Do they know it's Christmas time at all?

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Spent Christmas eve day feeling a bit homesick after Alf and his roommate Paul left and I had the apartment to myself. I walked around Cronulla and everyone was out with family and friends; I was the only person obviously by myself! 😞 Spent a lot of time debating on how much seeing the Great Barrier Reef is worth to me because I hadn't booked a flight yet and the plan was to leave on Monday the 26th....Finally decided to go ahead and spent the money and try not to have a coronary at how much it cost. But I mean, how many times in one's life can they go to the Great Barrier Reef? Probably not very many. It better be incredible though! Called my mom and got to talk to the fam, which was good but also almost made it worse.

On Christmas day, I went into the city to meet Karen and a bunch of other Brits for lunch and the beach. The food was good but nothing compares to home-cooked of course. Afterwards, we went to Bondi Beach which actually wasn't as crowded as I had thought it would be. It's a nice beach but I must admit I'm a bit baffled as to why it's so famous. It's just a normal beach with pretty big waves. But as someone who doesn't surf...? The rest of the evening was spent just hanging out, eating pizza, and calling it a night at 9:45 pm because by the time I took a bus to the train station and took the train home, it was 11:30 pm and I wanted to call the fam again and get them out of bed to wish them a Merry Christmas.

Words cannot describe how bizarre it was with 95 degree weather and being at the beach on Christmas. Everyone had on Santa hats and a few people had little trees stuck in the sand. But when you're used to a northern hemisphere Christmas, I don't think one could ever really fully adjust to this southern hemisphere craziness! From what I have seen here in Oz, Christmas is not as big a deal as it is in the states. For one thing, most people are not religious at all. You barely see any churches here. In addition, since I've been here I have barely heard any Christmas music; there is little to no holiday programming on television, and you don't see nearly as many decorations whether on houses, in malls, etc. And the thing that truly shocked me was that nearly every business was open; restaurant, fast food, convenience store, you name it. In the states most everything is closed on Christmas! Seeing all the stores open made it seem all the more like just another day...At any rate, I think the Australians don't know what they're missing out on. I love it here but I will take our Christmas over theirs any day.

Now today on the 26th there are absolutely no signs that yesterday was Christmas; at least not out here in the suburbs. One of the most impressive things I've achieved thus far today is packing just a tiny backpack for a full week since I'm having technical difficulties with my bigger one. Sara C. what would you have done?! 😊 I'll wander around a few hours in the city until it's time to go the airport tonight to fly to Cairns...Great Barrier Reef here I come!

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Comments

[Ally]

so odd to see the santa hats on the beach... looks like you're having a great time! Merry Christmas!