An Australian Christmas
CHRISTMAS. For most people, the word conjures up images of snow, a jolly man in a fur trimmed red suit, blazing fireplaces and an extravagant roast dinner. However, a large part of the world actually celebrates Christmas in Summer.
Australia has been a British colony since 1770 and has inherited
a lot of Christmas traditions, such as eating similar foods, listening to the
same Christmas music and Christmas crackers with paper hats and terrible prizes.
Many Australians of British descent listen to the Queen’s Christmas speech, but
this is by no means mandatory.
While Australia is a multicultural country, and many
other cultures celebrate different holidays during this time such as Kwanzaa
and Hannukah, Christmas is widely considered a non-denominational holiday in
Australia. It is mainly about food, family and a day off.
The Australian Aboriginals are made up of many
different cultural groups that celebrate differently. The Arnhem Land Yolngu people
celebrate the last season of their 6 season cycle in late December. This is the
Wet Season, known as Gudjewg. Many Aboriginal people also celebrate Christmas.
Read on to learn more about Christmas in Australia.
HOT WEATHER
As Australian Christmas is in Summer, Temperatures average 26 degrees Celsius (79 Fahrenheit) and can easily reach 40 degrees Celsius (104 degrees Fahrenheit) or higher. This explains why a lot of our traditions are different. In Australia, only very mountainous areas have snow in Winter, so it is a very different climate.
Due to the hotter weather, Christmas sweaters are out.
Sometimes people wear ugly Christmas t-shirts, but usually we just wear nice
Summer clothing. Christmas print dresses seem to have become more popular over
the last few years as have Hawaiian shirts. Flip flops, known by Australians as
thongs, are common footwear.
Unfortunately, due to the summer heat, bushfires are
common around Christmas, leading to a lot of anxiety, and sometimes loss of
homes and lives. Last year’s bushfire season was particularly bad.
FOOD
The hotter weather means that a lot of Australians
don’t want the oven heating up the house even more. While a Christmas roast is
still popular, many more enjoy fruit platters, prawns (also known as shrimp by
non-Australians) and seafood, cold meats, barbeques and other things. Having a
Christmas lunch instead of dinner is also popular.
We also are known for our Pavlova, a meringue dessert
topped in fresh fruit named after the famous ballerina Anna Pavlova. Australia
and New Zealand tend to disagree over which country created it. Cherries and
seasonal fruit are usually enjoyed.
As an English colony we do enjoy some British foods
like Christmas pudding and Mince pies. For those who do not know, these are
fruit pies, not mince meat, although back in the Medieval era, they contained
actual mince meat. By the Victorian era, as fruit became cheaper, the filling
usually consisted entirely of fruit, as do today’s mince pies.
Many people of different cultural backgrounds include
their own foods in the celebration.
Recently, there has been a move to learn more about Native
Australian Bush Foods. Spices such as Wattleseed are great in bread or coffee,
finger limes are an interesting fruit. Hopefully, people will be able to
continue to learn more about these Bush Foods and incorporate them into our meals.
Often seen at outdoor celebrations is the Esky of cold
drinks, usually soft drinks (sodas) and beer.
While these celebrations are commonly at home, there
are many who celebrate at the beach. Of course, sunburn is also unfortunately
common.
MUSIC
Strangely enough, despite the fact Christmas is in
Summer here, we still seem to play a lot of Christmas Carols that have snow in
them. In the middle of a boiling hot summer, it can seem quite frustrating to
think about cooling snow. We do have a Australian Christmas songs such as The
Three Drovers, Aussie Jingle Bells and The Twelve Australian Days of
Christmas.
DECORATIONS
Despite the hot weather, Australians tend to follow
Britain in Christmas decorations. We have pine trees, often plastic, with the
traditional baubles, tinsel and various other classic decorations such as Santa
figurines and snowmen. We do not tend to go as elaborate as our British or
American friends. Christmas Bush, an Australian native plant that flowers
around December, is sometimes used to decorate indoors, but is much rarer.
We also string up Christmas lights. Many Australians decorate
their houses and front lawns with elaborate Christmas lights, although this is
not done by everyone. Driving or walking around to see local lights on Christmas Eve
is a modern Australian tradition.
CHRISTMAS CARDS
Most of our cards have wintry themes, although you can
make an effort to find Australian themed ones which might feature drawings of a
kangaroo in a Santa hat or Santa taking a break on the beach in a Hawaiian
shirt. These follow along with the idea of traditional British Christmas mixed
with Australian themes.
BOXING DAY
While Australian Christmas is in summer, it still has
many aspects similar to a traditional British Christmas. From food and crackers
to Winter themed traditions, we take much from Britain, while creating our own
traditions. Over time, Christmas traditions will probably continue to grow and change.
Most of all, though, Christmas is about getting together
with your loved ones. Sadly, it will be much more difficult this year, thankfully,
with technology, people will be able to get together remotely over the internet
to share their holiday.
What is your favourite tradition where you are from?
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