christmas
i’m a chinese atheist who doesnt’t celebrate christmas, but here’s a summary of this year’s christmas-related happenings anyway.
1. work parties
just a year ago i was spending my december nights working late at the food court, but now i’m in a company where they treat us to such delicious food during the work hour. there was a party for both my direct workplace and its sister company, but unfortunately, the latter was too busy and overwhelming for my senses so i had to leave without eating any of the food.
the company i work for directly is much smaller, and so i was able to attend the party without feeling distressed enough to leave. it also helped that it was on an island so i couldn’t leave even if i wanted to.
it’s scary that eating at nice restaurants through work is becoming a familiar thing to me now… that being said, i consider local hotel cafes to be nice restaurants.
2. family parties
my immediate family doesn’t celebrate christmas either, but the family of my BIL does. it’s seriously a blessing to eat western food.
furthermore, BIL’s sister is my country’s most famous celebrity chef. she wasn’t here this time, but apparently the recipes they used in the christmas dinner were all from her food delivery service. it’s too delicious… by the way, at the first week of my job, i was assigned to optimize an article about cooking, and her dishes were featured twice! what’s it like being famous?
3. decorations
we had a shitty tree up for years and i finally took it down at the start of the year. i was really glad to finally be free of plastic christmas decor plaguing the house, but my parents seem to have bought two ugly plastic santas and put them around the house! what’s the fucking point!? if you leave them out all year they’re a cluttering eyesore and if you put them away they’re a waste of money. i don’t get the point of decorating if you don’t even care about christmas!
december also came and went so quickly that i missed my chance to explore the famous road on which everyone decorates their houses annually. that’s the only thing that really feels like christmas spirit here.
4. gifts
again, we don’t celebrate christmas or give gifts. this year i joined an online secret though, so that was exciting. i’ll share the presents tomorrow. it’s too crazy, i feel so hedonistic.
5. DGS christmas WIP
i wanted to do an intense angle, so i used a simple 3D model as reference for once (mainly to help with general positioning and perspective; the pose itself was left to the usual photo ref). i redrew it halfway through, but i’m still struggling. i just can’t draw faces…
i’m not satisfied with the coloring either, so i might have to let this one go if i don’t make any decent progress soon.
i feel terribly anxious about something else as well. my gut feeling has always been correct, but i really hope that isn’t the case this time.