Hello, everyone! I’m Honoka Endoh.
Happy new year!! How did you spend Christmas and New Year?
In Australia, they celebrate them quite differently.
Surprisingly, Christmas is bigger event than New Year in here.
Since I stayed in my Australian friend’s house for 8 nights over Christmas, I could experience “Australian Summer Christmas” with a big family.
So, I’ll introduce one of the Australian Christmas which I experienced.
25th and 26th of December are public holidays. (but 1st of January is only the public holiday for New Year!!)
(There were a lot more presents under the tree on Christmas day.)
The day before Christmas, we made food for reindeer and put near the door with cookies for Santa Claus.
They are for when they come to give us presents. I heard it is a tradition which each house has own way.
The food for reindeer we made consisted oats and glitters as a decoration.
On the Christmas day, there were many presents for each of us from Santa Claus.
(These snacks were in the stoking.)
First, I was surprised at this amount. Honestly, it was the biggest amount of presents which I’ve ever had.
After that, we had a party at home with my friend’s relatives.
We ate a lot of food and homemade cakes. My friend and I made cookies as well.
Especially, there were a lot of meat such as ham, roast beef, chicken, pork and so on.
Also, it’s common for them to eat boiled prawns.
The white cake with fruits on top of it is called pavlova. It is a traditional cake of Australia and New Zealand.
This is a dessert of a meringue shell toped with whipped cream and fruit and it is a traditional cake of Australia and New Zealand. They are all delicious.
There was a present time during this party. They all put their presents under the Christmas tree and her grandfather gave them. I got some present as well. It was a happy nice time.
The day after Christmas is called boxing day and many shops have sale. It lasts several days.
I went shopping with my friend during the period.
I felt Australian Christmas and Japanese New Year are bit similar because the relatives are gathered, and shops have sale.
While I was in my friend’s house, they treated me as a part of their family and let me experience real Australian Christmas. I had a lot of fun with my friend and her family, so I appreciate them so much.
I spent New Year’s Day with my family.
We stayed at the Brisbane City and visited several places around Brisbane.
I didn’t speak Japanese such a long time, and talk in person with my family, it was a really good time.
Next time I will see them is when I go back to Japan.
I could think again, I’ll do my best in order not to waste this special experience.
Thank you very much for reading through to the end. See you next month!
Honoka Endoh
09/01/2020
