Snippets of an Aussie Christmas

Even though I miss  being with our family and friends in the Philippines during this time of the year, I love spending Christmas in Australia more.  Since I moved here, I intentionally don't go home for the Christmas festivities as I don't want to spend my holiday in the Philippines stuck in horrible traffic.  In 2007, I went home on the 26th of December because somehow the Christmas shopping and parties had settled down a bit.  Maybe someday, when I've mustered enough patience to wait in hours and hours of traffic, I would go home again on Christmas.  But for now, I'll come home on a different time and make my family and friends feel like Christmas anytime of the year with my presence.

I love how simple and laid-back the celebrations are in  here.  Christmas in Australia is not as commercialized compared to countries in the west.  The city and malls are not big on decors and lights but more on events that will entertain people.

I love that the Christmas rush and traffic here are not as terrible compared to other countries.  Even if malls only  extend their business hours on the last week before Christmas, traffic in and out of the malls still prove to be a bit of a breeze.


I love that Christmas celebrations here are spent in the comforts of our home or in parks and beaches, instead of the malls.  Shops are all closed on Christmas Day and some open on Boxing Day (26th December).  Shopping in all states resume on 27th December.

I love the simple way of gift giving--at work, most gifts were chocolates and pastries baked by my workmates themselves.    

I love that we get to spend the whole week from Christmas to New Year on a holiday.  We get to balance our time for family, relatives and other things we'd like to do during the Christmas Holidays because the Husband and I always have the week off.

Some very personal snapshots of our celebration with relatives:

 

Hope you all had a lovely time spent with family and friends during this time of the year!