The title of this is "First Christmas in Japan".
But first, I want to show you Christmas in my birthplace (里).
There is a river that goes through downtown San Antonio, Texas. (Maybe you have visited there?) The downtown area of the river is called the Riverwalk. There are many shops, restaurants, hotels, and a shopping mall. It's especially beautiful when it is decorated with Christmas lights (イルミネーション).
In Texas, Christmas was not only very fun, but religiously (宗教的) very important. We ate a nice dinner with family. We visited relatives (親戚）. We went to church. Children received presents from Santa Claus. There was no school for at least 2 weeks. Every house had beautiful decorations and festive Christmas trees with twinkling lights and colorful ornaments. Christmas music played everywhere--on the radio and in the stores. Everyone said, "Merry Christmas!" to each other, even strangers (知らない人). We had parties and cookies and pies and candy. (Not usually any Christmas cakes!)
People decorated their houses with Christmas lights and decorations.
Some people displayed Nativity scenes (キリストの降誕) in their houses and yards.
Stores and shopping malls were decorated so gorgeously. Those were my happy childhood memories of Christmas.
After I moved to Japan, I went back to Texas for the first 2 Christmases. But on my third winter here, I was very pregnant (妊娠）. My daughter was due in January (予定日は１月), so I stayed in Japan for my first Christmas. I missed my family very much. But I was happy though to spend Christmas with my husband in Japan. I decorated our apartment for Christmas.
But on Christmas Eve, my husband had an end of the year party (忘年会). 
And on Christmas Day, my husband had work as usual. What?! 
On Christmas morning, I went to Mass (ミサ) at the Catholic church downtown by myself. It was very strange, and I felt sad when I saw that it was just a normal day for everyone. People were going to work. Students rode their bicycles to school. It was a very different mood than Christmas morning in the U.S. No one said, "Merry Christmas!"
My neighborhood supermarket (in Japan) had been decorated for Christmas, but on Christmas Day I saw them taking down all the Christmas decorations in a hurry.
On Christmas Day! 
I couldn't complain, because I was in a foreign country, with different customs. I couldn't expect to experience the same Christmas atmosphere in Japan. But I have to admit, even though I understood that, Christmas that year was kind of disappointing and lonely.