For those who don’t celebrate Christmas, the 25th of December can be a boring, annoying, or lonely day in Christian-dominated cultures. Almost everything shuts down, and the atmosphere is dominated by a holiday almost everyone else is celebrating that you’re not part of.
Here are some things you can do on Christmas other than celebrate it:
Chinese food:
- Chinese restaurants are often open on Christmas
- You can go there and eat food
Gatherings unrelated to Christmas:
- If you have friends who also don’t celebrate, Christmas can be a good time to hang out
- Gathering on Christmas doesn’t have to be a Christmas party
Going to work:
- If the place you work is open on Christmas, most people probably want to avoid working
- Working on Christmas is a nice thing to do if you don’t celebrate
- In some fields, it’s also a relatively quiet shift
Going to a movie:
- A lot of movie theaters are open on Christmas
- Some of the movies are Christmas-themed, but a lot of them are not
Netflix/Hulu marathons:
- Netflix and Hulu both have lots and lots of things to watch
- Most of which are not at all Christmas-related
- Hulu ads might be, though. If you want to completely avoid Christmas stuff, Netflix is a better option
- This can be a good thing to do in a gathering, if you have friends who also don’t celebrate Christmas
Reading books:
- Reading a new book is a good way to fill time and be absorbed in something interesting
- If you don’t have any books you want to read, here are some ways to get eBooks:
- Project Gutenburg has a huge collection of free eBooks that are out of copyright
- Oyster Books is an ebook subscription service with a free trial.
- Amazon also has an ebook subscription service (but it has a lot of junk and is kind of hard to nagivate).
Wikipedia:
- If you’re bored and need something to be interested in, Wikipedia can be a good place to go
- If you click the random button enough times, you will probably eventually find a page that interests you
Short version: Christmas can be boring for people who don’t celebrate it since most things shut down on Christmas in Christian-dominated cultures. Scroll up for some suggestions about stuff to do other than be bored.