I love how traditions get skewed as they pass through multi-national&#x2F;-cultural lenses. I live in China, and any time I go into a 7-11 around this time of year they shout at me about &quot;Christmas cakes&quot;. After a few half-hearted explanations on my part about how Christmas doesn&#x27;t really involve cake (explaining pudding is just way beyond the pale), I finally figured out that the Chinese 7-11s are all run by a Japanese company (which explains why they&#x27;re efficient and not depressing), and that the Japanese have decided that &quot;Christmas cake&quot; is a thing. And so, the Chinese have followed suit. You have to hand it to the Japanese -- they may transform your traditions into something unrecognizable, but they do it so thoroughly that you often start to suspect your own memory...