Christmas Down Under

This was my first Christmas away from my family, and although I missed my family I was flooded with the warmth and generosity of my friends and their families. I spent Christmas Eve with my friend Danielle and her family, for their annual Christmas Eve party. I woke up Christmas morning and was surprised that I had presents of my own that Santa had left me. I then left and had Christmas Chrissy breakfast, presents pressies, and a huge Christmas Dinner with Sarah and her family. Santa somehow found me, yet again, at Sarah's house. Christmas is similar but different. It's my favorite phrase to use to explain things here, because families still get together, open presents, and eat food, but my family take turns opening/watching each other open gifts, where at the houses here everyone opens at the same time. At dinner they had Christmas Crackers , which I had never seen or heard of so enjoyed experiencing them. They had some of the same foods, but different ones too. Over the two days I had ham, turkey, pork, crackling (pork rind cooked until it's crispy and crunchy), roasted vegetables, bread, and LOTS of wine. There was also several salads at dinner, that I didn't eat. I brought candies, toffee, and cookies to both houses to share some of my Christmas traditions with them. We had left over ham for about a week to continue to eat, even after the massive Christmas Dinner. I spent the next week with Sarah and her family down at their beach house. It was wonderfully relaxing, spending time on the beach, paddle boarding, taking daily naps, and not having to do or go anywhere unless we wanted to. Sarah was a wonderful tour guide, showing me some of the tourists areas around there. It was a great Christmas and I am so thankful to my friends and their generosity. I would say that there were several moments of feeling homesick during the Christmas period. Such a weird feeling, although there were Christmas trees, presents, and Christmas music, it never really felt like Christmas. I enjoyed seeing how the Aussies do it, however I did miss my family and my Holiday traditions.

Now that it's 2014 I'm looking forward to all the fun and new experiences that I will have this year. In February I will be going to New Zealand for a month, and in May I will head up the east coast of Australia all the way up to the Great Barrier Reef. And who knows what else will come up along the way. The end of 2013 was great, and I'm hopeful that 2014 will continue to bring some extraordinary adventures.

Bye for now <3