asked my cousin Erin. Turns out, they do! Most Australians I've talked to so far have a completely romanticized view of snow (spoken like a true jaded Midwestern girl), and have all the idea that it would be so wonderful to have a whole winter of it, or at least Christmas. They know (and sing) the song. They also sing Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer and Jingle Bells. They do have their own Christmas songs, too, but Christmas is so commercialized, and culture in general so American-bent, that they know all of our traditional songs. A very Australian thing to do on Christmas is to go to the beach and have cold foods (like pasta salads) and/or a barbecue. And they've never heard of "It's a Wonderful Life" (which took some explaining as I only saw it myself for the first time two years ago!).
The tree is up in the Brisbane Square; a huge fake furry thing reminiscent of my aunt and uncle's fake tree, only nowhere near as pretty as they make it with the gold bows. I watched them putting the branches in the other day on my way to work. I think there are lights on it, which probably get turned on at night. The lighting happens tomorrow night but I'm not sure if they'll light it regularly since they just turned off the weather lights for wasting too much electricity. (The weather lights were these lights on top of a building downtown that flashed different colors and patters - basically red or white, flashing or steady - to indicate different types of weather. The only useful-sounding one to me was "rain coming" since it's often cloudy for a long time before it actually rains - all the rest seemed like, if you could see outside to see the lights, you could probably tell if it was actually raining or sunny or cloudy, which are basically the only changes in weather... But I digress.) Anyway, thinking about going to the lighting makes me feel like I'll be standing there sipping hot chocolate and wearing mittens, which I know won't be the case!
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
2 comments:
Just so the world knows: that fake tree isn't Tom's and mine--must be one of Ames's aunts and uncles on her dad's side. We have the real thing, usually a balsam. It's completely wonderful to have it, too, in the darkest, deadest time of winter. An evergreen in the house is a wordless visitor from a primitive and vital time, bringing the promise of revival. Smells good, too.
In southlands, that isn't needed. What do Australians do to relieve the darkness and deadness of June and July?
That is true, the fake tree belongs to Bill and Barb, thanks for the clarification, Aunt Linda! I do also appreciate the piney smell at your house though :) People here mostly have fake trees for Christmas because the real ones rot really fast in the heat. I don't think it gets that dark and gloomy here, at least not up in Brisbane - but even in Sydney and Melbourne, on the southern coast, it doesn't snow usually. I will ask around!
Post a Comment