But do I really want to eat roast goose when it’s thirty degrees outside? It just doesn’t seem quite right; Christmas trees, tinsel, lights, and sunshine.
Christmas celebrations derived from a pagan festival, which used to cheer people up in the dark days of winter. In England, where December is cold and dark, bright lights and warming feasts make a lot of difference. The food of Christmas is designed to bolster and comfort: roast dinners, spicy fruit, warming liqueurs, and of course mulled wine.
In Sydney, where it doesn’t get dark until late evening, Christmas lights seem a bit of a waste. When it’s hot outside I don’t feel like eating mince pies unless they’re with ice cream. In fact, with the prospect of wearing a bikini always around the corner I don’t want to feast on food at all.
The trees all have their leaves, so there’s no real need for the evergreen Christmas trees and wreaths. Despite this, Australia still retains the Victorian British traditions of Christmas, but it lacks the atmosphere. The wrapping paper is still decorated with snowflakes, and Father Christmas still wears furs (though this could be argued is because he’s from the North Pole).
I don’t mind really. I’m enjoying the Australian summer and would be more at risk from homesickness if it was a fully atmospheric English style Christmas. And I fully intend to eat mince pies and Christmas cake galore when Christmas actually arrives. Perhaps it’ll be colder in New Zealand, where I’m heading in a weeks time.
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