Yes, although often it's so stressful! My parents often argue about [i]how [/i]we ought to celebrate it. My father likes to have a huge roast turkey with all the trimmings (I don't often object to this) with lots of presents (which use up all my money, and the space in my room, especially as I never use most of them) and decorations [i]everywhere[/i]! Seriously, we're finding tinsel about the house for [i]months[/i]! He decorates [i]everything[/i], even picture frames and stuffed toys! It drives me insane.
On the other side of the argument, my mother would prefer to have a cold meal (not such a bad idea sometimes), only a few, useful, presents, and only a couple of decorations. She says that we should be focussing more on the [i]real [/i]meaning of Christmas. That said, her family always has a 'birthday cake' for Jesus and sings 'Happy Birthday' to him, which I think is really nice, but Dad doesn't let us do that most of the time. The strange think is, he's always going on about the commercialisation of Christmas and how we're losing sight of the real meaning with all the hype and Santa Clauses, and yet he's just perpetrating it...???
That all aside, there are some things about Christmas in Australia (and New Zealand, I suppose) which you should know about which are different to Christmas in the Northern Hemisphere. I've actually had two Christmases in England so I know where you're coming from about the whole Christmas thing...
Anyway, Christmas in Australia is [i]hot[/i]. Very hot. It's in the middle of summer (well, slightly closer to the beginning...) but I've had quite a few Christmases where it's been over 40 degrees celsius. Since we used to have a small pool in our back yard (less than a metre deep and 2 metres across), we used to all get in the pool in the afternoon. Some families go to the beach; others go to the local swimming pool. Anyway, the heat makes lots of the Christmas traditions in the northerm hemisphere (the ones our ancestors came out to Australia with) a bit redundant.
Lots of Australians get annoyed with all the Christmas carols, too, which talk about snow and such! We have [i]no snow [/i]in Australia in December. To that end, various people of re-written old Christmas carols and composed new ones, which better represent Australian Christmas. The most well-known one is 'Dashing Through the Bush'/'Aussie Jingle Bells', which is based on 'Dashing Through the Snow'/'Jingle Bells', and there is also 'Deck the Shed' which is a take-off of 'Deck the Halls', and an Australian version of 'the 12 days of Christmas'. There are also about 20 completely original Australian Christmas carols, such as 'The Three Drovers', 'The North Wind is Tossing the Leaves', 'Out on the Plains', 'Christmas in the Scrub', 'Six White Boomers' and a favourite of lots of children, 'When the Bloom of the Jacaranda Tree'.
At risk of writing a [i]very [/i]long post, I will write down some of the lyrics which I think characterise Australian Christmas perfectly.
'Dashing Through the Bush' - just look up the lyrics yourself. The entire thing describes the general Australian Christmas pretty well. There is a lot of Aussie slang, though. If you have any questions, ask me. Anyway, the best lyrics from this song is the first part of the chorus:
"Jingle bells, jingle bells, jingle all the way,
Christmas in Australia on a scorching summer's day!"
'Deck the Shed' - the lyrics can be a little vulgar, but the talk of decorating the shed with 'bit of wattle and gumtree' and 'hanging the deco(ration)s off the plum tree' show very well the Australian habit of decorating anything and everything with whatever can be found.
'The 12 Days of Christmas' - uses of lots of Australian animals and foliage.
'The Three Drovers' - verse two:
"The air was dry with summer heat,
and smoke was on the yellow moon;
but from the Heavens, faint and sweet,
came floating down a wonderous tune;
and, as they heard, they sang full well,
those drovers three -- 'Noel! Noel!'"
'The North Wind' - The entire song is lovely. Only two verses:
"The North-wind is tossing the leaves,
the red dus is over the town,
the sparrows are under the eaves,
and the grass in the paddock is brown,
as we lift up our voices and sing
to the Christ-Child the heavenly King!
The tree-ferns in green gullies sway,
the cool stream flows silently by,
the joy-bells are greeting the day,
and the chimes are a-drift in the sky,
as we lift up our voices and sing
to the Christ-Child the heavenly King!"
'Out on the Plains' - also called 'Carol of the Birds'.
'Christmas in the Scrub' - Another one to look up the entirety of. It's very good, with a boppy tune. Anyway, the chorus,
"For the birth of God, the wallabies hop,
for the birth of God, the cockatoos squawk,
for the birth of God, the platypus swims,
for the birth of God, the kookaburra laughs,
for the birth of God was such exciting news
they'd never heard before;
they came from all around the land to see
this baby in the straw."
'Six White Boomers' - is about how Santa's reindeer can't cope with pulling the sleigh through the Australian heat, so he swaps them for 6 white 'boomers' (bull kangaroos, basically big huge male kangaroos). It's told from the viewpoint of a lost joey (baby kangaroo) to whom Santa is giving a lift home. I suppose verse 3 is the best as far as Australian Christmas goes:
"Pretty soon old Santa began to feel the heat,
took his fur-lined boots off to cool his feet.
Into one popped Joey, feeling quite okay,
while those old man kangaroos kept pulling on the sleigh."
'When the Bloom of the Jacaranda Tree' - The Jacaranda has these brilliant purple flowers which come out at the beginning of summer - late November and early december. The chorus goes:
"Christmas where the gumtrees grow,
there is no frost and there is no snow,
Christmas in Australia's hot,
cold and frosty is what it's not.
When the bloom of the Jacaranda tree is here,
Christmas time is near.
A good site for Australian Christmas 'song' (as opposed to 'carol') lyrics is
http://users.adam.com.au/lnewton/citslyrics.html. The 15 Australian Christmas Carols were composed by John Wheeler and William James, and were published in 3 'sets' quite a few years ago. I don't know where you could hear/see them.
Sorry for writing so much, and I'm sure I'm forgetting something, but as I've got to get to dinner now, I'll just write it if I remember it.
From Rachel.
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