Have a Holly Aussie Christmas
Nothing feels quite as disorienting as celebrating Christmas in the middle of summer. Imagine walking into a store filled with little Santa statues, holiday wreaths, and fake snow while you’re sweating through your shirt in 90°F weather. It feels like one of my dad’s Christmas-in-July Hallmark movies brought to life. This year, I celebrated Christmas with my brother-in-law’s family in Boat Harbour, Australia. Spoiler alert: it was weird, wonderful, and wildly different from anything I had ever experienced.
Christmas in the Northern Hemisphere means bundling up under ten blankets and eating cookies while the sun calls it quits at 5 p.m. In Australia? The sun is up and glaring into my eyes at 5 a.m. I traded layers of blankets and winter coats for layers of sunscreen and tried to remember that, yes, it really was Christmas and not just a backyard barbecue in the middle of July. It’s hard to feel festive when sweat drips down your nose, but somehow, Australians make it work.
The Dobbie family’s Christmas traditions were vastly different from those in the Karenbauer household. The Dobbies open all their presents at the same time, a process that takes less than 10 minutes. In my family (much to my brother-in-law’s chagrin), we open presents one at a time while everyone else oohs and aahs (and critiques the wrapping skills).
Then came the real culture shock: backyard cricket, a slip ’n slide, and a trip to the beach. I’m used to huddling by the fire trying not to freeze my butt off. Here, I was hitting cricket balls onto the roof of the house and pulling my shoulder muscles on a slippery tarp while my sunscreen melted off. All the while, we swapped stories—mostly embarrassing ones about my brother-in-law.
It was a world away from what I’m used to, but it made for a fantastic memory. Although it felt a little wrong to celebrate Christmas in the summer, I highly recommend that everyone try out an Aussie Christmas at least once. Seriously, who wouldn’t want to celebrate Christmas at the beach? White Christmas is out, and beach Christmas is in.
