White Christmas - Parliament Hill (December 25)

07' Christmas has just passed, most people have had a great time in celebrating this holiday. For me, it is quite meaningful since this is my first Christmas in the capital city of Canada.



People in my hometown usually ask me if there is a lot of holiday atmosphere surrounding me when it comes to Christmas in Canada. Well, to be frank, this pretty straightforward question is kinda hard for me to answer. Yes, during the Christmas season, people's homes, apartments, stores, shoppingmalls, restaurants, government buildings and most of the public places are decorated with Christmas trees, wreaths and various beautiful Christmas theme accessories. Many TV channels are broadcasting Christmas-related programs, even story settings of animations and sitcoms are in Christmas season. What do all these things bring to me? I think they just remind me of the arrival of the holiday, give me some visual pleasures and lend me a reason to get a rest from busy studying days. What else... I guess nope. Believe it or not, I don't realistically feel I am really celebrating a holiday (But I still welcome any holidays bringing me a break). The longer I stay in Canada, the deeper feeling I get that Christmas and some of other holidays are all about family. Simply because I'm not with my family, i cannot fully enjoy the happiness that these holidays should have brought to me.



Someone once told me that life is all about CHANGE and BALANCE, so I think we should always try to make ourselves happy and get some funs no matter where we are. As for Christmas, when my family is not here to celebrate with me, a good thing is I have my friends. A friend of mine and I went to uOttawa campus and then Parliament Hill in the afternoon of Christmas Day. Because we both think that only staying at home killing time is not what we should do on Christmas, at least not for my first Christmas at here :) So we brought our cameras and decided to give some nice shots to record this wonderful holiday season.



Parliament building is quite different from its usual looks in terms of color. Illuminations endow it with the effect of wonderland. As it changes color gradually from red, purple, blue, green, the snowflake shaped lights are slowly and randomly floating on the wall. I really like the effect it got. Although many family prefer not to step out on Christmas, you can still find some families, parents with their kids, went visit this spot. Parents held kids' hands, told them some Christmas stories as they were walking along the road appreciating the beautiful scenery. Kids laughed and played with each other. Christmas had put big smiles on kids' faces and I can literally see how happy they were at that moment. So sweet!



When the sky was getting pretty dark at 5:30pm, it was also quite chilly and windy. If the temperature allowed, I guess I would have stayed there longer. After that visit, we both got some nice pictures , and also great memories. All in all, It was a wonderful Christmas day for me, thanks Ben!

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