I keep having to remind myself that Christmas is a scant few weeks away. It’s not that there aren’t reminders – stores of every ilk are hawking their wares with a festive spin (“It wouldn’t be Christmas without a new set of patio chairs!” “Dingo’s World of Socks: For all your Christmas needs” “Get all your Chrissy prezzies at The Athlete’s Foot”).
Decorations drip from awnings, tree limbs, and window frames. There was even a Santa Clause parade in Auckland last weekend (I missed it) complete with floating snow man (which makes absolutely zero sense given that it’s currently in the mid-twenties there).
Despite all this, I find it impossible to get in the festive spirit. It’s just too weird to have Christmas lights when the sun doesn’t set until 9:00 pm. And that there are huge fake pine trees decorating building lobbies and public spaces when all the other trees around are fully covered in leaves, and many of them are palms. And that I’m traipsing around in sandals and sporting a rather impressive tan.
Well, in a short week I’ll be back in the land of REAL Christmas. You know, snow, darkness, cold. Somewhere where the sight of someone in a fur-lined red suit doesn’t make you itchy. Where “Let it Snow” and “Jingle Bells” and “Chestnuts Roasting on an Open Fire” make sense.
But, I guess “I’m dreaming of a White Christmas” fits for once.
Let's have a look at what Christmas looks like down under:
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| Decoration in a swank Sydney shopping centre. |
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| Kitchiest Christmas tree ever in Darling Harbour |
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| The coolest Christmas tree in Auckland's Western park. It was basically strings of lights -- 350,000 of them. Every night there was a light show and there were bean bag chairs set up beneath it so you could lie at the base and watch. I did for 30 minutes. It was trippy. |
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| The huge Whitcools Santa and his reindeeer. I guess he's an annual fixture. Two years ago he had an inexplicable wagging finger. They've scrapped it, unfortunately. |
A week to go!
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