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Published: January 5th 2011
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I remember counting down the sleeps til Santa Claus would park his reindeer and sleigh on the roof and slide his chubby self down the chimney to place gifts under the tree for my sister and I. The anticipation and genuine excitement that a child experiences leading to Christmas is never duplicated or ever re-experienced later on in life. Once the innocence of childhood disappears, what is left of Christmas? The weeks leading to the big day we hustle in the cold, with the crowds feeling obligated to be festive, while we stress. I enjoy the memories of the cold and snowy Christmases of the past. The location, my parents country home in rural New Brunswick, overflowing with relatives, friends, laughter and love. On the other hand I haven't enjoyed the commercial side of the holiday season, of shopping, crowded malls, stressed people and the materialistic people that shine during this time of year.
Last Christmas New Zealand offered me a beautiful day of kayaking, beach volleyball and a stunner of a sunset. This year, in Brisbane, I have been offered rain and quiet time. Christmas Eve, I laid in my dorm bed in room 410, watching the rain and
mist outside, enjoying the cool breeze that entered the room with the headphones on, just enjoying the peacefulness of a quiet and lonely room. During this day of quiet and slow thought I realized one thing. That December 25th is just one of our 365 gifts we receive each year. Some of these gifts we appreciate, some we take for granted, some we live to the fullest, some are fast, some are slower paced and some of these gifts we just waste.
After a quiet Christmas Eve, I awoke to a rainy Christmas morning. And yes Santa did find me as a package of double coated Tim Tam cookies were laying beside me in bed (it may not have been Santa Claus and may have been my roommate English Will). As December 25th is just another day, it happened to be laundry day. It was looking like another slow paced rainy day but when I went to get some coins for the dryer I seen a familiar face on the dark stairs. "Salut Gifton" is what I heard. It embarassingly took more then a few seconds to place a name to the face. It was Amandine a French girl
I met here in Brisbane 5 or 6 weeks back. So I spent my Christmas Day with Cecile and Amandine. The rumours around the hostel for Christmas Day were about a barbeque on the rooftop. The weather was cloudly with sporadic showers throughout the day. So I was surprised to see the amount of people on the rooftop drinking and eating. A large group of backpackers toughed out the showers to make the most of our Christmas Day but eventually a downpour sent most of us indoors. The French girls and I got our Christmas dinner at Hungry Jack's (aka Burger King). We spoke of the feasts our families were preparing while we dined on our Whopper combos. With most places closed and the summer rain falling we had an early, relaxed night.
A couple of weeks ago our staff party was planned. Now being a new staff member and being a semi anti-staff party person I had decided to not attend. But after finding out about the plans for the night, a cruise on the Brisbane River, and an offer of a Santa Clause suit to wear, the party was looking more exciting. So on a Monday afternoon
I found myself dressed as Santa in 30 degree heat, with a beer in my hand explaining to a 4 year old boy that I was not the real Santa. I passed out gifts for our secret Santa, got quite drunk and got nicknamed “Hobo Santa”and "Bad Santa". After our cruise we had a few more drinks and ended the night dancing downstairs at the Down Under bar. It was like no other Christmas party I have ever been to. The warm day, a boat cruise, some free food, wearing a Santa suit and experiencing this with people from all over the world.
Boxing day brought the arrival of thousands of sale shoppers to the rainy streets of Brisbane. But more importantly it brought the arrival of Chantal from my hometown in New Brunswick plus her friend Jasmin. I have been in the same circle of friends as her for 8 years or so now. So it was great to see somebody from home, so far away from home. It was nice to reminisce about the fun times, the places and people that we grew up around. Plus the hometown jokes and the hometown sense of humour added a
nice touch of home during the holiday season.
December 25th is just another day. A day to live, spend time with friends, feast, laugh and enjoy. This is my second straight Christmas that I have not had my family and only my third Christmas in which I did not make it home for. Each of these days have brought a variance in activities, weather, feelings and thoughts. After all it is a day that we should enjoy with some good people and this year I was fortunate to have a wonderful day with wonderful people. Maybe I enjoyed this Christmas because of it's uniqueness. It's summertime, rainy, the vacant city streets outside my window, the company of international friends, all this contrast the pace, noise, feasts and the amount of guests that accompany Christmas Day back home. Hope you all had a great Christmas and appreciated all that surrounds you during the holiday season.
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