Christmas Time in Birmingham *

2006-12-21 12:08 a.m.

The Thursday before term officially ended was my free day of the week, so rather than coup myself up in my room, I decided to venture to town since I’ve hardly traveled there since term started. The first consideration was what mode of transport to take. The bus schedule stated the earliest departure time was 1030, so I headed to the train station instead. A return train ticket is only 30 pence dearer than a bus ticket.

Exiting New Street Station, I was instantly caught up in the waves of the pre- Christmas Human traffic. It took me a few minutes to discover an exit which wasn’t a familiar one but It eventually lead me to the pedestrian area of the city centre. A few decorations of stars and fanciful designs hung here and there, but nothing as elaborate or glassy as back home in Singapore. Further on was the large banner “Happy Christmas Birmingham” and there were many such others around. Why “happ” and not “merry”? In any case it was much of a difference as I joined the crowd moving towards the Bullring.

On the way, I paused at the Information Booth to pick up some guides and asked the lady directions towards Chamberlain and Victoria Square. Our student mentor Sally has left us a Christmas card which stated the various activities that would be on in the city during the pre and post Christmas time and two events caught my eye—a German Market and “Carols In the city”. Having noted the location, I entered Birmingham’s most famous shopping belt and headed for Selfrigdes.

Shirts there seemed tempting based on their design, but the prices were a different matter. The salesman couldn’t find any shirts lower than £15 for me, so I went exploring again. I landed myself in Sports world which just so happened to be the place to be. Shirts and other goods there were going on sale as low as 70% off price, which mean that shirts would only cost as low as £2.99. After careful consideration, I purchased two shirts and headed for another round of window shopping. Then I smelt the aroma of the world’s best doughnuts—Krispy Kremes—and got myself one original glazed.

I was back out in the crowd and head towards the Chinatown area, passing the majestic St. Martin’s Church. I popped by St. Martin’s market, which, for the benefit of my Singaporean readers, is something like a large convenience store, albeit no food. It was way past noon as I exited, but my next purchases were some Chinese goods. I must say that I’m not really impressed with the range of Chinese goods in Birmingham’s Chinatown, but well, that’ll have to do.

After my first proper Chinese lunch in ages, I head to Victoria Square and was thrown back into a place I was six years ago. The German market was so akin to the seeting of Frankenberg, Germany, a place I long to return to. There were dozens of stalls selling tidbits and various artifacts. I got myself a rather nice Nutcracker model (to remember this market) and headed to Chamberlain Sqaure, where the City Hall greeted my view. I consumed, or rather, try to, a huge German sausage in a roll while quite a number of school children scurried about on a treasure hunt. There were several dozen businessmen and women gulping jars of beer too. Where’s my camera. I thought, as I exited the bustling place.

So on Saturday, when the Carols in the City event would be held, I armed myself with that trusty device and snapped pictures of the city decorations. I was back in the Bullring again since it was early and consumed another lot of original glazed Krispy Kremes and washed that down with tea. I had earlier decided to head again to Chinatown to buy some special gifts but time was running short.

On my way to Chamberlain square, I couldn’t help but order a plate of potato pancakes with apple sauce. I’ve always wanted to try such a dish after reading about it from one of Hans Peter Richter’s books and it turned out to be something similar to hashbrowns. The whole square was packed to the brim and I slowly navigated my way to the edge of the scenic fountain to catch a good view of the small tentage where the choir and band was located. As soon as they started off with “Hark the Herald Angel’s Sing”, you could really feel the true Spirit of Christmas in the air. Despite the chilly surrounds, practically everyone sang. Afterwards, the Lord Mayor and the City Bishop wer introducted and more traditional Christmas songs like “O Little Town of Bethlehem”, Silent Night” and “O Come All Ye Faithful” were sung. The choir did a wonderful rendition of “O Come All Ye Faithful” in German in tribute to the German Market organizers. At each interval or so, the Bishop or someone would read verses recounting the birth of Jesus and tell the whole crowd the true meaning of Christmas. At each juncture, you could really feel the presence of God growing bigger and bigger and more people singing out loud or raising their hands in jubilation. Another hymn, “Here I am to worship” was sung and though it’s not really a Christmas song, it is perfectly apt for the season since it describes exactly what Jesus did. A hymn “Angels from the realms of glory” which was new to me was sung, and it did not take me long to catch the tune which was that of “Angels we have heard on high.” Then came the Bishop’s prayer for the city and the last Hymn was an upbeat version (well most of the hymns were played in the up beat rock version) of “Joy to the World.” The applause was truly tremendous as I shook hands with the lady next to me. It’s really not all the time you see a large crowd gathered together. Even though not all may be Christians, the camaraderie is really evident.

Sunday saw me wake up late and I groaned. My plan was to attend the 10:30 service at Elim Pentecostal Church, a new church I discovered while walking in the Selly oak area. It seemed quite welcoming (well all churches are welcoming) from their website. Thankfully, and coincidetntally, there was and evening service and it was Carols by Candlelight. So braving a little drizzle, I entered the church, whose interior reminded me much of IBC (Singapore) interior, except many, many times smaller. Taking time glancing at the notices and various pamphlets, it did seem much like a mixture of IBC and Living Waters. I soon engaged in conversation with some of the elders and found myself talking to Matt, the Student leader, whom I emailed previously.

The service style was definitely akin to that of Living Waters and IBC and the band reminded me of LWMC’s own band. There was a percussion set, a violinist, two guitarist, another string instrument, and a lead singer. The leader singer’s voice was fantastic and it really added to the spirit of setting. I would say her voice reminded me much of Elaine’s voice back home. The hymns naturally were all the traditional Christmas hymns with one or two new one added in. Oh yes, a girl came up to dance as we listened to “O Holy night”, another of my favourite Christmas songs. Then just like in th city centre, we all sang the closing hymn “O Come All Ye Faithful” with much gusto and God’s presence could really be felt as each word was sung.

Afterwards was some mince pies and drinks and I headed out with the student group. So yes, two carol services, one new church and lost of new faces and places. As I said, it’s not all the time you see such a crowd gathered and really singing and praising. If you really want true cohesion and true unity of the people, well, such events would be useful. In any case, have a blessed Christmas, everyone.

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