Americans seem to have an intense obsession with Christmas.

Every year, as soon as Halloween passed, stores would set up their giant Christmas trees and roll out the newest and flashiest Christmas decorations. Movies would always portray families gathered in front of the fireplace, with presents scattered everywhere under the decorated Christmas trees.

Growing up watching shows like Friends and movies like Elf, I often wondered why, in my house in December, the only thing sitting in the corner of our rooms were pianos or stacks of CDs.

In Taiwan, Christmas was only slightly more special than any other regular day. People sometimes exchanged gifts, and some stores would decorate their windows with red and green themes. It was not an observed holiday, nor did “Christmas Season” exist. When my family moved to the United States, the concept of a whole month (or even two for the dedicated) of holiday cheer happened two months later around Chinese New Year, not the cold rainy days of December.

Of course, we were intrigued by this Western craze. We wanted to experience what the American family experienced every year. The first few years, we bought small plastic Christmas trees, visited houses plastered with elaborate combinations of lights and statues, and bought small trinkets for each other on Christmas. We watched ABC’s 25 days of Christmas marathon, set up some Christmas lights bought on sale from Target, and played endless Mariah Carey and Michael Buble.

After a few years of trying to do the typical Christmas season set up, all that’s left of any efforts for a Christmas setup are stockings and wrapped presents consisting of items found around the house. In our house, remote controls and boxes of tea bags would mysteriously disappear just a few days before Christmas, then reappear on Christmas day. This tradition is a real waste of wrapping paper, but it’s always a pleasant surprise to find your missing pencil case or stuffed animal inside one of the “presents”.

As much as my family enjoyed the Christmas spirit, Christmas didn’t have much meaning other than to serve as a fun time to decorate the house, buy gifts, and feel giddy all the time. Our parents became nicer around this time, and we could get away with doing just a little bit less work around the house. We got to eat fancy meals and use the dishwasher, an almost mythical kitchen appliance that serves as a drying rack for the rest of the year.

Although my family toned down the elaborate Christmas lights and movie marathons, we still had the opportunity to experience the Christmas spirit through our American neighbors, who diligently set up Christmas lights, visited Christmas tree patches to hand pick Christmas trees, and hosted Christmas parties that included endless amounts of good food. To this day, we still mooch off of our neighbors’ hard work and efforts, accepting that we can still enjoy the Christmas spirit while being lazy. Why go through all the efforts to set it all up and have to clean up after if someone else is willing to do it?