Christmas in Australia

It's been an experience getting ready for Christmas here in Canberra. I'm used to a different experience. I've had several people ask about traditions of Aussies for Christmas, and I was curious myself about the different experiences. So, the general and the personal....

General:
Here in my Canberran neighborhood, very few people decorate outside their homes. I don't see wreathes, or lights, or blown up decorations, or letterbox Christmas ribbons. If you were to drive through our neighborhood, you wouldn't know it was Christmas at all. City centres decorate, as towns and cities do in the US, with decorations on the light posts. Because it's not cold here, I don't see snowflakes or snow-type decorations in store windows. There are apparently houses that decorate outside, but it's definitely not the norm.

Turkey is popular for Christmas dinner. And cherries are normally a big deal. This year, because of all the flooding and rain, cherry crops were ruined and cherries are about $15 per kg. lol, I move to a country that celebrates cherries and the first year I'm here, the crop is ruined. It really sucks for the farmers who have lost a lot of revenue because of the floods. Pavlova is a fancy dessert here. It's a meringue with yummy cream and topped with fresh fruits (cherries, at Christmas). Lamb is another food common at Christmas.

Santa is called Santa or Father Christmas. Crackers, which are small poppers filled with different toys and items, are frequent favors. They usually have paper crowns inside which can be worn during the Christmas dinner or festivities. Santa likes cookies and milk and his reindeer like carrots, just like in the US. The Christmas carols aren't nearly as pervasive. Radio stations wait til mid November to early December to play Christmas songs. They have Christmas specials on TV and those are a bit different. I haven't seen How the Grinch Stole Christmas or the Charlie Brown special or Rudolph. They have different specials and Christmas classics. They do show It's A Wonderful Life and more recent Christmas movies like Elf and National Lampoons Christmas Vacation and Fred Claus and the Santa Clause movies. The little towns that make up Canberra have their own carols celebrations, but Claire and I have made plans to go to three different ones and each time they get rained out. So this rainy season isn't helping.

Speaking of seasons, Aussies call this time of year the "silly season." I had to ask Mick why because I kept hearing it. He said it originated as a weather term in northern Australia. As the monsoon season approaches, it's always cloudy and very hot but it doesn't rain and it drives people crazy. He said the suicides increase drastically in November and early December as the monsoons approach. The term got broadened colloquially to represent the build up to Christmas.

Even though there isn't snow or cold, Aussies have the same Christmas carols. They sometimes twist them for fun to talk about beaches and sun, but the originals are the ones played and sung publicly. 

Personally:
At the beginning of the year, I had great thoughts of putting up our tree, decorating with ornaments we bought and with the ornaments I've accumulated over the years. We had wreathes and snowglobes and music makers and all kinds of decorations. Obviously, with the move, that has changed.

It's a tough time right now because we're still trying to get settled in here at the house and get schedules and planning worked out. Mick has a job but I don't and there are costs associated with moving of course. So we're having as simple a Christmas as possible. And the most important things we have for free- I have Mick and the kids and get to spend every morning afternoon and night with them pretty much. For my relationship with Mick, this is heaven. After years of back and forth and living our lives in pockets of time when we are both awake, it's such an awesome blessing to be with each other. And getting to have the kids so much is a lot of work but so rewarding and fun too.

So we have a lovely tree and a mantle with four stockings on it. Mick has a Santa that sings and dances that he found and we have that on our fireplace. Emily and Eddie each got a Christmas card from one of their friends so we have those two cards displayed. That's the extent of our decorations this year. As I often do, I find myself wishing I had my things in the storage unit here. I'd love to be able to decorate our house. Maybe even tie some red bows on our balcony. Christmas doesn't seem to be quite the display that it is in the US though. :)

I also miss listening to carols around the house and the church music program. It's tough being so far away. I know a few people sent us cards and my parents sent us gifts, but none of those have arrived. I wrapped all the presents we have in one afternoon, and didn't have time to put on Christmas music while I did it. There are some really great things those...like the kids checking out their presents (ok, that was cool the first time but now they're forbidden to touch them because they keep accidentally ripping the paper), and the anticipation to see them open their gifts. I had a good time working with the kids yesterday on a surprise gift for Mick, and they love to help me cook and bake so we're going to do People Chow and fudge and sausage balls this week to give to Claire and Ashley and Bruce (and save some for us of course!).

This is the first year I won't see my family on Christmas, and I will greatly miss that. I will see them on Skype, on their Christmas Day, but I won't see them on mine. The good part is that I will get to spend time with Mick's family and his dad and Lesley have generously invited me to Christmas dinner with them, Ashley and Tom, and of course the kids! So I'll be with my Aussie family on Christmas and that will help.