So, I'll be celebrating my first Christmas in Australia this year. We have bought ourselves a little 3 foot Christmas tree from Target it's tiny but it serves it's purpose. The malls are packed with people doing their Christmas shopping, last night at my local mall they were going to be open for 36 hours straight and when we left just before midnight, there were still many people coming in. Houses are lit with all kinds of lights, kinda reminds me of Pitkin Avenue in Ozone Park. People here enter contests to see who has the best lights. Fake trees are more popular then real trees as the real trees come up from Victoria, but you can also get them from the Scouts. Food here is plentiful, with seafood being very popular for Christmas lunches. Roasted hams and turkeys are also very popular. Down at the Queens Street Mall Meyer has a Christmas parade, they have kids dancing and singing, there's the nativity with sheep and goats and Mary riding a donkey next to Joseph, followed by the Three Kings literally on camels, which was so cool to see. As with the Macy's day parade this parade ends with Santa Claus but here they have two real live reindeer. It is funny watching the people with the pooper-scoopers walking behind each set of animals as the parade is not on a street rather the mall which has closed of Queen Street to all traffic for quite a few years. It's kind of like what Bloomberg did in the city with Broadway.
As Christmas is Tuesday and I'm in the tropics it almost doesn't feel like it, being used to the cold, but it's also cool wearing strappy sandals for Christmas Mass and the lunches and dinners following. I miss my family back home, I'm happy to be with my husband but I miss seeing my friends and hanging out with them. I'm happy I've spoken to my dad and my brother on Skype and shown my dad our little muppet. I wish I could share my cookies and rum balls with those I shared with last year. Ahh to win the lottery and be able to see my friends and family whenever I please would be such a wonderful thing. My husband is on vacation starting Monday for two weeks, I see beach time in the near future. I have no idea yet what we're going to do to celebrate the New Year but I know it will be warm and there will be Sparkling drank. The end of the world did not happen, as I write this it is 4:06pm on the 21st of December in Australia and its 1:06am New York time. Next blog will be in the New Year. I wish all my friends and family a Very Merry Christmas and a Happy and Healthy New Year!
