This is our fourth Christmas in Australia and it still doesn’t feel like Christmas. I struggle every year to get into the spirit. There is something about putting up the tree and sweating that doesn’t seem right. I miss the snow, the cold, and family this time of year. For many of the years as expats we spend Christmas on holiday.
Here are Christmases since we left the US:
2002: England to US. North Dakota, Texas.
2003: England to US. Missouri, Texas, Mexico, Georgia.
2004: Germany to US. North Carolina. California. Nevada
2005: England US. Minnesota. North Dakota. North Carolina. California.
2006: England to Chile and Argentina.
2007: England. Sofia born in October.
2008: England to Cyprus and Greece.
2009: England to Sydney for a few weeks before Christmas (initial visit prior to move). England to US. Minnesota. North Dakota. North Carolina. Tom moved to Australia after we returned. Kids and I followed soon after.
2010: Alex born in June. Sydney and around the world. Singapore, Switzerland, Spain, USA (Minnesota, North Dakota, California.
2011: Sydney
2012: Sydney to Adelaide then road trip to Melbourne.
2013: Sydney
This is probably why I feel a little strange being here at Christmas.
Hi! I totally understand what you mean! I am currently in vacation in Thailand, where is very hot and I don’t have the Christmas feeling at all. I tried with Christmas carols, but didn’t help. You are right, sweating and Christmas just don’t go together. I never thought I will say this, but I miss winter and coldness 😀 I wish you happy hollydays and a Merry Christmas!
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I sort of know how you feel, after living in Minnesota for 30 years and celebrating most Christmases with snow. (We dd have a couple of “brown Christmases,” during drought years with no snow.) Now I live in California where we rarely see snow, though we are getting subfreezing temperatures this year. (Good thing I didn’t throw away the ice scraper, otherwise I would have had to use a credit card to scrape the ice off of the windshield.) I had to get used to seeing Christmas lights hanging from palm trees and fake snowmen standing on green lawns. It does snow in the mountains, as I suppose it does in Australia, but I’m not going to drive all the way out there to see snow, not after living in the stuff for so long.
Hope you have a happy Christmas anyway. Believe me, it may not feel like Christmas when it’s summer where you are, but there’s many a Minnesotan who would love to trade places with you right now! 🙂
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The heat does make it difficult, but it does mean the children can play outside with water toys, and no worries about airports being snowed in.
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I have to admit we have been caught out on more than one occasion with snow, ice, blizzards when it comes to flying in winter!
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LOL – after 13 years here, with one Christmas back in Au and one in Hawaii (which is basically the same) I’m still not used to having to layer up to open my pressies! Oh – and I *hate* not getting Boxing Day! One day off for my Christmas gluttony-excess is not enough!
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It is funny, isn’t it, how ingrained these things are in our brains. I think if I were to live somewhere like I used to (ND) and I had to deal with the severe cold I would complain about that too.
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