Why I don't decorate my shop for Christmas

I'm Mizuki, and I prefer the blue and pink
illuminations hanging from the trees
along the Prefectural Office street from Urawa Station
over the lights of Roppongi.

The nights are getting colder,
the streets are becoming vibrant with light,
and shops everywhere are decked out in red, white, and green.

Thinking, 'Oh, it's Christmas,'
I suddenly remembered
my student days.

Back when I was a student,
as Christmas approached,
it was a season where the number of couples would increase.

In high school,
partly because I was preparing for entrance exams,
I thought, 'If I'm going to fall in love, I should study instead!'

When I was a university student,
I was so sharp-edged,
thinking, 'Romance is secondary!'
If I'm going to do anything, it's study! Work! 👓
That was my mindset.

Since my university was in Kyoto,
there was an event similar to Christmas.

The Gion Festival in summer.

The conversation of 'Who are you going to the Gion Festival with?'
This conversation and the storm of new couples forming happened twice a year.

To the conversations with friends around me like
'What are you doing for Christmas?'
and 'Who are you going to the Gion Festival with?',
my replies of
'I don't have any particular plans'
or 'I don't think I'll go'
felt dull.
I would gently put a lid on those slightly lonely feelings and pretend not to see them.

On Instagram,
posts about going on dates
kept increasing.

Of course,
there were years I spent with friends, my grandmother, or a boyfriend at the time
(I lived with my grandmother at the beginning of university),
but still.

No one forced me to, but
because of the atmosphere that I had to spend it with someone,
the pressure to have to make plans,
I somehow wanted to win against that,
so the Christmas before I graduated from university,

I drank wine by myself.

I splurged at the nearby Hankyu Oasis.
I bought a Brunello di Montalcino.

I opened a bottle of wine by myself
and drank it all by myself from top to bottom.

I thought it was nice.
I felt like I was being myself.

Special Christmas for Me.

Because that Christmas I spent for myself,
drinking wine alone, was more wonderful than I had imagined.

Christmas equals lively and
bright and fun. Bustling. Loving.

I felt like I didn't necessarily have to push that kind of atmosphere.
With that in mind, at the URAWA Wine Hall,
I decided not to bring out a Christmas feel.

That said, I love Christmas.

Yesterday,
the shop was closed for its regular holiday,
so I took the day off
and went to a Christmas dinner with my husband.

At the French bistro SPICA in Musashi-Urawa,
I enjoyed wonderful hospitality and delicious food plus wine.
😋

It is also a fact that
Christmas became fun after I met my husband.

But even if you don't have plans for Christmas,
or aren't spending it with anyone,
I think that's wonderful in its own way.

On that day, I had wine.

My own time with a glass of wine in hand.

Remembering that last Christmas as a student,
I wrote this down.😊

Tomorrow is Christmas.

Merry Christmas🎅🎄✨
I hope everyone has a wonderful day.😊