Hey, I’m back again! It’s been a while since I wrote my last blog. In this blog, I’m going to write about how I celebrated my last Christmas here in the US, it was another dream being fulfilled!
Remember my friend Amelia who invited me over during summer, well last Christmas she invited me over again to celebrate Christmas with her and her family. What an amazing friend!

Back home, before coming to the US, I used to love watching American movies and always dreamt of experiencing American Christmas traditions such as going caroling, going sledding, among others, and last Christmas I was able to experience those beautiful dreams.
In Amelia’s family, they have different Christmas activities for the whole week, so from December 23rd to December 31st, they usually have activities on each day. I did not get to do some of the activities because I had to go back to my place early, but I got to do a bunch of them.
On the night of the 23rd, we went caroling in the neighborhood. I remember it was a freezing cold night, and my feet were so cold that I couldn’t feel them. But I was very excited and happy because I was finally able to do this very famous American tradition. We sang to several families, and some of them even cried of joy which made me emotional as well because it reminded me of home since in Timor, we usually visit family and friends on Christmas Eve after Church. Now talking about going to church on Christmas Eve, in the US, people don’t go to Church on Christmas Eve, instead they spend time at home. On 24th, in the morning we went sledding with Amelia’s family friends, and they were very nice. We went to a mountain, and it was quite far as it took us almost 2 hours to get there. The experience was something else, I was really scared at first because I had never done it before, and I am terrified of heights, but it was really fun after the third 3 times. Some people did it with their babies which was a little scary for me. On that same day, at night, despite being exhausted and sore from sledding, we played a bunch of games, but I forgot the names already and ended the night with a prayer. On Christmas day, we went to the church and went caroling at a nursing home after church. It was amazing to experience as we were able to cheer the elderlies up by spending Christmas with them when they couldn’t go anywhere. At night, the family had a family gathering in their grandparent’s house where they would do the nativity play. I’d never heard of it before, but it was fun to experience. It was basically a play for when Jesus Christ was born in Bethlehem (they even had the costumes for it), and I got to play one of the angles which was really cool! The next day, on the 26th was opening-presents day, the tradition was that Amelia’s parents would have everyone sleep on the basement and go upstairs (to the main floor) at 8 in the morning. For this tradition, everyone would give each member of the family some presents. Now bear in mind, in Timor we don’t have such tradition and I didn’t know and so I didn’t bring any presents which was kind of embarrassing. But the family was super nice, they didn’t expect anything from me, and they even gave me presents. I got a tripod, chocolate, cookie dough, and other things. I felt so loved and welcomed by the family. This family has always been so nice to me, and they’ve become a part of my family now, and I don’t think I’ll ever forget this!

These are my amazing experiences and being able to actually live out my lifelong dreams made me very grateful to have always wanted to keep praying and trying. I hope you enjoy reading about my life here in the US, find this blog helpful and inspiring to help you not give up on your dreams.