach clothing all revelling on the sand. The last voice came from a woman by the grill a few feet away but looking towards them all, obviously addressing one of them. The others had walked past her at this point and stepped onto the beach, also taking in the unbelievable scene.
“Before I officially admit myself to a mental asylum, I just want to confirm. We’re seeing this right?!”
“It seems to be the case and it’s not a dream.”
“Christmas on the beach! Eeeee! I’ve always wanted to experience this so much, as it’s just cold and wet in Europe, we rarely get snow anymore.”
“Christie! Over here!”
Christie looked at the woman by the grill who was waving and looking at her eagerly.
“Christie?”
“I guess that’s me, but they don’t need to call me twice!”
“No, wait!”
Before the chairwoman could stop Christie from running over completely, the lifeguard energetically addressed each of them by names that they had never heard before.
“Solanti, , Peiyun, Ricca and Wisal.
Thanks for joining us this year! We’ll show you what a blazing southern hemisphere Christmas is like!
“I look forward to it! Mind introducing me to some of your friends?”
The lifeguard beamed the brightest smile at Peiyun and covered her hand that had rested comfortably on his well toned bicep as they set off.
“Is she… did she just?!”
“Yep! But man, this is wild. Christmas in the summer is all kinds of wrong.”
“However, very normal for half the planet.” Wisal interjected. “It’s just American media, mainly Hollywood and music that has defined and narrated the current narrative of Christmas with Santa, snow and presents over the 20th century, right? Ricca?”
Ricca remained stubbornly quiet.
“I assume the names we have represent the demographics I had mentioned in the meeting earlier…well… not sure what ‘Wisal’ means for me, but for whatever reason we’re sharing this dream…? Fantasy world… I can’t believe I’m even saying this seriously. But for whatever reason we’re here, we may as well enjoy it. Look.” She nodded her head towards the area where many people where gathered at the grill with plates in their hands, chatting jovially. “Solanti, representing has already helped herself to all the food with Christie, who I guess is Christian Europe and naturally would be most excited with Christmas, I’m sure. That just leaves us three to go with it. You okay ? You’re pretty self-explanatory.” She added amusingly.
Asia nodded, looking a little shy but smiled and said, “It’s like we’ve been spirited away to another realm. I think it may be a great adventure!”
Wisal smiled a little and started walking further onto the sand. “While we’re here, let’s enjoy it a little. With an open mind, okay?” She added at Ricca.
“Yeah, yeah…”
The trio split ways and took in the moment of being on the beach while hearing familiar Christmas tunes to a backdrop of beach volleyball, families enjoying the sea and lots of stalls selling fresh fruit and drinks. As the sun set, a mini Christmas parade on the concrete walkway that span along the beach began. All members had reunited and were watching the various floats and dancers when a few dancers jumped up to the group.
“Merry Christmas! Here, these are for you!”
The group was surrounded by the dancers and given plastic bags with sweets and various Christmas themed hats and capes.
“Hey, thanks but I think we’ve got enough.”
“I can’t see the parade too…”, Asia said to one of the dancers.
“But of course! We want you to join us! Come on!”
Before anyone could protest, a dancer pulled each person into the parade as other dancers joined them, completely blocking their view and senses from the cheers and music. Before Wisal could get her bearings, she blinked as the music changed from festive bells to creepy long tones, peppered with sinister laughs. The dancers flittered away into the parade that they also had been dragged into but suddenly the parade, the dancers and decorations were one of Halloween. She turned towards the others who were also wide-eyed and checking each other’s costumes.
“Just what is going on here?!” Shouted a traditional witch clad Christie who could be barely heard among the noise.
Ricca smirked. “Welcome to the “soulless” Halloween parade!”
Christie narrowed her eyes back in response, adding in a dry voice. “Seems to be the case. At least your Frankenstein bride costume is on point. Heartless and horrifying.”
“Ladies! Please! If I could, I’ll toss you both off the ship and feed you to the sharks at this point.”
Both Christie and Ricca mutually smirked at their leader’s pirate costume and just bowed adding, ‘aye aye captain!’
“This is kind of fun though. So many interesting costumes.”
“Including your she-devil one Asia. I think you may need to tell us something?”
“No! I didn’t choose this! I’m not devilish!”
Paiyun dressed as a zombie smiled mischievously. “Mhm, suuure. Anyways, we better keep up with the dancers, we’re in the parade!”
The group looked around once more and noted the dancers around them freely cheering at the audience, which they picked up on and followed. Each person smiled and waved to the many kids watching them in awe and clapping along with the music. A small group of skeleton clad kids ran up near them shouting ‘trick or treat’!
“Uhh… I think you need to go back to the side! Besides we don’t have sweets”, Christie added.
“Yes, you do! You’re all carrying them!”
Peiyun looked at the Christmas bag she had received which had turned into a Halloween themed one filled with all kinds of sugary delights.
“This is quite a wild trip we’re all on, that’s for sure.”
“This way! Follow us.” A kid pulled at Asia and Christie’s costumes, leading them out of the parade itself. The others followed suit and settled with the group of kids placing their skeleton bags out, ready to receive their treats.
Solanti smiled watching the others disperse the sweets while standing next to Ricca.
“You may have not noticed but the kids are wearing a similar outfit to the one I’m in which you said to find ‘in bad taste’. There’s another small parade at the crossroads which I’m sure we’ll be joining soon, but it’s not so different, right?
Ricca looked at Solanti’s skeleton outfit but with a colourful decorated mask over her face.
“I guess not… Just that death is taboo to talk about and nothing ever ‘fun’ in my circles.
“Solanti! Ricca! Over here! We’ve been invited to join the kids and their families for a smaller party it seems.
As the duo walked over, they saw other men and women dressed similar to Solanti, who smiled at them.
“Follow us!”
The group were taken down the road in a city landscape, walking through various Halloween costumed residents but also people who were dressed for the Dia de los Muertos parade. What the ladies noticed was that the festivities, smiles, dances and excitement were more or less the same. As the music changed from English to Spanish, the group walked into an area filled with candles, cross shaped flowers and lots of people standing next to various altars of their loved ones. The kids had disappeared and suddenly the group was left with just the adults.
“We’d like to take two of you each to introduce our loved ones who have passed to you. Would that be okay?”
“Sure! This is almost the same as the services we have for All Hallow’s Eve in Europe. We also tend to the graves of our loved ones, so I’d love to learn this style too!” Christie enthusiastically added.
The lady smiled and guided Christie and Wisal to one area. Peiyun and Asia looked around and noticed that they were all now wearing as close to normal clothes for the cold autumn night, jackets and all. They followed a male guide and Solanti and Ricca followed stayed where they were with their guide who gave them both a candle that they could light as an offering.
The solemn but warm atmosphere slightly helped Ricca to relax and listen, while Solanti smiled and watched on, a sense of nostalgia and warm familiarly residing in her heart. (Scroll on or click 'next' for part 2!)
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