Christmas Time in Australia

Of course, as a German you don't have much Christmas spirit at 25 to 30 degrees. Nevertheless, the Australians also create a Christmas atmosphere with fairy lights (on palm trees), Christmas carols in the shops, and Christmas decorations in the shopping centres. The Christmas decorations on the streets were sometimes very funny. Instead of reindeer, kangaroos were hitched to Santa Claus' sleds on surfboards, or a koala dressed up as Santa Claus.

In Australia, Christmas is not celebrated on December 24th. Most Australians celebrate with friends and family at a BBQ on December 25th. This is also when the presents are exchanged. December 26th is Boxing Day in Australia. It is a public holiday with sales, similar to Black Friday in the United States. This means you can grab discounted items in the stores. So, many Australians go on a bargain hunt on the 2nd day of Christmas.

My Christmas:

When I woke up on the morning of December 24th, I had no idea how I would spend Christmas Eve. I was afraid I would be alone at home. Most of my friends had flown somewhere else for Christmas to make use of the school holidays for traveling. Another group of my classmates was at an amusement park (which I didn't feel like doing), and others spent the day before Christmas with their host families.

So, I decided to spend the day relaxing at the beach and see what happens. After having so much free time, I organized a BBQ for the people who were still on the Gold Coast on December 25th. So, I spent Christmas Eve with a big shopping trip. Since Brazilians also celebrate Christmas on December 24th, I spontaneously joined my roommates Laura and Beatrice, who had made turkey for late evening (it was already around 10:30 pm) and invited some friends to our apartment.

Then we went to another Brazilian's house party where we continued to celebrate. After being home an hour before sunrise, I decided to stay awake to finally see my first sunrise in Australia. And this time I was not disappointed by thick clouds. It was an impressive play of colors, and I am already looking forward to more Australian sunrises.

So, on December 25th, we had the mentioned BBQ. This took place at the apartment complex of our friend Wilson by the pool. We were four girls and about 10 guys. And it was really a struggle to convince the gentlemen to grill. Wilson always said to me, "Who's cooking now?" And I always had to explain to him again that this is not cooking, but grilling, and that it is a man's job ;-). Ultimately, a Swiss and a Colombian agreed to take over the grilling after everyone was already starving.

On December 26th, I plunged into the hustle and bustle of the Boxing Day with the Swiss Michi and Florian and the Colombian Alejandro. However, it was no fun at all, there were just too many people. In front of some shops, you even had to queue and wait for admission. But I was very disappointed. The huge "battle of discounts" just reminded me of our summer sales. Only a few items were on sale (and often only at a 20% discount), I thought there would be major discounts on everything. In Germany, we celebrate the 2nd day of Christmas much more relaxed :-).