Al-anwar Newspaper English news in Australia
Sunny and 100 degrees doesn’t exactly spell Christmas.
But as Rebecca Doub ventured into the sizzling grasp of Melbourne, Australia, she was thrown into a kind of “Christmas in July” in December paradox.
“I have to admit it’s been a little strange hearing songs like ‘White Christmas’ while we have the windows rolled down in the car because it’s so extremely hot,” she said.
Doub, a Winston-Salem resident, is spending December in Australia with her boyfriend’s family after an extended study abroad while she was a student at Appalachian State University.
Suffice to say, it will be her first Christmas having a block party and barbecue.
“Since Christmas is right in the middle of Australian students’ two and a half month summer vacation, many people don’t spend Christmas with their family since they’re out traveling,” she said. “Australia is a fairly secular nation and isn’t as embedded in Christian faith as the U.S. is.”
With the warmer temperatures, big roast dinners are often replaced with cold turkey and ham, seafood, salads and traditional Christmas plum pudding.
Many of the Christmas traditions are similar, like caroling, although the songs describing frigid winters are often revised to reflect Australia’s climate.
Santa visits the continent, but his sleigh is pulled by kangaroos or ‘six white boomers’ instead.
“I’ve found that there isn’t as much of an emphasis on buying and giving large amounts of presents here,” she said. “But rather on having a day to relax and have good conversation.”
