Summer Vacation

Santa has come and gone, but the rain is still here in Queensland. The rainiest December in 150 years, someone said. Despite the damp, my first tropical Christmas was a massive success.

Mark and I ended up having two Christmases. On Christmas Eve we went to a friend of family's house for an Aussie/Asian Christmas meal. That meant seafood, and lots of it - mussels, oysters, prawns (shrimp), tuna, crab, and more. Let me say, I think the Australians have it right. I'll be the first one bringing the Seafood Christmas to New England. Yum!

We spent Christmas at Mark's Dad's house. With the air-conditioning blasting, we were able to have a more traditional Christmas dinner of ham, turkey, and chicken. That's right - although I couldn't find a turkey in sight for Thanksgiving, they came out everywhere for Christmas. Christmas pudding and pavlova, an Australian meringue-type cake, rounded out a delicious meal.

To bring a touch of home to the holiday, I made Christmas cookies for both gatherings. Unfortunately fudge, peanut butter balls, and marshmallow wreaths that taste so scrumptious at home didn't fare too well down under. The fudge literally melted on the counter. The wreaths were so sticky that it was a bicep workout to pry them off the serving platter. Needless to say, I understand why the Australians have had to tweek the traditional Christmas menu.

In the spirit of good journalism, I decided to brave the crowds and jump into the Aussie tradition of Boxing Day Sales. Similar to our Black Friday, the day after Thanksgiving,Boxing Day is supposed to boast the best bargains of the year. Even though it was raining, when I got to the shopping center of the city it was packed - a sea of people moving in the rain. Combine the crowds with massive, bright signs celebrating 50% off EVERYTHING, and the scene soon became overwhelming. Mark and I popped into one or two stores, but didn't see any sales that made dealing with the crowds worthwhile. After a bit, we found a cafe where we could get a cappuccino, sit back, and observe.

Believe it or not, four days later the Christmas holiday still isn't over here. Saturday and Sunday were Christmas and Boxing Day; however, because they fell on the weekend the Australians still want their public holidays (read: days off work). So Monday and Tuesday of this week have become holidays, with banks, stores, and most businesses closed. It's back to normal for Wednesday, Thursday and Friday of this week, and then the holidays begin again for the New Year.

Pavlova