Some True Blue Aussie Christmas Traditions
Christmas would have to be my favorite time of the year.
I remember my white Christmases in Europe as a little girl.
There was the smell of cinnamon, nutmeg and gingerbread
biscuits, and my parents drinking eggnog as we decorated our
tree.
Snow glistened outside and groups of children with their
lanterns alight could be heard singing Christmas Carols as they
moved from house to house in exchange for chocolates and sweets
that residents would throw out their window. That's when the mad
scramble began trying to look for sweets in several feet of
snow.
I sometimes yearn for those magical, mystical years and
reminisce especially when I listen to Bing Crosby's "I'm
Dreaming of a White Christmas".
Our way of compensating for the lack of cold weather in December
is by having Christmas in July celebrations with all the
trimmings including weather close to that of the northern
hemisphere (well almost - anything north of the Tropic of
Capricorn hasn't been included, sorry).
In Australia many of us still write cards with snow and ice
scenes, people ice-skating on frozen lakes and pictures of cute
reindeers. Not only would Santa melt from the heat wearing his
red winter woolies, his reindeer would die of heat exhaustion
working in such sweltering heat!
No reindeers and sleighs for us - we have 'six white boomers'
(boomers: large kangaroos) thanks to a song by Rolf Harris from
the '60's. I've seen our Santa pulling a surfboard wearing
sunscreen, board shorts and hat, zipping through the southern
skies. Yes - he's our man!
A far cry from the drunk Santa I remember riding in the back of
a ute (ute: utility vehicle) in the country many years ago. Last
seen swigging on a long neck (long neck: tall bottle of beer)
trying to articulate "ho ho ho and a Merry Christmas to all" as
the ute slowly drove down each street in my neighborhood.
Carols by Candlelight are a tradition 'down under' during the
weeks leading up to Christmas at many venues around towns and
cities of Australia.
Christmas lunch here in this great southern land is a different
experience. As Christmas Day closes in the temperature continues
to rise as does the humidity here in Brisbane. You know
Christmas is here when you start hearing the continuous shrill
sounds of cicadas (large winged insect) on hot, cloudless days.
I know many still insist on cooking the turkey, other roasts as
well as roast vegetables and gravy in the stifling heat (I did
until recently), as well as fruitcake and custard. Not everyone
has air conditioning here so a cool breeze is often top of the
wish list.
So what is a traditional Christmas lunch down this way?
1. Prawns (prawn: shrimp) for the barbecue - on ice and with
lemon wedges;
2. Fresh Fish from the market - arrive very early (if you've
never had this experience before you'll know what I mean when
you do);
3. Tossed green Salad, bowl of beetroot with onion, and some
asparagus;
4. Snags (snags: sausages), lamb chops - lamb cutlets if you can
afford it;
5. For 'afters' (afters: after lunch) Beach towel, togs, thongs,
sunscreen, cricket bat and ball (thongs: cheap rubber open
sandals, togs: bathing costume);
6. An esky full of beers (esky: receptacle to place all
alcoholic drinks - on occasion you may get lucky and find room
for other items but don't get too excited);
7. A few bottles of drink coolers for the girls;
8. Wine for the more refined;
9. More beers for the esky; and
10. A laid back attitude.
With lunch done, we look forward to our the great tradition of
spending Boxing Day watching the start of the Sydney to Hobart
yacht race, The Boxing Day Test cricket at the Melbourne Cricket
Ground (MCG), or by spending the day lazing at home or spending
it down the beach.
Having been outside once today, I'm very aware of how hot and
humid it is and apparently it's not going to get cooler any time
soon. So as I sit here looking at the cloudless sky and writing
this article, I am indeed "Dreaming of a white Christmas, if
only in my dreams!"
Merry Christmas and safe holidays everyone from Brisbane
Australia.
Michaela Scherr
Transformational Coach