Well here it is 2009 and I'm winding up my two years here in Australia.
This year, I spent Christmas back in the US but saw the new year turn here in Australia. An interesting experience not just because of the time difference (a full 16 hours ahead of the east coast of the US) but also because it's summertime here in the southern hemisphere. Meaning New Year's Eve celebrations are typically held either outdoors having a late barbecue or on a beach. Or better yet outdoor watching fireworks without a scarf, gloves and mittens but in shorts and sandals.
I guess there are worse ways to do it, huh?
But this allowed me to puzzle out why some things are missing around the holiday here that we take for granted in the northern climes.
Like holiday movies. It was interesting to discover the low number of Australians who've seen the holiday movies that we hold dear in the US. And I'm not talking about modern classics like "
Scrooged" starring Bill Murray, but even "
A Miracle on 34th Street" starring Maureen O'Hara and a young
Natalie Wood. That is, until I realized that unlike the US where it's cold so we're indoors doing things like being curled up watching a movie while it's cold outside, here they're at the beach boogie boarding and throwing lamb kabobs on the barbie.
To each his own, I say.
Happy 2009!
- Farmer Ted
On the day of celebrating the legacy of the Rev Dr. Martin Luther King,
This year, I spent Christmas back in the US but saw the new year turn here in Australia. An interesting experience not just because of the time difference (a full 16 hours ahead of the east coast of the US) but also because it's summertime here in the southern hemisphere. Meaning New Year's Eve celebrations are typically held either outdoors having a late barbecue or on a beach. Or better yet outdoor watching fireworks without a scarf, gloves and mittens but in shorts and sandals.
Like holiday movies. It was interesting to discover the low number of Australians who've seen the holiday movies that we hold dear in the US. And I'm not talking about modern classics like "Scrooged" starring Bill Murray, but even "A Miracle on 34th Street" starring Maureen O'Hara and a young Natalie Wood. That is, until I realized that unlike the US where it's cold so we're indoors doing things like being curled up watching a movie while it's cold outside, here they're at the beach boogie boarding and throwing lamb kabobs on the barbie.
