Sunshine galore

Time flies and Christmas is just around the corner. A lot has happened in the past few weeks. Summer is here, the sun is scorching, and we were eagerly waiting for the results from Fiji, but there has been a change of plans. Let's start with that:

On December 8th, Michel was supposed to fly with his 2 women's teams to participate in the first round of the Continental Cup. However, due to the measles epidemic in Samoa and New Zealand, the trip was canceled. Currently, no other Pacific countries are allowed to enter Fiji to prevent the spread of the virus. There have also been 2 cases in Fiji, and there is a fear that there will be more. So Michel stayed here, and I was glad to postpone the first time without dad a little longer :)

Instead, we are sweating here, going about our daily lives, and enjoying our time in our new home. We still really like the house, and little by little, it is becoming more comfortable and cozy. We have a large living room with an open kitchen. Next to it, stairs lead up to the open guest area. We sleep downstairs in a separate bedroom, and there is also a bathroom. Small but nice :) In 1 week, we want to have everything we still want to make beautiful in the house done and prepared, as the first visitor will arrive. Maxi, a good friend of Michel's, will arrive on December 27th, and we are looking forward to showing him Vanuatu. This time is really different with hot instead of white Christmas. Everywhere it sparkles in the streets, and you can see the most creative Christmas trees, many made from recycled coconut shells or pandanus leaves. However, the classic Christmas feeling rarely comes up.

The extreme heat is really tough, and we are glad that the occasional shower, often at night, keeps the ground moist. In Australia, it is currently different with an average temperature of 40.9 degrees. We can see and smell the smoke clouds from the fires.

Over Christmas, many expats are flying home, and the hotels are full. Here, the typical Christmas is more Australian on December 25th, where the gifts are exchanged in the morning, and there is a barbecue in the afternoon. The French community adds the more European Christmas Eve on December 24th, so it is a mix of different traditions here. At a children's flea market, which we recently visited, we overheard a sweet conversation between two boys. One asked the other which Santa Claus would come this year. The white one or the brown one? Santa Claus comes. The other didn't know, so we'll just have to wait and see.

Perhaps Santa Claus will visit us too. We want to spend a cozy day together with Barbara and Sven in their garden, and their daughters Karlotta and Lupina hope that they might catch him this year. We'll see :)

Otherwise, we continue to meet many old friends, but also make new acquaintances as we now socialize in different circles through Pepe. Every Wednesday, we go to the mommy meet-up, which is very nice and interesting. Many different stories about the little ones and travel adventures are exchanged. 1-2 times a week, we meet Charlotte and Aaron for coffee or beer. Mostly at the Holiday Inn Resort, where the two now live because of Charlotte's job as an HR manager.

We also don't neglect sports: We have already played tennis, sweated in the gym, and went on swimming tours. So far, we have always found a babysitter for Pepe, and we already have a nice Ni-Vanuatu mom in mind for the future. The women here are crazy about children and babies, and even if they don't have children themselves, they can all handle them. This comes from the shared and mixed life in the village, where many children and babies are always growing up, and everyone is somehow related or connected to everyone else. Brothers and sisters everywhere.

Lastly, we are finally learning Bislama. Our teacher Terry comes to our home and has already taught us all the basics. Now we practice a lot in everyday life. Unfortunately, this is not good for our English, because the language is basically English with German pronunciation.

We will explain this in more detail in the next article.

First of all, Merry Christmas!