Across the miles

It's kinda weird being overseas for Christmas. I definitely notice when my Christmas experience isn't the same as it used to be. For instance, I notice that there's only one present under the tree. This is because a) there's only two of us here and b) one of us is morally opposed to Christmas shopping. I already bought presents for our 4 boys, my mom, and my two brothers' families, and mailed them by Dec. 4. Done and dusted. I got Curt an olive tree for Christmas which he already found (six-foot trees are notoriously difficult to hide). The boys won't be mailing any cards or presents to us because they're boys and because they're always broke. My mom says she sent me a package and it might be here by Valentine's Day. I don't know if my brothers are sending us anything. Probably not. And Curt? Well. I gave up on that years ago. So we have exactly one present under our tree. It's from our neighbour. It's small and round and light. I'm guessing it's a Christmas ornament or something like that. Oh wait, all the choir members got a little present from the minister this morning. but I already opened mine and ate it because it was chocolate. Mmmm.

Also, it's Christmas Eve already and we only have 8 Christmas cards. One is from the postie (mailman). One is from the realty company that sold us the house (not very personal). One came with the present from our neighbour. One is from a church family. And we have four cards from relatives in America: my mom, two uncles, and Curt's brother. That's it. It's pretty sad when an email from your credit card company wishing you a happy holiday is the highlight of your day. Come on, people!! You'd think we died or something. No, we're very much alive. And we sent Christmas cards to all our friends and relatives back in the States including our address. Well, fine. I won't let it make me feel too sorry for myself because I don't associate the number of cards we receive with how many people love me. Really.

Besides presents and cards, here's a few other differences I've experienced:
• Christmas pud (pudding), Christmas cake, and mince tarts are traditional Christmas treats here. The closest American traditional Christmas food might be the ubiquitous fruitcake/brick, but even that is more of a joke than an actual food that is consumed. As for mince tarts, Curt was a bit confused when we were given 12 little mince pies by our neighbour. You see, in NZ "mince" usually refers to ground beef. So he thought we got 12 little meat pies. But actually, they're minced pecans and raisins and brown sugar ... what Americans would call mincemeat pie. (and that fact that mincemeat has the word "meat" in it when there's no meat in it just makes it doubly confusing!)

• I used to wear Christmas sweaters all the time in December in the States. But here, it's too hot to be wearing sweaters in December (besides which they're called jumpers). Trust me, I tried. Once. I wore my Christmas sweater to church last week and thought I'd be OK because it's always freezing in that big old building early in the morning. But by the time church was over, I was roasting, and I had to strip off a layer in the car on the way home. Let's say I learned my lesson.

• Stores and offices close for a few weeks during the holidays. Curt's engineering company will be closed from Dec 22-Jan 8. There's nobody in the office. No engineers, no bosses, no secretaries. I thought maybe a few guys might go in to catch up on a project that's behind schedule, since they've been getting flack for it being so late. But no. The clients understand that nobody is going to do any work over the next 2 weeks. NOBODY. I also went to my favourite bakery to buy my favourite bran muffins but they were closed from Dec 23-Jan 17! The American/capitalist in me wonders how a business can afford to go without income for that long. But the newly emerging Kiwi in me says "good on them" for realising that time off is more important than money!

• Since Christmas happens during everyone's summer vacation, people's holiday traditions tend to involve being gone at the beach house or being gone camping. I don't think there's the same notion that you need to be HOME for holidays. Our neighbours left on the 20th for 3 weeks at their vacation house in Whitianga. They must have taken along all the presents and will open them there. Do they also take along the stockings? I wonder if they put up a tree at the vacation house?

• I haven't heard as much Christmas music playing in the grocery stores, malls, doctor's offices, etc. In Portland, there was even a radio station that played ALL Christmas music from December 1-December 25. There's really not that much good Christmas pop music around, so you can imagine that a lot of the airtime was filled up with tunes like Jingle Bell Rock performed by Neil Diamond or Chestnuts Roasting On An Open Fire sung by 'N Sync.

It's also weird to see how my Christmas experience is still the same as it used to be:
• For instance, last night we watched National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation with Chevy Chase. That was always a favourite holiday movie with our family especially when Clark Griswald put a gazillion lights on his house.

• Speaking of lights, people do decorate their houses here, but not nearly as many because ... 1. It's summer and it doesn't get dark until quite late. 2. Most people go away camping for Christmas so they're not home anyway. 3. Christmas isn't as over-the-top commercialized as it is in the US. The local newspaper showed photos of a few of the more decorated houses, but I couldn't help but be thankful that NONE of them had Santa flying The Traditional Christmas Helicopter or riding The Traditional Christmas Alligator like my next door neighbour in Portland had on his roof. I am not making this up.

• People still do PLENTY of shopping, and still worry about what to get their sister-in-laws, etc. Men still put off the shopping until the last minute and still don't know what to buy. Some things are universal.

Overall, the Christmas experience is definitely different here. Some parts are better than in the US - like the weather - and some parts are worse - like not being with family. If the sun comes out, we may go walk along the beach promenade like we did last night. If not, I think I'll make some popcorn and watch sappy Christmas movies and open my present. I can't decide if I'm sad or not ... but I think I am a little. I miss the family.