Christmas in Shorts

I’m in shorts and sandals (known as ‘jandals’ in New Zealand) for Christmas. And Dana has a sunburn. It just doesn’t  feel quite right. It is the one day each year where having a little snow is a good thing. Most Christmas songs don’t make sense in New Zealand, at least any song involving a snow man or sleigh rides. However Kiwis have their own traditions they follow around the holiday season. Here are a couple of differences:

-          Many workers have off until mid January. Our office is closed from Dec 23^rd to Jan 15^th. And there are many that just take all of January off. Unfortunately those ER doctors are still needed, so no long break for Dana.

-          The Queen gives a Christmas speech to all the commonwealth countries. It’s on TV early evening in New Zealand.

-          The sky tower is lit up red and green:

-          Many families flock to the beach for their Christmas dinner “picnics”.

-          The local pohutukawa tree is known as the ‘New Zealand Christmas Tree’. It blooms with red blossoms in December.

-          They call the holiday season ‘the silly season’. I’m assuming that’s because some of them are attending far too many holiday parties. Have noticed some hungover looks at the office and comments about liver health.

-          One street in our neighborhood is famous throughout the city for having Christmas lights. The adjacent streets are all backed up with cars trying to drive down it, and on Christmas the sidewalks were full with admirers. Happy to report that there was only one house with the American favorite, the blow up lawn decoration. While none of the houses go to the super extreme that you might see on you tube videos complete with sound track, overall the atmosphere was pretty impressive. 

Anybody bothering to read the blog today, want to wish you a Merry Christmas. For our families, Christmas isn’t the same without you around. We’re both missing you today.